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Bidding decisions on the principle of GBS

This advice suggests that when deciding how to structure your system or interpret a bid, finding the best game should take priority over searching for slam. This means that when in doubt, you should treat an ambiguous bid as a natural suggestion of a trump suit or as a search for game, rather than as a control bid for a possible slam. The wisdom of this approach is based partly on the idea that games deserve more emphasis because they come up more frequently. More important, though, is that since you have only three or four bidding levels to investigate game – and five or six to search for slam-it’s best to devote that limited space to bids that help you make game-level decisions. The game-before-slam theory often comes into play when partner makes a new-suit bid at the three-level. Suppose you hold ♠52 ♥AJ1063 ♦AQ ♣KJ62 and the auction goes: 1♥-2♣-3♣-3♠.

If partner intended 3♠ as a control bid for a club slam, you’d want to encourage w/a return control bid of 4♦. But if he has a minimum and is just looking for a notrump game, this is your last chance to show your diamond stopper. At this point in the auction, those who rely on the game-before-slam guideline treat 3♠ as a search for 3NT. With two unbid suits in question, partner will bid the one where he has a stopper, so this auction suggests that he needs diamond cards in your hand. Partner might hold ♠KQJ ♥54 ♦103 ♣AQ9743. If he has a more powerful hand, there’s still plenty of room to investigate. He can show slam intentions – and confirm that 3♠ was a control bid-by bidding on over 3NT

Here are some other three-level auctions where the game-before-slam principle should apply:

You LHO Partner RHO
1♦ 1♠ 2♠ Pass
3♦ Pass 3♠  

Even though partner has control bid twice, there’s no reason to assume he has anything more than a minimum game-force. His first control bid showed a limit-raise or better in diamonds. His second control bid confirms the “or better” hand and asks for a spade stopper, so your first priority is to bid 3NT if you have one.

1♠-1NT-2♠-3♣-3♥. It’s unlikely that partner, who has already limited his hand, is making an advance control bid for a club slam. The game-before-slam interpretation of 3♥ is that he’s interested in a notrump game, but doesn’t have a diamond stopper (if he did, he would have bid 3NT).

Sometimes in Bridge, ambiguity is allowed. As every Bridge player knows, ambiguous bids confuse auctions. With minor fits & when you are below 3NT, you can make bids whose true meaning gets clarified later in the auction. The goal w/minor fits is 3NT. This is a Bridge basic. Inverted minors, especially when you play them as limit raise or better, allows ambiguity. Was the bid a suit, a stopper or a Q bid? Only time will tell.

You have ♠Qx ♥Kx ♦AJ9x ♣QJ109x, partner opens 1♣. Steve Lawrence held this hand in Reno & responded 2♣. I bid 3♣ which in our system is the only bid that is non-forcing. When partner has the limit raise, the auction can get passed. Once partner bids after a non-forcing bid, a game force is now on. Steve now bid 3♦ so is it a suit, a Q bid or showing a stopper for NT? The answer is all of the above. There is another Bridge basic that now comes into play. Games before slams. In other words, your initial interpretation of a forcing bid should be geared towards getting to the best game, not a slam. You should interpret the bid as a suit or a NT stopper before a Q bid.

You hold ♠A1098 ♥A10xx ♦10 ♣K876 so what should you bid from the other side in this particular auction? You are all controls so this hand is a very good minimum but a minimum nevertheless. Think game beforeslam, you should bid 3NT before bidding a major suit Ace. Why? Because if partner’s diamond bid was a Q bid w/slam interest, the bid will now be clarified by pulling 3NT. 3NT is never pulled from a position of weakness. Change partner’s hand to ♠Qx ♥Kx ♦AJ9x ♣AQJ109, partner will bid 4♣. She can stand 4NT as a contract so she will now make her true intentions known.

With your controls, you are more than happy to carry on so +1370 results. In Reno, I broke the rule of “game before slam” so I Q bid instead of bidding 3NT. This got us to a horrible slam which I luckily made due to a defensive error. I got a diamond lead & I played the diamond Ace and ruffed. I led a low club which LHO ducked & ruffed another diamond. I went to the heart king, ruffed the last diamond everybody following. I played the Ace and ruffed a heart & led a club. They broke 2-2, LHO had all spades left so was end played away from her spade King for +1370. Sometimes it pays to be lucky rather than good.

In all auctions, you should “think game before slam”. Here is one where I messed up playing with Tom Gandolfo. 1♠ by Tom in 4th seat vul. A nV 2♦ overcall & I bid 3♦ holding ♠QJxx ♥KJx ♦xxx ♣Kxx which was doubled. Tom bid 3♥ & they bid 4♦ so here is where I fell from grace. I “Q bid” 4♥ thinking that partner was groping for slam. Wrong as Tom was thinking “game before slam” & rightfully thought I was giving him a choice of games. Tom passed 4♥ & we went one down cold for +620 in spades. 3♥ should be a suit until I hear otherwise. In fact, in this particular auction where our Q bid was doubled all bids have meanings. 3♠say I have the minimum, 3♥ is natural & pass should be a general game try or a game try with club values. This is conserving useful bidding space & keeping the auction at 3♠ or less. I will get it right eventually…

GBS rules

Uncontested – 1 suit so far

3♦ – search naturally for majors, do not bother w/clubs
3♣ – search naturally for all

Uncontested – 2 suits so far

Third suit – positive (economical, bypassing any suit below 3NT means no stop in this suit)

Uncontested – 3 suits so far

Fourth suit - negative

Contested – they have one suit

Cue – negative

Contested – they have two suits

Cue – positive (economical)