4.1 Responses to Major Suit Opening BidsMarty Bergen and Larry Cohen have convinced us that the nine-card fit needs to be uncovered quickly so we can preempt the opponents, and better judge how high to play.
In order to have the natural 2NT response, we need another call for the forcing raise. There are four jumps available after partner opens one of a major — from the cheapest jump shift (1♥ - 2♠, or 1♠ - 3♣) to the most expensive jump (1♥ - 3♥, or 1♠ - 3♠). We use all of these jumps to show different ranges of the four trump raise, with the cheapest bid showing the strongest.
| Forcing Raise | 1♥ - 2♠ | 1♠ - 3♣ |
| Limit Raise | 1♥ - 3♣ | 1♠ - 3♦ |
| Mixed Raise | 1♥ - 3♦ | 1♠ - 3♥ |
| Preemptive Raise | 1♥ - 3♥ | 1♠ - 3♠ |
| 4.0 Major Suit Openings |
4.1 Responses to Major Suit Opening Bids |