4.5 Natural Game TriesAt Matchpoints, game tries are a good strategy as the payoff for bidding close games is not enough to make up for losing the part-score. Basically you want all your games to be 50% or better.
At IMPs, these bids might be game tries with very distributional hands, but in general, if you have a good try, just bid it. In that case, bidding a second suit will most often be a slam try with a good two-suiter.
When partner supports our major suit at the two-level, he shows 3-card support (4 possible if he is a passed hand or in a competitive auction) and 4 - 9 HCP (if 4 points, it will be an Ace). We want partner to be able to make a more intelligent decision about game than just looking at whether he has 4 points or 9 points. So we tell him about another suit in which “help” will be useful; that is, we make a Help Suit Game Try.
Help in clubs would be defined as follows:
| They | We | They | We |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♠ | Pass | 2♠ | |
| Pass | 3♦ | Pass | ? |
| 3♥ | Control in hearts, help in diamonds, maximum |
| 3♠ | No diamond help |
| 3NT | Unused |
| 4♣ | Control in clubs, no heart control, help in diamonds, maximum |
| 4♦ | ♦Axxx or ♦Kxxx or better in diamonds, maximum |
| 4♥ | Unused |
| 4♠ | Help in diamonds, but minimum hand, or no controls |
Notice that when you have the requisite help in the suit of the Help Suit Game Try and a maximum, you don’t waste bidding space by jumping to game, but indicate you have the help by cue bidding in case partner has slam aspirations.
| 4.4 Bidding after the Single Raise |
4.5 Natural Game Tries |