Several Mondays ago, the North Penn DBC was graced with a couple of VIP visitors: Sleeping Beauty and, yes, the wonderful Prince Charming. The pair was at the club to warm up for the upcoming Tchaikovsky Tchampionships. SB and the Prince plus their castle-mates would soon be squaring off against the heavily favored Nutcracker team, captained by the Sugar Plum Fairy.
The Prince and his beautiful partner play a very basic 2 over 1 System with 15-17 NT and 1NT responses to a major as 100% forcing by an unpassed hand. To nobody’s surprise the Prince has always been an advocate of the “KISS” method in both bridge (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and female companionship, of course.
Prince Charming does recognize, however, that there are many flaws in the 2/1 structure and he has encouraged Sleeping Beauty to include splinters, Bergen raises, and RKC in their repertoire. And then some time ago the Prince discovered something he was sure would help solve a problem the partnership was experiencing (no, it was not the “little blue pill”).
Consider the following auction (without interference): 1♥ – 1NT; 2♣ (or 2♦) and out of the blue your partner bids 2♠! It’s “obvious” that it must mean one of the following:
(1) Sorry, Partner, I missorted my hand and just found some spades in with my clubs, or
(2) Partner, I just remembered we are not playing Flannery so I guess I’d better bid my 4-card suit now before it’s too late, or just maybe…
(3) Wake up, wake up, Sleeping Beauty, my KISS didn’t work, so I just made a bid that cannot possibly mean I have spades; it must have a very special meaning… you know, the one we discussed several months ago!!!
Let’s digress for a moment… when an uncontested auction begins 1♥ – 1NT - 2♣ (or 2♦), opener’s hand is still somewhat undefined. Does he have as few as 3 of the minor** or possibly 5 or more? Is he a dead minimum or does he hold close to a game forcing jump shift?
**Exception: if not playing Flannery and holding 4=5=2=2 distribution, opener’s forced rebid will be in her 2-card club suit with a minimum, i.e. a hand not strong enough to reverse or raise NT. Oy!
Due to these ambiguities, responder, if she holds 8 or more points, is expected to keep the auction open by raising the minor, returning to hearts with a doubleton, bidding a 6-carder of her own, or rebidding 2NT with 10+ to 12 HCPs.
Raising the minor, however, often leaves opener with a problem. Has responder given a “courtesy raise” just to keep the bidding open (8+ support points) or does he hold a pretty good limit raise? With a total minimum opener can pass, but with some extra values should she continue?
Enter Prince Charming and his “Impossible 2♠ bid”! It doesn’t come up very often but if you agree to play it, it does assist in solving a problem. Since 2♠ over a 2♣ (or 2♦) rebid has no apparent meaning, somebody got the bright idea to wake up the dead – or perhaps his sleeping partner – by saying: “If I bid 2♠, I am announcing a very good raise of your minor suit. I usually have at least 5 cards in your minor plus a terrific hand in support. I am likely unbalanced - or at least my hand is - since I didn’t rebid 2NT. Don’t give up on game too readily!”
What should opener do? If she is not impressed and is holding an absolute minimum, she can bid 2NT or 3 of her minor – both non-forcing - or she can do something more exciting with a better hand. Even if opener is totally fast asleep, she should realize that 2♠ is 100% forcing!
In today’s DOTW, Prince Charming (North) held ♠9 ♥-- ♦KQ843 ♣ KJ108732 and wondered how to proceed when SB opened 1♥. Should he bid a game-forcing 2♣, risking a misfit, or should he start with 1NT (forcing)? He decided on the latter and hoped for the best. (After the game the Prince polled bridgewinners.com and 89% agreed with his 1NT call.)
When the Prince got some good news – a 2♦ rebid by partner – he immediately bid 2♠, “The Impossible 2♠ Bid”, and his partner raised to 3♠! Was Sleepy Beauty still sleeping? Did she forget the agreement or was she suggesting 3NT since she had spades locked up? Unsure – and in no mood to play in NT – the Prince bid 4♦ thinking pard should have no trouble in bidding the diamond game with a pretty good hand. If he trusted his partner, he might have bid 4♣ instead to get her to envision a minor 2-suiter, but I think his trust was waning.
Sleeping Beauty passed 4♦, thereby missing game or slam in either diamonds or clubs. Proper play allows 12 tricks in either minor despite the 4-1 diamond break. When the Prince advised the table there had been a failure to alert his 2♠ call, SB admitted to having forgotten their agreement, but she did recollect that the bid had come up several months prior! Making 12 tricks in the part-score was above average at our club and in The Common Game, but they were sure the Sugar Plum Fairy would have at least reached game. They will have to do better against their future opponents.
After the opposing West led the ♠Q, you can follow SB’s nice line of play here . For extra credit, try making 12 tricks after the lead of a high heart; it’s a good bit tougher but you can succeed against best defense. (Email me at [email protected] if you’d like the solution.)
Playing conventions that don’t come up often can be risky. On the other hand, when the convention is triggered by a bid that seems “impossible”, it should greatly assist in jogging one’s memory. I particularly like this one not just for that reason, but because it solves a problem by employing an “idle bid” (2♠ in this case), one that would not otherwise be utilized. Additionally – and most importantly - whenever it doesn’t come up and partner merely bids 3♦, he denies having the really cool diamond raise. This could be extremely valuable information for opener.
If you are wondering if many pairs are playing the Impossible 2♠ Bid, a surprising 72% of bridgewinners.com poll participants voted for bidding 2♠ over 2♦ when holding the Prince’s hand. As a word of caution: don’t trot out this convention without discussing it with your partner. Perhaps if you rename it the “Zombie 2♠ Bid”, it will wake up the dead!
Breaking News: Prince Charming’s team did not fare well against the Nutcrackers. The Prince advised me that several tournament attendees suspected the Sugar Plum Fairy of cheating by utilizing her intricate arabesques, relevés and pirouettes to indicate which suit she wanted her partner to lead. Thus far no one has been able to crack the code, but the Prince asked me to review this video. After watching the first 20 seconds or so, I thought it was pretty obvious.
