Snapdragon Doubles and Redoubles

Before we get started describing this convention, let's do a quick definition of terms.

In the given auction, West is the opener (everyone knows this one), North is the overcaller, East is the responder, and South is the advancer. (If there's ever a term used here that you haven't run across before, check out this site -- the Bridge World's Bridge Glossary.)

Now that we're speaking the same language, let's get to the convention. A nice competitive bidding device is Snapdragon. This is a double (we'll get to the redouble part later) by advancer. The only occasion when a double is Snapdragon is when three different suits have been shown by the other three players, and nobody has jumped. Something like this:

Here are two auctions in which a double is not Snapdragon:




In the first auction, there's been a jump bid; in the second auction, only two suits have been bid. In either case, Snapdragon is off.

So what does a Snapdragon double show?

Two things: Length in the fourth (unbid) suit, and tolerance (or better) in partner's suit. In my partnerships, we usually define "tolerance" as Tx or better. So, when I hold a hand like

T53 K6 AJT872 62

and the auction goes

(1C) 1H (1S)

to me, I double to show competitive (or better) values, length in diamonds, and honor-doubleton or better in hearts.

When I hold

T53 6 AJT872 K62

on the same auction, I bid 2D, showing values and length in diamonds but no tolerance for partner's suit.

Partner will be able to judge the later auction much better with the information about your length in his suit.

I've also been known to [ab]use Snapdragon with a hand like this:

T53 K876 AJT8 62

in the same auction -- (1C) 1H (1S), I'll Snapdragon double and then pop to three hearts, trying to show a diamond lead-directional raise to 3H.

What about the redouble? Well, let's look back at a very similar auction:

(1C) 1H (X)

The double shows [exactly four] spades, so why not treat the auction the same way as the previous one? Clubs, hearts, and spades have been shown, so redouble can logically be used as Snapdragon in this situation.

Serious and Non-Serious 3NT

East-West were having a fine session until this board came up:

2NT was a game-forcing raise, 3D showed a singleton, 4C and 4H were cuebids, 4NT was a keycard ask, and 5H showed two keycards without the queen of spades.

E-W let the momentum of the auction push them into slam, even though neither partner had extra values. They couldn't escape two heart losers, and 6S went down one.

A few boards later, this hand came up:

East was now gun-shy. Even though everything was cuebid, he didn't have anything extra for his bid, so didn't think he should push on any more. They languished in 4S making 6.

How can we help poor E-W with these two hands? Maybe West should cuebid 4H on the second board, but not cuing a king-empty fourth certainly isn't a sin.

A simple solution has been devised for these situations: "Serious 3NT".

Serious 3NT is a convention that's only on when the partnership is forced to game and have agreed on a major. When those two criteria are met. a 3NT bid by either partner says "I have undisclosed extra values, and am interested in slam," and a cuebid that bypasses 3NT says "I don't have any extras, but I'm cuebidding just in case you have slam interest."

Playing Serious 3NT, the first auction should go like this:

1S - 2NT; 3D - 4C [I have a club cuebid, but no extra values]; 4S.

Once responder is known to not have extras, opener knows they don't belong in slam, and signs off. A cuebid of 4H over 4C would show slam interest even though he knows his partner doesn't have extras.

With Serious 3NT, the second auction could go like this:

1S - 2NT; 3D - 3H; 3NT [I have lots of slam interest!] - 5S [I'm chock full of controls, the only thing I'm worried about is the unbid suit, clubs]; 6C [I have clubs pretty well wrapped up] - 6S.

Some players [including myself] have started playing Non-Serious 3NT. This is basically backward from the original Serious 3NT - bidding 3NT denies extra values and cuebidding above 3NT shows extras and slam interest.

Back to the first auction, with Non-Serious 3NT:

1S - 2N; 3D - 3NT [I don't have any extras, but I want to leave room for you if you do]; 4S [I'm not too loaded either. Let's stop here].

The second auction:

1S - 2N; 3D - 3H; 4C [I have slam interest and clubs controlled] - 4D; 4S [I've done my all with the diamond shortness, club cuebid, and showing extras] - 4NT [my controls plus your extras has to be a good thing]; 5H [two without the queen] - 6S.

Why play Non-Serious rather than Serious 3NT? I think it works better because it doesn't give away information to the defense when you're going to stop in four of your major anyway. When neither partner has extra values, keeping the defense in the dark can be very helpful.

Transfers Over Transfers

We've put a lot of work into our responding structure over a 1NT opening. One recent innovation we've put on the card is "Transfers Over Transfers", gleaned in no small part from this 2005 post by Justin Lall.

The best description of why transfers over notrumps work so well was by (I believe) Jeff Rubens - he said that basically responder gets to bid twice while opener bids zero times! Transfers are incredibly useful in many different areas of bidding. Hopefully I'll live long enough to write about all of them!

The way we play this is just a bit different from Justin's original layout.

Let's start with hearts:

1NT - 2D [transfer] - 2H :

• 2S = transfer to clubs (showing 4+), game force
• 2NT = invitational hand with 5 hearts
• 3C = transfer to diamonds (showing 4+), game force
• 3D = "transfer to hearts" - 6+ hearts, generally balanced, slam interest
• 3H = invitational hand with 6+ hearts
• 3S, 4C, 4D = splinters, slam interest
• 3NT = game-forcing hand with 5 hearts
• 4H = very mild slam try with 6+ hearts

Note that we can't transfer to spades. A good hand with five hearts and four spades will go through Smolen. A bad hand with that shape bids 2C then 2H weak. An invitational hand with that shape can either bid 2D then 2N (not showing the fourth spade) or 2C then 2NT (not showing the fifth heart). Sorry, can't do everything!

Over the auction 1N - 2D - 2H - 3C [showing diamonds], opener bids:

• 3D [I prefer diamonds to hearts, but 3NT may still be the right spot]
• 3H [I prefer hearts to diamonds and have a maximum]
• 3S [I loooove diamonds and have the spade ace]
• 3NT [I don't really like either of your suits but I'm loaded in the blacks]
• 4C [I love diamonds and I have the club ace but not the spade ace]
• 4D [I'm really, really interested in a diamond slam. I'm not denying either black ace. We still have plenty of room to find out our controls]
• 4H [I prefer hearts to diamonds but I have a minimum]

There's a similar response structure over 1NT - 2D - 2H - 2S [showing clubs], except there's now a 2NT rebid available to opener. 2NT now shows a minimum, and 3NT shows a maximum [no fast arrival bids in notrump! Jumping to 3NT shows extras].

Over the auction 1NT - 2D - 2H - 3D [6+ hearts, slam interest], opener will cuebid his cheapest ace -- even if it's the ace of hearts! [Opener should also cuebid the king of hearts.]

Our structure over 1NT - 2H - 2S is a bit different, because we use the sequence 1NT - 2C - 2D or 2H - 2S to show an invitational hand with long spades. So when the auction goes 1NT - 2H [transfer] - 2S, the rebids are like this:

• 2NT = transfer to clubs (showing 4+), game-forcing
• 3C = transfer to diamonds (showing 4+), game-forcing
• 3D = transfer to hearts (showing 5+), slam try
• 3H = "transfer to spades", 6+ spades, poor trumps, slam try
• 3S = 6+ spades, good trumps, slam try
• 3NT = game-forcing with 5 spades
• 4C, 4D, 4H = splinters
• 4S = very mild slam try with 6+ spades

The transfer to hearts is 5+, because with 5-4s we go through Smolen. It's a slam try, because with 5-5s without slam interest, we start with 2C - over 2D we bid 4C showing that hand.

The only difference between the spade structure and the heart structure is that opener can "cuebid" 3S over the 3H bid with good spades.

What do you think of this response set? Any suggestions for improvements?

Two Over One vs. Precision

I'm often asked, "what's better-- Precision or Two Over One?"

Well, there are good and bad parts of both, but in my opinion, Precision (or some other Big Club system) works better when the opponents stay out of the auction (or only come in at low levels), and Two Over One works better when the opponents bid a lot.

I have a suspicion that Standard American is stronger than 2/1 in very, very established partnerships, but 2/1 is certainly better for a partnership that plays 100 or fewer sessions per year together.

So I guess in a perfect world I'd play a Big Club when the opponents are vulnerable and 2/1 (or Standard) when they're not.

Stay tuned -- I'll be posting some of my favorite defenses to a Big Club, including:

• Mathe
• CRASH
• Wonder
• IDAK
• Suction
• Inverted Suction
• Inverted Psycho-Suction

...and any more that I can think of.

Three-Way (Kokish) Game Tries

It's important for every partnership to have a good structure for game tries when one of a major gets raised to two. These should apply in any of these situations:

• 1H (P) 2H (P);
• 1S (2D) 2S (P);
• 1C (P) 1H (P) 2H (P);
• 1C (P) 1D (P) 1S (P) 2S (P);
• (1D) 1S (P) 2S (P);
• (1D) 1H (2C) 2H (P);

Basically, one of a major has been raised to two, and there has been a pass after the 2H or 2S bid. There could have been prior bids by one or both partners, and there could have been interference (or even an opening bid) from the opponents... but the important thing is, one of a major has been raised to two.

Standard practice in this situation is the "help-suit game try" -- when the one of a major bidder has enough above a minimum that he wants to investigate game but not enough to just up and bid four of the suit (I'll call that player 1M for short) bids a new suit where he has some losers that need to be taken care of. In response to this, his partner (we'll call him 2M) can bid game if the "help suit" is well covered (with high cards or shortness), return to three of the major if the "help suit" is not at all covered, or bid three of another suit that he has "stuff" in when he's not sure if his holding in the "help suit" is enough for a game bid.

Let's show a couple of examples:

Partner has opened 1H, you raised to 2H, and he bid 3C as a help-suit game try. You hold:

(a) JT5 KJ64 86532 7

(b) JT5 KJ64 72 8653

(c) JT5 T94 KQ9 K942

With hand (a), your lousy five-count has turned to gold. Partner will lose a club but then trump any further club losers in the dummy. Bid 4H!

With hand (b), you still have a lousy five-count. You can't do anything about partner's club losers, and he probably has some spade-diamond losers as well. Bid 3H and hope he makes it.

With hand (c), you have a good raise to 2H, but that alone shouldn't make you bid game. You have some help in clubs, but not enough to go straight to game yourself. Here you should bid 3D. This tells partner, "Yes, I do have some help in clubs, but not enough to be sure of game. I do have some nice stuff in the diamond suit, too--- maybe that information will help you make the right decision."

Many years ago, some players turned the game try system on its head-- they bid the suit where they didn't want their partner to have high cards -- their singletons! This is called the short-suit game try. Partner will tend to bid game with no wasted values in that suit -- something like three small is a great holding here -- and sign off in three of the major when he has wasted high cards in that suit.

Which works better, help-suit or short-suit game tries? If I had to pick, I guess I'd say short-suit, but thankfully, I don't have to choose between them.

Eric Kokish came up with what he called two-way game tries. This structure has held up very well over the several years that I've been playing it.

Let's talk about the 1S - 2S auction first:

1S - 2S -

• 2NT = asks partner where he would accept a help-suit game try.
• 3C = short-suit game try.
• 3D = short-suit game try.
• 3H = short-suit game try.

When 1M relays with 2NT (asking for a help suit), 2M will bid the cheapest suit in which he would accept a help-suit game try. So if 2M has QT6 J84 KQ632 86, he'll bid 3D over 2NT. This not only tells partner about that diamond help, but since 3C was skipped over, 1M knows that 2M has a poor club holding.

So let's say the auction went 1S - 2S - 2N [asking] - 3C [showing goodies in clubs], but 1M wasn't interested in the club suit. He can now bid 3D or 3H, asking for help there. So, theoretically, an auction might go like this:

1S - 2S; 2N [asking] - 3C [stuff in clubs]; 3D [do you have stuff in diamonds?] - 3H [Not really, but I have some goodies in hearts!]; - 4S.

It gets just a bit trickier for a lot of folks when hearts are trumps. If we were to use 2NT as the "help-suit ask" over 2H, there would be no way to show spade help-- so we use 2S as the asking bid.

1H - 2H -

• 2S = asks partner where he would accept a help-suit game try.
• 2NT = short-suit game try in spades.
• 3C = short-suit game try.
• 3D = short-suit game try.

One more little space-saving maneuver: When partner asks with 2S, to show spade help we bid 2NT. So if the auction goes 1H -2H -2S [asking] - 3C [stuff in clubs], 2M has denied help in spades (the "cheapest" suit).

So there's Kokish's two-way game tries. Astute readers may have noticed the title of this post was three-way game tries. What's the third way? We use the re-raise (1H - 2H - 3H or 1S - 2S - 3S) as trump asks. If we've opened a 16-count with Jxxxx of spades, after partner's raise we certainly don't want to be in game if partner has a medium hand with Txx of spades. SO we make the trump-ask of 3S. Pard will pass with Txx but bid game with KQx or AT9x.

The re-raise can also tip 2M off that the values for game are there, but the trump quality may not be-- so if he holds 10 HCP but a trump suit of 854, the funny looking but highly intelligent auction of

1S - 2S - 3S - 3NT - Pass

can occur. How about that -- 10 HCP opposite 16, we take our nine tricks in 3NT when the rest of the field is losing three trump tricks and an ace in 4S. Go team!

I've also been known to use the "trump ask" of 3H or 3S as a preemptive action. I once held

AKQxxx x Qxx Txx

and the auction went 1S (X) 2S (P) to me. I bid the "trump ask" of 3S knowing full well pard wouldn't bid 4S. It was a slight risk that he would bid 3NT, but knowing my LHO had a big hand it seemed that the tactical bid was the percentage action. I turned out to be right (for once) -- lefty had enough values to take another bid over 2S but not over 3S. Down two, -100, against lots of -170s and -620s their way.

So, to sum up: When one of a major gets raised to two (no matter what bids came before those),

• the next step is an asking bid
• everything else between the next step and three of the major is a short-suit game try
• three of the major asks for good trumps.

Smolen and Delayed Texas: Bidding after 1N - 2C

We play a very extended version of Stayman. When our partner opens 1NT, most of he time that we hold both majors (4-4, 5-4, 5-5, 6-4, 6-5), we'll start with 2C. Here's our response structure after starting 1NT - 2C:

2D = no major
2H = weak hand, both majors; pass with better hearts, bid 2S with better spades
2S = invitational with 5 or 6 spades (may or may not have four hearts)
2NT = invitational (should have a four card major)
3C, 3D = natural, game forcing
3H = five spades, four hearts, game forcing (Smolen)
3S = five hearts, four spades, game forcing (Smolen)
3NT = to play
4C = 5-5 or better in the majors; opener bids his better one
4D = four spades, six hearts (Delayed Texas Transfer)
4H = six spades, four hearts (Delayed Texas Transfer)
4NT = invitational to 6NT

2H = four hearts, will only have four spades if a maximum hand
2S = invitational with 5 or 6 spades (tends to deny four hearts)
2NT = invitational with four spades
3C, 3D = natural, game forcing
3H = natural, invitational
3S = artificial slam try in hearts with no minor suit shortness
3NT = game values, four spades; opener can correct to 4S with 4-4 in the majors
4C = splinter raise of hearts
4D = splinter raise of hearts
4H = to play
4NT = invitational to 6NT (to ask for keycards in hearts, you need to start with 3S)

2S = four spades, can have four hearts if non-maximum
2NT = invitational with four hearts
3C, 3D = natural, game forcing
3H = artificial slam try in spades with no shortness
3S = natural, invitational
3N = game values, four hearts; opener can correct to 4H with 4-4 in the majors
4C = splinter raise of spades
4D = splinter raise of spades
4H = splinter raise of spades
4S = to play
4NT = invitational to 6NT (to ask for keycards in spades, you need to start with 3H)

This is simpler than it looks if you just remember that three of the other major is an artificial raise of opener's major. Another good system is what I play with my good friend Drew:

1NT - 2C - 2M -
3 Other Major = artificial slam try in partner's major with a side singleton
Next step = asks for singleton
4C = quantitative slam try with a fit
4D = keycard ask in partner's major
4NT = quantitative slam try without a fit

As with all other agreements---- a bad agreement is better than none at all! Do you know what your partner would have for these sequences? Talk it over!

Transfer McCabe

How do you build a convention? Well, first you look for something artificial you need to insert into your system, then you look for an unused (or seldom-used) bid that you can assign that meaning to. Seventy-some years ago, Easley Blackwood got tired of going down in slams missing two aces, and noticed that almost nobody ever bid 4NT. He put those two things together in what is now the most famous and widely-used convention of all time.

When your partner opens a weak two and your right-hand opponent doubles, what does a redouble mean? Generally, a redouble shows a good hand and invites partner to make a penalty double if he has length and strength in the opponents' runout suit. But when partner opens a weak two, he's specifically saying he doesn't have length or strength in any of the side suits! So, the redouble can be used as something artificial without giving anything up.

So, many partnerships play the modern form of the "McCabe Adjunct" over their weak two bids.

Originally, McCabe was a convention used in noncompetitive auctions. When a weak two bid was opened, responder would bid 2NT "McCabe". This forced opener to rebid 3C, which responder would either pass or bid 3 of another suit to play. As originally written up, this wasn't terribly useful.

Eventually, someone adjusted this to being on only over doubles. The modern McCabe Adjunct is:

2H (double):

XX = relay to 2S, to sign off there or bid 3C or 3D
New suit = lead-directing raise of the hearts
2NT = asking bid (Ogust, Feature, or whatever it is you play 2NT as over a pass)

This worked pretty well for me for years, but when I heard of the concept of adding transfers to this auction I immediately adopted (and loved) it. Here's what I play with any partner that's willing to learn it:

2H (double):

XX = Long spades or a spade lead-directing heart raise
2S = Long clubs or a club lead-directing heart raise
2NT = asking bid
3C = Long diamonds or a diamond lead-directing heart raise
3D = raise to 3H with ace or king of hearts
3H = raise without one of the top two honors

So here you can have your cake and eat it too-- sign off in a long suit (transfer to it and pass partner's forced acceptance), direct the lead in a side suit (transfer to it and return to partner's major), or direct the lead (or don't direct the lead) in partner's suit (transfer to it or just bid it).

One of my partners uses this over all preempts... weak jump overcalls, opening three-bids, and even opening four-bids! I think this is just as theoretically sound.

Doorknob Doubles and Redoubles

This mini-convention was originally written up in the March 1996 Bridge World. I think it's a fine idea.

Doorknob is a double or redouble only used by the opening side in auctions that start:

1C (1H) 1S

and

1D (1H) 1S.


So basically, we've opened a minor, they've overcalled a heart, and our partner bid a spade (showing five or more). When right-hand opponent doubles, or bids 2C/2D/2H, we can use an artificial double or redouble to show our handtype.

Most 2/1 players use Support (re)Doubles here, but I've never found that too useful. When I have a minimum opening and know we have an eight-card spade fit, I want to get to 2S ASAP without giving the opponents more room for discussion. So until I read this article, I used double or redouble to show a good non-directional hand.

Kleinman suggests using a double as showing the common handtype that's the toughest to show here-- a good five card minor with two-card (generally honor-x) spade support. This follows the 'Support Double principle' in that a double shows a known seven card fit for partner's suit.

In several years of use, this convention has come in very handy several times, getting us to strong 5-2 fits in spades and good 5-3 fits in the minor. The one time that the Doorknob double got passed, it was a great board too. Both partners knew there was a misfit, and knew their partner's source of defensive tricks.

As with all new conventions, we need to think about what we're giving up. In this instance (assuming we're already playing Support Doubles), all we're giving up is responder's knowledge that opener has three or four spades for the raise to two. I really don't think this is a problem though I realize some Law of Total Tricks nuts do. For you Law folks-- when opener raises to 2S under Doorknob, responder knows that there's an 8 or 9 card fit, but opener knows the exact length of the partnership's fit, and can LOTT-compete as necessary. Oh, and read Anders Wirgren and Mike Lawrence's great book I Fought The Law Of Total Tricks.

Splinters Over One Notrump

Sounds a little oxymoronic, doesn't it? A splinter normally shows a big fit for partner, a game-forcing hand, and a singleton or void in the bid suit. The splinter over 1NT certainly has the last two qualities, but we don't know about a fit yet.

We use 3H or 3S over partner's 1NT opening to show shortness in that suit and both minors. Some use this bid as 4441-type hands, but we prefer to have them show 5431-type hands. We'll open pretty much any in-range balanced hand with a five-card major with 1NT -- any 5332 and some 5422s. We've found that it's often right to play 3NT on these hands even with a 5-3 fit. The three times it's right to play a 5-3 major suit fit are

(a) You can ruff something from the three-card holding.

(b) You have an unstopped side suit that you can ruff to stop the bad guys from running tricks against you.

(c) You have a long (but not great) side suit in dummy that you need to ruff to set up.

Parts (b) and (c) don't usually come up when you've opened 1NT, so we worry about the first one. When responder has three cards in one major and a stiff or void in the other (and a game-forcing hand), we bid three of the short suit. Opener now knows (99% of the time) the best strain (if not the best level) for the partnership to play!

1NT - 3H = 3=1=(4-5), 3=0=(5-5), 3=0=(4-6), game force.

Opener bids 3NT with a double stopper or better in hearts;
With slam interest, opener bids 3S, 4C, or 4D showing his preferred suit, or 4H positive in both minors;
Without slam interest, opener bids 4S, 5C, or 5D showing his preference, or 4N to get partner to bid his best minor.

The minor suit distribution isn't terribly important, as long as you've got a hand with both minors, so partner can pick either one. It is important with these splinter bids to promise exactly 3 cards in the other major, so when pard has opened 1N with five cards in that major, you know you have the magic 8-card fit.

The Impossible Spade

When your partner opens 1H and you bid 1NT (forcing or semi-forcing), there are many possible shapes for your hand. You could have any hand from

AKx xx Kxxx Jxxx

to

x none QJxxxx KJxxxx.

So many different handtypes in this one bid... but the one thing they all have in common is that they have fewer than four spades.

So what does a later spade bid by the 1NTer mean?

If opener rebids something at the two level, a jump to 3S is a splinter raise. So, 1H - 1NT - 2D - 3S should look something like:

7 K3 AQ6432 QT53.

But how about the "simple" 2S rebid?

The way I play it, over 1H - 1NT - 2m, 2S shows a maximum raise in the minor (tending to not have spade shortness - see above). 1H - 1NT - 2C - 2S is probably something like

K63 J4 Q75 AJT83.

Playing this, I can give a "courtesy raise" to 3C with a hand like

J63 J4 T75 AJT83,

and partner will know not to take me too seriously since I didn't start with 2S.

When partner rebids 2H over my 1NT, I use 2S as a two-way bid. This shows either a three-card limit raise in hearts, or an invitational hand with 5-5 in the minors. Opener treats it as the minor hand, generally showing his preference at the three level. If he wants to accept game in a particular minor, he bids four of that minor, forcing. You still have to leave room for partner to correct back to 4H with the three-card limit raise!

The flip side of this is when the auction goes 1H - 1NT - 2H, a 3H bid shows limit-raise strength with only two cards. This information can be very helpful for close game decisions.

So let's say responder holds

(A) A8 6 KJT62 Q8532

(B) J86 KQT A963 T65

(C) 4 KJ3 AJT74 J752

in these sequences:

(1) 1H - 1NT - 2D -

(2) 1H - 1NT - 2H -

My suggested auctions:

(A1) ... 2S! [great diamond raise] - 3D [I'm not interested] - P
(A2) ... 2S! [good hand with both minors] - 3m [I choose this one, please go away] - P

(B1) ... 3H [three-card limit raise]
(B2) ... 2S! [good hand with both minors]- 3D - 3H [cancel that, I really have a great heart raise]

(C1) ... 4H [started out as a three-card limit raise, but your diamond bid made this hand a game-force]
(C2) ... 2S! [good hand with both minors] - 3D - 4H [started out as a three-card limit raise, but your diamond bid made this hand a game-force]

2NT - 3S Relay, and The Most Dangerous Convention in Bridge

How do you handle minor suit oriented hands when your partner opens 2NT? Most casual partnerships have no way of showing minor one or two suiters over this space-guzzling opening. I've cobbled together a somewhat simple set of responses to cover these hands.

When my partner opens 2NT*, my bid of 3S forces 3NT out of partner. Once partner rebids 3NT, my further actions define my hand.

*Note: All these bids are also used in the auction 2C - 2D - 2NT.

2NT - 3S - 3NT -:
4C = natural clubs, slam try
4D = natural diamonds, slam try
4H = shortness in hearts with both minors
4S = shortness in spades with both minors
4NT = transfer to clubs
5C = transfer to diamonds

Some partnerships prefer to switch the 4C and 4D responses, to show the other minor, to make opener declare more often.

The 4H and 4S bids show at most one in the suit bid, and at least 5-4 in the minors (usually 5-5).
There's also one important sequence in here that I forgot to mention: 2NT - 3S - 3NT - Pass. Sure, you could've just bid 3NT in the first place, so there has to be some special meaning to this sequence, right? Well, many years ago, the Pakistanis played this to say "I'm sorry I screwed up that last hand!" We have our own meaning for it... and we'll tell you if it comes up at our table.

Warning! The following is for people with strong stomachs and good memories only!

The following has been termed "the most dangerous convention in bridge." I play it with only one partner at the moment...

Over 2NT, 3S is the relay to 3NT, and 2NT - 3NT is a relay to 4C!

The shortness bids of 2NT - 3S - 3NT - 4H/4S now definitely show 5-5 in the minors.

Starting with 3NT shows 5-4 in the minors.

2NT - 3NT - 4C - 4D/4H are "transfers". These show three cards in the suit above. So you'd bid 2NT - 3NT - 4C - 4H with 3145 or 3154. Partner can bid the transfer suit to suggest a place to play-- he has a 5 card fit (or maybe a good 4 card fit) with your three-card major.

If you're 2-2(45) you rebid 4S.

So the whole scheme of The Most Dangerous Convention In Bridge:

Starting with 2NT or 2C - 2D - 2NT:

3S = relay to 3NT
3NT
4C = slam try with clubs
4D = slam try with diamonds
4H = 2-1-5-5, 2-0-6-5, 2-0-5-6
4S = 1-2-5-5, 0-2-6-5, 0-2-5-6
4N = transfer to clubs
5C = transfer to diamonds

3NT = relay to 4C
4C
4D = 1-3-4-5, 1-3-5-4, 0-3-5-5
4H = 3-1-4-5, 3-1-5-4, 3-0-5-5
4S = 2-2-4-5, 2-2-5-4
4NT = I forgot the convention again! I really wanted to play 3NT!

Yes, we really have "I forgot" in the system notes.

Modified Two-Way Drury

Drury is a "must" convention for any partnership that may open light in third and fourth chair. Especially at matchpoints, it's good tactics to open the bidding in third chair with a hand like AKT96 K753 97 T5, but when your partner will gleefully leap to 3S with a hand like QJ83 T6 K542 QJ32, you'll go down hard (sometimes doubled) at the three-level.

Douglas Drury devised his now-famous convention in self-defense. He was tired of raising his partner Eric Murray's third chair openings to the three-level and watching him go for 1100. He felt much better being able to stop at the two-level for only 800!

As originally written up, responder would bid 2C with almost any maximum passed hand, and opener would bid 2D with any minimum. This got quickly amended by most tournament players to promise a fit with the 2C call, with opener's negative rebid being two of his major (known as Reverse Drury).

A further innovation was Two-Way Drury. Responder would bid 2C with a good three-card raise, or 2D with a good four-card raise. I played this this for a few years, until I learned of this modification:

2C = 4 card constructive or limit raise
2D = 3 card limit raise
2M = 3 card constructive raise

After P - 1M - 2C, opener can sign off in two of his suit, or bid 2D to ask which type of raise. With the constructive raise, responder returns to two of the major. With the limit raise, responder bids as naturally as possible. So, with

KT98 QJ52 J76 83

the auction would go (opponents silent)

P - 1S;
2C! - 2D!
2S

but with

KT98 QJ52 A76 83

the auction would go

P - 1S;
2C! - 2D!
2H

and with

KT98 QJ52 A763 5

the auction would go

P - 1S;
2C! - 2D!
4C (splinter).

Knowing partner's exact trump length is a very important thing for some players. I made the decision a while back that I'm not one of them. I decided that three bids (2C, 2D, 2M) to raise partner was a little too much wastage. The argument for two-way Drury is that on a lot of hands that would bid a natural 2D over partner's third chair opening would've opened a weak 2D in first chair. I decided to go with that argument... so now, with most partners, I play P - 1M - 2D as Reverse Drury, and P - 1M - 2C as natural!

Modified Responses to Michaels Cuebids

When the opponents open one of a major and your partner bids two of that major (Michaels Cue Bid), what do you do with a good hand and a fit for partner?

"Standard" procedure in this auction is to bid 2NT (asking for partner's minor) and correcting partner's minor suit bid to three of his major with a fit there, or raising the minor suit call to 4 with a fit there. This seems pretty ungainly to me. So I've accepted a new set of responses.

Let's say your left-hand opponent opens 1S, partner bids 2S, and right-hand opponent passes. Here's the response structure I prefer:

2NT = game try in partner's minor
3C = pass with clubs, bid 3D with diamonds
3D = game try in hearts
3H = to play
3S = heart raise with spade shortness
3N = to play
4C = heart raise with club shortness
4D = heart raise with diamond shortness
4H = to play
4N = bid your minor

It's basically the same structure over (1H) 2H (P), except you have the possibility of playing 2S:

2S = to play
2NT = game try in partner's minor
3C = pass with clubs, bid 3D with diamonds
3D = game try in spades
3H = stopper ask
3S = preemptive raise
3N = to play
4C = spade raise with club shortness
4D = spade raise with diamond shortness
4H = spade raise with heart shortness
4S = to play
4N = bid your minor

You may wonder how I am able to make all these game-tries opposite the standard wide-ranging Michaels bids. Well, that's easy-- I've stopped making Michaels bids with bad hands. In my bridge youth, when I was dealt Jxxxx xx Jxxxx x, I was thrilled to throw in a 2H bid over my righty's 1H. I considered it unlucky the first ten times pard went for a number at a low level, or overvalued my hand and pushed to a no-play game, but after that I started wising up. These weren't unlucky hands for the method, they were reasonable results playing a bad method. My buddy Roger suggested a fairly strict set of rules for Michaels two-of-a-major bids and Unusual 2NT bids, which I've (mostly) stuck to:

When you're at favorable vulnerability, have 7 HCP in your two suits;
When you're at equal vulnerability, have 9 HCP in your two suits;
When you're at unfavorable vulnerability, have 11 HCP in your two suits.

Note that this doesn't say anything about total hand strength. At unfavorable, I'd happily Michaels with AKTxx xx AT9xx x, but wouldn't think of it with Txxxx AK T9xxx A.

Since I started playing Michaels as good hands (or at least two respectable suits), my partners have been going down in silly contracts a lot less. Not forcing them into dumb spots is a good way to keep partners happy!

Fit-showing Jumps

I think that fit-showing jumps (FSJ) are one of the most useful competitive treatments out there. With many of my favorite partners, I play these jumps in almost all competitive situations.

The basic fit-showing jump is a fairly simple concept. When your partner bids a suit and your RHO takes an action, a new-suit jump by you shows invitational values, length and strength in the bid suit, and a fit for partner. For example, let's say I hold 742 A76 KQJ93 94. My partner opens 1H, and my RHO bids 1S. Most folks would just bid 2S, showing a limit raise or better in hearts. Playing FSJs, I leap to 3D to show this hand. Let's give partner two sample hands, and see what he would do on the two auctions.

(A) A53 KQJ84 A87 52

(B) A53 KQJ84 52 A87

Of course, with either hand, over 1H (1S) 2S (P), partner will take the same action (if it was me, it would be bidding game at IMPs and signing off at matchpoints, but wouldn't be sure if either was right), but over a descriptive call like 3D, partner can confidently bid game on (A) and confidently sign off with hand (B).

Of course, as with any convention, we need to ask ourselves "what are we giving up?" Here, to play FSJs, we're giving up strong or weak jump-shifts, whichever your partnership is currently using.

A strong jump-shift should be a hand like:
AK AQJ864 KJ3 J2.
Over your partner's one of a suit opening and an overcall, you jump in hearts to show a powerhouse with long hearts.

A weak jump-shift should be a hand like:
85 KJT864 963 52.
Over your partner's one of a suit opening and an overcall, you jump in hearts to show an awful hand with long hearts.

Most tournament players long ago dropped the "standard" strong jump-shifts in competition in favor of the weak jump-shift. They noticed that the weak hands came up far more often than the strong ones, and, especially with the rise of Two Over One Game Forcing, the big hands had many other ways to show strength and get information out of partner.

So they moved to weak jump-shifts, in large part (in my opinion) because there weren't any other widely-publicized alternatives. I played them for a while, but noticed that even when the right hand for a weak jump-shift came up*, two or three of my long suit wasn't always the right contract. In fact, it'd often give the opponents the fielders' choice of doubling me or bidding to their best contract (remember, they've already shown values and shape on your right). So when someone explained FSJ to me, I was an overnight convert.

*Also, my partners would often not wait for the right hand to come up to make the weak jump-shift... giving the opponents even more of a fielders' choice.

Modified Smolski over Notrump

There's an ever-growing controversy over the best system to play over the opponents' 1NT opening. It seems like the most popular systems these days are DONT and Hamilton (Cappeletti), but I don't really like either of those. I think that there is a real competitive advantage to immediately overcalling two of a major without going through an intermediate step (double in DONT, 2C in Hamilton).

My other criterion for a notrump system is that all two suiters (with the possible exception of both minors) should be able to be shown at the two-level.

So I picked up a convention put together by the true gentleman of Bermudian bridge, Roman Smolski. Roman started with Brozel as a base. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Brozel structure is:

Double = Unspecified single suit
2C = Clubs and Hearts
2D = Diamonds and Hearts
2H = Hearts and Spades
2S = Spades and a Minor
2NT = Clubs and Diamonds

He modified it with the "immediate majors" principle like this:

Double = Two-suiter including Spades
2C = Clubs and Hearts
2D = Diamonds and Hearts
2H = Hearts
2S = Spades
2NT = Clubs and Diamonds
3C = Clubs
3D = Diamonds

When your partner makes a Smolski double over 1NT (showing spades and another suit),
you can bid 2H or 2S as an offer to play, or you can bid 2C or 2D as a "pass or correct" action. Partner will pass if you've bid his second suit, or bid his second suit if possible at the two level. If pard has spades and clubs, over your 2D he'll revert to 2S to show the blacks. Of course, if you have a good hand, you can always pass the double! The final response is 2NT, "cuebidding the opponents' suit", showing a game-try or better in some suit (a game-try or better with a balanced hand would just pass the double). Over responder's 2NT, overcaller bids his second suit at the three-level without game interest, or at the four-level with game interest.

I played Smolski with some success for a few years, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Then I picked up a hand like QJT97652 J4 86 3. Over righty's 1NT I wanted to bid a preemptive 3S, but was afraid partner would think I had a big hand. Then, with a different partner, I held something like AKJT765 AQ8 K2 7. I wanted to bid a strong 3S, but was afraid pard would think I was preempting! So I decided we could pack a little more artificiality into Smolski without much problem. So here's the final (for now) product of Modified Smolski over Notrump:

Double = Two-suiter including Spades, or a strong Spade one-suiter
2C = Clubs and Hearts
2D = Diamonds and Hearts
2H = Hearts
2S = Spades
2NT = Clubs and Diamonds or a strong Heart one-suiter
3C = Clubs
3D = Diamonds
3H = Preemptive with Hearts
3S = Preemptive with Spades

Anyone with an improvement on this method? Feel free to comment, or email me at McKenzie@DoubleSqueeze.com.

Modified Responses to Jacoby 2NT

The Jacoby Two Notrump convention was a real revolution in its time-- prior to its use, most pairs played 1M - 3M as a forcing raise, and 1M - 2N as natural and forcing. Using 2N as the forcing raise allowed players to make invitational raises with 3M. This doesn't sound like a big deal to those of us who learned bridge in the '80s, '90s, or like me, in the '00s, but it was a huge advance.

But the Jacoby Two Notrump's time was forty years ago. Bidding has evolved so much since then that I think a new set of responses (maybe even a new bid for the forcing raise) is long overdue.

So here's the set of responses I like to play to my partner's 2N:

First step [3C] = any minimum hand
Second step [3D] = non-minimum, no singleton or void
Third step [3H] = non-minimum, a singleton or void somewhere without a good five-card side suit
Fourth step [3S] = non-minimum, a side suit of at least five cards headed by two of the top three honors

Over 3C, partner can relay (bid the next step, 3D), asking for hand-type. Opener responds in the same sort of steps as over 2N - first step [3H] no singleton or void, second step [3S] shortness somewhere, third step [3N] good side suit (this should be rare... when would you treat a 5-5 hand with a source of tricks as minimum?)

Over 3D, cuebids start. 3M is just 'waiting'.

Over 3H, partner can relay with 3S to ask where the shortness is. Opener re-relays with 3N to show a void (partner can ask with a re-re-relay where it is) or can bid their singleton naturally. (If the opening bid was 1H and opener has a stiff spade, opener will rebid 4H.)

Over 3S, partner relays with 3N to ask for the side suit. Opener once again substitutes hearts and spades, as in the last paragraph.

If responder declines to relay, he's showing a cuebid in whichever suit he bids (3N is a substitute cuebid for the relay suit, except, of course, over 3S).

This may seem way too complex written out, but it's fairly easy once you understand the relay and substitution principles in use.

Remember what I said about a new bid for the forcing raise? It seems to work fairly well to use the bid of either 2M+1 or CJS.

2M+1 just means the cheapest bid over a single raise -- 1H - 2S or 1S - 2N.

CJS stands for "cheapest jump-shift"-- 1H - 2S or 1S - 3C. If you use the second scheme, this frees up 1M - 2N as natural and forcing -- so with a hand like Q3 AQJ8 K642 QJ6 over 1S you don't have to bid 2C or 2D on a non-suit, or 2H on a four-card suit.

The advantage of using 2M+1 is that it will keep all of your asking sequences below 4 of your major.

I think overall, using CJS is the better way to go-- but either is better than 1M - 2NT.