Inverted Minor Raises
Inverted? We use 'inverted minors' because of the danger of being outbid by opponents with major suits -- especially with their weak jump overcalls or other forms of preemption.
Situation: when opener bids one of a minor, responder would bid any major suits first, so the inverted minor situation is only when responder has no four+ card major suit.
'Inverted minors' means we invert the normal strength requirements for responder, as follows:
A single raise of a minor suit opening shows 5+ cards in the suit with strength of 10+ points
A double raise shows a weak hand with 5+ cards in the suit and less than 8 points
An example inverted minor sequence:
N
E
S
W
1§
P
2§ * . . .
South has 5+ Clubs and 10+ points.
1¨
P
3¨* . . .
South has 5+ Diamonds in a weak hand.
It's Off. We play inverted minors are OFF over interference of a bid, but not of a Double.
N
E
S
W
1§
1ª
2§
. . .
South has 5+ Clubs and a few points.
1¨
1©
3¨
. . .
South has 5+ Diamonds in a strong (10+ HCP) hand.
Always Preempt Opponents. The reason to jump with a weak hand on the first response is to preempt the opponents. The first reason is that the hand doesn't have any four+ card major suits and so the opponents will be bidding them.
When responder jumps, that usually is the extent of the bidding for our side. Sometimes opener will advance the preempt:
N
E
S
W
1§
Dbl
3§*
3©
South has 5+ Clubs and few points.
5§
. . .
North is trying to preempt E/W's Heart game.
NT is the Goal. When responder makes a single raise it means there is no 8+ card major suit fit in the hand, so the search is on for stoppers in order to bid 3NT. This means that bids after the single raise show stoppers for NT:
N
E
S
W
1§
P
2§*
P
South has 5+ Clubs and 10+ points.
2©
P
2NT
P
South has Spade and Diamond stoppers.
3NT
. . .
North has enough to try game with the long Clubs and stoppers everywhere.
Example Inverted Minor Hands and Bidding Sequences
North
South
ª Ax
ª xxx
© QJx
© Kx
¨ AJxx
¨ Kxxxxx
§ Qx
§ AJx
1¨
2¨*
2©
3§
3NT
P
Without a Spade stopper, North would bid 3 Diamonds to end the auction.
North
South
ª Qx
ª xx
© KQJx
© Kx
¨ Axxx
¨ KQx
§ Qxx
§ Kxxxxx
1§
2§*
2©
3§
P
With no Spade stop, the auction dies in 3§ .