Constructive Auctions After a 1NT Opening Bid --------------------------------------------- Constructive auctions after a 1NT opener are very straightforward. These auctions very much illustrate the "responder is captain" principle which we discussed in our last lesson. As opener, you should open 1NT if at all possible. This includes opening 1NT without stoppers in some suits, and with a 5 card major. 1NT is a very descriptive bid -- it shows 15-17 high card points and only 3 possible hand shapes (4-4-3-2, 5-3-3-2, and 4-3-3-3). As responder, hands fall into one of 3 categories -- minimum, medium, or maximum. The point ranges are slightly different than the ranges we discussed last lesson: Minimum - no more than 7 points; game is not possible Medium - 8-9 points; game is possible if opener has a maximum NT (defined below) Maximum - 10 or more points; you must bid game When responder has a medium hand, opener is invited to bid game with a maximum NT. A maximum NT is defined as follows: Any hand with 17 HCP Any hand with 16 HCP and a fit with responder's major suit Any hand with 16 HCP and a 5 card suit Any hand with 16 HCP, not 4-3-3-3 distribution, and at least 2 10s or 9s. Now that you understand how to determine whether or not to bid game, the rest of the lesson will focus on how to determine whether the best contract is 3NT, 4H, or 4S. Determining If You Should Explore for a Major Suit Fit ------------------------------------------------------ As responder, it is simple to determine if you should explore for a major suit contract. If you do not hold at least 4 cards in either major, you should not bother to look for a major suit fit. (On the few occasions when opener has a 5 card major, you may miss a 5-3 fit, but most of the time NT will play just as well anyway.) If you have have 4 card major, you should use the Stayman convention (described below) to determine whether you should play in NT or a major suit. You should also use Stayman if you have two 4 card majors, or a 5 card major and a 4 card major. If you have at least one 5 card major and do not have exactly 4 cards in the other major, you should use the Jacoby transfer convention (described below) to determine if you should play in that suit. If you have six or more cards in a major, you should ensure that the contract strain is in that major (you are guaranteed at least an eight card fit, since opener must have at least 2). You still should use the Jacoby transfer convention. If you do not have 4 or more cards in either major suit, your choices as responder are simple. With a minimum hand (7 points or less) pass. With a medium hand, bid 2NT. Partner should bid 3NT with a maximum NT (described above). With a maximum hand, bit 3NT. The Stayman Convention ---------------------- The Stayman Convention is used to find a 4-4 fit in NT auctions. You should only use Stayman if you have a medium or maximum hand. Pass if you have a minimum hand. If you meet the Stayman criteria described above (one 4 card major, two 4 card majors, or a 5 card major and a 4 card major), responder should bid 2C. This is called an "artificial" bid, and it doesn't imply anything about your actual club suit. Opener makes one of the following responses: 2D - opener has no 4 card major 2H - opener has 4 hearts (and possibly 4 spades) 2S - opener has 4 spades but not 4 hearts With a medium hand, responder should do the following: a) If opener has bid one of your 4 card majors, raise to 3 (e.g., 1NT-2C-2H-3H), inviting opener to bid 4 with 16 or 17 points. b) If opener does not bid one of your 4 card majors, bid 2NT, inviting opener to bid 3NT. There is also one other wrinkle for opener. If the auction proceeds 1NT-2C-2H-2NT, and opener has 4 spades (as well as 4 hearts), opener should bid 3S with 15 points and 4S with 16 or 17 points (since responder must have 4 spades). c) If opener bids 2D and responder has a 5 card major, responder should bid it (e.g., 1NT-2C-2D-2H). Opener will bid 2NT with 2 card support (pass is also acceptable). If opener has 3 card support, pass with 15 points, bid 4 with 16 or 17 points. With a maximum hand, responder should do the following: a) If opener has bid one of your 4 card majors, raise to 4 (e.g. 1NT-2C-2H-4H). b) If opener does not bid one of your 4 card major, bid 3NT. The same wrinkle as above applies to opener. If the auction proceeds 1NT-2C-2H-3NT, opener should bid 4 spades with 4 spades (and 4 hearts). c) If opener bids 2D and responder has a 5 card major, responder should bid 3 of that suit (e.g. 1NT-2C-2D-3H). Opener should bid 3NT with 2 card support, and 4 of the major with 3 card support. The Jacoby Transfer Convention ------------------------------ Jacoby Transfers were devised to allow the 1NT opener to play the hand. This is often advantageous, because it is more likely that the defense will give away a trick on opening lead if the strong hand (the 1NT opener) plays the last card at trick 1. In fact, when the strong hand is concealed, you may take more than one additional trick, just because the defense has to guess more. As responder, you should use Jacoby transfers under the following circumstances: a) If you have a six card or longer major (even with 4 cards in the other major), even if you have a minimum hand. b) If you have a medium or maximum hand, a five card major and not precisely 4 cards in the other major (as described above, you should use Stayman with a non-minimum and 5-4 in the majors). Note with 5-5 in the majors, you should use Jacoby. c) If you are 5-4 in the majors with a minimum hand. The transfers work as follows: with 5 hearts, responder bids 2D (artificial); opener is required to bid 2H (you have "transferred" the heart contract to opener). With 5 spades, responder bids 2H; opener is required to bid 2S. Before I get into exact sequences, here is a general set of guidelines for responder: a) With a minimum hand, pass. b) With a medium hand, invite game (2NT with a 5 card suit, 3 of major with a 6 card suit). c) With a maximum hand, bid game (3NT with a 5 card suit, 4 of major with a 6 card suit). For opener, once responder has bid over the transfer: a) With a minimum, pass with 2 card support, correct to transfer suit with 3 card support, bid game with 4 card support. b) With a maximum, bid 3NT with 2 card support, bid game with 3 or 4 card support. Quiz ---- As responder, your partner has opened 1NT. For each of the following hands: a) Determine the hand type (minimum, medium, maximum) b) Determine your next bid, and what you will do over opener's possible responses. 1) S Kxxx H Kxxx D Jxx C xx a) Minimum b) Pass 2) S Kxxx H Kxxxx D xx C xx a) Minimum b) Bid 2D (transfer), pass the 2H response 3) S Kxxx H Kxxx D Qxx C xx a) Medium b) Bid 2C (Stayman) Over 2D, bid 2NT; partner should bind 3NT with a maximum Over 2H/2S, bid 3H/3S; partner should raise to game with a maximum 4) S Qxx H Kxxxx D Kxx C xx a) Medium b) Bid 2D (transfer); over partner's 2H bid 2NT With 2 hearts and a minimum, partner should pass With 2 hearts and a maximum, partner should bid 3NT With 3+ hearts and a minimum, partner should bid 3H (you should consider bidding 4H) With 3+ hearts and a maximum, partner should bid 4H 5) S KQxx H Kxxxx D xx C xx a) Medium b) Bid 2C (Stayman) Over 2D, bid 2H (showing a medium hand with 5H and 4S) Over 2H, bid 3H (or 4H if you feel lucky) Over 2S, bid 3S 6) S Kxx H Kxx D Qxxxx C xx a) Medium b) Bid 2NT; partner should bid 3 with a maximum 7) S Kxxxx H Kxxxx D xx C x a) Minimum b) Bid 2D (transfer) or 2H (transfer), your choice; pass partner's response 8) S Kxxx H Qxx D KQxxx C x a) Maximum b) Bid 2C (Stayman) Over 2D, bid 3NT Over 2H, bid 3NT (if partner has 4 hearts and 4 spades, he should bid 4H) Over 2S, bid 4S 9) S x H Qxx D KQxxx C Kxxx a) Maximum b) Bid 3NT 10) S x H KQxxx D Qxx C)Kxxx a) Maximum b) Bid 2D (transfer) Over 2H, bid 3NT; partner should bid 4H with 3+ hearts 11) S Kxxxx H KQxxx D xx C x a) Consider this a maximum, since partner must have a fit for one of your majors b) Bid 2H (transfer) Over 2S response, bid 4H (showing 5 hearts and 5 spades) Partner should pass 4H with better hearts, bid 4S with better spades Advanced Topics --------------- For the interested reader, I developed a set of more advanced topics: More Details on Jacoby Transfers 4 Suit Jacoby Transfers Weak NT Opening Bids These are optional. You may find them confusing. If so, just skip over them. They are not essential to your understanding of bidding over 1NT openers. More Details On Jacoby Transfers -------------------------------- This section contains more details about Jacoby Transfers. It simply gives examples of how to apply the principles described above. I suggest you do not try to memorize every sequence. If you just use common sense (which is encapsulated in the principles above), you can figure out what to do. Once the opener has accepted the transfer: With a minimum hand, responder should pass. If responder has a weak hand, it is almost always better to play in responder's long suit (even with a 5-2 fit). With a medium hand, responder should do the following: a) With a 5 card suit, bid 2NT. With 2 card support, opener should pass with a minimum NT and bid 3NT with a maximum NT (described above). With 3 card support, responder should bid 3 of the major with 15 points, and 4 of the major with 16 or 17 points. With 4 card support, opener should bid 4 of the major (even with 15 points). b) With a six card suit, bid 3 of the suit. With 2 card support, opener should pass with a minimum NT and bid 3NT with a maximum NT. With 3 or 4 card support, opener should bid 4 of the suit. With a maximum hand, responder should do the following: a) With a 5 card suit, bid 3NT. With 3 card support, opener should bid 4 of the suit. b) With a 6 card suit, bid 4 of the suit. With 5-5 or better in the majors, responder should bid 2H (transfer to 2S). After the forced 2S response: a) responder should pass with a minimum. b) responder should bid 3H with a medium hand -- with 15 points, opener should pass with 3 hearts, bid 3S with 3 spades, or bid 4 with 4 card support. c) with 16-17 points, opener should bid 4 of whichever suit has better support. d) responder should bid 4 hearts with a maximum; opener should correct to 4S with better spades than hearts. 4 Suit Jacoby ------------- It turns out that Jacoby Transfers have enabled experts to develop many sophisticated auction treatments. For example, the auctions 1NT-4S, 1NT-2H-2S-4S, and 1NT-3S-4S accomplish pretty much the same thing. However, for experts, the first auction is a closeout (actually, experts use "Texas" transfers, 1NT-4H-4S), the second auction is a mild slam try, and the third auction is a slam force. One variant of Jacoby that Ava and I like is 4 suit Jacoby. A 2S bid by responder is a transfer to clubs, and a 2NT bid is a transfer to diamonds (to make a 2NT invitational bid, we bid Stayman followed by 2NT, e.g., 1NT-2C-2S-2NT does not necessarily promise hearts). Opener now has 2 choices. With good support (3 to an honor or any 4 card), opener "accepts" the transfer (1NT-2S-3C or 1NT-2NT-3D). With less than good support, opener "rejects" the transfer (1NT-2S-2NT or 1NT-2NT-3C). This convention can be used for 2 purposes: a) To allow responder to bid 3NT with a 6-8 point hand and a six card minor suit, if opener accepts the transfer. Otherwise, the contract will be 3 of the minor. b) To play in 3 of a minor with 5 or fewer points and a six card minor. Weak NT ------- Ava and I like NT openings so much that we play 12-14 point 1NT openers, which means we open many more hands 1NT than most people. I'm not sure why this treatment has not caught on more (most bridge players feel the strong NT has been ordained from on high!) because we think it has many advantages. Before I get into the advantages, let me explain how we show a strong NT. After opening a minor suit, we simply bid NT as our next bid (e.g. 1D-1S-1NT). The major advantage is that weak NTs lead to a more natural bidding style. For strong NT bidders, opening one of a minor can describe many different hand types, from a long suit to a minimum hand with NT distribution. With a weak NT, when we open 1 of a minor, we usually have a 5 card suit (with a 4 card suit we would open 1NT). Also, the weak NT has pre-emptive value; we know a lot about partner's hand and where we should play the contract, but the opponents are somewhat in the dark, having to bid at the 2 level in order to get into the auction. Clearly the point values for responder's hands change accordingly: Minimum - no more than 9 points; game is not possible Medium - 10-11 points; game is possible if opener has a maximum NT Maximum - 12 or more points; you must bid game We are not suggesting you play weak no trumps (in fact, quite the contrary, because it will be difficult for you to find any partners who play it), but hopefully it will help you appreciate how nice it is when partner opens 1NT.