A limit bid*

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A limit bid*

Which South hand fits the bidding best?

West	North	East	South
—	1♣	pass	3♣¹

¹ Limit raise, not forcing but invitational

N/EW
South 1		South 2		South 3
♠	7 6 5 4	♠	A K 7	♠	6 5
♥	J 6	♥	A 4	♥	Q 10 9
♦	A J	♦	9 6 2	♦	K 5 4
♣	K Q 7 6 5	♣	Q 7 6 5 4	♣	A J 10 9 6

Solution

South's 3♣ bid shows 10-11 HCP. Despite the club fit he has not added distributional points, since NS will often end up playing no trump, in which distributional points (ruffing value!) do not pull any weight (only add distributional points after having discovered a major suit fit or when it is agreed that the minor suit will be trumps).
A bid like this is usually called invitational or a limit raise. (The first description being less popular but more accurate: although many bids are limited — take for instance a 1NT opening bid — a great part of them are not invitational to game. However, our English language editor David Babcock remarks: 'It is true that a “limit raise” is “limited”, but the “limit” refers to the estimated trick-taking capability of the combined hands if partner is minimum, not to the point count of the bid – so the word is not inaccurate when looked at that way').
So over South's 3♣ raise, North will pass with a minimum and bid game (or start investigating the best game) if he has some extra strength.

South 1 should bid not 3♣ but 1♠. We never settle for a minor suit if a major suit fit cannot be ruled out. So South should bid his four-card major, no matter how feeble it is. If there turns out to be a 4-4 spade fit, a spade contract will usually be superior to a club contract since (a) it pays better and (b) game in spades is a trick less than game in clubs.

South 2 is too strong for an invitational bid. He should settle for game.
He has a fairly difficult decision to take. He may of course bid 3NT, hoping not to be troubled in the diamond suit.
He may also try the effect of a 1♦ response. This keeps the bidding open (it's forcing) and might later prevent a diamond lead against a no-trump contract...*

South 3's hand is perfect for 3♣. He denies a four-card major and bids invitationally to game. If North has extra strength he will often bid 3NT. Or he will bid three in a suit, to show a guard. This is the start of an investigation: if NS turn out to have guards in all side suits, they will end up in 3NT. If there turns out to be an unguarded suit, they continue the investigation.

* To make such a 1♦ bid without having a diamond suit is — on a hand like this (!) — neither a psychic bid nor cheating. Furthermore partner is not obliged to alert this 1♦ response 'just in case South has this kind of hand'. The reason is that South will always make such a non-natural bid on a hand like this since he doesn't have a choice: there is no natural bid available (3NT is a wild gamble). EW are expected to know this, they will have encountered similar bidding problems themselves.
Another example of a non-natural bid that doesn't qualify for alerting by partner:

West	North	East	South
—	1♠	pass	??

♠	A Q J 10 2
♥	A K 2
♦	Q 4 3
♣	6 2

This is not a problem for NS pairs who play an artificial, strong response, showing spade support (the best known of which is a jump bid to 2NT; this is called Jacoby 2NT in the USA; Truscott without the double in some parts of Europe; Stenberg in Norway, to name a few).

But if NS have not agreed upon such a convention, South is in a fix. He is (far) too strong for a raise to 4♠ and 3♠ is not forcing. 4NT, which will unfortunately be the choice of many a South player, is a very bad bid (what should South bid next, if North shows one ace...?).
In short, South has no choice: he bids 2♣. North doesn't have to alert, even if he knows that South can bid 2♣ on this kind of hand. EW are supposed to know that this is a possibility. Such bids are of course very rare.

But note that if South were to do such a bid while having a perfectly natural alternative, he would deviate from natural bidding. If he does so regularly, his partner has to alert!

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