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Abbreviations and Termonology
     
 
  This page was last updated on 29-Dec-2005
 
 
 
 
      Description  
      Bridge club, Bridge_club, Bridge-club, Thailand, Pattaya.  
2/1     Two over One, a convention (or perhaps better called a system) where a non-jump two level new  
     

suit response to a one level suit opening is forcing to game. It is best used in conjunction with 5 card majors and a forcing NT.

  
         
2-way Drury     A convention whereby both 2♣ (to show 3 card support) and 2♦ (to show 4 card support) are artificial by a passed hand over a 1♥ or 1♠ opening by partner.  
       
         
2-way Reverse Drury     An improvement on the above convention. The 'reverse' bit means that opener bids 2 of his suit with a light opener and any other bid shows a real opener. This is probably the best for of Drury.  
         
1430     A variation of RKCB where the cheapest response shows 1 or 4 keycards  
3014     Standard RKCB, where the cheapest response shows 0 or 3 keycards  
         
4-way     After partner's 1NT opening, 2♦ and 2♥ are Jacoby Transfers to hearts and spades resp. An extension of this is to use 2♠ and 2NT to transfer to clubs and diamonds resp. This is undoubtably an excellent scheme and is fully described in the NT Bidding Book.  
Transfers      
       
         
4 Card Majors     Most players play a 5-card Major suit opening system. But there are a few systems (including Acol and 'Dutch' Acol that incorporate 4 card majors. They are discussed in this link  
         
4th Suit Forcing     In an uniterrupted sequence like 1♥ - 1♠ - 2♣ - 2♦, most players play that the 4th suit (so 2♦ here) is artificial and forcing. But there are loads of questions that need answering. Is 4th suit forcing best played as forcing for 1 round or to game? Is 1♠ or 2♠ the 4th suit forcing bid after 1♣ - 1♦ - 1♥ - ? All of this and much more is covered in the link.  
      4th suit forcing, cue bids, game tries and splinters are often confused with each other. For a fairly comprehensive explanation of what is what, refer to the Game Tries, Cue bids, Splinters, 4th suit forcing and all that Jazz link.  
         
Acol     A natural based system using 4 card major openings. When I refer to it in this web site, I specifically mean the authentic version, i.e. weak NT.  
         
ASID     Advanced Stayman in Doubt. A very useful improvement on the old SID (Stayman In Doubt) convention. It is fully described in the NT Bidding Book.  
         
Balancing     Bidding in the pass-out seat with less values than in the direct seat. A.k.a. Protection.  
         
Benjamin    

Albert Benjamin. Benjamin two's are a popular improvement on standard Acol. Basically, the traditional 2♣ opening is replaced by 2♦. An opening 2♣ is then either a strong opening 2♥/♠ (or even ♣/♦) or a strong NT shape. Benjamin two's are usually associated with Acol but there is no reason whatsoever why they cannot be incorporated into Standard American or 2/1 (in fact I recommend it).

  
         
Benji     Short for Benjamin.  
         
Blackwood     Blackwood. A convention where a specific bid (usually 4NT) ask for aces. There are numerous variations (Roman Key Card Blackwood, Kickback and loads more) and they are fully described elsewhere.  
         
BST     Broken Suit Transfers. A convention whereby a direct 3♦/♥ over partner's 1NT opening is a transfer to the suit above indicating a strong hand with slam ambitions but with a broken trump suit. It is fully described in the NT Bidding Book.  
         
      In most aictions one player usually limits his hand at some stage. His partner then knows the  
Captain     combined strength and is 'in charge'. He is called the Captain and, for want of a better word,  
(and crew)     his partner is the Crew. The Captain and Crew may change places during an auction and a  

 

    player who bids Blackwood normally is, or becomes Captain.  
         
      Check Back Stayman. A bid of 2♣ after partner has opened one of a suit and rebid 1NT.  
CBS     It asks opener to clarify his major suit holdings. It may also be used after a 2NT rebid.  
      An alternarive to using CBS is NMF (new minor forcing).  
         
Chicago     A variation of Rubber Bridge for 4 players whereby each session id just 4 deals.  
         
Cue bid     Often a bid in a suit in which the partnership does not wish to play. After trumps have been agreed such a bid is often a cue bid, usually showing 1st round control. Further bids (other than the trump suit) are also generally cue bids and such subsequent bids may show 1st or 2nd round control depending upon context. Cue bids, game tries, splinters and 4th suit forcing are often confused with each other. For a fairly comprehensive explanation of what is what, refer to the Game Tries, Cue bids, Splinters, 4th suit forcing and all that Jazz link.  
         
The Club     I am referring to the Pattaya bridge Club  
         
DAB     Directional Asking Bid. A cue bid of the opponent's suit asking partner to bid NT if he has a ½ stopper in their suit. A ½ stopper is something like Qx, Jxx, singleton K etc. or better. It is similar to a Western cue bid but you would have to agree if a Western cue bid asks for a full stopper or a ½ stopper.  
         
DEPO     Double Even Pass Odd. A convention used when your Blackwood bid is overcalled.  
DOPI     Double Zero Pass One. A convention used when your Blackwood bid is overcalled.  
         
Drury     A convention whereby 2 ♣ and by a passed hand over a 1♥ or 1♠ opening by partner is artificial and asks partner to clarify if he has a 'real' opener or not. There are a few variations.  
         
DONT     Double Of No Trump. A defence to a 1NT opening where double is used conventionally.  
         
Dutch Acol     My name for a system common in Holland and Australia . It is a strong NT with 4 card majors (always opened up the line) and is totally different from Acol.  
         
DRKCB     Double Roman Key Card Blackwood. It is fully described in the NT Bidding Book.  
EDRKCB     Exclusion Double Roman Key Card Blackwood. It is fully described in the NT Bidding Book.  
ERKCB     Exclusion Roman Key Card Blackwood.  
         
Fast Arrival     In a game forcing situation, a jump to game often shows a weaker hand than a bid below game. One notable exception to this rule is when we show a completely solid suit.  
         
Forcing NT    

A treatment, used with five card opening majors, whereby a response of 1NT to an opening bid of 1♥ or 1♠ forces opener to bid again if there is no interference. It is a basic feature of the 2/1 system.

 
         
Four-way Transfers     In addition to the 2♦/♥ Jacoby transfers one can also play 2♠/NT as transfers to 3♣/♦ resp. This complete scheme is called 4-way transfers and is fully described in the NT Bidding Book.  
         
Garbage Stayman     Probably the most common variation of Stayman whereby responder promises no points for his 2♣ bid. It is fully described in the link and in the NT Bidding Book.  
     
         
Gerber     A convention where 4 ♣ is used for the ace ask. It is best used only after partner's last natural bid was NT. When to use Blckwood and when to use Gerber is fully defined in the 'Conventions' link.  
         
HCPs     High Card Points (4 for ace, 3 for King etc.) devised by Milton Work.  
         
HELD     High Encourage Low Discourage. An attitude signalling siganlling system whenpartner leads the suit. It, and other signalling systems, are covered in the link.  
         
IMP     International Matchpoint. A form of scoring on a sliding scale used in team matches. Overtricks and the extra 10 scored for playing in NT rather than a major are almost insignificant. It is different to Matchpoint (Pairs) scoring.  
         
Intermediates     10's, 9's and even 8's. These have no HCP value but may well be more important than lower cards.  
         
Inverted     A convention whereby direct raises to the two and three level of partner’s Minors 1 of a minor opening are ‘inverted’. I.e. the raise to two is stronger than the raise to three.  
Minors      
         
Jacoby Transfers     After partner's 1NT opening, bids of 2♦/♥ are transfers to 2♥/♠ resp. Similar transfers can be done one level higher after a 2NT opening. A further extension of the transfers over 1NT is using 2♠ and 2NT as transfers to 3♣/♦ resp (four-way transfers).  
         
Key Cards     These are defined as the 4 aces and the king of trumps. They are normally associated with RKCB but are also specific to some other conventions.  
         
Kickback     A variation of RKCB whereby the suit above the trump suit (4NT in the case of spades) is used as the key card ask.  
         
The Law of Total Tricks    

Often simply called ‘The Law'. It states that the total number of tricks Total Tricks available to both sides is equal to the total number of trumps. So in it's simple form, all things being equal, you can compete to the level of combined trumps that your side holds.

 
         
Lebensohl     A conventional use of the 2NT when partnrt's 1NT opening has been overcalled. There are numerous examples of Lebensohl being used in other situations - refer to the 'Conventions' link in this web site.  
         
Limit Raise     The exact definition is a raise that specifies the point count, i.e. limits the hand. We usually use the term specifically for a limit raise of a opener's suit to the 3 level (i.e. +- 11 points) or opener's strong 1NT to 2NT (i.e. 8-9 pts).  
         
Matchpoints     The scoring method used in pairs competitions. It is different from IMP scoring in that overtricks are important and even the extra 10 points for making 3NT+1 as opposed to 4©/♠ exactly is very significant. IMP scoring in assumed in most articles on this web site.  
         
Moose     A large hoofed animal. Some North Americans refer to a ‘big' hand as a moose.  
         
Moysian Fit     A 4-3 fit usually in a major. This can sometimes be the best contract if the 3 card hand can get a ruff or two.  
     
         
Negative Double     Not to be confused with a take-out double. The negative (or Sputnik) double is a double in just one situation - partner opens, RHO overcalls and you double. In principle it shows the other two suits but most people play that it only promises an unbid major.  
         
Negative Free Bid     When partner opens, RHO overcalls and you bid a new suit, that is generaly played as forcing. However, some players who play negative doubles will play that a bid in this situation is weak and with a constructive bid you must double. This treatment is not that common or popular; it is not standard and needs to be alerted.  
         
      New Minor Forcing. A bid of 2♣ or 2♦ (whichever opener did not open) after partner has opened one of a suit and rebid 1NT. It asks opener to clarify his major suit holdings. It may also be used after a 2NT rebid. An alternarive to using NMF is CBS (Check Back Stayman - where 2♣ is always the asking bid).  
NMF    
     
         
Pairs Scoring     See Matchpoints above.  
         
Playing Tricks     A method of evaluating how good your hand is. It is primarily used in judging whether to open a pre-emptive bid or not and also whether to open a strong two bid or not.  
         
Precision     The Precision 1♣ is a system based on a strong (16+) artificial 1♣ opening. I do not cover it in this web site.  
     
         
Protection     An American term for balancing. I.e. you bid in the pass-out seat with less values than in the direct seat in order to 'protect' partner who may have a decent hand but no decent bid.  
         
Puppet     An artificial bid that demands that partner makes a specific bid (normally the next bid up). Lebensohl is the most well known example. A puppet is sometimes used in order to transfer captaincy so that the captain can become the crew and can describe his hand.  
         
Reverse Drury     A variation of Drury. In my opinion the best variation is 2-way Reverse Drury.  
         
Quacks     Queens and Jacks.  
         
Quest Transfers    

A convention used after the sequence 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ whereby a jump transfers to 3♦ or 3♥ is a transfer to the suit above and shows 5 cards in the suit transferred into and 4 in the other major. This is an improvement on Smolen as it caters for both invitational and game forcing hands. Refer to the conventions link or the NT bidding book.

 
         
Relay     An artificial bid that seeks information about partner's hand. The most common examples are Blackwood and Stayman.  
         
RKB     Roman Key Card Blackwood. I generally use RKCB.  
         
RKCB     Roman Key Card Blackwood. An improved form of Blackwood where the king of trumps is given equal importance to the four aces – thus giving five ‘key cards'. Special significance is also allocated to the queen of trumps.  
         
REPO     Redouble Even Pass Odd. A convention used when your Blackwood bid is doubled.  
ROPI     Redouble Zero Pass One. A convention used when your Blackwood bid is doubled.  
         
RONF     Raise Only Non-Forcing. An American abbreviation indicating that a raise to 3 of partner's weak two opening is the only non-forcing bid. I.e. a new suit is forcing.  
         
Rubber bridge     A variation of Bridge for just 4 players, typically played for money  
         
SARS     Shape Asking Relays (after Stayman). Primarily used to find a minor suit fit after a 1NT opening. It is fully described in the NT Bidding Book  
         
SAYC     Standard American Yellow Card. A very specific basic version of Standard American.  
         
SID     Stayman in Doubt. A convention to check on shape duplication after a major suit fit has  
      been discovered using Stayman. We use a considerably enhanced version (ASID) in the  
      NT Bidding Book.  
         
Slow Arrival     Stronger than Fast Arrival.  
         
Smolen     A convention used after the sequence 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ whereby a jump to 3♥ or 3♠ shows 4 cards in the major suit bid and 5 in the other major with game forcing values. We do not use it as it has been superseded by Quest transfers which cater for both invitational and game forcing hands.  
         
SNAP     Strong NT After Passing. This is an attempt to solve the problems involved when 3rd seat opens light and 1st seast has a reasonable 11-12 points. It really is not a good convention and you are much better off playing some variation of Drury.  
         
South African Texas    

A variation on Texas transfers whereby 4 ♣/♦ are the transfer bids Texas to 4♥/♠ resp. They are fully described in the NT Bidding Book.

  
         
Splinter    

A jump in a new suit to a level that is one more than the forcing bid is often splinter, showing shortage (singleton or void). It usually agrees partner's last suit (normally a major) as trumps. One can splinter to the 3 level over a 1NT opening to offer one of the other 3 suits as trumps and that is fully described in the NT Bidding Book.

 
      Splinters, cue bids, game tries, and 4th suit forcing are often confused with each other. For a fairly comprehensive explanation of what is what, refer to the Game Tries, Cue bids, Splinters, 4th suit forcing and all that Jazz link.  
         
Sputnic Double     In the UK Negative Doubles are sometimes referred to as Sputnic Doubles.  
         
Standard American     A bidding system including 5 card majors and a strong (15-17) 1NT opening.  
         
Stayman     Samuel Stayman. The convention named after him is a 2♣ bid after partner's 1NT opening (or 3♣ after a 2NT opening) which asks opener to clarify his major suit holdings. There are numerous variations of the convention.  
         
Strong NT     15-17. In olden days it was 16-18 but that is not a common range these days.  
         
Swiss     Normally a bid of 4♣/♦ after partner's 1♥/♠ opening. It shows a sound raise to the 4 level. There are numerous variations that differentiate between the 4♣ and 4♦ bids  
         
Tenace     A holding such as Kx or AQ which is vulnerable to a lead from RHO .  
         
Texas Transfers     After partner's 1NT opening, 4♦/♥ are transfers to 4 ♥/♠ resp.  
         
Transfer     An artificial bid that shows length in a specific suit. The most common example is Jacoby transfers over NT.  
         
Trial Bids     When a suit (usually a major) has been agreed at the two level. Then the introduction of a new suit is often a try for game. Sometimes called a Trial Bid but more commonly a Help-Suit Game Try.  
     
         
UNT     The Unusual NT. A bid of NT (usually 2NT but not always) in a situation where it cannot really be expected to be natural. It shows a weak hand which is 5-5 in the lowest 2 unbid suits. Some play that it may also be very strong.  
         
Walsh     A convention (or rather a treatment) whereby responder bids a 4 card major rather than 1♦ in response to a 1♣ opening with a weak hand.  
         
Weak NT     12-14. This is the range used in Acol  
     
   
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