Bidding Fast, Then Slow

 

Today, we’ll look at another slam bidding sequence. Sally is the dealer and passes. Walt holds

Walt
♠ KQ7532
♥ KQJ6
♦ J3
♣ 5

That’s 12 points in high cards, but Walt decides to subtract one for not having any aces and having just a doubleton jack in diamonds. Then, he adds 2 distribution points for the 6-card suit and one more for the second suit. That’s 12-1+2+1, 14 points total. It’s clearly enough to open the bidding with 1 spade.

Norm and Sally pass at every opportunity.

Edie finds herself with this strong hand:

Edie
♠ A6
♥ A32
♦ K4
♣ AKQ987

She has 20 HCP plus 2 in distribution for the 5^th and 6^th spades. Twenty-two points combined with her partner’s 13 should make a small slam. They might even have enough for grand slam. The problem is going to be finding a trump suit or choosing to play in NT. She doesn’t have adequate support for her partner’s suit, but she has a strong club suit. No trump looks possible, too. First off, she needs to show her strength. A jump shift by responder shows at least 19 points. It’s forcing to game and is a strong invitation to slam. That sounds like a good choice. She bids 3 clubs.

Walt has just a minimum opening hand, but still…opposite a jump shift, he wonders if a slam is in store. With the bidding already forced to game, there is no hurry. The team needs to find a trump fit if they have one. Edie could easily have 4 cards in hearts. Walt bids 3 hearts. He might want to show his extra length in spades later if he has a chance.

Edie doesn’t like hearts or spades for a trump suit, but her clubs will likely play well in a NT contract. She is worried that Walt will pass if she just bids 3NT, and she wants to be in a small slam, at least. She decides to bid Blackwood to see if her partner has the missing ace. If he has it, she will ask for kings to see if grand slam is possible. She bids 4NT.

Walt shows no aces by bidding 5 clubs.

OK, so grand slam isn’t there, but a small slam should be. Edie bids 6NT and worries a little bit about the diamonds. There is some risk that Walt had a very distributional hand with something like 6-6 in the majors with a singleton and a void in the minors. OK, that is a flaw in the strong jump shift. It uses up a lot of bidding space. Opposite most hands, though, 6NT should play well.

The opening lead is a small diamond--the unbid suit. Edie plans the play:

Dummy
♠ KQ7532
♥ KQJ6
♦ J3
♣ 5

Declarer
♠ A6
♥ A32
♦ K4
♣ AKQ987

Edie’s worry about the diamonds is well founded, but with the lead on her left she will take the king either on the first trick, or later if Norm takes the ace on the first trick. Now, she needs a plan to cash 11 more tricks without losing the lead.

Without jumping through any hoops, she can take the AKQ of spades, the AKQJ of hearts and the AKQ of clubs. That’s 10 tricks. She just needs a 3-2 break in spades or a 3-3 break in clubs to set up the little cards in one of those suits. She can just cash the winners and if one suit breaks badly, she can use the other suit as a backup plan. It’s not 100% guaranteed, but the odds are in her favor.

 

 

Responding to a Weak Two Opener - An Example

Responding when your partner opens with a weak two can be difficult. The weak two uses up a lot of bidding room. That’s great when the opponents have most of the strength. It’s not so great when you have a good hand.

The general principle is RONF or Raise-Only-Not-Forcing. Any bid that you make other than a raise of your partner’s suit is forcing for one round. A raise of your partner’s suit is intended to play there. She is expected to pass.

Let’s look at an example. Sally is dealer and opens 2 spades. Walt passes. Norm is holding this hand:

Norm
♠ KQ4
♥ 653
♦ AK8
♣ JT75

That’s 13 points with extra trump support. A game is possible if Sally is on the top of her bid. Even 3NT is possible, but the weak hearts might make that risky. Norm thinks about inviting game by bidding 3 spades, but then he remembers the RONF acronym. A raise tells his partner to pass.

This hand is a good candidate for the special 2NT response to a weak two opener. The 2NT response asks the opening bidder to show a “feature.” The opener will rebid her suit with a low-end weak two. With a strong weak two, she will show an ace or king in a side suit (the feature) by bidding that suit. With a strong hand and no feature, she bids 3NT to show…well…a strong weak two with no feature.

If Sally shows a feature in hearts, Norm might bid 3NT. His hand is balanced. He is no longer worried about hearts, and the 6-3 fit in spades will likely generate 5 or 6 tricks. It's not hard to envision taking 9 tricks in NT. With any other positive response from Sally, Norm will bid 4 spades.

Sally holds this hand:

Sally
♠ AJT986
♥ Q7
♦ 954
♣ Q2

That’s a solid weak two opener, but it isn’t exactly a strong weak two. It’s not exactly a weak weak two, either. It's in the middle. She doesn’t have a feature to show, and the two doubleton queens tilt the hand toward the weak side. She decides to show weakness and bids 3 spades.

Norm has learned what he needs to know and passes.

As the cards lie, even 3 spades looks unlikely to make. Sally sees 2 losers in hearts, 1 in diamonds, and 2 in clubs. Bummer.

Another Slam

Today, we’ll look at another slam. It makes easily as the cards lie. I only found one obscure way that it goes set. Those are good odds.

	Norm ♠ 6 ♥ AKJ ♦ QT65 ♣ AQJT3
Walt ♠ AT7 ♥ T3 ♦ 92 ♣ K98654		Edie ♠ 8532 ♥ 86 ♦ K8743 ♣ 7
	Sally ♠ KQJ9 ♥ Q97542 ♦ AJ ♣ 2

Edie is the dealer. She has next to nothing and passes. Sally has 13 HCP plus 2 distribution points for the 6-card heart suit and 1 more distribution point for the second 4-card suit. She bids 1 heart. Walt briefly considers interfering with a jump in clubs, but decides against it. He passes. Edie and Walt pass at every opportunity from now on.

Norm has support for his partner’s hearts, but with 17 points in high cards and 2 distribution points, he is too strong for a single raise (6-9) or a limit double raise (10-12). If he had an extra trump, he could count 3 points for the singleton. In any case, he has 19 points. That’s enough for a jump shift. He bids 3 clubs. Edie passes.

A jump shift by responder is an invitation to slam. Thirteen points by opener plus 19 by responder is just one point short of the 33 needed for a small slam. There is no upper limit to the jump shift, so the partners should take their time finding their best contract. They are already forced to game.

Sally doesn’t know that Norm has support for her hearts. She also knows that Norm doesn’t know that she has 6. The club bid might suggest playing in no trump, but transportation might be difficult. Sally decides that the best choice is to show her 6-card heart suit. Norm also doesn’t know that Sally has better than a minimum opening bid, but she doesn’t want to rush the bidding. She is sure to get another chance to bid since the jump shift is a game force. She simply rebids her hearts with a 3H bid. Walt passes.

Norm doesn’t know that Sally has extra strength. For all he knows, Sally has a minimum opening hand. He has shown all of his strength with his original jump-shift response. He just needs to show Sally that he has support for her hearts. She can push farther if she has more than a minimum hand. He bids 4H.

Now, Sally adds her 16 points to her partner’s promised 19 and wants to be in slam. If Norm has just a couple more than his promised 19 points, grand slam could be possible. It might be hard to find the grand slam, but she starts by with the Blackwood convention to make sure that they are not off two aces. It’s hard to imagine how that could be, but the information might help to find the grand slam. She bids 4NT.

Norm shows 2 aces by bidding 5H. Well, there goes the grand slam idea. Small slam missing one ace shouldn’t be a problem. Norm’s points have to be somewhere useful. Sally bids 6H and everyone passes.

Walt is on lead.

Walt
♠ AT7
♥ T3
♦ 92
♣ K98654

Some people like to lead aces against slams, but from Walt’s point of view, it might just make the play easier for Sally. Getting a club ruff in his partner’s hand is a possibility after Norm’s initial club bid, but unless Edie is void in clubs, leading away from that king could help the opponents. Norm decides to try a safe lead of the 9 of diamonds.

	Norm ♠ 6 ♥ AKJ ♦ QT65 ♣ AQJT3
Walt ?		Edie ?
	Sally ♠ KQJ9 ♥ Q97542 ♦ AJ ♣ 2

There really isn’t much that Walt could do. The diamond lead gives Sally a free finesse, but she would have played it that way for herself, anyway. Sally plays small from dummy, and Edie holds on to her king, hoping to make a trick with it later. She plays the 3 and Sally takes with the Jack.

Sally has to lose the ace of spades. She needs to have a plan to not lose a second one. It all depends on how the trumps break.

If the trumps break 2-2 Sally can simply pull trump, force out the ace of spades and ruff the 9 of spades in dummy. But what if they don’t?

If Sally pulls two rounds of trump and one opponent fails to follow suit on the second one, she has a problem. She still needs to force out the ace of spades and regain the lead to ruff the losing spade. If the opponent holding the ace also holds the missing trump, that player will lead back the trump, and there goes her plan for ruffing a spade. There is still a club finesse that could yield a club ace to discard the losing spade. Is there a better way?

How about leading the king of spades on the second trick? Now, the opponent with the ace will take it. That happens to be Walt. Walt looks at his 6 clubs and the 5 clubs on the board, and decides to take a chance on his partner being void in clubs. He doesn’t like leading away from his king with the AQ on the board, but with only 2 clubs out, the only time Sally is going to think about playing the queen will be when she holds two little clubs. That leaves Edie with none. Walt leads a small club. Sally plays the ace from dummy. Edie follows suit.

Sally starts by testing against a 4-0 trump break. She leads the ace of trump from dummy. If the trumps break 4-0, she will need all of her big trumps to avoid a trump loser. Play will be difficult, but not impossible. We’ll look at that possibility a little later. As the cards stand, both players follow to the trump lead. Sally can afford another trump lead. She leads the king. Both players follow. Wow! Now it’s easy. The trumps are gone. Sally leads to the ace of diamonds and ruffs the 9 of spades. She can get to her hand by ruffing either a diamond or a club and her hand is good.

Suppose someone showed out on the second round of trumps. Now, Sally needs to stop pulling trump. She needs to get the spade ruff in first. She will know where the missing trump is. If Edie holds it, there is nothing to worry about. Sally can lead a club from the board, intending to ruff in her hand. If Edie ruffs, Sally can simply over ruff.

If Walt holds the missing trump, it is probably still safer to lead a club and ruff it. The only time this loses is if Walt started with a singleton club and three trumps. It’s possible, but the opening lead of the 9 of diamonds looks more likely to be a singleton than the later lead of a small club.

Let’s say the club lead doesn’t get overruffed by Walt. Now Sally leads the 9 of spades to ruff in dummy. There is no chance of an overruff there. The Jack is high.

Let’s say that Edie followed suit to the second club. Sally is on the board and still needs to pull the last trump. Sally needs to get back to her hand. Leading a club, again has a higher risk of being overruffed by Walt. I like leading to the ace of diamonds at this point. Walt might ruff, but we’ll take that chance. Sally takes the ace, Walt follows suit, and Sally pulls the last trump. Her hand is good.

Suppose Edie showed out on the first round of trump. Grrr. Sally will need to watch her entries to the board, and try a ruffing finesse in one of the minor suits. Walt’s lead of a small club suggest that he does not have the king. Sally leads the queen of clubs from dummy intending to discard the 9 of spades if Edie ducks, and ruffing if she covers with the king.

To her great surprise, Edie discards! That crazy Walt led away from his king into the AQ on the board. Sally has to ruff. Now what? She needs all of the trumps on the board to pull trump. There is a good king of clubs to her left. Walt started with 6 clubs, 4 hearts, and at least 1 diamond and 1 spade. That only leaves one card unaccounted for. A ruffing finesse in diamonds would require two more diamonds in Walt’s hand, so that is guaranteed not to work. There’s no hope. Sally’s goose is cooked.

Is 2 clubs too confusing?

 A bid of 2 clubs often has an artificial meaning. It's important to know when 2 clubs means that you have a club suit and when it means something completely different. If you mix these things up when either you or your partner bids 2 clubs, expect disaster.

Opening the bidding with 2 clubs

Let's start with the 2 club opening bid. Remember that when I say "opening bid" I mean no one has said anything other than pass before your bid. This opening 2 club bid means that you have a very strong hand, practically enough for game with no help from your partner. It says nothing about clubs.

You might also open 2 clubs if you have a no trump hand that is too strong to open 2 NT (20-21 HCP), but not strong enough to open 3NT (25-27 HCP). When you have a no trump hand with 22-24 HCP, you open 2 clubs intending to bid no trump at your next turn.

What if you have a hand that looks like a weak 2 opener with a long club suit? Well, you certainly can't open with a weak two clubs. You partner will expect that you have a strong hand. So, what do you do? If you can count enough distribution points to get to 13, you can open 1 club.  If your outside suits are particularly weak, you might open 3 clubs. Your partner will expect you to have a 7-card club suit. You almost do. Passing is often the best choice.

Responding to an opening bid with 2 clubs

If your partner opens the bidding with 1 in a suit, a 2 club response is natural. It shows a legitimate club suit. 

If your partner opened 1 NT, your 2 club response is the Stayman convention. You are asking your partner to bid a 4-card major if she has one. It says nothing about clubs. I was supposed to post a discussion about Stayman, wasn't I? It looks like I never got around to it. Watch for it next week.

What if you have a long club suit and your partner opened 1NT? Well, you certainly can't bid 2 clubs. That is the Stayman convention. Instead, you use Jacoby transfers and bid 2 spades. Your partner will automatically bid 3 clubs.

Overcalling with 2 clubs

An overcall of 2 clubs is natural, showing a strong 5-card suit. Remember the terminology. If your opponents opened the bidding and you decide to make the first bid for your side, this is not an opening bid. It is an overcall. For example, if your right-hand opponent (RHO) opens 1 heart and you say 2 clubs, that is not a 2 club opener. It is a 2 club overcall. You are showing a good club suit and probably close to opening strength.

What if you have a really strong hand that you would have opened 2 clubs with, but your RHO opened the bidding? First of all, don't hold your breath waiting for this to happen. Your RHO has 13 points, and there are only 40 high card points in the deck. It's hard for you to come up with the 23 points or so that would warrant a 2 club opener. It happens sometimes, though. Your best bet is to make a takeout double, even if you do not have support for any suit that your partner might bid. You will correct to your suit at your next turn, and partner will recognize that you must have had a hand that was too strong to make a simple overcall.

Summary

OK, there you have it. Two clubs often has a special meaning, so watch out for it.

Let's Play a Grand Slam

 

A couple of weeks ago, I put my partner into a grand slam contract. Hands like this don’t come up often, but it is exciting when they do.

As South I was dealt this hand:

My partner was the dealer. I expected to be the one opening the bidding. I’ve got 23 points and even distribution. With 22-24 points, I would open 2 clubs and rebid no trump. To my surprise, my partner opened the bidding with 1 heart. He was holding this hand:

One heart is a good bid for this hand. It contains 11 points in high cards and 2 more points for distribution.

With my hand, I am delighted to hear the heart bid. Expecting at least 13 points from my partner and adding my 23, we have at least 36 points. It takes 37 to bid a grand slam. With 19+ points responding to an opening 1 bid, I should make a jump shift—that is, bid a new suit at one level higher than necessary. My only real suit is the one that my partner bid, so I need to invent a new suit to bid. I chose to bid 3 clubs.

My partner has support for the clubs, so he bid 4 clubs. I don’t really want to be in clubs and I want to be at least in a small slam. If I bid hearts, my partner might pass. I don’t want that. Looking at the specific high cards in my hand, I am only concerned that we might be missing the ace of diamonds. The way to find that out is with the Blackwood ace-asking convention. I bid 4 no trump.

An important side note is that the Blackwood convention should be used to keep you out of a small slam when you are missing two aces, and to keep you out of a grand slam when you are missing two kings. Many beginners misuse the convention to try and find a slam. Only bid Blackwood when you are already confident that you have enough points for the slam you are considering.

My partner responds with 5 diamonds, showing one ace. That’s all I need to know. I could have asked for kings by bidding 5 no trump. In retrospect, that was probably a good idea. If we are missing the king of clubs, we might still be able to make the grand slam with a finesse, but a finesse is just a 50-50 proposition. A small slam is worth too much to risk going down in a grand slam half of the time. Still, my partner needs to fit his 13 points in somewhere. It’s hard to imagine where his 13 points could be if he is missing the king of clubs. It’s possible, though. He could hold the QJ in spades and hearts for 6 points, the AJ of diamonds for 5 more, just little cards in clubs, and 2 points for distribution. That would have made a grand slam difficult. Yeah, I should have asked for kings, but I just bid 7 hearts at this point.

Had my partner responded with 5 clubs to my Blackwood inquiry, I would have bid 6 hearts. We should easily have enough combined strength for a small slam, and we can afford to lose one trick to the ace of diamonds.

Given that I knew we were going to end up in a heart contract, I could have simply started off with Blackwood at my first turn.

Let’s make a plan for the play of the hand. Looking from North’s point of view (the weaker hand that opened the bidding), declarer needs to avoid a loser in clubs and one in spades. The dummy has two extra winners in diamonds, so declarer just needs to pull trumps, play the ace of diamonds in his hand, and lead to one of the winners on the board. Then, he cashes the K and Q of diamonds discarding a small spade and small club in his hand. The hand plays itself from that point. Easy, peasy.

Strong 2 Club Opening -- a sample hand

 

Today we’ll look at the strong 2 club opening bid. As you should already know the 2 club opening bid is a strong, artificial bid showing a hand that is 22+ points or one trick short of game with no help from partner other than a trump fit. We’ll use an example hand to explore the bidding and go through a plan for the play of the hand.

This hand came up in an online game that I was playing, it is a difficult hand, but instructive.

North

South

 

West was dealer and everyone passed to South. South has 23 high card points plus 2 distribution points for the six-card spade suit and one more distribution point for the second 4-card suit. That’s 26 points. If we count playing tricks we might expect 2 losers in spades and half a loser in diamonds. This hand clearly qualifies for a 2 club opener.

North counts 5 points in high cards and can count 2 points in distribution, one for the fifth heart and one for a second suit. That comes up just shy of the 8 points needed for a positive response. North bids 2 diamonds to deny 8 points.

Now, south bids her spade suit. There is no reason to show any extra strength. She just shows her 5-card suit by bidding 2 spades.

North is forced to keep the bidding open until one trick short of game. He is not too happy to hear that his partner’s best suit is spades. He shows his longest suit by bidding 3 hearts.

It is unfortunate that the suits that each player has gets the bidding elevated so quickly. South has a tough choice at this point. She could bid her club suit, asking partner to show a preference, but partner only needs 2 cards in spades to make an 8-card trump suit. South doesn’t want to stop short of game since her hand looks like it can take 10 ½ tricks all on its own. The half trick comes from the AQ of diamonds. Half the time East will hold the King and the finesse will win, assuming that there is some transportation to the board.

Bidding 3 no trump is possible. Partner’s hearts might not be that useful, though. It might be difficult to get to the board to cash them if they set up.

South decided to just take a leap of faith that partner would have a spade or two and bid 4 spades.

Now, North is in a tight spot. Anything he bids is going to be at the 5 level, and maybe still won’t result in a trump fit. He passes. Passing as soon as possible when a misfit is suspected is usually a good choice.

The opening lead is the 5 of hearts. Now, South plans the play of the hand. He has no losers in the off suits. Trumps are the only issue. The opponents hold 7 trumps between them. If the trumps break 4-3, declarer can lose 3 trump tricks and make the contract. Pulling trump is the first order of business. Even though the opponents hold most of the big trump cards, we want them playing two of their trump cards on as many tricks as possible.

Declarer takes the A of hearts and leads the A of spades. Both opponents follow suit. Next, she leads the 9 of spades. East goes up with the J and West follows suit. So far, so good.

East returns the Q of hearts. Ordinarily declarer would like to avoid ruffing with the long hand (the hand that holds the most trump), but there is no loser to discard from the hand. Declarer has no choice but to win the trick with a small trump.

Declarer continues by leading a small trump. East shows out (darn it!) and West wins with the 10.

Now, declarer knows that East holds 2 more trumps that will win tricks. There is no point in pulling those trumps. East can take them whenever he wants. Declarer will save her small trumps to maintain control of the heart suit. East could pull declarer’s trumps if he wants, but declarer will still have one left to regain the lead if hearts are led.

The rest of the hand is straight forward. Declarer takes tricks in the side suits and lets East trump in whenever he chooses. Unfortunately, the opponents end up with 4 trump tricks and the contract is set.

 

 

 

Forcing Bids

 Nothing can be as frustrating in bridge as having your forcing bid passed by your partner. You don't want to frustrate your partner, so let's make sure we understand forcing bids.

First of all, there are two kinds of forcing bids. There are bids that are forcing for one round. That simply means that you need to keep the bidding open so your partner can bid again--once. The second type of forcing bid is a bid that is forcing to game. If your partner makes one of these, you must both keep the bidding open until a game contract is reached or the opponents are doubled for penalties. Let's look at each type.

Forcing for One Round

The most common bid that is forcing for one round is a new suit by responder. It makes no difference whether you opened with 1 of a suit, a weak two, or a preempt at the three level. If your partner bids a new suit, you must keep the bidding open for one round. New suits by responder continue to be forcing for one round with each new suit that responder mentions. Just because the bid is forcing, it doesn't imply that responder is strong. He just wants to have another chance to speak. Here are some examples:

Opener: 1 club

Responder: 1 heart

Opener: must bid again

Opener: 1 club

Responder: 1 heart

Opener: 2 clubs (opener had to bid something here)

Responder: 2 spades (That's another new suit)

Opener: must bid again 

Opener:  2 hearts

Responder: 2 spades

Opener: must bid again

What about a NT opener? Without interference, all suit bids by responder are conventional. 2C is Stayman. 2D, 2H, 2S are all Jacoby transfers. Conventional bids are, of course, forcing. They are artificial and ask the opener to do something specific. There are also the 3C and 3D responses to a 1NT opener. Those bids are natural and invitational to 3NT. They are not forcing.

If there is interference over the 1NT opener, Jacoby transfers are off. In that case, suit responses are natural and not forcing. So how do you distinguish these from the new-suit-by-responder-is-forcing-for-one round rule? Think of the new-suit rule as being a new suit after a suit opener. Over no trump, it isn't a new suit. It is the first suit. Maybe that is more confusing. Sorry about that, but natural suit responses to no trump openers are not forcing. 

Game Forcing Bids

Game forcing bids usually occur when the responder has an opening hand opposite his partner's opening bid. There aren't many immediate responses that are forcing to game. Double raises are limit bids, and new suits are forcing for just one round. A 2NT response is forcing to game after an opening one-of-a-suit bid. Opposite a major suit opener, 2NT is conventional--known as Jacoby 2NT. We'll get to that eventually. Opposite a minor suit opener, 2NT shows 13 points and no 4-card major suit. Both are forcing to game. Both players must keep the bidding open until a game contract is reached or the opponents are doubled for penalties.

The other immediate response that is forcing to game is a jump shift. That means bidding a new suit at one level higher than necessary. An example is 1C-2H. The jump shift shows 19+ points. It is forcing to game and a strong invitation to slam.

There are some other game forces that come up later in the bidding. If responder jumps in a suit already bid at his second turn to bid or in NT, it shows a 13+ point hand, and is forcing to game. For example:

Opener: 1 club

Responder: 1 heart

Opener: 1 spade

Responder: 3 spades

Responder is showing 4 card support for spades and at least 13 points. Opener isn't promising any additional strength with her rebid, so she could have just 13. Responder's 13 points gives the team enough for game.

Here is another example:

Opener: 1 club

Responder: 1 heart

Opener: 1 spade

Responder: 3 hearts

Responder is promising a 5 card heart suit and the bid is forcing to game.

One more example:

Opener: 1 club

Responder: 1 heart

Opener: 1 spade

Responder: 2 no trump

Responder is saying he has 13+ points, but doesn't have 4 spades to support the opener, and doesn't have the 5 hearts required to rebid his suit.

Conventional Bids

All conventional bids have an artificial meaning. The bidder certainly doesn't want to be left there. For example:

Opener: 1 no trump

Responder: 2 hearts (Jacoby transfer. Responder has spades, not hearts)

Opener: pass

Responder: YOU CAN'T PASS. THAT'S A JACOBY TRANSFER!!!!

OK, that was a joke. The opener will bid 2 spades automatically.

Another conventional bid that is forcing for one round is the takeout double. I'll cover this in more detail in another post, but let's touch on it, now. I'll use seat directions to clarify who is speaking.

South: 1 club

West: double (That's a takeout double. West does not want to defend against 1 club for penalties)

North: pass

East: must bid something, even with zero points. The only time he can pass is in the unusual circumstance that he has a hand so strong that he thinks your side can defeat a 1 club contract. I can hardly ever remember this happening. You can forget it if you like. Just bid something!

Now, there is the opening 2 club bid that is reserved for all super strong opening hands. This bid alone is almost forcing to game. If the responder makes a positive response (anything other than 2D), the team is forced to game. Even when the responder makes the negative response of 2D (showing less than 8 points) the bidding is forcing to one trick short of game. That's a little tricky to remember, so watch out for it. Consider some examples.

Opener: 2C (22+ points)

Responder: 2D (<8 points)

Opener: 2H (forcing to at least 3H, shows a 5 card suit)

Responder: 3H (3 card support for hearts, not sure if the team has 26 points, even after opener promised 22)

Opener: Might still bid 4H if she has all 10 tricks in her hand and knowing that partner has trump support. Or, she might pass if just a couple of points from partner are not enough.

Opener: 2C (22+ points)

Responder: 2D (<8 points)

Opener: 2NT (This is part of the no trump structure. It shows 22-24 HCP and no trump distribution.)

Responder: (Adds his points to opener's. Jacoby and Stayman are available, if useful. If the total comes to less than 26, responder can pass.)

Opener: 2C (22+ points)

Responder: 2H (8+ points, 5 card heart suit)

No matter what. These two players will continue bidding until a game contract is reached. Slam is a possibility. There is no rush. Neither player needs to worry about getting passed in a part score.

When are relieved of your obligation to bid

If your partner makes a forcing bid and your right-hand opponent sticks in his oar with a bid, or even a double, you may pass if you want. The interfering bid will keep the bidding open for your partner. You may still bid, if you want, but you are showing additional strength. Here are two examples. I am using seat directions to clarify who is speaking

South: 1 club

West: pass

North: 1 heart (new suit by responder, forcing for one round)

East: 1 spade

South: 2 clubs (No longer obligated to bid, but choosing to bid anyway shows extra strength over the 13 points required to open.)

South: 1 club

West: double (for takeout, East is forced to bid, unless...)

North: 1 diamond

East: Now, east can pass. If he chooses to bid it shows a little bit of strength.