Extended Truscott

The conventional method designated by Mr. Alan Truscott as Two No Trump Response Over Opponent's Takeout Double and described by him in The Bridge World magazine, issue November 1954, has undergone some revision.

Variations exist of this concept and one is designated as Extended Truscott, which was devised by Mr. David Morgan of Canberra, Australia, and which was published in 1989. All other variations, such as the variations listed and described below, do not carry this designation although they are also simply referred to as Extended Truscott.

It must be noted that the original concept was popularized in the United States by Mr. Robert F. Jordan and in Europe mainly by Mr. Albert Dormer of England, and is therefore also known generally as Jordan Two No Trump, which is the designation presented on this site, and as Dormer Two No Trump. The official designation is Truscott Two No Trump.

Mr. David Morgan discovered that the Truscott Two No Trump conventional method was somewhat flawed when attempting to describe certain holdings, especially when the opponent doubling was in third seat as in the following auction:

South		West		North		East
1		Pass		1		Double
?
75 K8 A985 AKQ74

Reason for the concept: The opener, in this case South, wishes to support the Diamond suit of North and simultaneously communicate the high-card strength or values. A jump raise to 3 would normally show / promise fewer than 9 support points and 4-card support in Diamonds and would be considered a preemptive raise. A redouble would communicate the honor strength but not the Diamond support. A redouble would, however, correctly deny a higher-ranking 4-card suit in this example.

Mr. David Morgan solved this flaw by employing the Truscott conventional 2 No Trump method. Mr. David Morgan is a contributing author for the Bridge World magazine and also the originator of the Morgan Two Diamonds opening bid concept. Mr. David Morgan is also the book reviewer for the Australian Bridge Magazine.

1.	A jump raise promises the distributional holding with the distributional limit raise.
2.	The artificial jump to 2 No Trump promises a holding with good support in the suit of the partner and the necessary minimum high-card strength.

 

Variation:

Some partnerships have agreed to reverse the meanings of the above responses after the double in this bidding sequence as follows:

1.	A jump raise promises a holding with good support in the suit of the partner and the necessary minimum high-card strength.
2.	The artificial jump to 2 No Trump promises the distributional holding with the distributional limit raise.

This variation is designated as Flip Flop for the original version of the Truscott Two No Trump conventional method. Whether or not this particular variation of the Truscott Two No Trump conventional method is designated as the Flip Flop Extended Truscott is unknown.

This variation of the Truscott Two No Trump conventional method can and may be employed in certain auction sequences when the opener or responder makes a natural, suit-showing bid that is then doubled by an opponent, as in the following two bidding examples:

Opener		Opponent		Responder		Opponent
1		Pass		2		Double
?
Opener		Opponent		Responder		Opponent
1		Pass		1		Pass
1		Double		?

If the partnership agreement includes also Balanced-Hand Doubles, also devised and developed by Mr. David Morgan, then the Extended Truscott variation may also be employed after an opponent has overcalled in a suit, as in the following bidding sequence:

Opener		Opponent		Responder		Opponent
1		Pass		1		2
?

If the partnership agreement employs Balanced-Hand Doubles, the jump raise, and the bid of 2 No Trump can and should be employed after a suit overcall by an opponent in the above bidding sequence.

Mr. David Morgan developed also a method of communicating information for such bidding sequences for those partnerships, which do not employ the Balanced-Hand Double. The following is his suggestion and recommendation:

1.	A jump in partner's suit (4 in the above example) shows the distributional holding.
2.	A jump in his/her own suit (4 in the above example) shows the strong holding.
3.	A jump in the suit of the opponent (4 in the above example) promises a raise with shortage in the suit of the opponent.

 

Variation:

In the following guidelines, it assumed that Extended Truscott is used for Spades, Hearts and Diamonds, whether the opposition have intervened or not. It is also assumed that support is only given if responder has 4-card support. If the opponents intervene such that the 2NT bid can no longer be bid by responder, then its use is abandoned.

Because of the 3 relay bid, Extended Truscott is not used for the Club suit and normal Acol 1 - 2 / 3 raises are used. Long Suit Trial Bids aimed at 3NT are used but require the opener to hold 17 plus points for the sequence 1 - 2 and 14 plus points are required for the 1 - 3 sequence.

After a 1-level suit opening, responses by partner with 4-card support of opener's Diamond, Heart or Spade suit are as follows:

1.	Single raise on 4-6 points, including distribution. (The partnership may decide to raise on a 3-card suit - in this case, the point count should probably be 6 to 9 points).
2.	Double raise on 7-9 points, including distribution.
3.	2NT response on 10-12 points, including distribution.
4.	3NT Pudding Raise on 13-15 points.
5.	Triple / quadruple raise on a distributional hand with limited honor points.
6.	2NT response on 16 plus points.

Subsequent bidding by partner is straight-forward on all except the 2NT response, where opener needs to find out what kind of hand responder has.

 

After the 2NT Bid:

Opener rebids the original suit with a minimum hand, maximum 12 points. With a sound opening, i.e. 13 points or more, opener bids 3 as a relay. Responder then bids:

10 / 12 points and Majors. Responder then bids 3 or 4 of the Major depending on his strength. 10 / 12 points and Diamonds.

In this case, it is more difficult as the partnership may not want to bypass 3 No Trump. The responder bids 3 with a minimum 10 / poor 11 points, 3NT with good 11 / 12 points and 4 with a good 11 / 12 points and a very distributional hand. The opener can always convert to Diamonds over the 3NT bid if he is strongly distributional.

16 plus holding. The responder bids his lowest cuebid if his hand is the 16 plus hand.

 

Some examples of use of the 2NT response are shown below:

Example 1

KQJ75 873 KQ54 3		A1084 Q65 A982 74
1		2 NT		Interested in game.
3				Pass, minimum.

Example 2

K975 KJ3 A764 K3		AQ84 65 K82 Q874
1		2 NT		Interested in game.
3				Let's find out more; game is possible.
		4		12 points including the point for a doubleton, maximum.

Example 3

KQ975 A8 KQJ54 3		A1084 K6 A98 AJ74
1		2 NT		The big one.
3				Let's find out more
		3		1st or 2nd round control in Diamonds.
3				1st or 2nd round control in Hearts.
		4		1st or 2nd round control in Clubs.
4				1st or 2nd round control in Diamonds; has he got King?
		4		Yes.
4 NT				Has he Ace and is the Club control the Ace?
		5		0 / 3 Aces, Key Card Blackwood.
7				Must be cold, and only 31 honor points.

 

Extended Truscott also applies if partner overcalls, but because partner's overcall may have less strength than an opening bid from him, the points requirement is increased:

1 - 2 raise 6/9 points.

1 - 3 raise 10/12 points.

2NT response 13/15 points.

The other option of 16 plus is not applicable as there are not enough points in the pack!

 

 

If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.