[pj26]

Sorry if this is too basic, I tried looking it up in all bidding sources I've had, but somehow it's not covered anywhere.

I opened 1♣ with 19 points, planning to rebid 2NT. My p responds 2♥, and then the next opponent overcalls 3♥.
I thought my p.'s bid was 17+ HCP (jump in a new suit), but it turned out (I was lucky to guess it right) that he had 7♥ and around 7HCP, so my final 4♥ was all right.
Now, the question is: is it widely accepted that major jumps over minor openings are weak? Sorry again if that's too basic,

Thanks!

[helene_t]

"Standard" is strong (although different authors have different criteria for the strong jump shifts) but weak jump shifts are popular in some circles. More so in Europe than in North America I think.

I like weak jump shifts myself. Some would say that a 7-card with about 7 HCPs is too strong for a weak jump shift. Something to discuss with p. You can also play intermediate jump shifts.

[finally17]

Not that what I say matters, but I'm with Helene. Standard is strong, and 7 is too strong for weak. I like my weak jump shifts to say specifically "my hand is worthless outside of this as trump suit" and therefore they promise

6 or 7 trumps (usually 6)
NO aces
NO outside kings
and i'll never have KQ of the trump suit either. that's enough for a simple response.
and not more than about 5 pts.

I'm stricter than most about these kinds of things, but then I find that they work best when you're strict with them.

There you go Helene, I'm still posting for a while anyway .

[pj26]

Thank you all for your responses! I guess I'll have to anticipate both strong and weak from now.

[barmar]

If you have 19 HCP, partner jumps, and an opponent also bids, I think it's a pretty good bet that partner's bid was a WJS. It's not a sure thing, though -- sometimes SJS is made with only 13 HCP and compensating shape (e.g. a fit with your suit), so RHO might have 7-8 HCP and a suit long enough to bid 3♥; however, it doesn't seem like it would be an effective bid (if he wants to give you trouble, he really needs to jump to at least 4♥).

[neilkaz]

pj26, on Dec 12 2007, 11:47 PM, said:

Thank you all for your responses! I guess I'll have to anticipate both strong and weak from now.

Just ask your pd ! if you stronger prefer weak, put WJS in your profile and if you, as it seems play strong jumps shifts , just put SJS in your profile and that may help, or at least get PD to question you.

[the hog]

Well I for one dislike weak jump shifts and find them a waste of time. I have played it as a good 6 card suit, (very rarely an excellent 5 if the rebid might be hard, and about 13-15 in range. In other words, Polish Club style. This has worked very well for me.

[barmar]

I like WJS in competition, SJS if there's no interference. If the opponents aren't bidding, it's more likely that you're preempting partner than the opponents.

On the other hand, WJS is very descriptive, and can keep you from getting too high when opener is strong. You can play safely on the 2 level even though opener might have a hand that would have made a forcing rebid to a normal 1-over-1 response. Unless he has a big hand and a fit for your suit (in which case he can jump to game), he's warned not to think about bidding on.

So I usually go with whatever my partner of the moment likes. "WJS always" has become popular among tournament players in the US, so that's what I usually end up playing. But I have a few regular partnerships where we play "WJS only in comp".