Principle of fast arrival applies to game forcing auctions.
"In a game forcing auction, jumps to game show Weak hands"
It basically is like saying "Partner I want to end this auction immediately, I have a minimum and bad hand which is not suitable for anything other than game. If you now want to think about slam, do so knowing that I advise against it!".
The idea is, with a decent hand, we want to leave ourselves the room to show it, and to give partner the room to cue bid.
This rule has some significant implications
For simplicity lets say you are playing 2 over 1, so 2♥ is already game forcing.
Opener bid 4♥, showing 3 card support but also immediately jumping to game, trying to end the auction abruptly, hoping partner won't look for slam with a marginal slam try hand.
Here responder did not jump immediately to game. Instead, leaving room for investigation and simultaneously signalling to partner "Since I didn't jump immediately to game, I have a decent hand for you".
What exactly qualifies as a decent hand or not?
There is not an exact rule and it is largely a matter of judgement and partnership agreement. Lets look at some guidelines
Point count
Is a good start, with a minimum point count hand it might be correct to arrive quickly to game, showing partner a minimum. But, point count doesn't tell the full story.
Useful features
Shortage
Keycards
These are useful cards.
With 2-3 of them, even with a minimum hand, we should not shut the door too quickly.
5+ card side suits, 6+ card trump suits
Lets look at some examples
Lets look at some examples, using the auction
Example 1
You only have a minimum hand in terms of point count BUT
- 3 Keycards (Ace, Ace and King of trumps)
- Shortage in diamonds
This hand is nothing to be ashamed of, just bid 3♥, take it slow - communicate a useful hand to partner.
Example 2
Bid 4♥, tell partner your hand is poor
- Minimum point count (12)
- Only one keycard (Ace of clubs)
- No shortage
- Bad trumps
Example 3
Clearly 3♥, big point count, useful cards, useful small doubleton.
As a good rule we shouldn't be jumping to game with 15+ points ever.
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