Lesson 5(a) - Finding the Best Contract

How does responder search for the best place to play?

What if there is no immediate fit?

Now we examine how the search for a suit fit continues when responder is not immediately sure where one exists, or whether the contract would be better played in notrumps.

Responding to a 1NT opening when unbalanced but with no 6-card suit

• With 0-7 HCP responder is not strong enough to search at any length for a suit fit that may not exist.  And even if it does exist, the level of bidding might be too high for success.

The practical solution is to bid a 5/6- suit at the two level if very weak.  You are guaranteed at least a 7-card fit and it will usually be better than 1NT.

You cannot bid 2C with 6Cs and a weak hand because you are about to learn your second bidding convention – Stayman.

• With 8‑9 HCP responder bids 2NT, even if not balanced, unless there is any chance of an 8+ fit in a major - remember that opener may easily have a four or five- card major.  The best bid if a major suit fit is possible is the conventional response of 2§*, Stayman.

• With 10+ HCPand a 5-card Major responder should jump to three of the major unless she holds a second 3- or 4-card major as well, when 2§ Stayman should be used instead so that an 8-card fit in either major can be explored.

Since it shows 10+ HCP the jump to 3M by responder is forcing to game. It requires the 1NT opener to do one of two things, either:

1. to raise responder's suit to the four level with 3 or more cards in support, and thus a trump fit, or
2. to bid 3NT with only a doubleton
   
   

• With a 5-card minor, responder should bid 3m only with a shapely 14+, preferring the 9-trick 3NT game with less.

Thus a jump to 3m is stronger than many jumps to 3M, and is definitely suggestive of slam.  With no slam in sight prefer to bid 3NT, even with an unbalanced hand, as you are likely to score better than in the minor suit game.

STAYMAN CONVENTION

Why play it?

An opening bid of 1NT or 2NT (or the sequence 2♣: 2♦ , 2NT to show an even stronger hand - to be treated in Lesson 9) may contain one or two 4-card majors, or quite possibly a 5-card major.

The conventional response of 2♣ (or 3♣ in the two latter cases) is a useful way for responder to uncover a possible eight-card major fit that may generate an extra trick or two by ruffing. 

There are several versions of Stayman.    Ours is Simple Stayman.

When do you use 2C Stayman?

• not with any 4-3-3-3 since you have no shortage and thus no ruffing value - you might as well stick with notrumps

• when you have enough strength for game and hold at least one 4-card major and a ruffing value

• whenever you have enough strength to invite game (8+ HCP) and at least one 4-card or 5-card major

• with a very weak hand of 0-5 HCP (aagh!) and an exact 3-3-5-2 shape where you hope to limit the possible damage by finding at least a 7-card fit in Ss/Hs/Ds