All News

What? Never?                    

Forcing….Pass!

Perhaps it stems from my English heritage but I am a fan of the Multi 2, not just the watered down version where the option is a weak 2 in a major but the full 3- way option, strong and balanced, weak in a major or strong single-suited minor. There are many advantages like allowing the strong hand in the partnership to be declarer in game, maybe even in part-score when you open 2 with a Weak 2, like giving a wider range of sub-opening hands that can be opened at the 2-level as compared with a standard Weak 2 or even when the opponents are kind enough to overcall the Weak 2 opener’s suit before they can!

However, today’s situation involves none of the above. Today’s bidding problem is really not too hard:

 

2NT is 20-22 balanced. Your preferred choice of responding 1NT will not be accepted by your opponents! So, where to go?

The answer is to put down dummy after passing and tell your partner that they do not have to make too many overtricks!

You could try a Staymanic 3 hoping partner might reply 3 or maybe even 3 but you could just be digging a bigger hole and therefore will pass. 2NT will rarely make.

Split-Range 20-23 hcp balanced openers

Many players split the range of their strong balanced hands, 20-21 and 22-23. Some choose to open 20-21 2NT and the Multi 2 with 22-23. This seems strange to me as it loses one other advantage of the Multi 2 opener. If dummy is going to produce a hand like the above, maybe a point or two stronger, then I would be happier passing 2NT knowing my partner held 22-23 rather than 20-21. That does give the contract a slightly better chance of success.

Opening 2 with 20-21 allows the partnership an extra chance of staying out of 2NT on some very weak hands, hands where the weak hand holds diamonds, not just 5+ diamonds, but even a 4-card suit:

 

The above West hand was not quite the one my partner held recently when I did pass the Multi opening. The hand West held had 4 diamonds and one less club but the point is that as long as opener has at least three diamonds, it is unlikely to play worse than in 2NT and may well play better. On the actual lay-out where West held 4 diamonds and the singleton A, they made +130 whereas 2NT had minimal chance of success.

East would struggle in 2 on the above lay-out though their chance of success would improve if South did not lead a trump. On some days, South would balance over 2 though that might not be the right action knowing West held 20-21 hcp.

I would not say passing the Multi 2 is common but I would say each time I have had a suitable hand to pass, it has worked to my side’s benefit. 2 on the above lay-out should be defeated, with a certain loser in each major, two trump losers and probably two club losers. Defences have been known to be generous at times, too!

Meanwhile, 2NT will be defeated even on a friendly heart lead.

Strangely, I am yet to see an opponent pass their partner’s Multi 2 opening. Perhaps, I hold worse hands than my opponents!

Richard Solomon

Go Back View All News Items