play bridge What’s Standard? Using Grant Standard: Responding to 1NT — by David Lindop ߜ Previous articles in this series, the Transfers and Slam ♠ A J A hand like this is a ♥ K Q 9 8 5 Grant Basic and Grant Standard With a five-card or longer major, it little more awkward. ♦ A Q 10 7 Summary Charts, and corresponding seems automatic to start with a We aren’t sure if we convention cards, can be found at ♣ 7 3 transfer when partner opens 1NT. belong in slam and www.audreygrant.com. However, if we also have 16 or more we also don’t know whether we or responding to 1NT, the points and are interested in reaching belong in hearts, diamonds, or Summary Chart gives an slam, we must look ahead. A simple notrump. Fortunately, we can do a Foverview of our methods: raise after a transfer is only inviting little exploration because a new suit game and a jump to game is a signoff. is forcing after a . RESPONSES How do we show slam interest? We can begin the auction like this: ♣ 2 : Stayman ♠ KJ 3 Here we have 16 OPENER RESPONDER ♦ 2 : 5+ hearts (transfer) ♥ K J 9 7 4 high-card points plus 1NT 2♦ ♥ 2 : 5+ spades (transfer) ♦ A Q 1 length point for the 2♥ 3♦ 2♠: transfer to 3♣ ♣ Q 9 4 ♦ (to sign off in clubs or diamonds) five-card suit. That’s Our transfer bid of 2 shows five or enough to invite slam but not enough more hearts and our subsequent bid 3♣/3♦: 6+ suit; invit. to 3NT ♦ ♥ ♠ to commit the partnership to slam. of 3 is forcing, showing four or 3 /3 : Forcing; invit. to slam The way to do this is to start with a more diamonds. It doesn’t say we We previously looked at the basic transfer to hearts and then bid 4NT: forgot we were playing transfers! use of Stayman and Transfers. Now OPENER RESPONDER Hopefully, opener’s next bid will let’s look a little deeper. 1NT 2♦ help us decide what to do. If opener 2♥ 4NT ♥ Exercising Judgment bids 3 , for example, showing 4NT is not Blackwood. It’s similar to support for hearts, we can cuebid 3♠ Both Stayman and transfers are a quantitative—invitational—raise and begin looking for slam. If instead, tools that are available and responder from 1NT to 4NT except that we are partner bids 3NT, showing no interest must choose when to use them. showing a five-card heart suit along in either hearts or diamonds, we can ♠ Q 8 3 Partner opens 1NT the way. With a minimum, opener pass or make one more try with an ♥ 8 7 5 4 3 and we have to decide can pass or bid 5♥ with three-card invitational raise to 4NT. ♦ KJ what to do. With a or longer support. With a maximum, No one said transfers were going ♣ J 9 4 five-card major, we opener can accept the invitation by ♦ ♥ to make things any easier! They just can respond 2 to transfer opener to jumping to 6 or 6NT. give us some new options. 2♥ and pass, but is that the best ♠ A J 10 8 5 Here we have 18 ♠ A J 9 8 7 5 With a six-card or choice? We can’t be sure 2♥ will be ♥ K J 2 high-card points and ♥ 3 longer major and better than 1NT. Partner might have a ♦ Q 4 1 length point for ♦ A Q J enough strength doubleton heart. Even if partner has ♣ AK 5 the five-card suit. ♣ A 9 3 for a slam, we can three hearts, we might still take as That’s enough to bid slam. To show simply transfer to the major and bid many tricks in notrump as hearts the five-card major and let opener ♥ with all our high cards in side suits. choose between 6♠ and 6NT, we slam. Here we could bid 2 to transfer to 2♠ and then jump to 6♠. Also, we have 7 high-card points transfer to spades and jump to 5NT: But what if we want to invite slam plus 1 length point for the five-card OPENER RESPONDER with a six-card or longer suit, or suit, for a total of 8. With 8-9 points, 1NT 2♥ explore delicately for a grand slam? we usually invite game. Should we 2♠ 5NT ♠ 8 4 plan to transfer to hearts and then This isn’t the grand slam force. It If we start with a ♥ A K J 9 7 3 transfer of 2♦ and bid 2NT, inviting game? simply asks opener to pick a slam: ♦ ♠ QJ 3 opener bids 2♥, There’s no right answer. Some 6 with three-card or longer support; ♣ A 4 players would pass 1NT; some would otherwise 6NT. There’s no need to what next? A raise ♥ to 3♥ would be invitational; a raise to transfer to 2 and pass; some would ask for aces in this type of auction. ♥ ♦ transfer and bid 2NT. The point is We have enough combined strength 4 would be a signoff; a bid of 3 that our conventions don’t provide that we shouldn’t be missing two would show a second suit. We could ♥ answers, just methods to apply once aces. It’s more likely we could be jump to 5 as an invitation, but that we decide what we want to do. missing the ♥A-Q or ♦A-K! risks getting us too high. PB-4 May, 2004 play bridge

Some partnerships have methods Grant Standard use the popular ♠ 8 3 With this hand, (such as Texas transfer bids) to help approach of extended transfers, ♥ 7 4 we would jump to get around this dilemma. In Grant which takes advantage of the fact ♦ A Q 10 6 5 3 3♦ in response to Standard, however, we can use the that a response of 2♠ is no longer ♣ 10 6 2 1NT. With a poor popular approach of treating an needed to show spades when the fit for diamonds, opener will pass and immediate jump to 3♥ or 3♠ by partnership uses Jacoby transfers: we’ll stop in partscore in diamonds. responder as a slam try, showing a • 2♠ asks opener to bid 3♣ If partner has a fit for diamonds— ♦ six-card or longer suit. Responder can then pass to leave the the missing K—and stoppers in With a poor fit for the major, partnership in a club partscore or bid the other suits, partner can bid 3NT opener bids 3NT. With a good fit, 3♦ to play partscore in diamonds. and try for nine tricks. opener can raise to game with a ♠ 8 6 2 With this hand, we Slams minimum or cuebid with a maximum. ♥ 5 respond 2♠ to 1NT. Investigating slam in a minor suit is A bid of 4NT by responder would ♦ Q 10 8 7 5 2 When opener duti- awkward. To make a in now be the . ♣ J 8 3 fully bids 3♣, we a minor suit, we have to start with From Opener’s Side bid 3♦ and opener is expected to pass. 2♣ and then bid the minor suit. After opening 1NT, most of opener’s This shows a weakness of extended ♠ 6 4 If partner opens rebids are automatic. Even later bids transfers: the strong hand is dummy ♥ J 6 1NT, a response of are usually limited to answering when responder has diamonds. ♦ A Q J 7 5 3 2♦ would be a questions posed by responder. However, methods to get around this ♣ AK 7 transfer; a response ♠ K J 7 4 With a (such as four suit transfers) are of 2♠ followed by 3♦ over opener’s ♥ J 3 and 15 high-card outside our current scope. 3♣ would be a signoff; and a jump to ♦ AQ 5 points, we open 1NT. If ♠ 4 As usual, we have to 3♦ would be invitational. Instead, we ♣ K J 7 3 responder bids 2♣, we ♥ 7 5 2 exercise judgment as begin by responding 2♣. Opener is bid 2♠, showing the four-card major ♦ J 9 7 2 responder. If partner going to assume this is Stayman and ♦ ♥ ♠ suit. If responder then raises to 3♠, ♣ Q J 7 6 5 opens 1NT, we have a will bid 2 , 2 , or 2 . Now we bid ♦ we pass since responder is asking choice between passing and bidding 3 which (hopefully) alerts partner whether we have a minimum or a 2♠ to get opener to bid 3♣. Will we that we actually have a strong hand maximum, and we have a minimum. better off playing at the three level in with diamonds. If responder bids 2♦, we automati- clubs? Hard to tell. It’s probably best Opener can bid 3NT with a poor fit cally accept the transfer by bidding to pass and let partner try to scramble for diamonds and no interest in slam. 2♥. If responder then bids 2NT, we seven tricks in 1NT. With a fit for diamonds, opener can simply raise to 4♦ or make a cuebid pass because we have a minimum. If ♠ Don’t waste time Q 4 with a maximum and interest in responder bids 3NT—asking us to ♥ 7 5 transferring when ♥ reaching slam. Our slam bidding choose between 4 and 3NT—we ♦ A J 5 the partnership is pass with only a doubleton heart. ♣ methods can take over from there. K 10 8 7 6 5 headed for game. ♠ Opener does have one option when 6 4 A hand like this can With this hand, simply raise to 3NT. ♥ A Q 7 3 be challenging when responder transfers. With four-card ♦ support, opener can “super accept” Inviting Game in a Minor J 6 responding to 1NT. ♣ ♣ by jumping a level. (There are varia- Extended transfers don’t provide a AKJ 8 5 We start with 2 . If ♥ tions outside the current scope.) So, way to invite game with a minor opener bids 2 , we want to invite if partner were to respond 2♥, we slam in hearts. Perhaps the simplest suit. Since we rarely want to play in ♥ could jump to 3♠ with this hand ♣ ♦ call we can make is 5 . (To ask for 5 or 5 even with a fit in a minor ♣ rather than bidding 2♠. This might suit, we usually raise to 2NT to aces we would jump to 4 , Gerber— get the partnership too high if see last issue.) invite game when holding a five- ♦ ♠ responder has a weak hand and was card or longer minor suit. If opener bids 2 or 2 , we now bid 3♣. This is forcing, showing slam planning to pass, but it might also ♠ 8 6 With this hand, for get us to a close game if responder ♥ interest in clubs. If opener bids 3NT, J 8 4 example, we simply we can pass and give up on slam or has a hand just short of an invitation. ♦ Q J 9 6 3 raise to 2NT and don’t ♣ make one more try by raising to 4NT. Partscore in a Minor A 10 4 mention diamonds. If opener raises clubs or bids another Since 2♣ is Stayman and 2♦ is a However, with a good six-card suit, we can move toward slam. transfer to hearts, we have no way to minor suit—typically headed by Our methods give us lots of options stop in partscore at the two level in a two of the top three honors—our but we still have to decide how best to minor suit. This is a disadvantage of methods do provide an alternative: make use of them. these conventions. To play in a minor • A jump to 3♣ or to 3♦ invites (In the next issue we’ll look at handling suit, we have to go to the three level. opener to bid 3NT. interference and responses to 2NT.) Vol. 8, No. 5 PB-5