Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
North
♠ 9 7 6 5 2
♥ 8 7 6
♦ A K 10 8
♣ J
|
||
West
♠ 8
♥ J 4 3
♦ 6 3
♣ K Q 9 8 6 5 4
|
East
♠ K J 10 4
♥ 10 9 5 2
♦ Q 7 5
♣ 10 2
|
|
South
♠ A Q 3
♥ A K Q
♦ J 9 4 2
♣ A 7 3
|
Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
|
East
East/West
K♣
|
North
3♥ (1)
3NT
Pass
|
East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
South
2NT
3♠
4♠
|
West
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
(1) Jacoby
Transfer
Last week we looked at the first of the Eight
Conventions of the Modern Bridge World: The Stayman Convention. This week, we
shall look at the second of the eight wonders. The Jacoby Transfer was named
after Oswald Jacoby, one of the great players of all time. He popularized this
convention as well as many others. A most useful convention, the Jacoby
Transfer has a place in every bridge player’s repertoire of conventions. How
does it work?
In today’s hand, South had the big balanced hand
with twenty high card points, a 4-4-3-3 distribution, and stoppers in three of
the four suits. Opening two no trump as South did promised twenty points, a
balanced hand, and interest in game if North had anything. North would need
just 5-6 points to reach a game either in no trump or in a major suit.
Looking at West’s hand, it would seem that West was
itching to bid those long clubs. With seven clubs and nothing more, however, Vulnerable
West wisely kept silent and passed. North looked at her hand, and with seven
high-card points in diamonds, a singleton J♣, North thought that three no trump
would be a dangerous bid. Knowing what we know about West’s hand, that was
definitely a smart choice.
North looked at her five spades, and while they were
nothing to write home about, still there were five of them, and South should be
told about them. But how is North to convey that information to South? Enter
the Jacoby Transfer Convention. It works like this: North will bid one suit
below the suit she really wants to bid in the bidding scale. In this case,
hearts is one suit below spades, and North bid 3♥,
promising a minimum of five spades. There is no limit to the points that North
may have. The fun thing about the Jacoby Transfer is that the bidder may have
zero points to bid the transfer. While North on this hand has more than zero,
it is a convenient way for the South hand to bid the transfer suit, in this
case spades, and to see if there is a eight-card fit in the major suit.
Once North has bid the 3♥,
South must announce to the table that the North/South team uses a transfer bid
as part of their partnership agreement. This is done by South announcing aloud
the term “Transfer.” If the East/West team wishes to know what a transfer is,
they may indeed ask as they are entitled to know this convention that
North/South are using. South completes the transfer by bidding 3♠, and the
bidding continues.
While North does not know completely what is in the
South hand, yet, because of the opening bid, she is assured that South has at
least two spades in her hand. South would never open a no trump hand without a
balanced hand, and a balanced hand has at most only one doubleton. Even if it
were in the spade suit, North would know that they have seven spades between
them and maybe eight or more. North offered South a choice of game in no trump
by bidding 3NT or a chance for South to place the contract in 4♠ if she had
three spades. South placed the contract at 4♠ because of the three spades in
her hand. All pass and the contract is set.
West had the lead, and with a long suit, there was
hope that partner East would be short in clubs, and perhaps East/West could
gain a ruff or two. No such luck. It was North who had the singleton club, and
South took the first trick with the A♣.
As South surveyed the dummy and the opening lead of
the K♣, she was not too surprised at her partner’s cards. The diamonds looked
particularly useful, and the five spades were there as promised.
Wanting to set up the diamonds for later, South at
trick two led a small diamond from her hand to the A♦ on
the board. A small spade came from the dummy with East playing low. South
played the Q♠, winning the finesse. She went back to the K♦ and again led a small spade. East played the 10♠,
and South took the A♠. With a club discard from West, South knew the trump
split was four-one, not a fun way to make a major game contract.
Next, South led a small losing club from her hand,
and she ruffed it on the board with one of the remaining spades. South led a
small diamond from the board, knowing that it would lose to the Q♦, but that it would set up the remaining J♦ for later use.
East won with the Q♦
and took the next two tricks with the J♠ and the K♠ wiping out all of the trump
for South in both hands. With no clubs to lead to partner, East has been
end-played, and had to lead a heart to South. South took the three heart tricks
and the set-up J♦ for a total of ten tricks and
a 4♠ contract bid and made.
Use the Jacoby Transfer Convention after a no trump
opening bid of 1NT, 2NT, or 3NT. It is an effective bid and can make finding
the right contract easier. One major advantage of the Jacoby Transfer is that
the opener with the big hand is the closed hand. No one at the table is able to
see the high cards that otherwise might be on display. Five hearts or five
spades, zero points! What is there not
to like about the Jacoby Transfer?
Gerald Stein
January 22, 2013
Number of words: 1103
On Monday, February 4th, 2013, basic
instruction and review of the Jacoby Transfer Convention will begin the
four-week bridge series at KCC’s Institute for Learning in Retirement’s program
at the Battle Creek Hill Brady Road campus. If interested in learning the
Jacoby Transfer Convention, call the ILR for details.
