The Maxi Raise

The Jacoby 2NT forcing raise of a 1Heart or 1Spade opening bid is a popular convention. Most experts and intermediate players use it in its original form. I have dubbed my modified system the maxi raise .

The test for all conventions is three-fold: efficiency, frequency of use and ease of memory. With many conventions, these factors result in a compromise to reach what is considered the optimal version. With these factors in mind, here's a look at the latest version of the maxi raise.

What is the maxi raise?

In case you are wondering, a 2Spade response to 1Heart and a 2NT response to 1Spade are used to show mini-splinters: hands with four trumps, a side-suit singleton and 6 to 9 HCP..

What are the requirements?

At least four-card trump support, usually at least 14 HCP, a minimum of five controls (A=two; K=one) and at most five losers. The responder may not have a void and will have a singleton only if he plans to control the subsequent auction. Normally, with a singleton or void, you make a splinter bid. As for strength, if you are using some form of Standard American, the ranges in terms of point count are 12 to 14 for minimum, 14+ to 17 for intermediate and 17+ to 19 for maximum.

In Romex, where the opening bid of one of a suit is limited, the ranges are 12 to 14, 15 to 16 and 17 to 18.

If you play a strong 1Club system such as Precision, you can dispense with one range,using 11 to 13 for minimum and 13+ to 15 for maximum.

Here are the rebid schemes:

1Heart - 2NT

1Spade - 3Club

Opener's third bid Responder may sign off if opener's rebid does not suit him, but in most cases responder will relay by bidding the next step. This ask for further description.

Opener replies in steps:

After opener rebids to show a minimum and responder relays, the first two steps are omitted - openers is known to be unbalanced - and the shape is known in six steps:

Thus the auction never goes beyond four of the agreed major. After opener's shape is shown, responder may super-relay (skipping a step in the bidding) to ask for a side four-card suit. This is sometimes vital information. There are deals in which you can make an extra trick by playing a 4-4 fit, the 5-4 fit providing a critical discard.

The next relay, either immediately following the opener's shape-showing rebid or after the super-relay is Roman Keycard Blackwood.

An immediate jump to 4NT over the opening bid is not RKCB, it is simple Blackwood. You must use the maxi raise to initiate RKCB. After RKCB, the next relay initiates the spiral scan

There is one other consideration: what happens when opener shows 5-5 or 5-6shape? I think that the second suit should be at least KJTxx, although I am aware that many players require at least two of the top three honours. After this pattern is shown, there is no shape inquiry relay. Responder may sign off (this can be ignored, of course, when opener has considerable extra strength), cuebid or use RKCB. All of this may sound complicated, but after some practice it soon becomes routine and easy to remember.

Some important notes:

Interference

The opponents won't enter the auction that often, but when they do it helps to be prepared. Suppose, for example, that opener's right-hand opponent doubles the 3C maxi raise. How does this change opener's rebid?

Here are my suggestions:

If opener's rebid is doubled, responder bids as follows:

For example:

1Heart Pass 2NT Pass
3Diamond Dbl

If there is an overcall after the maxi raise, opener may double for penalty or continue the system.

For example:

1Spade Pass 3Club 3Heart

Mike Passel, Phillip Alder and Eddie Wold contributed valuable suggestions for this article