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Conventions: Splinters by Mike Lawrence

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Jumping around — using splinters to show shortness

Splinter bids are unusual jumps to show trump support and shortness (a singleton or void) in the suit bid. Consider the auctions below. Can you describe what is needed to make that bid? To help you, consider a good rule: A splinter is a bid that is one level higher than necessary, such as one higher than a jump shift or one level higher than a reverse. Look at this auction:

Mano Lawrence 1

A jump to 2spade would be a strong jump shift. The 3spade bid, therefore, shows a singleton or void in spades and shows enough points for game. Because the 1heart suit bid promised only 6 points, opener needs about 19-20 support points for his splinter bid. A typical hand is: mano lawrence 2

This hand has 17 points and it has a singleton. In support of hearts, it’s worth around 20 points. The nice thing about this bid, as with all splinters, is that responder learns most of opener’s features in just one bid. Now consider this:

mano lawrence 3

In the above auction, a 3club bid would be a strong jump shift. Therefore, 4club is a splinter bid. Because responder is only promising 6 points for a bid at the one level, opener needs a lot for his splinter bid. A typical hand: Mike lawrence hand 4

Try this one:ML M5

Would 3diamond suit be forcing? Yes. Because there is no need to jump to show a diamond suit, 4diamond suit is a splinter. Partner says he is interested in a slam, and, because he knows opener has 12-14 support points, responder must have an 18 count or better that smells like a slam.

A typical hand: ML M6

Splinters can be made by weak hands:

MML 7

Responder bids 2diamond suit as a waiting bid. When opener bids spades, responder can make a splinter bid if he has the right hand. An example: MML 7

What is 4club in this auction?

MML 7

The usual rule applies: Responder could bid 3club to force, so his jump is a splinter — it is not Gerber. I suggest you abandon Gerber except on very clear situations. In this case, responder has good diamonds and is showing heart support, too, along with club shortness. A typical hand: MML 7

Consider this auction: MML 7

Because 3heart suit would be forcing, 4heart suit is a splinter. A splinter generally delivers four trumps. But note that if responder had four spades, he could have made a splinter on the first round. When he bids 2club and then jumps, he suggests only three spades: MML

What better way to describe this hand? Responder shows clubs and then shows his three-card support along with his singleton heart. Let’s see how this influences opener. Here are two hands he might have.

With: MML, opener would realize that his heart suit K Q 8 were not working cards and sign off in 4spade .

Now suppose he has this hand: MML

In this case, opener would realize that this 14-point hand is gold. All of his points are working and he has nothing wasted in hearts. Slam is not cold, but good enough to bid.

Esta entrada también está disponible en: Spanish

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