[Ayjay]

Hello everyone,

In the version of inverted minor I'm used to, we use stopper showing after 1C-2C or 1D-2D, so that we can establish whether any suit is wide open before reaching 3NT. I recently ran into a problem playing Acol (4 card suit openings) with my partner,

---

The bidding went 1C-2C

What am I supposed to bid here, and how should arrive in 3NT? We'd probably get there comfortably if we weren't worried about checks.

Cheers

[helene_t]

Assuming that the inverted raise denies a 4-card major, you bid stoppers up the line:

If West opens:
1♣-2♣
2♥-3NT

If East opens:

- 1♣
2♣-2♦
3NT

[Fluffy]

You should focus on short suits rather than stoppers, the reason is because even when you have xx opposite xxx 3NT might be cold, and which is more important, there is no alternative contract.

So with 2 balanced hands your methods should forget about stoppers, don't give opponents the info for what to lead.

Experts might have methods to find xx vs xx, but they are not worth it, they happen so very rarely, and often 3NT -1 is still better than alternatives.


So for your hand I'd recommend methods that would bid something like:

W --- E
1♣-2♣ (W: I am strong and have clubs, E: I am also strong with clubs!)
2x-3NT( W: I am balanced minimum, E: I am balanced too, lets play 3NT)

2x is normally 2NT or 2m+1 (2♦ or 2♥ when our fit is diamonds). They can also be both if 2m is not GF and you want to distinguish between minimums and maximum

[ahydra]

Playing Acol, shouldn't both these hands be opened 1NT? Or are you playing 15-17 NT?

As Fluffy said, I prefer natural bids here rather than stopper-showing (the main idea behind inverted minors is to deal with hands where you're too strong to simply bid 3NT, so slam is in the picture, and knowing about sources of tricks is important for slam). Of course we might end up bidding 3-card suits on the third round. But on these hands there is no second suit, so we should just show a balanced minimum opener, after which responder simply goes to 3NT.

ahydra

[ggwhiz]

What I like about bidding stoppers up the line is that you can convert that into a cuebidding slam try by going past 3nt. ie

1♣ - 2♣
2♥ - 3♦
3♠ - 3nt
4♣

on slightly better cards or shape

We still use the 2nt rebid to show any balanced minimum to avoid leaking info as Fluffy mentions but go through the stopper route with unbalanced hands that usually contain a stiff and/or have slam possibilities. Responder can still start stopper showing (or cuebidding) after 2nt or just raise with no ambitions or balanced hands.

btw, our inverted raises are 100% game force and 4nt after 3nt in one of these long auctions is extremely passable.

[Ayjay]

Thanks everyone for your comments,

@ Ahydra,

You're quite right. My partner and I actually open weak 1NT. I've probably mixed up the honour cards. West may have had 15 points.

I also agree with the points made by Fluffy and helene_t. Especially at teams, it's important to bid game even if one of the suits are potentially unguarded, since it's likely that the opponents will bid it anyway.

I'm somewhat less inclined to use this approach in matchpoint scoring however. I have had several occasions where my partner and I successfully steer clear of a treacherous 3NT to get a good result at matchpoints. Also, the fact that the opponents don't lead the weak suit doesn't necessarily mean that they won't run the suit when they get the lead.

I like ggwhiz's suggestion very much though. It makes full use of the system.

Cheers

[Zelandakh]

There are many systems of follow-ups after inverted minors and it helps to put some effort in here. When I played stopper checks, I preferred to do so by bidding rhe suit where I did not have a stopper since this sometimes results in a smoother auction. A nice alternative is to play the first step after the inverted minor raise as showing a balanced hand (which would also be a GF in Acol) and to switch the stopper show/ask for that suit to 2NT. The advantage of this sort of method is that Responder can immediately identify if 2 balanced hands are facing each other and go directly to 3NT. This is often better than 5m even with a suit side open (eg with xxx opposite xxx). So, for example (using shows):

1♣ - 2♣
==
2♦ = 15+ balanced (you can still play stopper shows after this if you like, with 2NT showing diamonds)
2♥ = unbalanced, heart values
2♠ = unbalanced, spade values, denies heart values
2NT = unbalanced, diamond values, denies major suit values
3♣ = unbalanced, concentrated values and min
3♦♥♠ = shortage and extras

and

1♦ - 2♦
==
2♥ = 15+ balanced (you can still play stopper shows after this if you like, with 2NT showing hearts)
2♠ = unbalanced, spade values
2NT = unbalanced, heart values
3♣ = unbalanced, club values
3♦ = unbalanced, concentrated values and min
3♥♠ = shortage and extras

and using asks:

1♣ - 2♣
==
2♦ = 15+ balanced (you can still play stopper asks after this if you like, with 2NT denying diamonds)
2♥ = unbalanced, denies heart values
2♠ = unbalanced, denies spade values, shows heart values
2NT = unbalanced, denies diamond values, shows values in both majors
3♣ = unbalanced, concentrated values and min
3♦♥♠ = shortage and extras

and

1♦ - 2♦
==
2♥ = 15+ balanced (you can still play stopper asks after this if you like, with 2NT denying hearts)
2♠ = unbalanced, denies spade values
2NT = unbalanced, denies heart values, shows spade values
3♣ = unbalanced, denies club values, shows values in both majors
3♦ = unbalanced, concentrated values and min
3♥♠ = shortage and extras

[Ayjay]

When showing or asking for stoppers it would be also useful if the person with the stoppers bids no trumps first, protecting his honours. This may be easier to do when asking. This way, the no trump bidder can even bluff in the hope that defenders will be reluctant to lead into declarer's tenace.

Treating a jump to the 3 level in a new suit as a mini splinter is a great idea. Responder can sign off in 3NT with wasted values, cue bid aces or use 4m as RKC.

[Cyberyeti]

What we do is to not deny 4M when we bid an inverted minor, and over 2♣ use 2♦ as a better than minimum enquiry to find the 4 card majors, when none materialise we bid stops at the 3 level.