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7 Superaccepting Jacoby Transfers

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30 views3 pages

7 Superaccepting Jacoby Transfers

Uploaded by

wael samman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Adventures in Bridge

Leaders in Bridge Entertainment and Education


www.advinbridge.com

(7) Notrump Fundamentals: Superaccepting Jacoby


Transfers
Updated: February 2010 ©AiB Robert S. Todd
Level: Intermediate [email protected]

General
When we open 1NT, the most important contracts we strive to reach are Major-suit games.
When we have enough values for game, we begin by exploring our Major-suit fits and if we
don’t find one, then we settle for 3NT. (It is only when we are extremely distributional that we
even consider playing in a minor-suit game.) As we have previously discussed, we use Stayman
to find our 4-4 fits and Jacoby Transfers to find our 5-3 fits. When we have only 8-card fits we
need about 24 HCP in order to bid game. But when we have a 9-card Major-suit fit (5-4 fit) we
will often be able to make game with fewer HCP – “the power of the 9-card fit!” When we have
this 9-card fit we want to have a set of tools to let partner know about our “big fit!” We want
to let partner know that they should be aggressive in bidding game. These tools are called
“Superaccepts!”

Basic Superaccept
The most common form of 9-card Major-suit fit we find is when we open 1NT and partner
makes a Jacoby Transfer into our 4-card Major. In this situation we have a 5-4 fit and we need
to have a way to communicate this to partner. The first example of this is the basic
superaccept…

Auction
1NT - 2♦* - 3♥ 4c♥, 16+ to 17 HCP

Partner has made a 2♦ Jacoby Transfer – asking us to bid 2♥. But we have 4c♥ support and a
maximum for our 1NT Opener (16-17 HCP.) So we show this great hand by bidding 3♥ instead!
Similarly, if partner transfers to ♠ then we can bid 3♠ to show great ♠ support.

[email protected] PO Box 14915 ♠ Tallahassee, FL 32317 850 570 6459


Adventures in Bridge, Inc.
www.advinbridge.com

Other Superaccepts
Now that we know how to show “the best” hand for partner we want to discuss what other
“superaccept bids” would mean. Let’s consider the example of when partner transfers to ♠.
We know that 3♠ shows a maximum and 4c♠ support. But what about the other bids between
2♠ and 3♠? The first key is to know that we don’t bid past 2♠ without having a 9c fit – since
partner might have a zero-count. (This is an example of The Law of Total Tricks at work.)
Thus, all of the superaccepting bids promise 4c support. We let bids of new suits show a
doubleton and 2NT show no doubleton (4333.) Additionally, we are going to define these bids
to show minimum HCP, since we already have a bid to show a maximum.

1NT - 2♥* -
2NT 4-3-3-3, 16-17 HCP
3♣ 4c♠, doubleton ♣, 15-16 HCP
3♦ 4c♠, doubleton ♦, 15-16 HCP
3♥ 4c♠, doubleton, ♥, 15-16 HCP
Similar bids apply when transferring to ♥.

The reason that showing the doubleton is a useful agreement is that it allows the Responder to
know where Opener’s ruffing values are located. When you have lots of trump (like in the 9+c
fit) it is very valuable to be able to know which suit you can ruff in the short hand.

Example
♠ Kxxxx
♥ xx
♦ Axxx
♣ xx

1NT - 2♥* - 3♦
Responder knows Opener can ruff most of his ♦ losers in hand – so he should bid a game!

Note: There are many useful agreements here, but showing the doubleton is my preferred
agreement. It makes it easy for partner to know where he will have ruffing values – if he has
Axxx opposite my doubleton (or something similar) he will know that we can take a lot of tricks
by ruffing in the short (4c support) hand.

(7) NT Fundamentals: Superaccepts 2


Adventures in Bridge, Inc.
www.advinbridge.com

After the Superaccept


When Opener superaccepts the Jacoby Transfer and shows a doubleton, he has not yet bid “our
suit.” We have not properly sided the contract. We still want to the 1NT opener to play the
hand most of the time. Thus, we use “re-transfers” to properly side the contract as often as
possible. The suit below our suit at either the 3-level or 4-level will be a re-transfer, siding our
contract with the strong hand.

Example
1NT - 2♦* - 3♣* - 3♦* Re-transfer, asks Opener to bid 3♥.

Note: If partner bids 3♦ (showing the doubleton right below our suit) we can re-transfer with 4♦
if we are going to bid a game, but if we are going to signoff at the 3-level then we don’t have
room to re-transfer – and we must settle for playing 3♥ from the wrong side.

Final Note
Give these superaccepts a try. They will help you be aggressive when you have a 9c fit and
they will also help you be a bit more cautious when you know you don’t have a good 9c fit.

(7) NT Fundamentals: Superaccepts 3

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