[TWO4BRIDGE]

matmat, on 2010-November-19, 14:46, said:

any love for a Soloway jump?

A sometimes poster here, Bill Higgins, has looked in depth at the possible uses for the 1H - 2S! sequence .
He says ( Aug, 2006 ):
" The systemic problem with the auction 1H (p) 1S when responder has game forcing values, heart support and a good spade suit continue to bug me.
The issue:
1S is the only new suit response to a major opening that does not create a game force (in 2/1). If responder to a 1H opening has game forcing values, heart support and a spade suit which constitutes the main feature of the hand, the auction can become a real mess. This happens because of the steps required to establish a game force.

I looked at Kaplan inversion, but that really deals with a different issue .

Using 2S as a Soloway Jump Shift does at least directly deal with the issue, but I have not been all that happy with the treatment (all the documentation I find uses more strength than just game forcing, and the other options are somewhat rare and not themselves real problems in search of a solution).

Now, I am thinking more along the lines of 2S as an unlimited (at least invitational) fit jump raise.

Preliminary thinking re continuations:
1H - 2S ( fit-jump )
2N!(Relay) - ??

3C/D Shortness (any strength)
3H limit only, no short minor
3S+ game force, cue bids

Any thoughts? "

[ArtK78]

TWO4BRIDGE, on 2011-August-10, 07:25, said:

A sometimes poster here, Bill Higgins, has looked in depth at the possible uses for the 1H - 2S! sequence .
He says ( aug, 2006 ):
" The systemic problem with the auction 1H (p) 1S when responder has game forcing values, heart support and a good spade suit continue to bug me.
The issue:
1S is the only new suit response to a major opening that does not create a game force (in 2/1). If responder to a 1H opening has game forcing values, heart support and a spade suit which constitutes the main feature of the hand, the auction can become a real mess. This happens because of the steps required to establish a game force.

I looked at Kaplan inversion, but that really deals with a different issue .

Using 2S as a Soloway Jump Shift does at least directly deal with the issue, but I have not been all that happy with the treatment (all the documentation I find uses more strength than just game forcing, and the other options are somewhat rare and not themselves real problems in search of a solution).

Now, I am thinking more along the lines of 2S as an unlimited (at least invitational) fit jump raise.

Preliminary thinking re continuations:
1H - 2S ( fit-jump )
2N!(Relay) - ??

3C/D Shortness (any strength)
3H limit only, no short minor
3S+ game force, cue bids

Any thoughts? "

I use the 2♠ response to a 1♥ opening as an artificial heart raise, consisting of:

1) A mini-splinter (opener relays to 2NT, responder rebids at the 3 level in his shortness - 3♥=spade shortness).
2) A maxi-splinter (opener relays to 2NT, responder rebids his shortness starting with 3♠).
3) A strong NT hand with a fit (opener relays to 2NT, responder bids 3NT with 3 hearts and 4♥ with 4 or 5 hearts).

A direct splinter (1♥-3♠ or 1♥-4m) is a minimum game forcing splinter.
A 2NT response to 1♥ is Jacoby.
Responses of 2♥, 3♣, 3♦ and 3♥ are Bergen.

Missing from this picture is any sort of fit showing jump. It is my experience that hands appropriate for fit showing jumps are not a problem in an uncontested auction. Admittedly, as you say, 1♥-1♠ is the only awkward sequence, in that it does not create an immediate game force. But that is usually correctable later in the auction.

(I am considering changing the meaning of the direct splinter to show a void and the relay big splinter to show a singleton, with neither sequence showing more than a game force).

[jogs]

matmat, on 2010-November-19, 14:46, said:

any love for a Soloway jump?

1♥ - 2♠

Opener knows responder has 4 hearts and at most 4 minor suit cards. Opener only needs the ♥K and ♣A for 7♥ to be odds on.

1♥ - 2NT

Opener only knows about the 4-card heart support. He may think he needs the ♣J to solidify his club suit.

[jdeegan]

2♠
A strong jump shift should show any hand that might produce a laydown slam opposite the right minimum. This hand easily qualifies.

[Zelandakh]

ArtK78, on 2011-August-10, 08:11, said:

I use the 2♠ response to a 1♥ opening as an artificial heart raise, consisting of:

1) A mini-splinter (opener relays to 2NT, responder rebids at the 3 level in his shortness - 3♥=spade shortness).
2) A maxi-splinter (opener relays to 2NT, responder rebids his shortness starting with 3♠).
3) A strong NT hand with a fit (opener relays to 2NT, responder bids 3NT with 3 hearts and 4♥ with 4 or 5 hearts).

A direct splinter (1♥-3♠ or 1♥-4m) is a minimum game forcing splinter.
A 2NT response to 1♥ is Jacoby.
Responses of 2♥, 3♣, 3♦ and 3♥ are Bergen.

Missing from this picture is any sort of fit showing jump. It is my experience that hands appropriate for fit showing jumps are not a problem in an uncontested auction. Admittedly, as you say, 1♥-1♠ is the only awkward sequence, in that it does not create an immediate game force. But that is usually correctable later in the auction.

(I am considering changing the meaning of the direct splinter to show a void and the relay big splinter to show a singleton, with neither sequence showing more than a game force).

As I have previously posted I play something not dissimilar but not including hand type 3. To be honest I am not sure that it is a great idea to include it since this hand type can happily go via 2NT and the 4H rebid after the relay is (imho) a poor use of space. Note that you can also separate out voids from singletons in the stronger hands if you want. After 2NT, I use 3S as any void and 3NT as a spade singleton. The same trick also works for immediate responses to 1H with weaker hands. I (strongly) believe this is a better treatment than the one you are considering where you have a void splinter and a singleton splinter but no "in-between" splinter.

The fit jumps can sometimes be recovered if you allow Responder to break relays with this hand type, for example 1H - 2NT; 3C! - 3S with a good spade suit (whatever 3C means!). There is no problem with this since if you want a cue auction you could just continue with 3H. I wrote about this in a similar thread a while back where the alternatives of showing the side suit and afterwards support versus showing support and afterwards the side suit were discussed. There are certainly some strong opinions on both sides of this but I think if you are going to the trouble of using a raise scheme like you have then the "support first" approach is more harmonious. Delayed support can always be less than 4 which is useful information for partner. Note that I have also tried methods with fit jumps instead of the in-between splinters and, like you, do not think they are as good overall in uncontested auctions.

Finally, I do not have your issue after 1H - 1S since I play this as a relay. The fact that all invitational-plus hands have to start with 1S in my system makes it even more important than usual to get the support in immediately. The weakness-showing 1NT (spades) and 2m responses tend to be mild winners over standard; the downside is that there are fewer purely invitational sequences, somewhat mitigated by them not being required if Opener has extras (can stay in relays). This last paragraph is probably straying away from the point so I will close up and summarise with my main recommendation - drop the strong NT raise from 2S and instead put your void splinter here (for stronger hands) and in 1H - 3S (for minimum GF hands).

[jdeegan]

Splinter baaaaaaaa....d bid. JTB is OK. 2♠ strong is the best. The ♠ queen and minor suit aces are huge. You are a favorite to make six opposite any number of minimum openers. Even:
Qx
KJxxxx
Jxx
A10x
Get partner focused on what you know you need: ♣ ace or Kx, ♦ ace, ♥ tops and the ever-popular ♠ Q.