Dear Ed & Peter,

I play SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card, - Ed/Peter) ...and have learned in responding to partners opening bid, bid four card suits up the line, and five card suits from the top down. WHY? Partner and I are having a disagreement.

Thanks,

Hetty Kallman

Reply from Ed Hoogenkamp ('South'):

Dear Hetty,

The idea of bidding four card suits up the line is the following:
once bid all the information about that suit is given, partner knows you have four. So he knows if you have a fit or not. No reason for you to bid this suit again or give extra information. Giving this type of information we do best bidding up the line to have maximum space to introduce four card suits cheaply.

♠	J 4 3			♠	K 10 5 2
♥	K Q 6 5			♥	A 9 8 3
♦	A 2			♦	10 9 6
♣	K 6 5 4			♣	9 8

EW are in trouble if East decides to bid 1♠ instead of 1♥ .....
Bidding up the line saves space.

But... bidding five card suits is a different story altogether. With your first bid, often you haven't told partner you have a five card suit. To tell him cheaply in your second bid, that second bid has to be in a lower suit than your first bid.

♠	J 9 3			♠	K 10 7 5 2
♥	K 5			♥	A 9 8 3 2
♦	A 8 6 2			♦	J 5
♣	K J 5 4			♣	9

* West would also bid 2♠ having two spades and three hearts! Hence the 3♥ bid by East. It is dual purpose: firstly hearts might be the best trump suit (if West indeed has 2-3 in spades-hearts) and secondly East makes a small game try. (The 5-5 distribution compensates for the lack of points. East is sure there is a real major fit: in view of his 1NT rebid West must have a three card suit in one of the majors).

The basic sequence to show a 5-5 hand is A - B - B (opening suit A, rebid suit B twice). You can see the bidding is easier if suit B is your lowest suit.

Not clear yet? Read what Pete has to say. He is the king of good examples...

Un saludo desde Barcelona

Reply from Peter van der Linden ('North'):

Dear Hetty,

Actually, Ed's examples aren't that bad. I will stick to them and extend Ed's very (too?) brief explanation (he says he's very sorry about that; he had an important meeting in a cantina - with a glass of cool white wine that is).

1. Let's take a look at Ed's first example, from East's point of view.
A. The idea of bidding four card suits up the line is based on the following: East bids his cheapest four card suit (1♥), giving West the opportunity to bid 1♠ if he has a four card spade suit (and no four card heart suit by the way: tell partner about a major suit fit at once!). Whatever West bids, the situation in the majors is solved:
- If West - unlike here - bids 1♠ (denying four hearts!) the spade fit is found: East raises to 2♠.
- If West - like here - raises to 2♥ (not denying four spades by the way) the heart fit is found. East will pass.
- If West bids 1NT (or a minor) East can rule out the possibility of a 4-4 fit in either major. There is no point in bidding spades anymore, he simply passes 1NT, knowing there is neither a fit nor a better contract.
B. Now suppose East had bid 1♠ (down the line) instead of 1♥.
- If West - unlike here - raises to 2♠ (fit found) there is no problem (East will pass).
- If West - like here - bids 1NT, East is in a fix. West might have four hearts (which he has in this case) but he might as well not. There is no way to find out. By bidding 2♥ now, East would show 5-4 (or 5-5) in spades-hearts. West would bid 2♠ on three spades. (Or sometimes even two: this is called 'giving preference to partner's first suit.' After all, East's 2♥ bid can be rather weak, 6-7 points is possible; by bidding for instance 2NT West would end up too high).
So East would have to pass 1NT, meaning a 4-4 fit in hearts can have been missed.

Conclusion: bid up the line with four card suits.

2. Now look at Ed's second example.
A. Suppose East would bid 1♥ here as well (up the line).
- If West now bids 1♠ the fit is found, no problem (lucky East!).
- If West raises the heart suit again all is well (again: lucky East).
- But if West bids 1NT (or a minor) East is in a fix. Unlike in example 1, he cannot rule out a fit in either major (true, there is no 5-4 fit, but in both majors a 5-3 fit is still possible). There is no way East can find out in which suit there is a 5-3 fit (he can be certain there is one in at least one major, do you see how he can tell?).
If he would bid 2♥ now, he would show a six card suit. (Yet this bid is his best bet now, after having erred by bidding 1♥, for at least he will end up in either a 5-3 or 5-2 fit now. He runs the risk though to see a dummy coming down with three spades and two hearts).
If he would bid 2♠ - a reverse bid by the partner of the opener - he would force to game and show four spades and five hearts at least. A recipe for disaster therefore...
B. Now East starts off with 1♠.
- If West raises: no problem.
- If West bids 1NT, East rebids 2♥, showing 5-4 or 5-5 in spades-hearts.
All is under control now. If West has four hearts, he will raise hearts. If not, he will 'give preference' to 2♠, whether he has three or two (!) spades. To cater for the possibility West has given preference on 2-3 in spades-hearts, East can repeat his hearts suit (3♥) if he does not have an abysmal minimum. This way he can still end up in the right trump suit, see Ed's explanation.
Conclusion: bid five card suits down the line.

En hils fra Orkanger