In
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...
, Bergen raises are
conventional treatments of responses to a major suit opening in a five-card major
system
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
. Developed by
Marty Bergen and first published in April 1982, Bergen raises are based on the
Law of total tricks, a
hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking potential of thei ...
concept which states that with a combined nine trumps in the partnership one should compete to at least the three-level regardless of combined high card strength.
Bergen recommended that instead of the more rare occurrence in the use of the 3 and 3 response as a to show a strong hand, these bids should be redeployed to provide more precise information about the length and strength of support held by responder for partner's five-card major suit opening when responder has four-card support.
Bergen raises are used in response to a 1 or 1 opening bid to show hands of specific length in trump support and strength as follows:
*1NT followed by 3/3 on next round – invitational to game (typically 11-12 high card points) with three-card support
*2/2 – weak (7-10 high card points) with three-card support
*3 – weak (typically 7-10 high card points) with four-card support
*3 – a limit raise (typically 11-12 high card points) with four-card support; invitational to game
*3/3 – very weak (preemptive, typically less than 7 high card points) and four-card support
*4/4 – very weak (preemptive, typically less than 7 high card points) and five-card support
Over 3, Opener may sign off in trumps, but a bid of 3 asks partner to bid three of the major with a weaker hand, i.e. 7-8 points, or bid four with a stronger hand, i.e. 9-10 points.
Many partnerships which employ Bergen raises also use
Jacoby 2NT
Jacoby 2NT ( Swedish: ''Stenberg 2NT'') is a bridge convention in which a bid of 2NT over partner's opening bid of one heart (1) or one spade (1) shows a hand with both
* opening strength or better - normally at least 12 HCP or a hand meeting the " ...
and
splinter bid
In the card game "contract bridge", a splinter bid is a convention whereby a double jump response in a side-suit indicates excellent support (at least four cards), a singleton or void in that side-suit (but preferably not the ace or king), and at ...
s in response to major suit openings for game-forcing hands with trump support. A direct raise to game is then preemptive on a very shapely hand (often with five card trump support).
Modifications to Bergen responses do exist. One such method (usually called Reverse Bergen) is to reverse the meanings of the two minor suit responses at the three level, thereby creating a system of responses that denote progressively weaker hands on subsequent bids.
Bergen Raises over One-of-a-Major Doubled (BROMAD)
Some partnerships play an extension of Bergen Raises after opener's bid has been doubled. This is called "BROMAD".
There are several schemes, including one which keeps 3 and 3 (as above) and adds 2 and 2 with similar meanings, but with only three-card trump support. Others simply have one raise at each level for 7-10 HCP (with three or four trumps), and use Jordan 2NT with four trumps and 11+ HCP. Bergen himself indicates that different partnerships have different preferences for which suit to use. In all cases, the direct raise shows a 'pre-emptive' three-card raise, limited to 6 HCP.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergen Raises
Bridge conventions