Reverse Baze

This auction is common enough and difficult enough that there is an entire system structure
that has been developed to efficiently make slam tries without getting too high. The modern
expert approach is called Reverse Baze. This builds on the 3oM (other major) forcing raise and
adds several other conventional bids to describe most slam-interested hands below game.

In Reverse Baze we use the following artificial bids after 1NT - 2 - 2M:

 3oM* Forcing Raise with some shortness (relay asks for shortness information)
 4* Keycard in Opener’s Major
 4* Quantitative with a fit
 4NT Quantitative without a fit

When we bid 3* as a forcing raise for  we have more space available below game than when
we bid 3* as a forcing raise for . This means that we have more room for better describing
the type of shortness that we have. In the auction that uses a forcing raise of 3 we have
enough space to show or shortness and whether it is a singleton or a void. We use the steps
Void, Low, Middle, High (VLMH.) In the auction that uses a forcing raise of 3 we only have
room to show our shortness (LMH.) See the examples below for details.

Reverse Baze is a step-based bidding system. When we use a relay bid to ask partner for
information, they do not answer our question with a natural bid. Instead, partner bids in steps
where the first bid has a certainly meaning, the second bid has another meaning, etc. This
allows us to use our space as efficiently as possible.

Examples

1NT 2
2 3* Forcing Raise with Shortness
__?
 3NT* Asks for Responder’s Shortness (LMH)
o 4* Singleton or Void in  (Low shortness)
o 4* Singleton or Void in  (Middle shortness)
o 4* Singleton or Void in  (High shortness)

1NT 2
2 3* Forcing Raise with Shortness
__?
  3* Asks for Responder’s Shortness (VLMH)
o 3NT* Some Void (relay asks)
o 4* Singleton in  (Low shortness)
o 4* Singleton in  (Middle shortness)
o 4* Singleton in  (High shortness)

1NT 2
2 3*
3 3NT* Some Void (relay asks)

 4* Asks for Void (LMH)

 4* Void in  (Low)
 4* Void in  (Middle)
 4* Void in  (High)

Such a sophisticated bidding system as Reverse Baze is not for everyone and should not be
played by most players. But the concept of a forcing raise is an important one that every
improving bridge player should think about using in their slam try auctions.

Superaccepting Jacoby Transfers

When we open 1NT, the most important contracts we strive to reach are Major suit games.
When we have enough values for game, we begin by exploring our Major suit fits and if we
don’t find one, then we settle for 3NT. (It is only when we are extremely distributional that we
even consider playing in a minor suit game.) As we have previously discussed, we use
Stayman to find our 4-4 fits and Jacoby Transfers to find our 5-3 fits. When we have only 8-card
fits, we need about 24 pts in order to bid game. But when we have a 9-card Major suit fit (5-4
fit) we will often be able to make game with fewer HCP – “the power of the 9-card fit!” When
we have this 9-card fit we want to have a set of tools to let partner know about our “big fit.”
We want to let partner know that we should be aggressive in bidding game. These tools are
called “Superaccepts.”

Basic Superaccept

The most common form of 9-card Major suit fit we find is when we open 1NT and partner
makes a Jacoby Transfer into our 4-card Major. In this situation, we have a 5-4 fit and we need
to have a way to communicate this to partner. The first example of this is the basic
superaccept…

Auction

1NT - 2♦* - 3♥ 4c♥, 16+ to 17 HCP

Partner has made a 2♦ Jacoby Transfer – asking us to bid 2♥. But we have 4c♥ support and a
maximum for our 1NT Opener (16-17 pts), so we show this great hand by bidding 3♥ instead!
Similarly, if partner transfers to ♠ then we can bid 3♠ to show great ♠ support.

Other Superaccepts

Now that we know how to show “the best” hand for partner we want to discuss what other
superaccept bids would mean. Let’s consider the example of when partner transfers to ♠. We
know that 3♠ shows a maximum and 4c♠ support. But what about the other bids between 2♠
and 3♠? The first key is to know that we don’t bid past 2♠ without having a 9c fit –since partner
might have a zero count. (This is an example of The Law of Total Tricks at work.) Thus, all of
the superaccepting bids promise 4c support. We let bids of new suits show a doubleton and
2NT show no doubleton (4333.) Additionally, we are going to define these bids to show
minimum HCP, since we already have a bid to show a maximum.

1NT 2♥*
__?
 2NT 4-3-3-3, 16-17
 3♣ 4c♠, doubleton ♣, 15-16 pts
 3♦ 4c♠, doubleton ♦, 15-16 pts
 3♥ 4c♠, doubleton♥, 15-16 pts

Similar bids apply when transferring to ♥.

The reason that showing the doubleton is a useful agreement is that it allows the Responder to
know where Opener’s ruffing values are located. When you have lots of trump (like in the 9+c
fit) it is very valuable to be able to know which suit you can ruff in the short hand.

Example
♠K9742
♥85
♦A653
♣75
1NT 2♥*
3♦*
Responder knows Opener can ruff most of his ♦ losers in hand – so he should bid a game!

Note: There are many useful agreements here, but showing the doubleton is our preferred agreement. It
makes it easy for partner to know where he will have ruffing values – if he has Axxx opposite our
doubleton (or something similar) he will know that we can take a lot of tricks by ruffing in the short (4c
support) hand.

Super-accept of transfer to ’s

1NT - 2 - 2NT –

Super-accept of transfer to ’s

1NT - 2NT - 3

After the Superaccept

When Opener Superaccepts the Jacoby Transfer and shows a doubleton, he has not yet bid “our
suit.” We have not properly sided the contract. We still want to the 1NT opener to play the
hand most of the time. Thus, we use “re-transfers” to properly side the contract as often as
possible. The suit below our suit at either the 3-level or 4-level will be a re-transfer, siding our
contract with the strong hand.

Example

1NT 2♦*
3♣* 3♦* Re-transfer, asks Opener to bid 3♥.

Note: If partner bids 3♦ (showing the doubleton right below our suit) we can re-transfer with 4♦ if we are
going to bid a game, but if we are going to signoff at the 3-level then we don’t have room to re-transfer –
and we must settle for playing 3♥ from the wrong side.

Give these Superaccepts a try. They will help you be aggressive when you have a 9-card fit and
they will also help you be a bit more cautious when you know you don’t have a good 9-card fit.

Fast Arrival vs. Picture Bids

Our “general approach” to game forcing auctions is our philosophy of how we show our hand.
There are two general approaches to these kinds of auctions:
  Fast Arrival – The most common modern approach, and
 Picture Bids – An approach more common the 80s that has regained some favor with
younger players on the West Coast.
Let’s look at these two approaches and see the advantages of each.

Fast Arrival

Most of us are aware of the concept of Fast Arrival (especially in game forcing auctions.) This is
when we agree that jumps to game are the weakest action (showing a relatively poor hand) and
“going slow” (bidding our fit below game, usually 3M) shows a better hand and thus at least
mild slam interest. Fast Arrival has the advantage of allowing one hand to express slam interest
or show worry about going on further. It can help our side put on the brakes when that is what
we need to do. It also allows us to express values, make a mild slam try (or more). When we
agree to use the Principle of Fast Arrival we leave room for cuebidding and other communication
on the hands where we are interested in slam.

Note: The concept of Fast Arrival also has other useful applications, as in non-game forcing auctions.

Picture Bids

When our agreement is that jumps to game are Picture Bids, however, we agree to go slow with
most hands (either good or bad hands) and only jump to game to show good hands (ones with
some slam interest) that have a concentration of values in their own suits (usually the trump
suit and their side suit – the other suit they have bid.)

Example
1 2
2NT 4
Playing picture bids, this shows a concentration of values in  and . This will be a hand with
decent playing strength, usually something like:
 AQ8
 76
 543
 AKJ92

These picture bids are valuable in showing hands that consist of good trump support and a
source of tricks. They ask partner to bid slam if they have good controls in the outside suits and
a fitting card for our suit. We should note that these picture bids give up Captaincy. Playing
Fast Arrival, we would likely go slow, show slam interest, get partner to cuebid and then try to
imply our hand to partner by what we cuebid (or more importantly by what we do not cuebid!)
Playing picture bids, we go slow (usually by bidding 3M) with most hands. Thus, there are no
inferences about extra values when we do this – we will need to cuebid more often and be left
with more ambiguity in some of these hands.

Note: Non-Serious 3NT (or Serious 3NT, either approach) is an important part of playing the picture
bid approach because it allows us to further express our values – worst hand, non-serious hand, or serious
slam try hand. Non-Serious 3NT is also an excellent tool that aids in slam bidding when playing the
more traditional Fast Arrival bidding approach (we will discuss this more in the future.)

Fast Arrival is the most common approach these days because it allows us to show a very poor
opening bid (which is important as bad as some openings bids are today.) Fast Arrival also is a
simple agreement that is easy to adopt across the board in a partnership. The picture bid
approach to bidding requires a better understand of when this agreement (method) applies (is
being played.) These picture bids require a more complex set of agreements but they allow for
excellent descriptions of more concentrated hands. The most important thing to take away
from this discussion is not that one approach is better than the other (though certainly Fast
Arrival is more common) but to understand that concentrated hands (with nothing outside to
cuebid) are potential problem hands for most Fast Arrival bidders – knowing this in advance
can help you try to find a way to make a slam try with these problem hands. Finally, knowing
there is an alternative approach means that you should try to have a discussion with your
partners and make sure you are both on the same page.