NEW MINOR FORCING


ABOUT THE DEALS

You may be either Opener or Responder, but you will always be in the South position.

The first few pages of each Deal show only your hand. The initial bidding (if any) is given and you are asked to decide what you would bid, then click  BID . The next page will then appear telling you what you should have bid and continuing the auction. On the final page of each Deal partner's hand will be shown.

Although it is not a part of the Deals you might wish to examine your and dummy's hand and make a Plan of how you would play the contract.


NEW MINOR FORCING SUMMARY

In standard bidding a new suit by Responder at his second turn is forcing for one round, EXCEPT when Opener's rebid was 1NT.

PardYou   PardYou
1♦1♠ or 1♣1♥
1NT2♥   1NT2♦

Your second bid is not forcing and partner is expected to either pass or give preference back to your first suit.
For the first example your hand might be:

   ♠ Q J 9 8 5    ♥ K J 7 4    ♦ 7 3    ♣ 4 2


That is just fine when you do have a weak hand. But consider this:

 Pard  You 
1♦1♠
1NT???

   ♠ A K 9 8 5    ♥ K 9 7    ♦ 7 3    ♣ A 10 9

With 14 points you know you must get to game somewhere. You could just jump to 3NT but if you did so and partner turned out to have a 3-card ♠ support you might go down at 3NT when 4♠ was a laydown.

What you need is a bid that will force partner to bid again, and to give you some more information about his hand as he does so. And thus was New Minor Forcing created.

Following a 1NT rebid by Opener, Responder's bid
of a previously unbid minor suit is artificial and forcing.
Opener is requested to further describe his hand.


There are exactly six possibilities:

PardYou   PardYou   PardYou
1♣1♥   1♦1♥   1♥1♠
1NT2♦   1NT2♣   1NT2♣

PardYou   PardYou   PardYou
1♣1♠   1♦1♠   1♥1♠
1NT2♦   1NT2♣   1NT2♦

In all these cases your second bid of 2♣ or 2♦ is forcing.


But in these sequences,
PardYou   PardYou
1♣1♠   1♦1♠
1NT2♥   1NT2♥
your 2♥ bid is not forcing because it isn't a minor.


Requirements for New Minor Forcing:

The first requirement is a little caution.
Partner's 1NT rebid has put his hand at 12-14 points. Perhaps he could have a 15 point hand that for some reason he couldn't open 1NT, but that is stretching his bid. So you need to have a hand that is good enough to force him to bid again. Some partnerships insist on an opening hand for you, but most play that a good 11 points should be the minimum strength.

And of course you should also have the type of hand that can't be described by a natural bid.

Assume this bidding sequence for the examples below:
 Pard  You 
1♣1♠
1NT2♦

   ♠ A K 7 5 2    ♥ K 9 3    ♦ 10 9    ♣ K 6 4
You know you want to be in game but are unsure whether 3NT or 4♠ is best.
So you bid 2♦ (NMF) to force partner to bid again.

   ♠ K Q 8 7 3    ♥ A Q J 6    ♦ 8 2    ♣ 6 4
You can't bid 2♥ because partner would pass and you know you should be in game.
A jump to 3♥ shows a 5-card suit.
Again, the solution is to bid 2♦ which partner cannot pass.


Opener's third bid:

Opener's first two bids have already described his hand very well, so there isn't much more to be said. But Responder has asked for more information, so Opener bids again with the following priorities:
  1. Show a 4-card ♥ suit.
  2. Show 3-card support for Responder's first suit.
  3. Bid notrump with stoppers in the unbid suits.
  4. Raise partner's "new minor suit" with at least 4 card support.
  5. Rebid your 5-card minor suit if no other bid is possible.
Opener may also be able to say something about his strength. Since the hand is somewhere in the 12-15 point range he can make a minimum bid with 12-13 and jump with 14-15. This is strictly a partnership thing, if you don't want to incorporate it then NMF will work just fine without it.

Assume this bidding sequence for the examples below:
 You  Pard 
1♦1♠
1NT2♣
??

   ♠ 6 4    ♥ K 9 7 4    ♦ K Q J 5    ♣ A 10 3
Bid 2♥. This is your top priority.

   ♠ 10 6 4    ♥ A 9    ♦ K Q 10 6 5    ♣ Q 10 3
Bid 2♠. This shows 3 cards in the suit.

   ♠ A 6 4    ♥ 10 9 6    ♦ K Q J 6    ♣ A 8 3
Bid 3♠. This shows 3 cards, but with maximum strength.

   ♠ 6 4    ♥ A Q 6    ♦ K Q J 9 6    ♣ 10 8 3
Bid 2NT. This shows a ♥ stopper, but fewer than 3 ♠s.

   ♠ 6 4    ♥ 10 8 3    ♦ A K Q 9    ♣ A 10 8 3
Bid 3♣. This shows 4 ♣s, fewer than 3 ♠s and an unwillingness to play notrump (no ♥ stopper).

   ♠ 6 4    ♥ 10 8 3    ♦ A K J 9 4    ♣ A 10 3
Bid 2♦. You hate to rebid a 5-card suit but partner has forced you to bid and none of the other choices are possible.


New Minor Forcing after 2NT:

If Opener's second bid is a jump to 2NT that shows a balanced 18-19 point hand. Responder can use New Minor Forcing to find the best contract.

Assume this bidding sequence for the examples below:
 Pard  You 
1♣1♠
2NT3♦

   ♠ K Q 10 5 2    ♥ 9 6 3    ♦ A 8 4    ♣ 5 2
You know you want to be in game but are unsure whether 3NT or 4♠ is best.
So you bid 3♦ (NMF) to force partner to bid again.

   ♠ K Q J 7 3    ♥ A    ♦ K Q 2    ♣ 10 7 6 4
You are probably going to bid a slam, either 6NT or 6♠.
Bid 3♦ to ask partner if he has 3 ♠s.


And then what?

And then it's up to you. New Minor Forcing is complete after those two bids. From that point one of the partners, probably Responder, should be able to choose a contract. All subsequent bidding is just your normal bidding system.

If the opponents interfere you should play that NMF is off and all bids have natural meanings.


14 examples will be worth more than another 14000 words.


 Deal 1