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MULTPLEX.CVA
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1995-09-28
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MULTIPLEX BIDS
The standard American practice of opening 2C with big hands and
using other two-level bids as weak two bids has several short-
comings:
1) A weak two bid opener has the sort of hand that would be better
as dummy than as the declaring hand. After you open 2S with
S-AKJ764 H-85 D-54 C-873, partner's raise to 4S makes you wish he
could play the hand. He might have S-Q85 H-AJ2 D-K32 C-KQJ9. Game
is more likely from his side than from yours. Besides, the
defenders know what your hand is like. Why not put the known hand
on the table, and keep the other hand a mystery?
Solution: Use transfer openings for weak two bids in the majors,
so that partner can play the hand.
2) Opening bids of 2C are made with a wide variety of suit-type
hands. Opener may be balanced or unbalanced. Responder has a
difficult time evaluating a hand that contains some secondary
strength, which may be worthless opposite opener's void or
singleton. A hand like S-4 H-KJ87 D-KJ43 C-10862 is barely worth
a game bid if opener has S-AKQJ873 H-4 D-62 C-AK2, but is enough
for slam if opener has S-AKQJ87 H-A4 D-Q52 C-AK, despite the fact
that both are nine-trick hands. Responder needs help in judging
such hands. As in this case, artificial step responses showing
number of controls can be of help, but that approach also has
drawbacks.
Another facet of this problem arises when responder has a long
broken suit. Suppose responder has S-void H-Q876432 D-Q87 C-652 and
the bidding goes:
Opener Responder
2C 2D
2S 3H
3NT ?
Should responder pass 3NT or bid 4H? If responder could count on
opener for a balanced hand, he would bid 4H. However, opener might
have short or void hearts and nine tricks in his own hand: S-AKQJ10
H-9 D-AKJ2 C-KQJ. The hand is sure to make game in notrump, but a
heart game is likely to fail. If responder passes 3NT, opener is
sure to have S-AKQ32 H-J9 D-AK62 C-AK. The notrump game might not
make, while a heart game would probably produce an overtrick.
Yet another facet: A player with a strong two-suited hand should
start showing his suits right away. Otherwise opposing bids may
prevent him from showing both suits. Even partner's bidding can get
in the way:
Opener Responder
2C 2D
2S 3H
?
Opener has S-AKQ93 H-A D-AQ4 C-KQ102. Should he bid 3NT or 4C?
Probably 3NT in view of the 2D response, but that misses slam if
responder has something like S-2 H-Q10873 D-K76 C-J965. In the old
days of strong two bids, the bidding would be easy:
Opener Responder
2S 2NT - negative response
3C 5C
6C
A partial solution to all these facets of problem 2) is to use
different openings for a strong two bid in a major, depending on
whether the hand is balanced or not. Partner will be able to
evaluate his hand more accurately, and if the unbalanced hand
starts by naming a real suit instead of making an artificial bid,
it will be easier to show two and three-suited hands.
3) When a 2C opener has a 23-24 HCP hand, a positive response of
2NT or higher bid prevents him from rebidding 2NT. He must bid
notrump at a higher level. The accurate bidding sequences that are
available after a 2NT rebid (the same as those following an opening
2NT bid) are not available when opener rebids 3NT. That is a major
reason for the semi-automatic 2D response: It permits opener to
rebid 2NT, making room for Stayman, Jacoby, Gerber (jump to 4C),
and all the other paraphernalia of modern notrump bidding.
But suppose opener has 25-27 HCP or more? The semi-automatic 2D
response won't help here, because opener must jump to 3NT to show
such a hand. Responder may have S-10872 H-J876 D-4 C-Q982. He would
like to use Stayman, but even if 4C is Stayman (or should it be
Gerber?), he is going to get to a dangerous 4NT contract of opener
doesn't have a major. Responder is trapped!
Solutions to problem 3): Lessen the probability that partner's
bidding will prevent a 2NT rebid after a 2C opening. Also, find a
way to show 25-27 HCP notrump hands at the two level, giving
responder a chance to use the three-level notrump conventions that
are so valuable.
4) It is often necessary to open 2NT with 5-3-3-2 hands. Some
players partially solve that problem by using "Puppet Stayman,"
inquiring whether opener has a five-card major, but that convention
has drawbacks. Example: Give responder a 3-5-3-2 hand, and he can't
use Puppet Stayman. He responds 3D (Jacoby) and rebids 3NT, missing
a better spade game if opener has five spades. A hand with 5-4 in
the majors is also a problem. In addition, Puppet Stayman sequences
often reveal too much to the opponents, and of course there is no
way of locating a five-card minor in opener's hand. What we need
is a two-level bid that shows a 5-3-3-2 shape notrump hand.
Solution to 4): Find a two-level bid that shows a 21-22 HCP notrump
hand that includes a five-card suit. This range is more frequent
than the 23-24 HCP notrump hands, so we give it preference. We
can't do everything. Some players will substitute 20-21 HCP and
22-24 HCP for those ranges, but this book ignores such overbids.
Final Solutions
For Problem 1): Use transfer openings for weak two bids in the
majors. Open 2D (Marvin 2D) with hearts and 2H (Marvin 2H)
with spades, so that partner can play the hand.
For Problem 2): Open 2C with strong balanced hands featuring a long
major suit. With unbalanced hands, open 2D (Marvin 2D) with spades,
and 2H (Marvin 2H) with hearts. These now become "multiplex bids,"
named after the communications technique of sending multiple
messages over a single channel, separating them later. With so many
types of hand to be shown at the two level, it is necessary to
double up with multipurpose bids. Actually 2C is already a
multiplex bid in standard American bidding, used for either a
notrump-type or a suit-type hand.
For Problem 3): Open 2C and rebid minimally in notrump with a 25-27
HCP notrump hand. Using this range, partner is less likely to make
a positive response that prevents a 2NT rebid. Also, open 2H
(Marvin 2H) with a 23-24 HCP (or 22-24 HCP, if you are so inclined)
notrump hand and rebid minimally in notrump. As will be seen,
responder's usual 2S response permits a 2NT rebid.
For Problem 4): Open 2D (Marvin 2D) and rebid minimally in notrump
with a 21-22 HCP notrump hand of 5-3-3-2 shape. Partner's usual 2H
response permits a 2NT rebid. Macho types will use a range of 20-21
HCP.
Are there any drawbacks to multiplex bids? You bet. I can think of
four off-hand:
1) Responder cannot make a preemptive raise of a weak two bid in
a major, because opener may not have that sort of hand. This
effective preemptive bid will not be available, generally speaking.
2) The semi-automatic ranking suit responses to Marvin 2D and
Marvin 2H sometimes prevents responder from describing his hand
accurately when opener is strong.
3) The opponents can double an artificial opening to show that
suit. When opener bids 2H with a weak two bid sort of hand, the
next hand may double and find a heart contract tht would have been
shut out by a 2S opening. This is the consideration that makes
transfer preemptive openings of doubtful value when there are no
other compensating benefits.
4) The weak hand will sometimes end up playing a contract that the
strong hand should play. For instance:
Opener Responder
2D 2H - semi-automatic
2NT 3C - Stayman
3H 4H
On balance, these shortcomings seem relatively minor compared with
the advantages of multiplex bids.
Marvin 2D and Marvin 2H are discussed in the following two
chapters. There is no need to detail the bidding that follows a 2C
opening, except to remember that a hand that opens 2C and follows
with a major suit bid has to be balanced (maybe 5-4-2-2, but no
singleton or void), and that a notrump rebid (forcing, of course)
shows 25-27 HCP.
MULTIPLEX BIDS was published in Popular Bridge magazine, August
1980, in an article entitled "Two-Way Bids." It was also published
in the Contract Bridge Forum, February 1992.