Dear Larry,

In the uncontested auction: 1H - 1S - 3H - 3S

1) Is 3S forcing?

2) If so, forcing to game?

A: Yes and Yes -Larry

There are many reasons why this sequence should be forcing. When one partner jump-rebids their own suit, that typically says "I'm pretty comfortable with this suit". As a result, if you are sitting there with no cards in partners suit, and also a hand that doesn't want to go to game, you should pass--this is partner's problem.

Another important concept is that you want to be able to make a forcing bid when your partner has shown a good hand. Here, the jump-rebidder has about 16 points and the responder has at least 6 points. This side isn't far from a game anyways, so there's no reason to have any more invitational bids here. If the responder has a good hand, though, they might need room to describe what is going on. What should responder do with, say,

KQJ972
3
AJ3
K92
?

They want to explore for game and possibly for slam, and don't want to jump around to get there.

To learn more about forcing and non-forcing bids, you can purchase Michael's webinar here.

Please feel free to email us bridge questions at Michael@larryco.com

Updated: August 2021