As promised, here are some examples from very recent X-Clubs deals, on Friday 17/04/26. They are all
examples of the game force 1NT response to an opening bid
Board 2. East is dealer and passes. South opens 1S and these are the North and South hands:
North
South
In many auctions the bidding would normally be 1S-4S but we would respond with a game force 1NT and
when West bids 2D, then bid 4S. 1S-4S would be a different type of hand. West might have a very big
hand, that is why it helps to have two different ways to bid 4S
Board 7. South is dealer and passes with a flat 11 count. West also has 11 HCP but a 4441 hand, which
we would always open. Here is how the EW bidding would proceed
West opens 1D, 1NT from East, 3C from West. This jump is unnecessary therefore is a 4441 or 4450
hand. East now bids 3NT, having lost interest in any slam and knowing that the club suit is well enough
protected
Board 8. Another 4441! This time it is NS. Dealer West at nil vul passes. North opens 1C and South bid
the game forcing 1NT. This presents a really ticklish bidding problem for NS. Here are the NS hands
North
South
The answer, if you’re playing a natural system is to play ‘inverted minors’ but playing 1/1 there is an
easy solution, the 1NT game force. South bids 1NT and West now bids 3D to show the singleton or
void and 4414 or 4405. 4C from South is now a key card ask in clubs and a response of 4130 (three key
cards) will see even a conservative East settle for 6C. East can see that if West has four small spades,
6C will need just one of the spade honours to be with East for 6C to make. As it happens, North has the
jack of spades so 6C is stone cold and 7C (I would NOT bid it or advise it) makes because East has the
spade king
Board 13. North opens 1D, South bids 1NT and North shows the balanced nature of the hand by
bidding 2NT. 3C is now the equivalent of Stayman and when North bids 3S, South signs off in 3NT
Board 18. This would be hard to believe if it weren’t true. Two 4441 hands opened and game force by
responder! In the same session! This time East is dealer with NS vul. East opens 1D and West bids 1NT.
East then bids 3H to show a singleton or void heart, West bids 3S which sets the suit and is a key card
ask. When East shows just one key card, West can either conservatively sign off in 4S or bid the slam.
If you knew what West would know, what would YOU do? Playing match points I would be satisfied
with just game. But in a teams match I admit I would be tempted!
In Ch.8 we will look at the final hand from the same session, with a game force that might lead to a
slam that might be our downfall unless we are Deep Finesse
K652
Q75
K5
A732