BridgeHands

Mixed Raise and Fit Showing Jumps - A call which has both constructive and preemptive properties.  Mixed Raises (MRs) and Fit Showing Jumps (FSJs) require 8-11 points, length in partner's suit and the bid suit as well as working honor requirements.  Some players interchange MRs and FSJs certain methods, while other methods are unique thus creating some confusion for some players. 

In this discussion MRs are equivalent to FSJs-A: the "A" stands for Advancer.  But MRs are not the same as FSJs-R: "R" stands for Responder - more below.  Also refer to the bottom for issues requiring partnership agreements.

Mixed Raises/Fit Showing Jumps

Playing Mixed Raises (MRs) is the same as Fit Showing Jumps by Advancer (FSJs-A) - more later.  By definition, these are always advancer bids.

(1D) - 1H - (P) - 3D;  

A 3 2
K 10 4 3 2
3 2
J 10 3 2

Here, advancer's MR show a 9+ trump fit (more than a preemptive raise but less than a jump raise). Note: some partners might mistake MR as a Splinter or Western Cuebid lacking a partnership agreement on Mixed Raises.

Thus, rules and definitions are in order. Here's a reasonable approach authored by Barbara Seagram and David Bird's "25 More Bridge Conventions You Should Know" using the same initial auction:

(1D) - 1H - (P) - ?;

3C = MR showing 3+ Hearts and 5+ Clubs

3D = Limit raise to 3H

3S/4C/4D = Splinter bids (ie, double jump/triple raise)

Unfortunately, clever folks like Marty Bergen have different twists, as we'll see later when reviewing FSJ-R.

Did you notice another conflict with existing methods? Right, bidding 3x of opener's suit is played as Western Cuebid by many players. So playing MRs, if advancer wishes to use a Western Cuebid the advancer must first make a 2x cuebid repeating the cuebid at the 3 level:

(1D) - 1H - (P) - 2D;
(P)   - 2H - (P) - 3D;

Of course, the MR is an alertable bid, shown as something like "Jump Cue = Mixed Raise" under the Simple Overcall section of Convention Card.

In the Bridge World Standard, MRs are classified as:

When new-suit advances are forcing, a cue-bid guarantees a fit, a jump cue-bid is a mixed (i.e., semi-preemptive) raise that shows at least one defensive trick, a new-suit bid followed by a same-suit rebid is invitational, and a new-suit jump is a fit-jump.

Those who play Negative Free Bids will note that playing MR's (e.g., FSJs-A), we give up NFBs by advancer.  However, those limiting Negative Free Bids only by responder will not have a conflict.

Now let's review typical agreements when advancer's bid is forcing:

(1D) - 1H - (P) - 1S;  Non-forcing constructive

(1D) - 1H - (P) - 2C;  Forcing one round, advancer at 2 level

(1D) - 1H - (P) - 2D;  Obviously forcing, raise of Hearts

Now we will review a few illustrative bidding scenarios with MR cuebids discussed in Larry Cohen's "To Bid Or Not To Bid: The Law of Total Tricks":

(1C) - 1H - (P) - 3C;   (Page 80)

K x x
K J 10 x x
J x x x
x x

(1D) - 1H - (X) - 3D;   (Page 103)

A x x
K x x x x
x x
J 10 x x

Here are a few more FSJs-A discussed in Matt Granovetter's column when he contributed columns to OKBridge (an online Bridge Service Provider):

(1S) - 2D - (X) - 3H;   Good usage of FSJs-A (MRs)

x x
K J 10 x x x
A J x x
x

(1C) - 1S - (2C) - 3H;   Poor usage, advancer should have 2 honors in bid suit.  Also, the hand is questionable whether it contains any defensive tricks.

K Q J x
9 x x x x x
x
J x

P - (1C) - 1H - (P);   Passed hand, poor time to make FSJs-A for other reasons;
2S!                          this hand is missing primary honors in both majors.

Q J 9 x x
J 10 9 x
K Q x
x  

Fit Showing Jumps - Responder (FSJs-R)

Many players use the following Fit Showing Jump (FSJ-R) criteria

Let's look at a few straight forward scenarios demonstrating Fit Showing Jumps by Responder:
 

1H - (X) - 3D;   3D shows Hearts and Diamonds; some play 2C/D as BROMAD,
                       2N shows Jordan by many players showing Heart support with
                       a limit raise.
x x
K 10 x x
A Q x x x
J x                   (recall 2C/D are played as BROMAD)

1H - (2C) - 3D;     Good usage of FSJs-R

x x
K J 9 8
A Q 9 x x
x x

Fit Showing Jumps by responder also work well when a player is a passed hand, as:
 

P - 1C; 2H    Shows 5+ Clubs, 4+ Hearts and 10-11 points

P - 1S; 3D    Shows 4+ Spades, 5+ Diamonds and 10-11 points

In Marty Bergen's "Better Bidding With Bergen: Volume 2 - Competitive Bidding, Fit Bids, and More" (page 59), Marty discusses his FSJ-A treatment:

1H - (1S) - ?

2H = single raise, 3 trump

2S = game forcing raise

3C = "mixed raise" (single raise with 4+ H), aka FSJ-A

3D = limit raise in Hearts (Bergen Raise "systems on" over 1S)

3H = preemptive
 

Now let's turn our attention to responder jumps.

Note: If an opponent makes a high level interfering bid, then those who like Splinters must choose to maintain it or use FSJs-R in that situation.  Example:

Summary: while the usage of MRs (FSJs-A) are easy to incorporate in bidding agreements, players must first agree on honor requirements and suit length.  For FSJs-R, further agreements are worth consideration:

Some require 5-4 length in specified suits, others allow 5-3 fit if partner bid major

Some require 2 honors in the 5 card suit, others play 1 honor is adequate

Those incorporating MRs and FSJs into their system will also need to reconcile existing methods including:

Weak Jump Shifts

Negative Free Bids (invitational jumps)

Bergen/BROMAD

Splinters/Mini-Splinters