OTHER CONVENTIONAL CALLS
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EXCEPTIONS (4TH SUIT FORCE)

Suppose you have this hand as South and the auction begins:

Oops! 1 would be fourth suit but you don’t want to commit the partnership to game with only 10 high-card points plus 1 length point. On the other hand, you don’t want to miss an eight-card major suit fit by bypassing the spades.

Even partnerships that play fourth suit forcing to game generally make an exception in this particular sequence. A fourth suit bid of 1 is only forcing for one round. (some partnerships use a jump to 2 here as the artificial game-forcing call.)

Another exception arises when responder has passed initially. With fewer than 13 points, it’s unlikely responder will need fourth suit as an artificial game forcing bid. So, some partnerships treat fourth suit as a natural, non-forcing bid in this situation; others prefer to keep fourth suit as forcing, but only for one round.

NEW MINOR FORCING

Fourth suit isn’t always available to responder as a forcing bid. Let’s return to an earlier hand and suppose the auction starts like this:

You want to be in game, but it’s unclear what the best contract will be. Opener’s balanced hand could easily include three-card spade support. Unfortunately, fourth suit isn’t available as an artificial forcing call since only two suits have been bid.

In standard methods, a bid of 2 here would be non forcing. It is natural, asking opener to choose between spades and diamonds as trumps and opener can pass with a preference for diamonds.

The modern style, however, is to treat a new minor suit bid as forcing after opener’s 1NT rebid. You would bid 2 with this hand. If partner now bids 2, showing three-card support, you can jump to 4. If opener rebids something else, you can bid game in notrump. This is referred to as new minor forcing. If you want to have this agreement, check the appropriate box on the card:

There are many variations of this convention. The line beside the box can be used to indicate whether the bid of a new minor suit is forcing to game (GF) or only invitational (INV). Some partnerships prefer to always treat 2 as the forcing bid after a 1NT rebid, whether or not the opening bid was 1. This is usually referred to as checkback Stayman. Others prefer to treat 2 as artificial and game forcing, and 2 as artificial but forcing for only one round. This is referred to as two-way new minor forcing ... or 2–Way NMF in the bridge jargon on the convention card.

Whatever the partnership agreement, you’ll still face challenges. Suppose you agree to new minor forcing and are dealt one of our earlier hands. The auction begins:

You can no longer bid 2 since that would now be forcing. Instead, you’ll have to decide between passing or rebidding 2 , hoping to find a reasonable spot. Maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board!

AFTER A 2NT REBID

Whatever your agreement after a 1NT rebid, you should also discuss what to do after a 2NT rebid. For example, suppose you hold this hand and the auction begins:

Most partnerships would treat 3 here as Checkback Stayman or new minor forcing, but you want to be sure. If opener thinks it shows clubs, you may be at the slam level before things get sorted out.

JUMP SHIFT: WEAK OR STRONG?

What would you respond with this hand if partner opens with  1? If the answer is  2, you are playing strong jump shifts and don’t need to mark anything on the card. It’s standard practice.

If you would respond 1, you still don’t need to mark anything. A new suit response is forcing and you are presumably planning to show the extra strength and slam interest later. However, you are obviously wasting the 2 response. You don’t use it to show a very strong hand.

Since strong jump shifts by responder are a rarity anyway, some partnerships prefer to use them to show weak hands. You always seem to get lots of those!

For example, after an opening bid of 1, they might respond 2 with a hand like this:

This is referred to as a weak jump shift and you would check the appropriate box on the card if this is your agreement:

The “not in Comp.” means not in competition ... that is, after a takeout double or an overcall of opener’s bid. The meaning of responder’s calls after a takeout double is covered in a different section of the card and most partnerships assign some other meaning to a jump shift following an opponent’s overcall.

Again, be careful if you are going to use a convention like this. You don’t want partner to think you have a very strong hand when you are trying to describe a very weak hand. Also, some partnerships only use weak jump shifts in some sequences ... perhaps only jumps to the two level or after a minor suit opening.

WHAT ELSE GOES HERE?

You can write other agreements on the lines available in this section, such as the defenses you use when the opponents make an artificial 1 opening or use the Michaels convention (which will be discussed later). However, you can only use legal conventions. Check with your club or tournament director if you are not sure what is allowed.