Conventions

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Gerber

You may be surprised that I recommend this bid only with the greatest reluctance and then only in very specific circumstances - it is, after all, frequently the first artificial convention to be taught to a great many beginners.

First I shall look briefly at how the convention works, after which I shall discuss the pro and all of the cons of the convention.

Quite simply a bid of 4♣ is used to ask partner how many aces they hold.

In response partner will give a count of aces on the scale:-

4♦   0 or 4

4♥   1

4♠   2

4NT 3

Continuations

Following this response the partner who instigated the Gerber sequence may make a further bid asking for kings.

Depending on the partnership agreement this second request may be the ‘next suit up’ (laddering), 4NT if still available, or 5♣, and responses will be on a step system similar to that above.

My thoughts on this convention

I am not a fan of this convention.

If you are a near beginner you might have to learn Gerber simply because some prospective partners will expect you to play it.

But having learned the convention and agreed to include it in your partnership agreement don’t feel that you have to use it except when partner brings it into the auction - there are better ways of bidding slams and in most auctions there are better uses for this bid.

No trump bidding

Facing an opening bid of 1NT or 2NT (or an artificial sequence to 2NT) then 4♣ is frequently played as the Gerber convention.

This is not unreasonable in itself and you will be in excellent company if you follow this route, but it is only very rarely that this will be the best first response.

If your hand is balanced facing a partner whose hand is balanced then total point count is a much more effective way of judging a slam than a mere count of aces and/or kings - remember that it is perfectly possible to hold all of the aces and kings between you and still have a combined total of eight tricks between the two hands! - not much of a slam.  Total point count, by way of a quantitative raise, also takes account of the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelve tricks which exist in the form of queens and Jacks.

If your hand is not balanced it will usually be correct to search for an alternative strain before checking on controls - that is where Stayman and transfers come on the scene.  And having started such a search it is likely that you will then use RKCB to check on aces and trump honours - 4♣ will be either natural or a control-showing cue-bid.

Only when you feel that there might be a no trump slam based on a running suit, and you know that Gerber can locate the controls you need in the side suits will this be the right way forward, and even then there will usually be an alternative route.

So rarely is a direct Gerber response the best bid that many tournament players do not include any form of ace-asking convention as an immediate response to an opening bid in no trumps, preferring to use 4♣ in some other way such as ‘South African Texas transfers’.

Partner opened one of a suit

Partner’s opening bid covers many possible holdings.

You may well know immediately that you have a massive fit and a lot of points between you, but it will be rare that it will not be useful to know more about partner’s hand - does he have a strong side-suit - does he have extra values in a balanced hand - is there a void which might solve a potential problem?  And is there the possibility that partner’s response to your ace enquiry will leave you none the wiser (if he has the right ace we have a slam - if he has the wrong ace we are doomed)?

With these thoughts in mind it is recommended that you have some other strings to your bow.

Facing partner’s major suit opening you should have some sort of support bid available (2NT and splinters are the most obvious candidates - you might also try to include fit-jumps) and facing partner’s minor suit opening you should certainly include splinter raises - you might also include something like inverted minor suit raises and fit-jumps.

In each case, you will probably include some sort of control-showing cue-bid in the continuing auction as you strive to locate specific controls between the two hands.

Of course, you don’t have to take all of these on board at once, but with 4♣ being available to show any one of a shortage, a fit-jump, a control, or a natural second suit, depending on the auction to date, why would you want to waste it on a mere count of aces?

Searching for a slam

To summarise the above, for many beginners it is automatic to go directly into an ace-asking convention as soon as they have any thought of a slam.  This is a wrong mind-set, although to be fair it is usually their teacher who is to blame.  The first priority should be to ascertain that there are likely to be sufficient tricks available.

The method certainly achieves what it sets out to do at the cheapest possible level - but to my mind it fails on all other counts:-

it fails to ascertain that there are sufficient tricks in the two hands before checking that there are not too many losers;

it fails to find out anything at all about trump suit quality;

it only tells you how many aces - sometimes you need to know which specific aces;

furthermore it removes the possibility of using the bid of 4♣ as a splinter bid, a cue-bid, or a natural bid depending on the context.

By all means include it in your methods when facing a no trump opening bid if you wish - you will find many good partnerships who do so - but don’t rush to use it as your first reaction to thoughts of a slam.

If you have any intention of improving your constructive bidding to game-level and beyond, adopt one or more of the other conventions mentioned above - particularly a 2NT support bid for partner’s major and the splinter bid - add in some control-showing bids - and replace Gerber with RKCB to help locate the trump honours.

Well - that’s my view.  I believe that it will be echoed by a great many excellent players.

This page last revised 27th Mar 2019

Context  -  The continuing auction - in the slam zone - Blackwood etc..