Notrump Bidding

Contents:


How Many HCP to Invite/Make 3N?

This question starts this document because just recently (Sept.2022) has the best, authoritative article answering it appeared in Bridge Bulletin. The article is on page 67 and was written by Dr. James Marsh Sternberg. (If you don't have this issue, ACBL members can read back issues on the ACBL web site.)

Dr. Sternberg says that 26 HCP will make 3N 80% of the time.

As to how many HCP are needed to invite 3N, he says that playing a 15-17 NT, opener will have 15 HCP 44%, 15 HCP 33% of the time, and 17 HCP 23% of the time. So if you invite with every 8 HCP (by bidding 2N), your partner will accept with 16 and be playing 3N with a combined 24 HCP.

With a friendly lay of the cards, you may get a top by playing 3N with 24 HCP, but in the long run, the law of averages are going to get you.

With a high quality 8 HCP (e.g.: with a very good 5-card minor) and with most 9-HCP hands, you can invite, but the good Doctor says that with something like 865 65 983 AKJ62, he still would not invite; he would just raise straight to 3N because "the odds are you have five tricks for partner."

Adjusting HCP for 1N

A 24-point game is 50-50, but hands should be adjusted down a point for honors in a suit with no smaller cards (e.g.: KJ and nothing else) and -1 for 4-3-3-3 distribution. Also "aces and spaces" are better for suit games than notrump.

This means that you could have a hand with 19 HCP but downgraded for 4-3-3-3 and for a 3-card KQJ suit and thus be able to open it 1N.

Here are some hands from a recent tournament:

    AJ5 AT3 AT96 A86   (17 HCP) and
    Q93 Q42 J752 KQJ    (11 HCP).
Almost everyone made exactly 3NT despite having a combined 28 HCP and all the suits well under control (a spade was led). With the extra points, it might be expected that the hands could make an overtrick. The fact that they didn't lends credibility to the adjustments mentioned above: 
  • Both hands have 3=3=4=3 for -1 each.
  • Responder has KQJ with no lower cards for -1.
  • Almost all of opener's HCP are aces which is not as good for NT as having the same points in lower honors, though it's hard to put a value on that, plus it's offset somewhat by having good intermediates.

Another adjustment is to deduct a point for holding 4 cards in a minor suit that partner has bid. Simulations indicate that the following fits make 3NT the percentage of the time shown.:

  • 5-4 - 35%
  • 5-3 - 36%
  • 5-2 - 45%

Jon Butts, ABF National Teaching Coordinator says in a YouTube video:

    Expert opinion is that any excuse to upgrade a hand to put it into the notrump range [15-17] is a very good idea. Do it as much as possible including length points too. Fourteen points with a 5-card suit is really 15. Do that because there is preemptive value in opening 1NT and the partnership rarely gets to the wrong contract. and it avoids rebid problems from opening 1 of a suit.

Other adjustments which can be made include the strength of opener compared to the opponents, the positions of opponents who also bid, and if scoring is MPs or IMPs.

But as responder, we do not have to worry about opener's adjustments. We just assume that after adjustments, his hand value is in the 15-17 point (not necessarily HCP) range.

So if you have 10 points after adjustments (9 points if playing IMPs), you should bid game because your minimum partnership total is enough for game.

However, in the Feb. 2023 Bulletin, p. 42, #6, west has KQ982 K5 K84 K86 and with the good 5-card suit, upgrades to open a 15-17 HCP 1N in 3rd chair.

With AJ65 7432 J6 A53, east bids Stayman.West responds 2, and with 10 HCP, east jumps to 4.

This is very natural bidding which both teams followed, but the optimum score was 2. The moderator, Josh Donn, suggested P-1, 2-2, 2-P where 2 is Reverse Drury and 2 shows a full opening bid and that without shortness or other source of extra tricks "2 is probably enough".

Donn also questions upgrading to a 1N opening "with an aceless hand". But in past conversations with Donn, he has acknowledged that his suggested bidding in the Bid Box column is designed to get to the optimum contract and is not necessarily bidding which would win in the long run.


If you have 9 points (8 in IMPs), you can bid 2N and partner should bid 3N with 16-17 points and pass with 15.

For more on hand valuation, see the CardShark BidBase HandVal program and its documentation file. 

Marty Bergen has an article on evaluating hands vis-a-vis opening 1N in the August 2020 Bridge Bulletin page 51 (also available on the ACBL web site).

Many of the 20 hands Bergen shows are about 17-HCP hands too strong for 1N and some about 14 HCP-hands which should be upgraded to 1N. For example, he says that a AT98 holding is just as good as an AJxx holding.

In the Nov.2022 Bulletin, p.63, Bergen shows the hand KJ3 J74 KQ32 AKJ as an example of an 18-HCP hand which should not be downgraded to open 1N. He gives these reasons:

  • Too many Qs and Js.
  • 4-3-3-3 shape
  • No intermediates
  • Only 1 ace.

Bergen also shows T3 53 AT985 AT95 which he says deserves a jump to 3N, despite potentially having as few as 23 combined HCP.

His rationale is that the hand has two A's, three 10s and two 8s, a 5-card suit and a 4-card suit. This hand has been entered in BidBase with the bid of 3N, but if it is too rich for your blood, the entry can be deleted.


When NOT to Upgrade

Bobby Wolff shows KT AK7 QT5 AJT54 in his May 4, 2022, newspaper column and recommends not upgrading it. The reason is that if you open 1 and end up in 3N, the lead may come through your K or Q.

Why so many disasters opening 1N?

Image In reviewing the 1N Responses Practice Quiz, it was surprising how often contracts were going set when the bidding started with 1N. 
In the deal on the right, east opens 1N with 16 HCP. West eventually invites with 8 HCP, but DDA shows that they can only take 5 tricks in NT. If east had opened 1, the bidding could have continued 1-1-2 with a good part score in either clubs or hearts. 
In the Quiz linked above, more than a third of the 100 quiz deals were either down in normal bidding when some other unreachable contract made or went down less, or the bidding stopped below game when game was makeable. Another common glitch of sorts is when 3N making 3 was the normal contract but 4 making 4 with a Moysian Fit was the better score. 
Again, that's ONE-THIRD of the contracts which were not optimum. I haven't seen anything close to this in suit contracts.  
Some might want to blame the bidding software, but there was not a single bidding mishap in the bunch as you might see in suit bidding. Standard notrump bidding is just not that complicated.  
In fact, the real problem seems to be that NT bidding is TOO simple. Often, standard bidding has no way of getting to the optimum contracts in NT. 
Look at the Quiz and see for yourself. The "1/3rd" doesn't even take into account where a contract went set but the opponents could have scored higher if they had bid because that is a good result and this is about getting bad results from standard NT bidding.  
It's enough to make one wonder if there is an inherent problem with opening a strong 1N. For many years a regular partner and I played 11-13 HCP 1NT and only rarely had problems.

Within a day of writing the above, Bobby Wolff's column in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette showed a deal in which the bidding went 1N-2H, 2S-3N and said: North-South reached the wrong contract without doing anything unreasonable... Most experts would follow this approach.

Image

In this Quiz deal, South opens 1N with 15 HCP and north jumps to 3N with 10 HCP. DDA on the deal shows that NS can only make 2N.  
The DDA average over 10 iterations of mixing up the EW cards has NS making 3N, but over 100 iterations, the average drops back down to 2N. 
One obvious problem is south's :AQ. Even with the heart finesse working, it can only be taken once and east eventually gets his king. The 3-3 clubs are also a weakness for NS.


Image
In this deal, south has 15 HCP and north has a balanced 10 HCP - an automatic jump to 3N for almost everyone, yet a 100-iteration DDA average shows that NS can only make 1N. 
One problem is no 8-card fits, so, for example, the AKQ of spades cannot be used to develop any extra tricks while the 3 weak diamonds in both hands is a serious flaw. Also, the AKQ of hearts may not make any extra tricks with the JT7654 out. Likewise for the club suit. 
If NS was playing weak NT, the bidding might have gone 1-1N, 2. Since north has denied 4 hearts, the 2 bid has to be showing 4 and a weakness in diamonds. With no diamond help, north should pass and let south play the Moysian Fit.

In Wolff's Dec. 21, 2020 column, he shows East with A98-A7-98-AKJ432 opening 1N. N-S ended up in 4S* making. Wolff commented that opening 1N instead of 1C made it difficult for E-W to find the 5C save.


Weak Notrumps

Weak Notrump ranges vary from 10-12, 11-13, and 12-14.

Virtually every decent bridge player plays Weak-Two (of a suit) opening bids. Opening 2 of a suit with 6-12 HCPs and a 6-card suit accurately describes your hand for partner while taking a lot of bidding space away from your opponents..

For some reason, the vast majority of people who play Weak Two bids do not play Weak Notrump bids despite the fact that Weak Notrumps have the exact same advantages.

The ACBL says on their web site:

    If you currently use 16-18, a change to 15-17 doesn't require any major adjustments. You still have a balanced hand but you have 15,16 or 17 points instead of 16, 17 or 18 points. No big deal. 
    Experienced players find the 15-17 point range preferable for several reasons. 1NT is the most descriptive one-level opening bid, so we like to use it whenever our hand meets the requirements. You get more 15-point hands than you do 18-point hands, so the lower range allows you to open 1NT more frequently. 
    A 1NT opening also makes it more difficult for the opponents to interfere. If you open 1C, the opponents can easily come in with an overcall on the one level. When you open 1NT, they have to risk a two-level overcall.

Everything the ACBL says about the advantages of the 15-17 rather than 16-18 range for opening 1N applies even more so to lower ranges. The average number of HCPs a player gets in the long run is 10 (40 total HCPs in the deck divided by 4).

The HCP points required when playing 15-17 NT is 50%-70% higher than the average points of 10 while with a range of 10-12, the HCPs required are only 0% - 20% higher. Not only that, but when playing 15-17, if you have 10-12 points and a balanced hand, you usually won't be able to open; you'll have to pass, while playing 10-12 HCPs, you can open 1N, conveying much information to partner while obstructing the opponents.

Finally, Larry Cohen says on his web site that preempts should be lighter (fewer points) in first chair since you have two opponents to obstruct and only 1 partner (who you're actually helping by describing your hand).

Cohen is referring to 3-level and higher preempts, but the same applies to a 10-12 or 11-13 one notrump which also has preemptive value.

I prefer 11-13 notrumps. With 11 HCP and a 5-card suit, we can open the suit. With 11 HCP and no 5-card suit, we can open 1N. Either way, we get the benefits of being the first to bid.

Adam Wildavsky's System Notes includes system notes for using 12-14 HCP notrump.

There is some debate about whether or not to play transfers in Weak NT. The usual argument for transfers in strong NTs is that it lets the stronger hand be declarer. This is not as significant in WNTs where responder could easily have at least as many points, or even more, than opener. Another benefit of not playing transfers is that it leaves 2 available for game-forcing Stayman.

The famous Kaplan-Sheinwold system which many later players have adopted and adapted uses weak notrumps and did not use transfers.

Bids by responder:

    2 is non-game-forcing Stayman. 
    2 is game-forcing Stayman.
    Opener bids a 4-card major, if any, or 3 with a 5-card minor, else 2N. 
    2 and 3 are natural and not forcing. 
    2N is invitational. 
    3 can be used as forcing in reponse to 1NT.
    Opener raises with 3+ of the suit and otherwise bids 3NT.

Opening A Strong 1NT With a Singleton

As of Aug. 1, 2016, the ACBL Rules say:

    A notrump opening or overcall is natural if, by agreement, it contains no void, at most one singleton which must be the A, K or Q and no more than two doubletons. If the hand contains a singleton, it may have no doubleton.

    This includes hand patterns such as 5-4-3-1, 6-3-3-1 and 4-4-4-1, in addition to those that were previously allowed, such as 4-3-3-3, 5-3-3-2 and 5-4-2-2.

In ACBL's Standard American Yellow Card ("SAYC"), for a hand to be opened 1NT, it should be balanced (no singletons or voids) and 15-17 HCP. (See BidBase's Abbreviations page if unfamiliar with any of these abbreviations.) 

But as Steve Weinstein says in the Dec. 2016 Bridge Bulletin, p.40: "Just because I'm allowed to open 1N with a singleton doesn't always mean it's right."

The hand he was referring to was K AK5 AQ4 J97542 where 11 of 16 expert panelists bid 1 and 5 bid 1N.

Allan Falk added: "Trying to develop [the Jack-high club suit] in notrump will be a daunting task."

Don Stack says: "You cannot get to 6 if no one bids the suit."

But several panelists said that they would bid 2N over 1, promising 18-19 HCP. This is a slight overbid with 17 HCP, but is surely too much of a stretch with 15-16.

In Billy Miller's column in the Dec.2022 Bridge Bulletin, p.67, he says of opening 1N with AJ52 A862 A KT53:

    Totally No! A 1NT opening with a singleton honor should be reserved for difficult 15-16 counts where awkward rebids are likely if you open one of a suit, such as KQ3 K KJ32 KJ843.

August Boehm said on p.54 of the November 2018 Bulletin that with K K83 AJ94 KQ832 he would open 1N rather than 1 because the hand is too weak to reverse in clubs and diamonds and did not want to distort his shape by opening 1 and then 2Q.

Opening 1N With A 5-Card Major

In the highly regarded book, Points Schmoints!, Marty Bergen says to always open 1N with a balanced hand (5-3-3-2), even if you have a 5-card major. He says: "There are absolutely no exceptions."

In the equally regarded book, Standard Bridge Bidding For the 21st Centry, Max Hardy says that before opening 1N with a 5-card major, three conditions must be met involving

  1. the quantity of the other major [fewer than 4.], 
  2. the quality of the hand's doubleton(s), [at least 1 honor in each], and  
  3. whether the hand is more heavily Aces and Kings versus having more Kings and Queens.
    [Aces and Kings are better for suit bids while Kings and Queens are better for notrump.]

Larry Cohen says on his site to open 1NT with 5-3-3-2 distribution but open the major with 5-4-2-2. Cohen also advises that it is preferable to have 3 cards in the other major when opening 1NT in case partner transfers to it.

The merit of Cohen's advice was shown in the May 2017 ACBL Bridge Bulletin, p.62 where Frank Stewart opened 1N with A4 KT962 K84 AJ7, his partner transferred to spades, and Stewart wasn't strong enough to keep bidding, ending in 5-2 spades instead of 5-3 hearts.

ClaireBridge.com asks "What will you bid over partner's response of 1 after you open 1 with Qx AJTxx KQx Axx?" There is no correct answer, making this and the similar hand above prime examples of hands with 5-card majors which must be opened 1N.

Instead, the site suggests ONE of the following alternatives:

  1. With 5-3-3-2, open 1N with 16 HCP and open the major with 15 and rebid in a way to show a minimum balanced hand - a slight underbid. With 17 HCP, open the major and jump rebid in NT - a slight overbid which normally shows 18-19 HCP. 
  2. Open 1N with a 5-card major and 17 HCP. With maximum points, NT willl often make the same number of tricks as a suit bid and the extra 10 points can get you a top.  
  3. Open 1N with a 5-card major only with 3 cards in the other major in case partner transfers to that major.

The June 2019 ACBL Bridge Bulletin, page 50, has a good article about when and when not to open 1N with a 5-card heart suit but says nothing about with a 5-card spade suit.

It should be noted that liberally opening 1N with a 5-card major makes Puppet Stayman (for uncovering the 5-card major as well as 4-card major fits) more important. 

When 1 is better:

Say you have the hand: Q65 AQJ95 AK2 76

Bidding goes 1N-2, 2N. Responder is showing 4 spades and fewer than 4 hearts. Typically, you would bid 3N now, but the risk is that the opponents may run off a bunch of clubs, even if partner has a stopper.

In such a case, a 4-3 or 5-2 major fit could be better than than NT. If you open 1 and partner responds 2. With partner showing more HCP, 2N is a safer bid.

If he bids 1 over 1, 2 can show this hand - possibly only 3 spades with notrump weakness in a minor. If he has five spades, he can just rebid spades. With a good 4 spades, he can pass with a weak hand or bid a minor suit stopper with a good hand. With the example hand, you can bid 3N over 3 or 3 over 3.


Image Preemptive Value of 1N:

East has a reasonable opening bid of 1 because if partner bids 1, he can bid 2, and even if pard bids 2, opener has a good enough hand to bid 3.

But here South, who would have to pass over 1N, has enough to overcall 1 and after North raises to 2, East is shut out of the bidding.

Oh, he could still try 3, but opposite a passed hand and two bidding opponents, it's risky to bid on the 3 level, even with a good 17 HCP.

Even if South had a passing hand and West had, 6-7 HCP and 3 hearts they probably wouldn't find the superior heart fit.

Of course it would be possible to find deals in which opening 1N with East's hand turns out better, but as a general rule, if opener has a 5-card heart suit and a good 4-card minor, it's better to open 1.

Opening 1N With A 6-Card Minor or a Two-Doubleton Hand

Hardy also provides guidelines for opening 1N with a 6-card minor. We have always thought two doubletons did not a balanced hand make, but Hardy calls 6-3-2-2 and 5-4-2-2 hands "semi-balanced" and provides guidelines for opening them 1N. We have followed these guidelines in BidBase for Strong NT only. 
In the April 2017 ACBL Bridge Bulletin, August Boehm says of the hand AQ JTxx Qx AKxxx: "Maybe partner is old school who doesn't open a strong notrump with two doubletons." So if you are still refusing to open such hands 1NT, consider yourself "old school".

Numerous bridge columns and magazine articles say to bid 1 with 4=2=2=5 (or 4=2=5=2) and 15-17 HCP because if pard responds 1, you have an easy 1 rebid, but with 2=4=2=5, you open 1N because if you open 1 and pard bids 1, you would have a rebid problem. Sources include Nov. 2020 Bridge Bulletin, page 33 and July 3, 2020 Aces (Bobby Wolff's bridge column), and others.

Jan. 2023 Bridge Bulletin, p. 45, shows AKQ92 A3 K3 9654 and the question was what to bid after 1S 2H D P. Nobody liked the options and it was noted that opening 1N rather than 1 would have solved the rebid problem.

In the Dec.2016 Bridge Bulletin, page 56, Marty Bergen has a whole article about the benefits of opening 1N with two doubletons, but also says: I do not suggest opening 1N with a six-card major.

In the Aug. 2018 Bridge Bulletin, p.38, #4, nobody opens 1N with A763 AQ864 Q3 A9 even though conventional wisdom is that opening 1 causes a rebid problem. The 1 openers simply reversed to 1.

BidBase believes that if playing a weak NT (10-12, 11-13, 12-14), you are better off bidding a 5- or 6-card suit, so we have such entries for opening 1N hard coded for 15-17 HCPs.

Opening 2N

SAYC bidding of 2N calls for the same shape specifications as a 1N opening but with 20-21 HCP.

Some people play slightly different ranges. In Bobby Wolff's Jan.8, 2019 newspaper column, he shows a hand with AJ64-AQ5-AKQ4-Q5 (22 HCP) being opened 2N. He didn't say why.

It's pretty standard these days to upgrade a (semi-)balanced 19-HCP hand and open it 2N. The features calling for an upgrade are the same as upgrading 14 HCP to 1N:

  • A good 5-card suit.
  • Concentrated honors in 4 card suits, such as KQxx rather than Kxx Qxx.
  • Aces: the Weekly Bridge Quiz of July 16, 2022, upgraded AKQ95 AJT A6 J93
    The clubs could be a problem, but that's true no matter what you open.

Responses to 2N: 
Responder can do the math to decide whether or not to invite or bid game or slam. For example, opposite a 20-21 HCP 2N, a flat hand with <4 HCP should be passed in matchpoints. Even with a 4- or 5-card major, responder should have 4+ HCPs to bid Stayman or a transfer in case opener does not have a fit and you end up in 3N. 
With a hand like AK9-76-AK6-AK764, which was on a Bridge Quiz (May 2021), the bidding went 2N-(P)-2H*-(P), game in spades is likely even with <4 HCP, but it might have been a different story if the transfer had been to hearts. 
For some reason, regular Stayman over 2N is not shown on the CC, but Puppet Stayman (see Responses, below) is and does not have to be alerted or announced.Transfers have to be announced and other conventions must be alerted. 
Smolen Stayman responses are 1 level up from Smolen over 1N, below.

Billy Miller's Conventional Continuations of Transfers:

The following is summarized from Billy Milles's column in the July 2020 ACBL Bridge Bulletin, page 59. The purpose of these bids is to make it easier to get to makeable slams 

  1. 2N-3, 3 or 2N-3, 3N = 4-card support and 5 key cards. 
  2. 2N-3, 3N or 2N-3, 4 = a maximum, 4-card support, and 4 key cards. 
  3. 2N-3, 4 or 2N-3, 4 = a maximum, 4-card support, and 3 or 4 key cards. 
    From here down, opener has only 3-card support and thus simply bids the transfer target suit
    Responder follows by bidding 3N to indicate that he normally only has 5 of his suit.
    Typically, opener would correct to 4 of the target suit with 3-card support: but in the
    Miller convention, he can make a conventional bid of 4 to provide more detail. : 
  4. ...4 = a maximum, 3-card support, and 5 key cards. 
  5. ...4 = a maximum, 3-card support, and 4 key cards. 
  6. 2N-3, 3-3N, 4 or 2N-3-3N, 4 = close-out bid. Hand doesn't match any of the above. Pass is also a close-out bid in 3N, obviously.

In an exchange with Miller, I asked if he uses something similar with a 1N opening and he said no. 
In his column, Miller said that #4 "is exactly the hand your partner held". But the hand in question just had 20 HCP. Also, each of the bids shown above (and in the article) specified "a maximum" which raises the question of what you should bid with just 20 HCP.  
Miller said that he wold not super accept with the 4-3-3-3 20-count hand in question, but he implied that he would "super accept" with virtually any 20-21 HCP hand.  
Since Miller didn't say what was left to bid on the rare occassion where he did not super accept, BidBase omits the "maximum" requirement and uses #6 for hands such as 4-3-3-3 shape with 20 HCP with which Miller said he normally would not supper accept. Obviously, any hand which does not have 4-3-3-3 shape but has 20 HCP will have 21+ total points which, I guess, is still considered a maximum.

Responses to an Opening 1NT

Inviting Game or Jumping to Game in NT:

    The assumption in this section is that you have a balanced hand, no 4+ card majors, no running 6+ card minor and fewer points than would be needed to make slam

    First of all, what are the minimum number of combined HCP needed to make game in notrump? Most sources say 25; some, like Richard Pavlicek, say 26.

    According to Karen Walker in August 2021 Bridge Bulletin (available for members on the ACBL web site), 3N will make 70% of the time with 26 HCP, 60% with 25 HCP (when opener has <17), and 40% with 24 HCP.

    Walker points out that the odds favor bidding a vulnerable 40% game in team play but not in pairs. Here are a couple of Rules for adjusting your HCP:

    Rule of 16

    The Rule Of 16 ("RoS") says to add your HCP to the number of cards in your hand which are in the range of 8 to Ace.

    If the total is 17+ then you should raise partner to 3NT; otherwise, pass 1N. The idea is that the more cards held in the 8-Ace range for a set number of HCP, the better the hand is for notrump.

    For example, A432 A32 432 432 has a total of 8 HCP but only 10 RoS points and takes just 2 tricks no matter what opener has while QJ32 KJ2 QJT 432 also has 8 HCP but 17 RoS points and has a much higher trick taking potential when paired with partner's 1NT opening hand.

    BidBase doesn't do RoS calculations, but another way of looking at this "rule" is to give half a HCP to intermediates - 10s, 9s, and 8s when paired with 10s or 9s. The second hand shown above has 3 intermediates or 1.5 HCPs, giving the hand a total of 9.5 HCPs. Since 15 + 9.5 is still below the 25 "needed" for game in NT, BidBase invites by bidding 2N even though RoS says to just jump to 3N.

    BidBase does support specifications of intermediates.

    The claim for RoS is that you don't have to invite game with 2N. Mathematically, this doesn't make sense. No matter how you evaluate responder's hand, opener will always have a 3-point range in the value of his hand and that is too broad a range to say that some valuation method for responder can force game for any possible holding of opener.

    There will always be borderline hands which should be "invited". Extensive analysis is requred to determine the frequency with which 3NT can be made with 17 RoS points and I haven't seen that done.

    To get some kind of feel for RoS's effectiveness, a dozen tournaments in the Hot Springs Village bridge club were examined. Each event had an average of about 27 boards. Both N-S and E-W pairs of hands were examined to find hands which had RoS bidding specifications or hands very close to that.

    Only ONE(!!) deal out of a total of 648 hand pairs (in 324 boards), matched the RoS specs, so not only does RoS rarely come up, but a 9 HCP hand opposite a NT opening has the same rarity. So if you forget to use RoS and instead invite with 9 HCP, you are unlikely to lose anything in the long run.

    Rule of 25

    In Karen Walker's article referenced above, she discusses Danny Kleinman's "Rule of 25" which helps decide whether or not to invite: 

    1. If you know the partnership has at least 25 HCP [but not enought for slam], jump to 3N.
    2. With at most 25 HCP, pass.
    3. Otherwise, bid 2N to invite game.

    Walker says that if you were taught to invite with a balanced 8 HCP, change that to 8.5 or even 8.75. Again, you can count 0.5 for a Ten when paired with a 9 or 8. A good 5-card suit (KJ843 per Walker) or a good 4-card major is worth a stretch.

5N: Pick a Slam

    In Bobby Wolff's June 25, 2023, Aces newspaper column, Wolff says that 5N in response to 1N is "Pick a Slam": Since responder did not use Stayman, they are presumably angling for a minor suit slam if opener has a 4-card minor headed by one top honor or better. Opener can also bid a major on a 5-card suit to allow for a 5-3 fit.

Stayman:

  • The idea behind Stayman is to uncover a 4-4 fit (or better) and also to allow opener to bid the suit first so that the stronger hand can be declarer. Normally at least 8 HCP is required, but see Garbage Stayman below.

    In the August 2022 Bulletin, p.37 #2, after east opens 1N, west bids 2 with KQJ4 J9872 65 87 and fortunately east bids 2, which west passes for the optimum contract.

    Wolff said in his 12-14-2021 column to bid Stayman with "AJ64-73-JT752-J4" and to Raise 2S to 3. Pass 2D. Bid 2N over 2H. The problem is that with 17 HCP or even a nice 16, opener may accept the "invitational" 2N and bid 3 with a total of as few as 23 HCP, with a further downside that 3 of your HCP are Jacks.  
    BidBase has an entry for Wolff's bid, but it's deselected. Select it if you like playing 3N with 23 HCP (including 3 Jacks) .

    A general exception to Stayman is a 4-3-3-3 hand as seen below. With no ruffing values, responder should just bid 2N with 8-9 HCP or 3N with 10+. This can work out if partner never bids 1N with a 5-card or longer suit, but the hand below shows the risk where 3N loses to everyone using Stayman.

    Using Puppet Stayman, east could bid 3 to ask for a 5-card major. Puppet also allows for finding the 4-4 spades when west doesn't have 5 hearts. (See Puppet Stayman.)

    In June 2023 Bulletin, p.63, with the hand AQ-7652-QJT4-AJ3, Bergen says: With a combined 39-31 HCP, we're big favorites to easily make 3NT with overtricks. He says to bid 3N rather than Stayman even though his hand is 2=4=4=3 rather than 4-3-3-3, put his 4-card major is bad and his doubltone is strong.

  • Responder bids 2, asking opener to bid his 4-card major, if any. 
    With 4 Hearts, opener bids 2. He may or may not also have 4 Spades. 
      If responder's suit is Hearts... 
        He passes with less than 9 total points. 
        Bids 3 to invite game with 9 points or 
        Bids 4 to sign off with 10-15 points or 
        Explores for slam with 16+ points such as KQT6-A643-KQT95-_ .
          Make a splinter bid of 4. 
          Bid 2.
            Bobby Wolff said in his 03-03-2020 newspaper column that
            bidding 2 sets Hearts as trumps and shows interest in slam.
            With 5=4 majors, you would start with a transfer, not Stayman 
            But June 2022 Bridge Bulletin, p.50, says that experts use 2
            as invitational showing 5 spades in an unbalanced hand. 
      If responder's suit is Spades... 
        He bids 2 with 5 spades and 4 hearts and 9 points to invite game.
          Opener can pass or bid 2N, 3 or 4 or 3 or 4  
        Bids 3 which is game forcing and shows the suit bid plus spades.  
        Bids 2N with 8-9 HCP, inviting game. 
          Opener can pass or bid 3 with 4 Spades and a minimum,
          or bid 3N or 4 (with 4 Spades) with a maximum. 
        Bids 3N with 10-15 HCP. 
        Bids 4N with 16-17 HCP, inviting slam. 
    With 4 Spades, opener bids 2 which denies a holding of 4 Hearts. 
      If responder bids 2N, it implies that responder's suit is Hearts and invites game in NT.   
      Responder otherwise rebids similar to the bidding over 2 
    With no 4-card major, opener bids 2.  
      With 8-9 HCP and a balanced hand, responder invites game by bidding 2N. 
      June 2022 Bridge Bulletin, p. 50, says that experts like to use 2 to shown an unbalanced 8-9 HCP hand with five spades, like KQ542 9 QJ73 432. 
      In Becker's 04-15-2022 newspaper column, he says to jump to 3 of your 5-card major when 4-5 in the majors. (Playing Smolen, you would jump in the 4-card major in order to right-side the contract.)  
      However, in Becker's 07-08-2022 column, AQ96 KQJ83 A72 T, he says to bid 4 as the start of a control showing sequence in an attempt to find out if partner has the K. Even if partner understands your 4 bid, which may be wishful thinking, it gives up on finding a 5-3 heart fit.  
      Bidding 3 is a game force and requires 10+ HCP. It shows 5-cards in the minor along with a 4-card major as indicated by bidding 2 first.
      With 10-15 HCP, responder bids 3NT. 
      With a good 16+ HCP responder can explore for (or just bid) slam.

    Stayman as a Spade Transfer: 

      Bobby Wolff shows the hand Q5432 T4 53 AQ65 and describes a sequence of a Stayman 2 followed by 2 to show a semi-balanced invitational hand with 5 spades rather than transferring and bidding 2N. 
      Wolff goes on to explain: This lets you play 2 instead of 2N when opener has a minimum and also allows responder to introduce a second suit without forcing to game.

    Modified Stayman with Optional RKCB 

      From March 2020 Bridge Bulletin, page 37, #1: 
        E: AKJ3 T8 AK875 AJ
        W: Q9 K765 9 KQ8643          
      Bidding: 2N-3, 3-4, 4-4N, Pass 
      3 is Modified Stayman with 3 denying 4 hearts or five spades. 4 was Optional RKCB, a newer technique that many pairs are now using. It shows clubs and implies exactly 4 hearts and gives opener the option to answer key cards if interested in slam. This effectively allows a quantitative move by responder with the ability to check on key cards at the same time.

4 or 3N?

Image The deal to the right illustrates the problem of deciding to bid 4 with a 4-4 fit or to bid 3N for the higher score in matchpoints if both contracts can take the same number of tricks.

Typically, the more HCP the two hands have, the more likely it is that 3N is the better contract because there will be more winners in each hand on which to discard losers from the other hand.

The DDA for the specific lay of the cards shown says 11 tricks can be taken in either contract, but when redealing the E-W cards to get an average DDA for 10 deals, it shows that 4S is the winner. This is an example of how the 100-deal average is needed to be sure which is better, and 3N is better in the longer run.

However, North cannot be blamed for bidding 4 with only the C:A3 and no way of knowing that South has the suit well covered. So it goes.

In the Nov. 2018 Bulletin, p.63, Billy Miller says:

    Usually aces and space are excellent for suit play while queens and jacks are good for notrump. If bidding indicates that the short trump hand has a ruffable side suit, that's good for suit play. If declarer in 3N will be the stronger hand, that will be an advantage as it will be more difficult for the opponents to make a killing lead.

With QT QJ7 AKJ AK543, we open 2N and pard bids 3.

The normal bid now is 3 and with QT62 J8 7653 KJ7, responder will bid 3N.

The problem is that DDA says that 3N cannot 3N as much as 50% of the time because of the spade suit while 4 will make.more than 50%. However, the DDA is averaged by mixing the opponents' cards 101 times and leaving N-S's cards as-is, but some percentage of the time dummy may have the S:K and 3N always makes.

Garbage Stayman:

    Responder bids 2 and passes any response by opener.

    This is done with a weak 3-suited hand with a singleton or void in Clubs (but see new method below).

    Ideally, the shape would be 4=4=4=1, but 4=4=3=2 with Diamonds no worse than JT4 is acceptable. With 5 of a major, you would transfer to the major and then pass.

    In the June 2022 Bridge Bulletin, p.50, the hand J98 9543 JT983 4 is shown and Garbage Stayman is recommended with the intention of passing any response, including 2, saying that even 2 is preferable to 1N.

    New Method: This is a new method I just started seeing in 2022 (not to say that it wasn't around before then).

    In this method, you can bid Stayman with a hand like xxxx-xxxx-x-xxxx and less than 8 HCP. If opener bids 2, you bid 2. If opener is 3-2 in the majors, he corrects to 2; otherwise, he passes.

    While there are hands which opener can have which result in a ridiculous contract using this method, the odds favor your finding a 4-4 or 4-3 fit more often than not, resulting in a much better score than playing 1N with your bust hand.

Puppet Stayman:

    Top professionals say to open all 15-17 HCP balanced hands (5-3-3-2) 1NT and doing so requires Puppet Stayman for responder to be able to locate a 5-card major. Conversely, some people say they NEVER bid 1N with a 5-card major, in which case they have no need for Puppet Stayman [though it begs the question of how to follow up a bid of 1-(P)-1 and a distribution of 2=5=3=3 - see Opening 1N With A 5-Card Major ].

    Most bids in Puppet Stayman are artificial and alertable.

    Responding to an opening 1N: 

      1N - 2 = Puppet Stayman tells opener to bid a 5-card major, if any  
      2 = Opener bids his 5-card major.
      2 = Opener has least one 4-card major, no 5-card majors.
      2N = Opener has no 4-card nor 5-card major. 
      Responder's bids after 2: 
        Pass = weak 3-suited hand short in Clubs (Garbage Stayman) and 4+ Diamonds.
        2 = 4-card Spade suit. <4 Hearts. Invitational.
        2 = 4-card Heart suit. <4 Spades. Invitational.
        2N = 4-4 in the majors. Invitational.
        3 = 4-4 majors and "extras" (i.e.: slam interest).
        3 = 4-4 majors and game force.
        3N = Natural. Denies a 4-card major. To play.  

      Using Puppet With a 4-Card Major

      Image An unusual use of Puppet Stayman is shown on the right. South has 13 HCP. Usually with that much and a balanced hand opposite a strong notrump, you can take as many tricks in notrump as in a 4-4 major, so a jump straight to 3N is called for.

      However, the DDA shows that 4S will outscore 3N in matchpoints.because of the 5-4 fit.

      This is rarely going to come up, but it doesn't cost anything to check, so it would be foolish not to.

      When opener shows 5 cards in spades, responder can sign off in 4, or explore for slam with a stronger hand.


      Puppet Stayman has advantages over regular Stayman: 

      1. If a pair follows the advice of the experts, they will frequently open 1N with balanced 5-card major hands with 15-17 HCP. Puppet allows responder to look for a 5-3 fit. 
      2. Even if there is no 5-3 fit, a 4-4 fit still can be found at no extra cost.

    Responding to an opening 2NT: 

      2N - 3 = The bids are similar to Puppet over 1N except up 1 level.
      3 = At least one 4-card major, no 5-card majors.
      3N = no 4-card major. 
      Responder's bids after 3: 
        3 = 4 Spades and <4 Hearts.
        3 = 4 Hearts and <4 Spades.
          Opener bids the indicated suit with a fit or bids 3N.
        3N = to play. Responder has a 5-card major but no 4-card major.
        4 = 4-4 majors and slam interest.
        4 = 4-4 majors and NO slam interest.

    2 or 3 for Puppet?

      Some people say to use 2 to bid Puppet over 1NT, others say 3 despite the fact that the ACBL convention card shows "". The check boxes are used to indicate if 2 is for Stayman or Puppet.  If they meant that Puppet should be opened 3, they would have shown "3 Puppet __" separately.

      In addition... 

      • Over 2N, a non-jump 3 is used for Puppet, upon which everyone agrees, so why make a jump to 3 over 1N? 
      • Using 3 instead of 2 preempts your own side which should obviously not be done without a compelling reason, yet no 3 bidder I've ever asked could give any reason for it, much less a compelling one.

      Googling "Puppet Stayman" returns eight web pages... 

      • Four say to use 2 (BridgeBum, BridgeGuys, BridgeHands, Bridge-Tips)
      • Two, including ACBL's, do not even mention using Puppet over 1N,
      • Two say to use 3 one of which gives no reason for it. That leaves Larry...

      Larry Cohen is the only person I've found to offer any reason for using 3 instead of 2: 

        I don't recommend Puppet Stayman on the 2-level (1NT-2C), because I prefer Garbage/Crawling Stayman -- whereby responder can use 2C with all junky major-suit hands. I like responder to be able to respond 2C with, say, 8764=7652=J8765= -. Whatever opener bids, responder passes. (In Puppet Stayman, this doesn't quite work) [because opener bids 2N without a 4-card or 5-card major].

      So Cohen's sole objection to using 2 is that he prefers to have that available for Garbage Stayman. But Garbage Stayman can be bid in Puppet, as noted at Bridge-Tips.co.il:  

        [2C allows Responder] to accept any response from opener; i.e. 2D, 2H or 2S, ideally done with Responder having a 3=3=5=2, 3=3=7=0, or 3=3=6=1 distribution [and] holding as few as 0-8 HCP's.

      It appears that the only drawback to using 2 for Puppet is that you if you were planning on passing any response by opener (Garbage Stayman) you may end up in a 4-3 or 5-2 fit (neither of which is the end of the world) if you have Cohen's 4=4=5=0, opener may bid 2N and you have to bid Diamonds on the 3 level, but against that are all the advantages of Puppet, as explained in detail at Bridge-Tips.

      Also, BidBase has found that very, very rarely do deals arise in which a player opens 1N and does not have either a 4- or 5- card major and in which responder bids Garbage Stayman and opener has to bid 2N.

      Lastly, even not playing Puppet, the auction 1N-2C, 2D-Pass is no guarantee of a good score.


Romex Stayman
    Romex is an alternative to Puppet Stayman which intitially asks for a 5-card major but can also probe for a 4-card major, just like Puppet. It is a great deal more complicated than Puppet Stayman so it is probably not useful for casual partnerships. To keep from taking up so much space for a convention which may not be widely used, most of the bids have been hidden. Click as shown to see them.

    Bids after 1N-2: 

      Opn Rsp = Opener & Responder
    • 2 - ...  = denies a 5-card major but may have a 4-card Spade suit
      See bids after 1N-2C-2D 
    • 2 - ...  = a 4- or 5-card Heart suit but less than 4 Spades. 
      See bids after 1N-2C-2H 
    • 2 - ...  = a 5-card Spade suit. 
      See bids after 1N-2C-2S 
    • 2N - ...  = 4=4=x=x and a minimum; responses as in previous section  
Smolen:
    Smolen is a variation of Stayman. Without Smolen, if responder to 1N has 5-4 in the majors and bids Stayman, then if opener bids 2, denying a 4-card major, responder would have to bid 3 or 4 of his 5-card major, wrong-siding the contract.

    With Smolen, if opener bids 2, the Smolen bidder jumps in his 4-card suit, letting opener know that the other major is his 5-card suit. Opener either bids 3N without 3-card support, or he bids 4 of the 5-card suit. Either way, opener gets to be declarer.

    Smolen is game force, so it requires at least 10 HCP by responder assuming 1N shows 15-17 HCP>


      1N - 2
      2 - 3 = 5 Spades
      Opener bids:
      3 = 3 Spades
      3N = 2 Spades 
      1N - 2
      2 - 3 = 5 Hearts.
      Opener bids:
      4 = 3 Hearts
      3N = 2 Hearts

Texas Transfers

    The bidding goes 1N-4-4 or 1N-4-4. This requires 6+ and values for game or, if followed by ace asking, values for slam missing 2+ aces.

    Texas transfers can be used in two situations after partner opens or overcalls 1N.

      With a hand like Kx AQJTxx Axxx x, transfer to 4 and then ask for aces/key cards.

      With a hand like xx ATxxxx AJx Qx, transfer and then pass.

    With a hand like xx AQJTxx Kxx Ax where you don't want to ask for key cards with a low doubleton and where cue bidding controls could be problematic, use Jacoby Transfers to 2 and then jump to 4 to show slam interest and leave it up to partner to ask for aces if he also has a slam-worthy hand.

    If opener Super Accepts the transfer by bidding 3 or 2N, then 4N by responder is key card asking; otherwise, responder just bids game in his suit.


Jacoby Transfers

    Jacoby Transfers can be made in response to an opening or overcalled 1N, 2N, or 3N. 2 asks for opener to bid 2 and 2 asks for 2 when responder has a 5-card major. (But see the Stayman section for when responder is 5-4 in the majors.)

    Opener accepts the transfer:

      After 1N-2, 2, responder makes one of the following bids:  

      •  P  = less than 8 points. 
      • 2 = 5 Spades, 5 Hearts, 8-9 points. (See Aug.2019 Bridge Bulletin p.47.)
        With 4=5 majors, use Stayman (per ACBL and other sites). 
      • 2N = 5 Hearts (in case opener only has 2). Opener's responses:
        • Pass to play in 2N
        • 3 to sign off with a minimum and 3 Hearts
        • 4 with a maximum and 3 Hearts
        • 3N with a maximum and usually with fewer than 3 Hearts. 
      • 3 = 5+ Hearts and 4+ Diamonds/Clubs; 10-13 HCP, game forcing 
      • 4 = 5+ Spades and 5+ of the minor bid; 14+ points, slam interest in either suit.
        Opener can bid 4 to relay to 4N to play. A direct bid of 4N is ace asking.
        The problem with this is with a hand like this: AQ8 AT6 A843 Q87.
        You want to be in slam if partner has help in clubs, but normally you would ask by making a 4 control showing bid. One possibility is to bid 5 over partner's forced 4N.  
    • 3 = 6+ Hearts; 8-9 HCP, invitational 
    • 3N = 5 Hearts, 10+ HCP. Opener passes with <3 Hearts or bids 4 with 3+.
      With 3+ hearts and slam interest, opener can control bid an A with 4 after which responder can sign off with 4 or continue control bidding.  
    • 4 = 6+ Hearts, 10+ HCP. See Texas Transfers, above.
      Using Jacoby instead of a direct Texas Transfer indicates slam interest
      with a problem like a worthless doubleton or a singleton or void which
      should prevent making a Texas Transfer and then asking for Aces.

    After 1N-2-2, responder makes one of the following bids:  

    •  P  = less than 8 HCP and 5+ Spades. 
    • 2N = 5 Spades (in case opener only has 2 ). See above for opener's responses. 
    • 3 = 5+ Spades and 4+ Diamonds/Clubs; 10-13 HCP, game forcing 
    • 4 = 5+ Spades and 5+ Diamonds/Clubs; 14+ points, slam interest in either suit. 
    • 3 = 5+ Spades and 5+ Hearts; 8-9 HCP, invitational
      NOTE: With 5-5 in , always start with a transfer to 2 Spades not to 2 Hearts.
            With 5-4 or 4-5 in , use Stayman, not Jacoby Transfers. 
    • 3 = usually 6+ Spades; 8-9 HCP, invitational 
    • 3N = 5 Spades, 10+ HCP. Opener passes with <3 Spades or bids 4 with 3+. 
    • 4 = 6+ Spades, 10+ points. See Texas Transfers, above.

Opener Super-Accepts the transfer:

    With a maximum NT opening and 4+ trumps, opener can "Super Accept" the transfer by jumping in the target suit, such as 1N-2-3.

    An optional treatment is to Super-Accept with 3 trumps and 2 of the top 3 honors by bidding 2NT, as in 1N-2-2N.

    However, Mike Lawrence says in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin:

      Bidding 2NT with a good hand and 3-card support often runs into trouble
      when partner has a balanced bad hand.

    But with a balanced bad hand, maybe partner should just pass 1NT in the first place.

    In the January 2022 Bulletin, p.60, Karen Walker says that you do NOT automatically super-accept with 17 HCP and 4 trumps and gives the hand AQJT KQ J732 KJ4 as an example.

    She points out that the hand has 7 losers, that the doubleton heart honors are not worth 5 HCP, and that the spades "might actually be too strong.". A better 17 HCP hand would be AJT2 43 KQJ2 AQ4. It has 6 losers and more HCP in the side suits.

    In the May 2023 Bulletin, p.61, Marty Bergen says to Super-Accept with K753 AQ9 KT63 A2 which just has 16 HCP but also has 3-1/2 quick tricks, 2 aces, and 2 intermediates. He says the same for AT75 AT9 AK93 65 which only has 15 HCP but 4 quick tricks, 3 aces, and 4 intermediates.

    On the other hand, he would not S-A with K753-AKQ-Q643-QT, a 16-HCP hand with just 2-1/2 quick tricks, 1 ace, 1 intermediate, and 3 queens, two of which are unsupported.

Stayman as a Minimum Invitational Transfer:

    Bid 2 "Stayman" and follow up with 2 to show an invitational semi-balanced hand with 5 spades. (See the Stayman section.)


5-5 Majors

    Weak - Less than 8 HCP:
      Bid 2 to transfer to 2 then bid 2.

    Invitational - 8-9 HCP

      Jump to 3 (as in 1N-3) to show 5-5 majors.

    Game Force - 10+ HCP

      Jump to 3.

    A more aggressive alternative comes from the Sept. 2022, Bulletin, It's Your Call, p. 45 #4 where the majority bid 3 with JT854 KT7654 7 3, admittedly with an extra heart, but still - only 4 HCP.

    Based on this, BB jumps to 3 with just 9 HCP and 5-5 and to 3 with 7-8 HCP and 5-5 or with 4-6 HCP and 6-5.

    It should be noted that only 7 of 13 bid 3 with the others bidding 2, but this more aggressive line seems reasonable.

Minor Suit Transfers

    If you have a weak 6+ card minor with no outside entries, you can usually do better with the minor as trump because in notrump, declarer can never get to your hand whereas if the minor is trump, your long minor may take several tricks.  
    On the other hand, you have to go two levels higher (from 1N to 3) and it could have turned out that opener had enough of your minor to establish your suit to run in notrump. 
    Ironically, it may be that it is better to go to 3 with a poor 6+ card suit which is almost guaranteed not to take any tricks in notrump. Deal #819 in the BidBase Practice program has a 1N responder with JT-752-QT8653-92. DDA shows that passing 1N results in only 5 tricks for down 2 while 3D takes 8 for only down 1.

    In Becker's April 15, 2022, newspaper column, he jumps to 3N with 762-T9-AK9874-84, saying that while there are no guarantees, "by far the best action" is to jump straight to 3N.

    In Bobby Wolff's May 31, 2022, newspaper column, he jumps to 3N with 43-A8-AT8753-T92, saying not to show a long minor unless your hand is weak or very strong. Without a sure outside entry, such as a couple of Q's instead of an A, and not 2 of the top 3 honors, a jump to 3N is inadvisable.

    For BB deal #20300, east opens 1N, and west has KQ63 T7 2 QJ9543 (8 HCP). Despite the 6 clubs, a minor suit transfer should not be used with a sure outside entry and a 4-card major. 
    Double Dummy Analysis (101-deal averaging) of this deal shows that 3N makes. So the correct procedure would be to bid a Stayman 2, then if east calls 2, a bid of 2N implies 4 spades, denies 4 hearts, and invites game in either spades or NT (but says nothing about clubs).  
    If east bids 2, west could still bid 2N invitational with 8 HCP, but an alternative is to bid 3 indicating a weak 6-card club suit and a major like Kxxx which is not a sure entry and opener can decide whether or not to try 3N. 
    With KQ6 T7 82 QJ9543, west still has an outside entry but no 4-card major, so he should just bid 2N. Also, the following option gives another way for opener to show good support for both minors. This doesn't help if opener only has good support for just one minor, but it provides another reason not to give up the invitational 2N.

    Minor Transfer Options:

    Most people play that 2 is a relay to 3, then responder can either pass or correct to 3. 
    An alternative is to use 2 to transfer to 3 and 2N to transfer to 3, the drawback being that you can no longer invite game by bidding 2N with a balanced 8-9 HCP hand.

    In Oct.2022 Bridge Bulletin p.65, Dr. Sternberg dismisses using a natural 2N saying that nobody ever wants to play 2N. He is ignoring the invitational aspect of 2N. Responder is not bidding 2N because he wants to play there, but because he doesn't have quite enough to jump to 3N himself. 
    He shows the hand 42 8 KQJ543 T932 and says that using 2N as a transfer to diamonds, opener can bid 3 (after a 2N transfer) to say that he lacks a high diamond honor and 3 to say that he has one, the with the hand shown, responder can correct 3 to 3 or correct 3 to 3N. 
    When 2N is a transfer to diamonds, then to invite game in NT, responder can bid 2 as purportedly Stayman, but then bid 2N over any response.  
    After 1N-2, 2-2N, responder may either have 4 of the other major (if he was bidding a real Stayman) or he may not have ever had a 4-card major and is just inviting to game in notrump. If opener wants to check on the other 4-card major, he can accept by bidding 3 of the major over responder's 2N, such as: 

      1N-2
      2-2N
      3
    and now responder can bid 4 if he has a 4-card Heart suit or otherwise bid 3N. Note that opener cannot bid 3 unless he is at the top of his notrump range, since he is forcing to game.

    Bypassing the Transfer:  
    A practice hand has north opening 1N with

      K8-AK4-QJT6-AT75 and south bidding 2 to relay to 3 with
      QT9--K987432-K62.  
    DDA shows that it makes both 5 and 3N, but if north dutifully bids 3C, south would normally complete the relay with 3. How can he bid more not knowing what north has? 
    But after south's 2, north could rebel and bid 2N which we shall say shows a maximum and strong support for both minors. This situation should rarely come up, but unlike some conventions in which one must memorize easily forgettable, more or less random bids, the fact that 2N is a rebellious bid makes it more memorable.  
    If south has a really bad garbage hand, such as nothing but 6 of a minor to a Jack, he can still run to 3 of his minor and no real harm is done, but should he have something more, game is afoot. 
    Note that with a better minor, many people will make a direct bid of 3 of their minor instead of using a transfer. Such a 3-bid is normally done with 2 of the top 3 and is invitational. If the notrump opener has 1 of the 3 top honors, he can be pretty sure of getting 6 quick tricks in the minor and will bid game. If he doesn't have a top honor but has 3+ of the minor and stoppers in the other suits, he might try 3N in hopes of using his 3 little cards in the minor to set up the suit.

     Showing a Minor Suit before bidding 3N: 
    In the Nov.15, 2019, Weekly Bridge Quiz, one hand was KQ8 J9 643 AK652 with partner opening 1N. The pros bid was 3N, but a relay to 3 followed by a bid of 3N costs you nothing and alerts partner to the fact that you have a concentration of points in clubs and thus while you may have an outside entry, you usually are leaving two other suits exposed.  
    If you have ever been in 3N and had 5+ tricks run off the top against you because neither you nor partner had a stopper, you might have appreciated a warning from your partner instead of his just jumping straight to 3N. If opener also has an unstopped suit and good club support, he may want to bid 5. 
    Another example is BidBase's deal #20152. South opens 1N with J4 and north has Q Q32 932 AK8653. This time north has a good 6-card club suit still but no outside stoppers. 
    For these to work, the pair must be using 2 to transfer to clubs and 2N to transfer to diamonds which, in turn, means that 2N can't be used as a notrump invitational bid. 
    With a good 6+ card minor and an outside stopper, just assume that opener has the other two suits stopped and jump to 3N.

    Responses by Openers: 
    If opener doesn't have the 3 suits (excluding responder's) stopped, he should bid responder's suit, or if he has a good 5-card major such as AKxxx, he can bid 4 of that suit and if responder happens to have 3 (or a QJ doubleton), she can pass; otherwise, she bids 5 of her suit.

    Alternative treatment for transferring to clubs before bidding 3N: 
    1N - 2,  3 - 3N = Slam Try 
    In BidBase's deal #140, west opens 1N with

      AJ94 AT5 K54 KT9 and south bids 2 to transfer to clubs with
      Q2 83 A73 AQ8532 and then bids 3N over 3.
    DDA shows that these hands can make 6 as well as 6N. 
    With opener's primes values (aces and kings) and prime clubs, he should jump at the chance to bid 4 Gerber. 

    Again, all these special treatments will rarely come up and would be best used with a more-or-less regular partner. You only lose the very occasional top board by not playing them.  

    Jumping Straight to 3N: 
    In the March 13, 2020 bidding quiz, #6, south had QJ3 A98 K6 KJ643 with partner opening 1N. This time we have stoppers in every suit and the club suit is not as strong, so jumping to 3N seems reasonable. 

Minor Suit Stayman

Image

The Double Dummy Analysis at the bottom of the screen shot shows that 5 always makes and on average, even 1N will not make.

"DDA (11)" is based on 11 iterations mixing the EW cards and "(101)" is based on 101 iterations. The first DDA is based only on the deal shown.

It's a little counter-intuitive that on average, 5 will make when 5 will not even though diamonds are much stronger, but it's true.

Anyway, this deal shows the value of Minor Suit Stayman. The problem is that MSS starts by responder to 1N bidding 2 and many (if not most) people use 2 to transfer to 3.

As will be seen, minor suit transfers can still be done by bidding 2N instead of 2. A direct 2N over 1N cannot be used as invitational to 3N. Instead, 2 followed by 2N over any response by opener is invitational to 3N. This, in turn, means that 1N-2, 2-2 shows 4-4 in the majors rather than the customary 5-4. But this conflicts with Puppet Stayman where 1N-2 asks opener for a 5-card major, and this brings up the fact that 5-4 or more in the minors come up relatively rarely while Puppet is needed much more often because 1N is often bid with a 5-card major.

Here are the bids in MSS:

1N-2 where 2 asks opener to bid a 4-card minor, if any.
2N = no 4-card minor.
..... 3 = weak sign-off. Opener can pass or correct to 3.
..... 3 = weak sign-off with longer diamonds.
..... 3 = 0/1 in suit bid with slam interest in minors.
..... 3N = 2-2 in majors with 5-4 or 4-5 minors.
..... 4 = 1-1-6-5
..... 4 = 1-1-5-6 (Note that the shorter suit is bid.)
3 = 4+ card minor.
..... P = weak hand.
..... 3 = 0/1 in suit bid with slam interest in opener's minor
..... 4 of opener's minor = 2-2-4-5 or 2-2-5-4 and slam interest
..... 5 of opener's minor = no slam interest.

1N-2N = Transfer to 3 and responder can pass with a 6-card club bust.

1N-3 is invitational to game with 6+ cards including 2 of the top 3 honors in the minor bid. If opener has Ax or Kx or xxx+ in the suit bid, he may choose to bid 3N; otherwise, he will pass.

In the deal above, the bidding would go
1N - 2
3 - 5

With a stronger hand, north would bid 3 over 3 to show the spade shortness and slam interest.

3-Level Responses

    Three-level responses to 1N seem to very rarely come up.

    The most common is that direct 3 bids are NT invitational with a 6-card minor with 2 of the top 3 honors. This is useful because the only alternative is to relay to 3 but then there is no way to invite game in notrump.

    But some people play that 3 bids show a similar suit in the majors with slam interest. However, there are alternative ways to invite game, bid game, and/or show slam interest with a 6+ card suit. 

    • 1N - 2,  2 - 3 = invitational
    • 1N - 4,  4 = sign-off in game
    • 1N - 2,  2 - 4 = slam interest.

    As a result, a direct bid of 3 is not needed for a 6+ card major suit.

    So some people use 1N - 3 to show 5-5 in the majors in a weak hand and 3 to show 5-5 in a game force hand or alternatively, with an interest in slam. Here's an example which showed up in a practice quiz:


      AJ983 KQ432 K K3
      After partner opened 1N, this hand responded 3. Opener had
      KQ7 AJ65 QJ4 A76 and made a control-showing cue bid of 5.
      After responder bid 5, slam was easy.

Responses In Competition