It's been almost a year since my last post, and that's mostly because I haven't been playing/researching much. In my random attempts to improve my regular partner's and my bidding system, MG Precision, I have recently looked to 1NT.
We open this bid with 10-12 HCP in 1st and 2nd seat, and with 12-15 HCP in 3rd and 4th seat, regardless of vulnerability. Both are considered in the "weak" range for this opening since most people play a 15-17 range. We have a complicated runout system in place for when opponents want to punish us with a double, but when we have competitive hands and game-forcing hands, we have relied heavily on the conventions we've been playing since we first learned SAYC. So I have researched and I think I like the following set of responses best:
2C = Stayman
2D = Transfer to hearts
2H = Transfer to spades
2S = Transfer to clubs OR balanced invitation to 3NT
2NT = Transfer to diamonds OR weak 2-suiter in the minors
3C = GF, 3-1-5-4 or 3-1-4-5 shape
3D = GF, 1-3-5-4 or 1-3-4-5 shape
3H = GF, 5 hearts
3S = GF, 5 spades
3NT = To play
4C = Puppet to 4H
4D = Puppet to 4S
4M = To play
4NT = Quantitative Raise
5m = To play
As my wife who went to law school told me, "show me all the wrinkles." Some of these are easier to explain than others, so let me start there.
I've seen many experts have a bid at the 3-level reserved for the GF 5431 with 54 in the minors. Apparently, it's a tough situation to deal with when deciding where to play, so we let opener make that decision instead. :)
The 3M bids are included because sometimes responder is the bigger hand and would like to be the declarer if partner has fit. Notice 4M is also to play. Sometimes, though, responder doesn't want to declare in a major, so that's why we employ the NAMYATS convention (4C/4D puppet to the majors). You could also just use the ol' Jacoby transfer at the 2-level then bid game.
The 2S and 2NT dual-meaning bids are a nice invention and work rather well. Opener responds to 2S as if partner has the balanced invitational hand: 2NT shows min and 3C shows a max. This way responder can pass 2NT if he actually had a balanced invite or bid anything else to show clubs (3C would be a weak, sign-off bid), or responder can pass 3C if he had a weak club hand or bid another suit with a stronger club hand or bid 3NT.
Opener can respond to 2NT with only two bids as well: 3C shows a tolerance for clubs in case responder has the 2-suited hand (responder will bid 3D with a weak diamond hand or bid anything else with a stronger diamond hand) and 3D shows 2 clubs (either way if responder is weak, 3D is where he wants to be).
Some other interesting things:
With a weak 2-suited hand in the majors, bid 2C first. If opener bids a major, great! If he bids 2D, though, just bid 2H to show that hand, and he can pass or correct to 2S.
With an invitational 2-suited hand in the majors, bid 2D first, partner will bid 2H, then you bid 2S. Opener will pick the better fit and go to game with a max. Please notice that we do NOT play super-accepts in this system.
With a game-forcing 2-suited hand in the majors, bid 2H first, partner will bid 2S, then you bid 3H.
With 54 in the majors and invitational values, bid 2C (Stayman) then if opener bids 2D, responder bids 2S. This doesn't distinguish which suit is 5 cards, so opener bids 2NT to ask, and 3C shows 5 hearts while 3D shows 5 spades.
With 54 in the majors and game-forcing values, we employ the Smolen convention: bid 2C (Stayman) first, then if opener bids 2D, responder jumps to 3 of a major to show the 4-card major suit. You can reverse this if you like.
With a 4-card major and a longer minor, it's important to distinguish between invitational hands and game-forcing hands. With an invitational hand, bid 2C (Stayman) and if partner doesn't bid your major, bid 3 of the minor. With a game-forcing hand, transfer into the minor first and then bid 3 of the major.
With an invitational or better 2-suited hand in the minors, transfer into the clubs, then bid 3D. This is forcing, and opener can bid 3NT with stoppers in the majors, 4C/4D to show a min and preference for the bid suit, and 5 of a minor to show a max with support in that suit.
With an invitational major/minor 2-suited hand, transfer into the major first, then bid 3 of the minor. With a game-forcing hand of this shape, transfer into the major and then bid 4 of the minor. This is the only part of responding to 1NT I dislike. You miss the ability to be in 3NT, so you'll have to have a very strong case for being in a suit contract over NT when bidding a major/minor GF hand.
If there are any wrinkles I've left off, I would be happy to hear. I'm also including a bid chart in case this helps with memorizing. Happy bidding!
1NT = 10-12, balanced (1st/2nd seat) OR 12-15, balanced (3rd/4th seat)
2C = Stayman
2D = no 4-card major
2H = weak, 2-suited in majors (opener may pass or correct to 2S)
2S = INV, 54 in the majors
2NT = asks
3C = 5 hearts & 4 spades
3D = 5 spades & 4 hearts
2NT = INV to 3NT (responder has at least one 4-card major)
3C/3D = INV, 5+ cards in bid minor & a 4-card major
3H/3S = GF, 4 cards in bid major & 5 cards in other major
2H = 4 hearts (responder can raise to 2NT/3H to invite or bid a new suit to force to game)
2S = 4 spades (responder can raise to 2NT/3S to invite or bid a new suit to force to game)
2D = Transfer to hearts
2H = automatic
2S = INV, 2-suited in the majors
2NT = INV, 5 hearts
3C/3D = INV, 2-suited in hearts and bid minor
3H = INV to 4H
4C/4D = GF, 2-suited in hearts and bid minor
2H = Transfer to spades
2S = automatic
2NT = INV, 5 spades
3C/3D = INV, 2-suited in spades and bid minor
3H = GF, 2-suited in the majors
3S = INV to 4S
4C/4D = GF, 2-suited in spades and bid minor
2S = Transfer to clubs OR invitational, balanced
2NT = min
pass = INV, balanced
3C = weak, clubs
3D = INV+, 2-suited in the minors
3H/3S = GF, 4 card bid major & 5+ clubs
4C = slam-try, starts cue-bids
4D = Kickback for clubs (Ace-asking like RKC Blackwood)
3C = max
pass = weak, clubs
3D = INV+, 2-suited in the minors
3H/3S = GF, 4 card bid major & 5+ clubs
4C = slam-try, starts cue-bids
4D = Kickback for clubs
2NT = Transfer to diamonds OR weak, 2-suited in the minors
3C = tolerance for clubs (3-5 cards)
pass = weak, 2-suited in minors
3D = weak, diamonds
3H/3S = GF, 4 card bid major & 5+ diamonds
4C = slam-try, cue-bid
4D = slam-try, no club control
4H = Kickback for diamonds
3D = no tolerance for clubs (2 cards)
pass = weak
3H/3S = GF, 4 card bid major & 5+ diamonds
4C = slam-try, cue-bid
4D = slam-try, no club control
4H = Kickback for diamonds
3C = GF, 3-1-4-5 or 3-1-5-4 shape
3D = asks for minor shape
3H = 4 diamonds & 5 clubs
3S = 5 diamonds & 4 clubs
3H/3S = shows a stopper (trouble in other major)
3NT = stoppers in the majors
3D = GF, 1-3-4-5 or 1-3-5-4 shape
3H = asks for minor shape
3S = 4 diamonds & 5 clubs
3NT = 5 diamonds & 4 clubs
3S = shows a stopper (trouble in hearts)
3NT = stoppers in the majors
3H/3S = GF, 5 cards in bid major (opener bids 3NT or 4 of the bid major)
4C = Puppet to 4H
4D = Opener wants to be dummy
4H = Opener wants to be declarer
4D = Puppet to 4S
4H = Opener wants to be dummy
4S = Opener wants to be declarer
