Weekly Hand Analysis - Rich Nordeng - February 19, 2024- Jump Shift

 

Question: Should W bid after partner's jump shift?

Rich:

Before answering whether West should bid over 4C, let’s evaluate East’s bidding. Certainly the 1 Heart bid is correct. South bids 2 Diamonds and it goes Pass, Pass back to East. How good is East’s hand now?

Answer: good but not great. South has shown diamonds and values, so East’s QD is probably not useful. The heart suit is decent, but is missing the A, K and J. The KS is singleton and hence vulnerable unless partner has the ace. The distribution is not extraordinary. In short, East has about six losers. And no reason at this point to think partner can cover any of them.  East’s jump shift to 4C is a huge overbid. Moreover, it misstates the distribution. A jump in clubs here my should show at least five clubs. Altogether East should be showing ten or more cards in hearts and clubs with power concentrated in those two suits. East should be showing a hand with approximately four losers. 

If East had the hand shown by the jump shift, West would have a close choice between Pass or 5 Clubs. I think I would bid 5 Clubs, hoping partner has something like AKxxxx of Hearts and AKxxx of Clubs with two side suit losers. 

With the actual East hand I think the best bid at your second turn is two Hearts.

P.S. On second thought, I think West probably should pass over the jump shift to 4 Clubs on the theory that if partner can make eleven tricks opposite my hand they probably would have opened Two Clubs.