Interference over opponent’s opening OF 1NT.
Why Interfere with an Opponent’s 15 to 17 HCP 1NT Opening?
We use numerous conventions after our 1NT opening that enablesus to find major suit fits, do transfers, etc. withStayman, Jacoby, 4-way transfers, Texas, etc. Sometimes responder will pass the 1NT opening. But a passed-out 1NT opening often makes 2NT for a score of 120 - - not a good score for the opponents in a partialauction. +120 beats all the +90 or +110 or -50 or -100 scoresthat opponents might make.
This means that we must know how to compete against a 1NT opening, and, on the other side of the table, as the 1NT openers, we must know how to cope with this competition.
There are many conventions to interfere with a 1NT opening when the opponents have shape, because a shapely handcan compete with a flat 1NT hand at low levels. All 1NT interference conventions are based on shape – one long (6+) suit or two 5+-card suits.
How many tricks do you think you might take all by yourself with this 12 HCP hand?
7? 8? How about with 7 HCP in the dummy, like the ♥ K3 and ♣ A2? 9? 10?
(♠AQT98 ♥3 ♦72 ♣ KQJT8)
The intent is to interfere with the 1NT opening, perhaps pushing them too high or making them miss their best fit: it’s not to become the declarer. The opener has 15 to 17 HCP, so opponents aren’t looking for game – they’re just“pushing”.
Examples: The simplest interference bid is a simple suit overcall: [1NT - 2♦ …]
Whatever happens in this hand, you’re not playing 1NT. The responder, knowing what the opener has in HCP and general shape, must deal somehow with the 2♦ overcall, which is a decent 6+ card Diamond suit and “some” HCP, depending on vulnerability.
The oldest and simplest interference convention beyond a straight overcall like this2♦ is called Landy.Playing Landy, a conventional overcall of 2♣* means the opponent has both majors – presumably in a 5 – 5 distribution. The Landy bidder’s partner can name her longest major at the 2-level, and the 1NT opener and responder must deal with it somehow. Shape and fit can take lots of tricks. All other suit overcalls, playing Landy, are “natural”, so a Landy 2♦ overcall means the bidder has a bunch of Diamonds.
Even more common than Landy is a 2NT (Unusual NoTrump) overcall, meaning the 2NT bidder has both minors – presumably with 5 – 5 shape. Virtually all interference systems today include this 2NT overcall to show minors. Landy and 2NT work well together: an overcall of 2♣ shows both majors, 2♦ or 2♥ or 2♠ shows a single-suited shapely hand, and 2NT shows both minors.
But there are combinations – other 2-suited hands – that aren’t covered using Landy and 2NT: Hearts and Diamonds, for example, or Spades and Clubs. More sophisticated interference systems add these combinations as well as the 6 described above.
You and partner need to select and use some interference system, and you must know how to deal with them when opponents interfere with your 1NT opening, which they often will. There are many of them in common use. We are going to study Hamilton/Cappelletti, not because it’s necessarily the best such convention, but because Valley opponents will often use it against you. So you need to know both sides of the Hamilton bidding sequence auction: they follow below.
Hamilton uses the following bids over an opponent's 1NT opening. It adds 5 more shapely hands to the 6 we saw above using Landy and 2NT.
- Double shows a hand equal in HCP strength to the opening 1NT. [1NT – Dbl..]
- 2♣* shows a one-suited hand. It asks partner to bid 2♦*, and then the Hamilton bidder will pass 2♦ or correct to her 6+ card suit. [1NT - 2♣* - P - 2♦* P - 2♥ ...]
- 2♦* shows 5 Hearts and 5 Spades: the majors. Usually;maybe 5 – 4 not vul.
- 2♥* shows 5 Hearts and a 5-card minor suit. Usually.
- 2♠* shows 5 Spades and a 5-card minor suit. Usually.
- 2NT shows both minorsuits. Usually.
Why “Usually?”
As always, your vulnerability vs. theirs, and the minus scores you risk if you are doubled and/or set, influence how aggressive you can be. Not Vul vs Vul is the best.
In a partial contract, you cannot afford to go down 200, because that’s more than they can make in any partial. So, vulnerable, you need to be very shapely and have 10 to12 HCP or so to bid Hamilton. Not vul, maybe 8 to 10+ HCP?
If it looks like they could be going to game, then you can afford to go down more, depending on their vulnerability: minus500, for 4♣, down 3 doubled, wins if they were going to make plus 600 for their vulnerable 3NT contract.
So if you get your bid in, it may hamper them, and, perhaps more important, you or partner may find a profitable sacrifice. At a minimum, partner should find a good lead.
And remember, it’s only the score that counts at the end of a hand. Don’t be timid about going down: your minus score is just the plus score they were going to make anyway; but hopefully lower. Minus 100 wins if they were going to make plus 120, right?
So “usually” means there’s sometimes room for “creativity”if you have good shape and know how to score this game during the auction – not afterwards.
Some examples of Hamilton in action:
Suppose West,playing Hamilton, holds the following hands after a 1NT opening bid by South: [1NT - ???]. What should she bid, if anything? Assume both are not vulnerable.
♥ K 7 5
♦ A Q J 9 8 3
♣ 9 2 / B) ♠ K Q 8 7
♥ A J 10 8 5
♦ 10 9 3
♣ 5 / C) ♠ A J 9 8 5
♥ 8 6
♦ K Q 8 7 3
♣ 7
/ D) ♠ A J 9 8
♥ Q 8 6
♦ K Q 8 7
♣ A 2 / E) ♠ A J 9 8
♥ Q 8 6
♦ K Q 8 7
♣ Q 2
- With hand A, West would bid 2♣* (alert), showing a one-suited hand. East would be expected to bid 2♦*. West would then pass because Diamonds is her suit, even though it’s to be played by East. If Diamonds was not West’s suit, she would then bid her real suit on the 2nd round:
[1NT - 2♣ - P - 2♦ * P - 2♥ …] Hearts is West’s 6+ card suit. N/S now must cope: pass, double, bid something else?
- With hand B, West would bid 2♦*, showing Hearts and Spades. If responder passes, East will bid her longer major, or her weaker one with equal length suits. [1NT - 2♦* - P - 2♥ …]
- With hand C, West would bid 2♠*, showing Spades and a minor. East could pass 2♠ with a tolerance for them. With no support for Spades and some cards in both minors, East would bid 2NT* (asking about West’s minor). West would then bid 3♦. [1NT - 2♠ - P - 2NT* P - 3♦ …]
- With hand D, West’s bid is Double, showing an equal strength hand of 15 to 17 HCP,
East can leave it for penalty if without shape and 6+ HCP:[1NT – Dbl – P – P …] or she can bid as though Westhad bid 1NT, with Stayman, Transfers: [1NT - Dbl – P – 2♣ …] Stayman. This is called “Systems On” – when partner doubles 1NT. Best when shapely.
- With hand E, West’s Hamilton bid is Pass: none of the above apply.
- If West’s Hamilton bid was 2NT, (not alerted), then East picks her longer or weaker minor suit, if responder passes. [1NT – 2NT– P – 3♣ …]
Hamilton can be played in the passout seat or not: [1NT - P - P - 2♣*. . .]. We will do so in this class just to simplify matters: the fewer exceptions to remember, the fewer errors we make.
If responder (3rd seat) bids, then East is not forced to bid, and, in fact, rarely does. Why not? Because if 3rd seat bids, she is taking control of the auction as the Captain, showing strength.
COPING WITH HAMILTON INTERFERENCE
Ok, back to the opener’s side of the table. Your opponents, playing Hamilton, have bid over your 1NT opening. Now what? The general answer to that question is “It depends on what 3rd seat – the responder – has.” Because she knows opener has about 16 flat HCP on average, she can look at her hand and ask herself “Is this our hand or theirs?”. With 3 HCP and no 6-card suit, she will pass, happy not to go down at 1NT. With 7+ HCP and/or some shape, she will know “It’s our hand”, and bid something, but what? With 10+ HCP, she’ll get to game somewhere.
The answer to “What to bid?”, is usually “What would I have bid if there had been no Hamilton interference bid?”. With a shapely hand and “some” HCP, responder should bid whatever her shape tells her, interference or not. Most players, including us, play “Systems On” for the opener’s side; meaning all Transfers, Stayman, etc. are “On”, i.e., are still used. But the Hamilton bid may interfere or preempt responder’s normal response, as we’ll see below.
For example, in this auction: [1NT - 2♣* - ???], responder, who wanted to bid Stayman, can’t do so because the Hamilton interference was an artificial, conventional 2♣. To cope with cases like this, where the Hamilton bidder bid what the responder wanted to bid, we use “Stolen Bid Doubles”. This means that this auction should go [1NT - 2♣* - Dbl. . .], where responder’s Double means “Partner, I was going to bid 2♣as Stayman. Please show me any 4-card majors.”
If 4th seat passes, opener then responds with her major suit holding: 2♦, 2♥ or 2♠.
“Stolen Bid Doubles” are usedover all 2-level suit bids, butnot over Unusual 2NT.
[1NT - 2♣* - Dbl. . .], “Partner, I was going to bid 2♣ - Stayman.”
[1NT - 2♦* - Dbl. . .], “Partner, I was going to bid 2♦ - a Jacoby Transfer to 2 Hearts.”
[1NT - 2♥* - Dbl. . .], “Partner, I was going to bid 2♥ - a Jacoby Transfer to 2 Spades.”
[1NT - 2♠* - Dbl. . .], “Partner, I was going to bid 2♠ - a transfer to 3 Clubs.”
Often, the Hamilton interference bid will not be the one responder wanted to bid. In such cases, responder ignores the interference bid if she canand bids what her hand tells her to:
[1NT - 2♣* - 2♦#. . .], “Partner, I was going to bid 2♦ - a Jacoby Transfer to 2 Hearts.”
[1NT - 2♦* - 2♥#. . .], “Partner, I was going to bid 2♥ - a Jacoby Transfer to 2 Spades.”
[1NT - 2♥* - 2♠#. . .], “Partner, I was going to bid 2♠ - a Transfer to 3 Clubs.”
[1NT - 2♥* - 3NT...], “Partner, I was going to bid 3NT and I have good Heart stoppers.”
[1NT - 2♣* - 3♠*….], “Partner, I was going to bid 3♠* - our 5 – 5 game force in the majors.”
Sometimes, the Hamilton bid will preempt what responder wanted to bid. This is a situation requiring Partnership Agreements. In these sequences, the Hamilton overcall prevents responder from bidding what she wants to, playing Systems On or not:
[1NT - 2♥* - ???], “Partner, I wantedto bid 2♣ Stayman. How can I do that now?”
There are 4 basic choices to cope with such situations:
(1) Responder can pass and come in on the 2nd round if possible, still using Systems On.:
[1NT - 2♠* - P - 2NT* P - 3♦ - Dbl# …] “Partner, aninvitational-strength Jacoby
Transfer to 3♥.”
(1) Responder can pass and come in on the 2nd round if possible, but NOT using Systems On.:
[1NT - 2♠* - P - 2NT* P - 3♦ - 3♥ …] “Partner, a natural invitational-strength 3♥ bid.”
(3) The Partnership Agreement can be that Systems are still On at the 3-level, but are of game-forcing strength by responder: (Recommended.)
[1NT - 2♠* - 3♦# …] “Partner, a Jacoby Transfer to 3♥ with 10+ HCP.”
Opener picks a 4♥ or 3NT game.
(4) The Partnership Agreement can be that Systems are Off at the 3-level, but3-level bids by responder are of game-invitational strength:
[1NT - 2♠* - 3♥ …] “Partner, I have 5+ Hearts and 8 or 9 HCP.”
Opener passes or bids 4♥ or 3NT.
P1 © Bob McConnell, 2017 Introduction to Hamilton