The Game Try When an uncontested auction starts 1♥ – 2♥, then you can be pretty sure that your side is happy playing in hearts, so you have no interest in looking for another fit. If you want to try for game, you might just bid 3♥, but this would not be very descriptive and would not allow your partnership to see if the two hands fit together. Instead you should try to make a bid that allows your partner to see whether his hand fits with yours and thereby judge whether game is on.

All sorts of bids are now free for you to use: 2♠, 2NT, 3♣ and 3♦; you have already found a major suit fit, so these bids are used as game-tries. The type of game-try I prefer, because I think it allows for the greatest accuracy is the ‘Help Suit’ Game-try. Choose a suit in which you need help and bid it; you should have two or more losers in it; a weak three-card holding is ideal. Now partner can judge whether he can get rid of those losers for you – if he also has a weak three-card holding he will know the hands do not fit well, and will sign off in 3♥, but if he had a singleton in your Help Suit then, being able to ruff your losers, he could jump to 4♥. Similarly, if he had a couple of good stoppers in that suit, he might elect to bid 3NT. (NOTE: this kind of game try, which shows a weak suit of three or more cards, does not need to be alerted.)