[MarilynR]

After opener begins 1♥i or 1♠is an immediate jump to 3NT part of Bergen Raises? I have been told it describes a hand with 3 pieces of the major and 13+ points. My partner had never heard of it and I am trying to get some confirmation. The websites I checked when I googled Bergen Raises do not mention this particular sequence., Am I making it up? He wondered what else he could have bid with only 2-card support but opening points. We play 2/1 so I said just make something up like 2C (forcing) and go from there, but if 3NT is part of the convention then we should stay within the convention. I'd love to hear other's opinions here. Thanks![/size][/size][/size][/size]

[P_Marlowe]

MarilynR, on 2020-June-21, 11:32, said:

After opener begins 1♥i or 1♠is an immediate jump to 3NT part of Bergen Raises? I have been told it describes a hand with 3 pieces of the major and 13+ points. My partner had never heard of it and I am trying to get some confirmation. The websites I checked when I googled Bergen Raises do not mention this particular sequence., Am I making it up? He wondered what else he could have bid with only 2-card support but opening points. We play 2/1 so I said just make something up like 2C (forcing) and go from there, but if 3NT is part of the convention then we should stay within the convention. I'd love to hear other's opinions here. Thanks![/size][/size][/size][/size]

http://www.martyberg...s.html#Number_6

[Stephen Tu]

3nt is not at all integral to Bergen raises. 3nt as flat raise choice of games is a *possible* treatment, but plenty of people use the 3c/3d/3M Bergen raises while using 3nt as something entirely different.

Possible other uses:
- distinguish splinters in some way (3nt = multi-way splinter over spades, 3S = multi-way spl over hearts), next step enquires location (opener can choose not to ask). Other bids show splinters in specific suits (e.g. perhaps 1h-3nt shows spade spl, or alterrnately reorder them C/D/S). The multi-way spl is distinguished from the direct spl in some way, either weaker, or singleton instead of void.

- a preemptive 5cd raise, but stronger than 1M-4M, to give partner a better idea and room to investigate slam with a very good hand.

- some balanced range but stronger, like 16-17. Some play it as denying 3 cd support, some as promising it.

[MarilynR]

P_Marlowe, on 2020-June-21, 11:54, said:

http://www.martyberg...s.html#Number_6

Thank you!

[P_Marlowe]

MarilynR, on 2020-June-21, 13:10, said:

Thank you!

Keep in mind, that this is pretty arcane, i.e. if you agree to play
Bergen, dont expect this to be part of the agreement, you should cross
check.

Playing with some random, I would take 3NT as 13-15 bal. without a
fit.

[sfi]

P_Marlowe, on 2020-June-21, 11:54, said:

http://www.martyberg...s.html#Number_6

The 3NT response isn't in Better Bidding with Bergen, where he discusses major suit raises. So not everyone who plays "Bergen raises" will play 3NT as a balanced raise, even if they are sticking to what Bergen published. And then people have modified the agreements in the decades since publication.

[Zelandakh]

Well it is certainly a part of some versions of Bergen raises. Sadly, as with so many popular conventions there are multiple versions around so it pays to discuss the details rather than just using the name. As Stephen mentions, there are several possible uses that a pair might decide they prefer to the 3M(433) 13-15 hand type. My choice here is to distinguish between void and singleton splinters. I do not call this method Bergen - I came up with it independently before I heard of Bergen raises - but it is at heart just a variation on the theme:-

1♥
==
2♥ = weak raise
2♠ = mini-splinter or maxi-splinter in any suit
2NT = GF raise
3♣ = limit raise
3♦ = mixed raise
3♥ = preemptive raise
3♠ = void splinter in any suit
3NT = splinter with singleton ♠
4m = splinter with singleton in m
4♥ = preemptive raise
--

1♠
==
2♠ = weak raise
2NT = mini-splinter or maxi-splinter in any suit
3♣ = GF raise
3♦= limit raise
3♥ = mixed raise
3♠ = preemptive raise
3NT = void splinter in any suit
4m = splinter with singleton in m
4♥ = splinter with singleton ♥
4♠ = preemptive raise
--

In short, what you should do is sit down with your partner and work out what is most important for you to be able to show immediately. If you lack the experience to make a judgement on this then either try each method out for a while or just go with the 3M(433) hand. The most important thing here is that you have some agreement before making the call - what the actual agreement is is going to be less important for the limited number of times it comes up.

[P_Marlowe]

sfi, on 2020-June-21, 15:13, said:

The 3NT response isn't in Better Bidding with Bergen, where he discusses major suit raises. So not everyone who plays "Bergen raises" will play 3NT as a balanced raise, even if they are sticking to what Bergen published. And then people have modified the agreements in the decades since publication.

Yes.
The above link was taken from a side that discussed Bergen Raises, but without 3NT.
And they claimed to have some agreemnts with Bergen, so if someone ordered from Bergen mentioning
their side, this would lead to some kind of discount.
I recall that even 4C / 4D had meanings.