What are Bergen raises?
Bergen raises are made by responder opposite a 1 of a Major opening. The key characteristic of a Bergen raise is that they show 4 card support. Why is it called "Bergen"? Like most named bridge conventions, it takes the surname of the person who popularised it (not always the inventor). In this case it comes from Marty Bergen.
The structure
The typical structure for Bergen raises is as follows.
Following a 1♥ or 1♠ opening:
- 3♣ — 6-9 points, 4 card support
- 3♦ — 10-12 points, 4 card support
- 3M — 0-5 points, 4 card support
What about if you are stronger than 12 points? Then the common treatment is to use a Jacoby Raise.
Examples
Let's look at some examples.
Here we have 8 high card points, and we certainly will be adding 3 for a singleton (the singleton is even more potent with 4 card trump support). That gives us 8 HCP + 3, which totals 11. Putting us into the 10-12 range, which is a bid of 3♦.
To recap:
- Void = 5 points
- Singleton = 3 points
- doubleton = 1 point
NB: Our Bergen raises are not just high card points, they take into account distributional points as well!
Another example of bidding with a weak hand
In modern bridge when we have 9+ card trump fits, we typically should bid even if we don't have any points. For example
Here we bid 3♠ showing 0-5. We have 0 high card points, but we have a singleton which is a bonus. We aren't discouraged by the total absence of high cards!
Rule: With a 9+ card fit, bid!
What do we do after partner Bergen raises?
What do we do with the information? It's important to know what to do with the information. I have written an article on 9 card fits. Basically to summarise the rules are as follows.
1. Almost always bid game after a 10-12 Bergen raise unless you are a flat minimum, for example
Here you are comfortable just bidding 3♠. You have a very poor opening hand, there's no reason to do more.
2. With distributional hands, generally think about bidding game even opposite the weaker Bergen raise.
Despite knowing we don't even have a combined 20 points, the 9 card trump fit works really well when we are distributional (5-5 is nicely distributional). The extra trumps work over time for distributional hands!
Read next: Jacoby 2NT: The Game-Forcing Major Raise · 9 Card trump fit does it matter? · Losing Trick Count for Bidding: Judge Contracts Better