Bridge Abbreviations & Terminology

Abbreviations and Terminology

Bridge Abbreviations and Terminology

Click to get the frames link column. This page was last updated 18th June 2008

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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 NoTrump.

2♥/♠
When I state a bid like 2♥/♠ I mean a bid of 2♥ or 2♠.

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 form 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 No Trump 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.

Ace Asking There are various ways of finding out abour partner's ace (and king) holdings. The most popular conventions are Blackwood and Gerber.

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 No Trump. For the differencces between Acol and Standard American bidding systems, refer to the link. In Holland they say that they play Acol - but they do not! For a definition of Dutch Acol, refer to the link.

Action Double
Partner opens, you respond and LHO overcalls at a low level. This is passed round to you; you have 9+ points but nothing particularl to say, so double here simply says that you have the majority of the points but no good bid. Note that it is important to play Action doubles if you play support doubles when a double by opener would have shown 3 card support for your major.

Advancer
The partner of the overcaller.

Ambiguous splinters
Ambiguous splinters may be used in manya number of bidding sequences. The link refers to their use after partner has opened 1♥/♠. Their use after Stayman, Jacoby Transfers and directly over a 1NT opening are fully described in the No Trump bidding book.

Arrow Switching
A method used in a Mitchell Movement to obtain just one winner. The 'fairness' of Arrow Switching is debatable and I generally play a straightforward Mitchell with two winners.

ASID Advanced Stayman in Doubt. A very useful improvement on the old SID (Stayman In Doubt) convention. It is fully described in the No Trump Bidding Book.

ASTRO A defence to a 1NT opening: -

2♣ = ♥'s and a minor

2♦ = ♠'s and another suit

ASPRO A defence to a 1NT opening: -

2♣ = ♥'s and another suit

2♦ = ♠'s and a minor

Asking bids
These are the opposite of cue bids, in that they ask information about a specific suit rather than giving it. Cue bids are more common but there are a limited number of occasions where an asking bid is required and they need to be very specifically defined/agreed.

Baby Blackwood A convention whereby 3NT is used as ace-asking in certain specific situations.

Balancing Bidding in the pass-out seat with less values than in the direct seat. A.k.a. Protection.

Baron 2NT A convention popular in the UK to show a big balanced hand when partner has opened. I prefer to use Jacoby 2NT over major suit openings and to use inverted minors over minor suit openings, with 2NT as 11-12 and invitational over a minor suit opening.

Baron 2♠ A bid of 2♠ over partner's 1NT opening, asking the range and seeking a 4-4 fit for slam purposes. It works fine but SARS in conjunction with 4-way transfers really is far superior.

Baron 3♣ Used over a 2NT (or via 2♣ etc.) opening to locate a 4-4 fit in either a minor or a major. Popular in the UK but most players play 3♣ as some form of Stayman in this situation.

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 No Trump 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.

Bergen
Marty Bergen. Author and international bridge expert. Marty Bergen's books include the best-seller 'Points Smoints' and numerous other titles including the Marty sez... series. His best known convention is 'Bergen Raises' which is interesting and quite popular; but Kickback (a variation of Blackwood) is absolutely fabulous and totally under-rated.

Bergen Raises
A convention where most of the responses to partner's 1♥ or 1♠ opening are conventional, the most notable (notorious?) of which is 3♣ being used as a 4 card raise to two of the major.

Better Minor A term used for deciding which 3 card minor suit to open when playing 5-card majors and you are 3-3 in the minors with no 5-card major. I do not play it as I will always open 1♣ when equal length in the minors and I prefer to play the 'short club' scheme anyway.

Bidding boxes and cards are pretty standard at most Bridge Clubs these days. They really are easy to use and cut down on the general noise level. The Pattaya Bridge Club has sufficient boxes for 21 tables.

Bidding

boxes

Bidding

cards

Bidding pad

Commomly used in Australia and New Zealand instead of bidding boxes/cards. The Pattaya Bridge Club has a supply of bidding pads in the unlikely event that we run out of boxes.

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.

BROMAD Bergen Raise Of Major After Double. A set of responses devised by Marty Bergen for the situation where partner's one-of a-major opening has been doubled.

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 No Trump Bidding Book.

Cappelletti A defence to opponent's 1NT opening. A very similar (but better) convention is Multi Landy.

In most auctions one player usually limits his hand at some stage. His partner then knows the combined strength and is 'in charge'. He is called the Captain and, for want of a better word,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.

Captain

(and crew)

Cassino Points
See The Rule of 15.

Check Back Stayman. A bid of 2♣ 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 CBS is NMF (new minor forcing).

CBS

Chicago A variation of Rubber Bridge for 4 players whereby each session is just 4 deals.

The Club I am referring to the Pattaya Bridge Club.

Constructive Raise If you play the 2/1 system and partner opens 1♥ or 1♠ then you have two ways to raise to the two level; either directly or via a forcing NoTrump. Many players play that the direct raise is constructive (say 8-9 points with 4 card support) and that going via the forcing 1NT is weaker.

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.

Curtain Cards
A small slip of paper (slightly smaller than a playing card) that contains a record of the hand. The idea is that after you have counted you cards (face down of course) you then check them against the curtain card to ensure no mis-boarding. The cards are generally blank (and so filled in by the first pairs to play the board) but at the Pattaya Bridge Club they are filled in by computer. We only use curtain cards in the high season when more than 10 tables are expected.

Compressed Transfers A silly convention which transfers to ♥'s over partner's 1NT opening and then negates the transfer with a bid of 2♠. It is summarily dismissed in the NoTrump bidding book.

Crawling Stayman A variation of Garbage Stayman that is meant to make it easier to find a fit with very weak hands. I don't like it and it is summarily dismissed in the No Trump bidding book.

Crowhurst A 2♣ bid by responder after opener has rebid 1NT. Playing Crowhurst the 1NT rebid has a wide range (12-16) and 2♣ by responder primarily checks on the range. I don't recommend the convention as there is barely enough room to get all the information across playing normal Checkback Stayman (CBS); with this additional burden of the wide point range it is simply too cumbersome for me. There is an article comparing Checkback Stayman, Crowhurst and NMF in the conventions section.

Cue Bids 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.

DAB The Directional Asking Bid, or DAB, is. a cue bid of the opponent's suit asking partner to bid NoTrump 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 the Western cue generally asks for a full stopper.

Dealmaster Pro A software program that (amongst other things) generates hands and hand printouts. I use the program for Mondays and Fridays when you get a summary of each hand (plus makeable contracts) at the end of the session and the deal printout / makeable contracts are also included in the individual travellers for each board.

Deep Finesse
A computer double dummy solver. It is incorporated into Dealmaster Pro and is used at the Pattaya Bridge Club to calculate the makeable contracts on Mondays and Fridays.

Delayed Game Raise If partner opens 1♥/♠, then a direct jump to 4♥/♠ is usually played as pre-emptive. With a sound raise to 4♥/♠ one method is to bid another suit first and then jump to 4 of partner's major. So a sequence like 1♠ - 2♦ - 2♥ - 4♠ shows a sound raise to 4♥/♠. Most experienced players these days would only use this approach with 3 card support and play Jacoby 2NT or Swiss with 4 card support.

DEPO Double Even Pass Odd. A convention used when your Blackwood bid is overcalled. It is not as popular as DOPI but some players do prefer to use it (and REPO) at the five level as a penalty is then always an option..

Distribution When I state a distribution (or shape) of say 4333 I mean exactly in that order (♠♥♦♣). If I mean that general shape then I say 4333 type shape.

Dummy Reversal A technique used by declarer whereby be takes ruffs in the long trump hand and subsequently draws trumps with the short trump hand. There is an excellent example in news-sheet 253.

Duplicate

Boards

Bridge

Duplicate

Bridge

Duplicate is a form of bridge whereby the same cards are played at more than one table. Your scores are then compared with the others playing in the same direction. In order to facilitate this, the hands are placed in the four slots of a Bidding Board; the dealer and vulnerability are pre-determined and are shown on the board.

DONT Double Opponemt's No Trump. A defence to a 1NT opening where double is used conventionally.

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.

Dutch Acol My name for a system common in Holland and Australia . It is a strong No Trump 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 NoTrump Bidding Book.

EDRKCB Exclusion Double Roman Key Card Blackwood. It is fully described in the No Trump Bidding Book.

Eight ever - nine never
‘Eight ever- nine never' is a saying that says whether you should finesse a missing queen when you have 8 and when you have 9 cards in the suit. With just 8 cards you should always finesse - eight ever; but with nine cards you should play for the drop - nine never (finesse). But actually the odds for nine cards are very close and you may prefer to finesse if there was an inference that it may be working.

End-play The End Play, also known as a throw-in, is a technique whereby a player is allowed to win a trick but then has to concede a trick by leading into a tenace or giving a ruff and discard or similar.

ERKCB Exclusion Roman Key Card Blackwood.

Exclusion Blackwood In a situation where 4NT would be Blackwood (or RKCB) it is possible to play that a bid of a suit at the 5 level is Exclusion Blackwood (or Exclusion RKCB) and asks for aces (or keycards) outside the suit bid. Obviously this is used when the asker has a void in the suit.

Extended Stayman There are a couple of conventions named Extended Stayman, mentioned in the No Trump bidding book. But with the advent of Jacoby Transfers and Quest transfers they are no longer relevant.

Extended Texas Transfers After 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ , bids of 4♦/♥ are transfers to 4♥/♠ resp. They are fully covered in the No Trump bidding book.

False Preference If partner opens a suit, you bid, and partner bids another suit then putting partner back into his original suit is simply giving preference and does not show extra values. However, consider this hand: ♠96 ♥QJ64 ♦963 ♣AQ6. Partner opens 1♠ and you respond 1NT; partner then bids 2♣. You should not pass, but give 'false preference' with a bid of 2♠. There are two reasons for this: (a) the 5-2 ♠ fit should play well, and (b) partner may have a big hand (say 15-16 points) and there may be game. With this particular hand, if partner bids on over 2♠ then you should co-operate and go to game, probably 3NT.

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.

Favourable vulnerability When the opponents are vulnerable and you are not. At favourable vulnerability it is often possible to overbid and get a good score even if doubled (when the opponents have game/slam).

Fishbein A convention that uses the next bid up for tak-out od a pre-empt (so that double is penalties). It is rarely used these days, with most players preferring double for take-out.

Fit Jumps Fit-jumps can be used in a variety of situations, but usually in competition when partner opens 1♥/♠ and RHO doubles or overcalls.

Flannery 2♦ A convention where a 4522, 4531 or 4513 hand with 11-15 points is opened with 2♦. Obviously it is very accurate but it really is a bit extravigant to use the 2♦ bid for just this one particular hand shape.

Forcing NoTrump
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 two-over-one 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 No Trump Bidding Book.

Fourth 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, game tries, cue bids 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, Fourth suit forcing and all that Jazz link.

Fruit Machine Swiss A convention whereby the responses of 4♣ and 4♦ to a 1♥ or 1♠ opening both show a sound raise to 4 of the major. 4♣ shows a sound raise with two aces and a 'feature'. The feature may be a third ace, a singleton/void or the king of trumps. The 4♦ bid shows the same values but denies the requirement for a 4♣ bid.

The Gambling 3NT
An opening bid of 3NT shows a long completely solid minor. The best treatment is to play that it promises no outside ace or king.

Game Try See Help Suit Game Try. Game tries, cue bids, 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.

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 No Trump 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 NoTrump and is fully covered in the No Trump Bidding book. When to use Blackwood and when to use Gerber is fully defined in the 'Conventions' link.

Ghestem
A scheme for two-suited overcalls. See also Questem.

GNATS

A colloquial name to any of various small insects in the order Diptera and specifically within the suborder Nematocera. In bridge terminology it is God Not Another Transfer System. A convention (or rather a system) whereby all opening one-level suit bids are artificial.

Granville A convention that interchanges the meanings of 1♠ and a Forcing NT over partner's 1♥ opening. I cannot really recommend it - stick with the traditional Forcing NoTrump.

Good/Bad 2NT An application of Lebensohl in various competitive auctions.

GSF
Grand Slam Force, also known as Josaphine. This is a bid of 5NT that asks partner to bid the grand slam when holding two of the top three honours. There are various improvements/additions to the basic convention.

Hamilton A defence to opponent's 1NT opening, also known as Cappelletti. A very similar (but better convention) is Multi Landy.

Hanging Partner
A term used when partner balances and you then proceed to overbid.

HCPs High Card Points (4 for ace, 3 for King etc.) devised by Milton Work. For more details see Audrey Grant's book "Introduction to point count (Future champions' bridge series)".

HELD High Encourage Low Discourage. An attitude signalling siganlling system whenpartner leads the suit. It, and other signalling systems, are covered in the link.

HELLO HELLO is a defence to the opponent's 1NT opening. It was devised by Jerry Helms and Bill Lohmann and is defined in the defence to 1NT section of the conventions pages.

Help-Suit Game Try When a major suit has been agreed at the two level, a new suit is a help-suit game try, asking partner to bid game with help in this suit. Game tries, cue bids, 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.

High Reverse A sequence when opener's rebid is a new suit at the three level; for example 1♦ - 1♠ - 3♣. A high reverse is game forcing.

Howell Movement A movement when playing duplicate, generally used with 3-6 tables. The idea is that all pairs play all the boards and meet all of the other pairs. This is true for Howell movements up to five tables but with the 6-table movement you play all 27 boards but miss two pairs. With six full tables I generally play a Mitchell (30 boards). There are Howell movements for seven or more tables but it is usually best to then play a Mitchell.

IMP International Matchpoint. A form of scoring on a sliding scale used in team matches. Overtricks and the extra 10 scored for playing in NoTrump rather than a major are almost insignificant. It is different to Matchpoint (Pairs) scoring.

Individual Movement
A competition where players do not play with the same partner throughout. There are individual movements for all numbers of players but at the Pattaya Bridge Club we generally only play an individual when we have 9 or 13 players when there is no reasonable alternative movement available.

Interference over your Multi 2♦ This is a scheme for what to do when your multi 2♦ is interfered with.

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).

Jacoby 2NT A conventional bid of 2NT after partner's 1♥/♠ opening. It shows a sound raise to the two level with 4 card support but no shortage (otherwise you would splinter).

Jordan 2NT Also known as Truscott 2NT. If partner opens 1♥/♠ and RHO doubles, then 2NT is not needed in a natural sense (double with 9+). So playing Jordan 2NT the 2NT bid shows a sound raise to three of the major and a direct bid of 3 of the major is pre-emptive.

Journalist Leads A set of very specific leads against NoTrump contracts. In particular, a jack denies a higher honour and the ten promises the ace, king or queen.

Jump Shift A jump shift is when opener opens at the one level and responder replies with a new suit one level higher than necessary. There are various different possible meanings for a jump shift and the link discusses weak jump shifts and strong jump shifts.

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 such as Key Card Swiss.

Keycard Swiss A convention whereby the responses of 4♣ and 4♦ to a 1♥ or 1♠ opening both show a sound raise to 4 of the major. 4♣ shows a sound raise with two key cards and a 'feature'. The feature may be a third key card, a singleton or the queen of trumps. The 4♦ bid shows the same values but denies the requirement for a 4 ♣ bid. This is an improvement on the well established Fruit Machine Swiss. Keycard Swiss is best used in conjunction with the Jacoby 2NT convention.

The Kokish Relay In Standard American (and many other systems) 2♣ is the only strong bid and the sequence 2♣ - 2♦ - 2NT shows 22-24 balanced. So with a balanced 25+ you either have to open 3NT or use the sequence 2♣ - 2♦ - 3NT. This is totally unsatisfactory and one solution is to play the Kokish relay.

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. A great treatment for experienced players - highly recommended. Indeed, it is used extensively in my book on No Trump Bidding.

Landy A defence to the opponent's 1NT opening. Multi Landy really is a better system.

Lavinthal A discard signalling system used by defenders. Also known as McKenny.

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 partner's 1NT opening has been overcalled. There are numerous examples of Lebensohl being used in other situations - refer to section 1 of the 'Conventions' link in this web site for the various other uses.

Leaping Michaels The defence against weak twos is fairly standard these days, with double for take-out. This link defines all of the defender's options, including Leaping Michaels.

Lightner Double
The double of a freely bid slam which asks partner to make an unusual lead.

Limit Raise The exact definition is a raise that specifies the point count, i.e. limits the hand. I 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).

Limit Raise in competition In some competitive auctions Limit Raises are bid artificially. If partner opens and RHO doubles then the Truscott 2NT (aka Jordan 2NT) is used. And if LHO opens and partner overcalls then the Unassuming Cue Bid is used. In both of these situations direct raises of partner's suit are pre-emptive.

Live Auction An auction (usually involving just 1 pair) is called live when one or both of the bidders is unlimited. It is often dangerous for the opposition to enter a live auction without a shapely hand, but the 'problem' is solved if your partnership understands balancing.

LHO Left hand Opponent.

LTC Losing Trick Count. A scheme, popular in the UK, for calculating how high to raise partner's 1♥/♠ opening.

Lucas Twos A weak 2©/♠ which shows 5 cards in the major bid and 4+ cards in another suit. Allowing the other suit to be a major really is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons, and so Muiderberg, where the other suit is a minor, is to be preffered.

Lower Minor A defence to pre-empts where the cheapest minor suit is for take-out and so double is for penalties. It is not commonly played these days and is not very satisfactory as a possible 3NT contract is usually by-passed.

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.

McKenny A discard signalling system used by defenders. Also known as Lavinthal.

Michaels Cue Bid A bid of two of the suit opened by the opposition. It shows a two-suited hand which is either weak or very strong. In conjunction with the UNT most two suited hands can be shown. But not all combinationa can be shown and there is ambiguity with which minor suit when the two suits are ♠'s and a minor. These problems have been overcome with Questem.

Milton Work The originator of High Card Points (HCPs - 4 for ace, 3 for King etc.).

Mini-Roman A 2♦ opening to show a 3-suited hand, typically 11-14 points.

Mini-Splinter Some people (mostly 2/1 players) play that a jump to 3 of a minor over a 1♥/♠ opening is a mini-splinter, agreeing the major and showing shortage. Such a mini splinter is played as invitational (although responder may have a more powerful hand). Playing Mini-splinters is not that common and certainly would have to be agreed.

Minor Suit Stayman Some people play that 2♠ over partner's 1NT opening is minor suit Stayman. But this is totally inefficient and SARS, which is fully covered in chapter 2.5 of the No Trump bidding book, is a much better method. Two variations of Minor Suit Stayman are diussed in "The 2♠ (and 2NT) response to 1NT".

Mitchell Movement A movement when playing duplicate, generally used with seven or more tables. N-S remain stationary and E-W move every round. There are generally two winning pairs (one N-S and one E-W but it is possible to alter the movement slightly (by means of arrow switching) in order to acheive just one winner.

Moose

Moose (Alces Alces) mostly inhabit northern forests of North America, Europe, and Russia (in Europe they are called 'elk'). Some North Americans refer to a ‘big' hand as a moose.

Movement cards
A card generally placed in the centre of the table stating which boards and which pairs should be present and they also state where the pairs should move for the next round. Movement cards are fairly essential for Howell movements (less than 6 tables) but the Pattaya Bridge club has movement catrds for all movements, including Mitchells, up to 16 tables.

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.

MUD Middle - Up - Down; a lead signalling convention to show three (maybe four) small cards. This is often superior to 'top of nothing' as partner can get a count the 2nd time that the suit is played. If you lead the top card then partner may assume that it's a doubleton when a low card appears next time. Playing the smallest from 3 small is no good as a small card generally promises an honour.

Multi Landy A defence to opponent's 1NT opening. It is very similar to Cappellitti/Hamilton but superior in my view as 2♣ is used for the majors and the best major suit fit is always found. Playing Cappellitti/Hamilton you can easily end up in a 4-3 (or 4-2) fit when there is a 5-3 (or 5-2) fit in the other major.

The Multi 2♦ One version of the multi 2♦. I have a 'super' version in the works, but this one is as good as any for now.

Muiderberg A convention using the 2♥/♠ opening bids. They are weak, promising a 5 card suit and also an undisclosed 4+ card minor. It is popular in Holland and is usually used in conjunction with the Multi 2♦.

Namyats Actually Stayman spelt backwards. It's a convention that uses 4♣/♦ in addition to 4♥/♠ to differentiate between good and bad 4 of a major openers.

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.

Niemeijer A complete scheme for responding to 2NT openings. It includes 3♣ as Puppet Stayman.

New Minor Forcing. A bid of 2♣ or 2♦<