Game Try - With A Major Suit Fit

With A Major Suit Fit

Prior partnership agreement is needed to determine which variety of game try is being used:

• Long suit game try – After a single raise, opener shows extra values by bidding a second suit naturally at the lowest level (e.g. 1♥ – 2♥; 2♠ or 1♥ – 2♥; 3♦). Responder can promote length and/or high-card values in that suit, or shortness combined with an extra trump, and jump to game. Conversely, responder with weakness in opener's second suit should sign off.
• Short suit game try – With this agreement, opener bids a short suit (singleton, void, or perhaps a doubleton) at the lowest level, showing extra values and, by implication, side length in the unbid suits.
• Help suit game try – This agreement is similar to the long suit game try, but slightly more precise. Responder should envision opener holding three small cards in the new suit (although the holding may in fact be better, perhaps as good as KJx). Then, regardless of point count, responder bids game with zero or one loser in that suit and signs off with three losers in that suit. With two losers in that suit, responder bids according to point count.
• Counter try – If responder cannot bid game based on opener's game try suit, but has a good holding in a different suit, this can be bid as a counter try provided it can be bid at a level below 3 of the agreed suit, thus 1♥ – 2♥; 2♠ – 3♦ is allowable but 1♥ – 2♥; 3♦ – 4♣ is not. This in effect says, "I cannot accept the invitation based on your suit, but if you had asked in this suit, I would have." Opener can then re-evaluate based on this new information and either sign off or bid game.
• 2NT game try – a less common alternative method is to use the rebid of 2NT as a game try. By agreement, this may be natural, or may be a game try showing solid holdings in the side suits and a weak trump suit, or may have some artificial meaning.
• 2-way / 3-way game try – It is possible to combine long, short and even general strength-based game tries using the following (after 1M-2M): Step 1 = Short suit game try, asking responder to show a singleton, or bid step 1 otherwise, after which opener will show the suit he is short in, with 3M being a surrogate for spades (if hearts agreed) or clubs (if spades agreed). Step 2 = General game try, asking responder to show 6 to 8 points via a step 1 to 3 response, or to bid 3NT with a flat maximum and 4M with any other maximum. Step 3 to 5 = Long (or 'Help') suit game tries with 3M (step 5) being a surrogate try in spades (if hearts agreed) or clubs (if spades agreed).