PB Keeping Up With CONVENTIONS Conventions FOR NOTRUMP

BY DAVID LINDOP OPENINGS hen you and your partner sit Don’t Panic! How Do I Show the Range down to play in a club or The first thing to realize is that 90% of the 1NT Opening? game, you’re W of what’s on the card probably does- The first thing to fill in is your point expected to fill out a . n’t apply to your partnership. You This lists all the bidding and defensive range for an opening bid of 1NT. A only need to fill in the few agree- carding agreements of the partnership. popular range is 15-17 points but ments you do have; you can ignore you might use 16-18 or play a weak The card is theoretically for the everything else. notrump style of 12-14. benefit of your opponents. When you sit down to play against another pair, Once you’ve done it for the first Would you open z KJ 10 time, it will be a lot easier in the 1NT with this hand? y K 10 they are likely to be unfamiliar with x Q 9 8 7 3 all the methods you are using. It future. Besides, you can keep the There are only 14 high-card points but w A J 10 would be a waste of time to have to same convention card for future you can add a point for the five-card explain all your agreements each time games with the same partner! suit, or you might upgrade the hand you sit down. Most items won’t come Nonetheless, let’s walk through because of the three tens. Although up during the couple of hands you this section of the card and answer this section doesn’t indicate that the play against this pair. So . . . the con- any questions you might have. range is stated in terms of high-card vention card. The opponents can look What Do the Colors Mean? points, most players assume that is at it any time if they want to know the case. To be on the safe side, you about your system. They can also ask The card is color-coded. The major- can indicate the range as 14+ to 17, questions if anything is unclear. ity is in black but some parts are in red or blue (grey here). to let the opponents know that you Filling out the card, however, is occasionally open 1NT with as few usually beneficial to your partner- The items in black indicate “standard” methods which don’t as 14 high-card points when you ship. You have to know exactly what have “something extra.” your agreements are and this can require any special notification to lead to some interesting discussions. the opponents. 1NT You might find the partnership is on The items in red indicate non- 14+ to 17 different wavelengths about some standard agreements that require you to to alert your opponents if they come bids. Time to straighten things out. Why are there two lines for the up. More on that later. The standard convention card notrump range? Some partnerships contains room for all the permitted The items in blue (grey) are vary the range of their 1NT opening conventions and this can be intimi- somewhere in between. They are according to vulnerability or position dating to anyone when starting out at fairly standard agreements but you at the table. Since that doesn’t apply duplicate bridge. Shown below, for have to announce them to your to your partnership, ignore this line. example, is just the area for opening opponents when they apply. Notice the range is in blue (grey), notrump bids. Scary, isn’t it? Let’s see how it all works. indicating you must announce it. When partner opens 1NT, you NOTRUMP OPENING BIDS 2NT to simply state “14 plus to 17.” That’s it. 1NT 3w Puppet Stayman † to Five-card Major Common? 3x Transfer Responses: to 3y Jacoby † Texas † Would you open z 5-card Major common † KQ 8 3z 3z y System on over 1NT with this hand? A J 9 7 5 x Q J 3 2w Stayman † Puppet † If so, check the box w K 8 2x Transfer to y † 4x, 4y Transfer † 3NT to indicating that the Forcing Stayman † Smolen † partnership frequently opens 1NT 2y Transfer to z † †( denies) Conventional NT Openings when holding a five-card . 2z Neg. Double †: 2NT Other: 5-card Major common √†

PLAY 14 BRIDGE VOLUME 6, NO. 4 JULY, 2002 PB Stayman Partner? announceable but not alertable. If How Can I Play in a Minor? you are playing bids What would you z A 8 4 2 What would you z and partner responds 2y to your 2 respond with this y K J 7 3 do with this hand y J 6 5 opening bid of 1NT, you would ver- hand if partner opens x K 7 5 if partner opens x 9 4 bally announce “transfer.” The auc- 1NT? w 8 4 the bidding 1NT? w Q 9 7 6 5 3 2 tion would then continue unless the If the answer is 2w, the Stayman player on your right wanted a further This is a good hand to discuss convention asking if opener has a explanation. It’s quite possible that with partner when filling in the con- four-card major suit, then check the your opponents have never heard of vention card. You want to sign off in appropriate box. transfer bids. a . Because a 2w response is Stayman, not a signoff, you need 2w Stayman √† What If the Opponents an agreement. Interfere Over 1NT? Some partnerships agree to start This is the first real “convention” with 2w, which opener will assume Suppose you agree to play transfer encountered in this section. Notice is Stayman. After opener responds, bids and partner opens 1NT but the that it’s in black. You don’t have to you rebid 3w to say, “I really want- player on your right z 8 6 make any special announcement to ed to play in clubs.” Unfortunately, 2x, what y A J 9 8 5 2 the opponents if partner responds 2w in other partnerships this sequence would you respond x 8 5 to your opening 1NT bid. Almost is a slam try in clubs. Better get with this hand? w 10 9 5 everyone plays Stayman . . . or some your methods straight! You can no longer bid 2x to variation of it (that’s what some of A popular approach is to use transfer to hearts but you still want the red items are for). It’s likely the extended Jacoby transfers. A first convention you learned. to compete for partscore. The stan- response of 2z asks opener to bid y dard approach is to respond 2 as a 3w. Responder can then pass with What If We Want to Use natural bid. In other words, Jacoby clubs or convert to 3x to play Transfer Bids? transfer bids are “off” when an partscore in diamonds. If your part- If partner opens opponent overcalls and you revert to nership uses this approach, you have z 8 5 2 natural responses. Since this is stan- 1NT, what would y J 9 7 6 4 2 to indicate it on the convention card. you respond with x 7 dard, you don’t have to indicate any- 2z Transfer to 3w this hand? w J 6 3 thing on the convention card. If you would bid 2y as a signoff If you have some other agree- In bridge shorthand this might be bid, telling partner you want to play ment — such as doubling to show written as “→ 3C” but you get the idea. partscore in hearts, you don’t need hearts — you can mark it on the card Notice that this area is underlined to mark anything on the card. That’s but will then have to alert the oppo- in red, meaning you have to alert this a natural response, not a convention. nents when it comes up. convention. If partner responds 2z If you’d pass with this hand, you What if the player on your right to your 1NT opening, you say don’t have to check any boxes but you doubles partner’s 1NT opening “Alert.” That tells the opponents that might want to review your bidding instead of overcalling? Some part- the 2z response has a non-standard notes! Partner will have a tough time nerships prefer that all conventional meaning. You don’t say anything else making 1NT opposite this hand. agreements are off after any form of unless an opponent asks for an If you would respond 2x, asking interference. The double, however, explanation. In which case you opener to bid 2y, you are using hasn’t taken up any bidding room, would say, “It asks me to bid 3w Jacoby transfer bids. Since the 2x so many partnerships agree to con- which partner can pass or convert to response is artificial, saying nothing tinue using conventions such as 3x to sign off in diamonds.” about diamonds, you have to indi- Stayman and transfer bids after the cate this on the card by checking the double. If that’s your agreement, Anything Else? appropriate boxes for a 2x or a 2y you can indicate it on the card: That’s it unless you have some other response (as a transfer to spades). specialized responses. A jump to the System on over X three level in a suit, whether it is √ 2x Transfer to y † weak, invitational, or forcing, is not 2y Transfer to z √† You could write “Double” or conventional provided it actually “Dbl” but bridge players like to use shows the suit. Jacoby transfer bids are popular shorthand, especially given the lim- You probably want to fill in your among club and tournament players. ited space available on the card. An range for a 2NT opening, likely That’s why this section is in blue “X” indicates double. (It is used the 20–21, but your done with this part (grey) and not red. They are same way when recording a result.) of the convention card.

PLAY 15 BRIDGE VOLUME 6, NO. 4 JULY, 2002