Forcing, Game Forcing, non-forcing? by Bobby Wolff

A: 4♦: There is nothing wrong with a jump to four diamonds -- a splinter-raise showing a hand of this general strength with heart support and diamond shortage. An alternative route is to jump to two spades, planning a call of four hearts next. That gets the three-suiter across very nicely and keeps all three in play as possible trump suits, since hearts may turn out not to be the best.

Your result so far:

A: 1♥: There is no reason to redouble, after which it may be difficult to get all your suits into play. Similarly, raising diamonds might lead to your losing a major-suit fit. The simplest way forward is to bid hearts, hoping to hear partner raise or bid spades; but if not, you will raise diamonds at your next turn. When in doubt, bid suits rather than redoubling.

Your result so far:

A: 4♠: Clearly, you have a hand worth raising spades -- but to what level? A jump to four spades shows three or four trumps, tending to deny a high-card control such as an ace or king. With three third-round controls, you might choose to raise to three spades rather than four, but this seems just a little too much to me. With as little as an additional jack in diamonds or spades, I might feel differently.

Your result so far:

A: 1NT: If you play a forcing no-trump, you might take a pessimistic view and respond one no-trump then jump to three hearts to invite game while showing three trumps. Even if one no-trump is only semi-forcing (so that partner passes only with a balanced minimum), you might want to follow this route. Facing a one-spade opener, your fourth trump would persuade you to jump directly to three spades, of course.

Your result so far:

A: 3NT: The two-no-trump rebid suggests a balanced 12-14 high-card points (or, very rarely, 18-19 balanced, planning to bid on over a signoff). It is extremely hard to imagine slam making here with no apparent eight-card major fit, so it seems right to sign off in three no-trump, despite your extra values.

Your result so far: