Soloway jump shifts are a treatment for the strong jump shift developed by Paul Soloway and the San Francisco Aces in the 1970s. The treatment is very easy to use and gives a precise meaning to your strong jump shift, as opposed to the old fashioned 19+ Goren method, which often left opener in the dark as to what kind of hand responder actually had. Playing strong Soloway jump shifts you jump shift on one of three types of hands. (Typical examples are shown. In all cases assume the opening bid was 1.)

   1. A balanced 18-19 hcp hand. (A singleton in opener’s suit is permissible.)

       KQ5        AJ95       KJ         A1054
       AJ         AKJ        J10532     KJ9
       J853       KQ         AQJ7       AQ4

   2. A strong (15+-18 playing points) one-suited hand

   3. A strong (15+-18) 2-suited hand, one of your suits being support for opener's suit. (Assume partner opened 1 for the examples.)


After the jump shift, opener makes a natural rebid or raises responder's major (3+-card support) or minor (4+-card support). Responder’s rebid then clarifies the jump shift type. If the opener rebids a new suit this shows shortness (singleton or void), since once responder jump shifts, the partnership is committed to playing either in opener’s suit, responder’s suit or no trump. Thus, no need for opener ever to rebid a new suit naturally.

A rebid by responder in no-trump shows that the jump shift was Type 1, based on a strong balanced hand. After a no-trump rebid showing 18-19 hcp, opener can usually place the contract. If responder rebids (or with most of his points in one suit uses fast arrival to jump rebid) his own suit, this shows that the jump shift was Type 2, a one-suited hand. Finally, if responder’s rebid is either opener’s first suit, or a new suit, this confirms  a Type 3 jump shift–a strong hand containing 4+ support for opener's first suit.

In the case of Type 3 two-suited hands, one of responder’s suits is always support for opener's first suit. So, whether opener raises responder's suit or rebids in no trump, a Type 3 responder will usually go back to opener's first suit to confirm trumps. Note that a new suit rebid by responder is a splinter, promising support for opener’s first suit and a singleton or void in the second suit bid. This is true even if responder's rebid takes the form of an apparent “raise” of opener's second suit. Thus if the auction goes


partner’s 3  bid here shows support for diamonds with a singleton or void in spades. This is clear since the only time responder will make a jump shift on a two-suited hand is when one of his suits is support for opener. With other strong two-suiters responder bids his two suits naturally, one after the other, and refrains from making a strong jump shift.

This modern treatment for strong jump shifts has the great virtue of precisely distinguishing the three and only three types of hands that responder can have for the jump shift, thereby making for a much more informative and smooth auction. Soloway jump shifts are valuable whether all of your jump shifts are strong or if just the two-level jump shifts are strong (such as when playing Bergen Raises).