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This is an extract from the ‘Beginner's Pages' and basic Stayman briefly covered. Stayman is covered in much more detail in chapter 3 of the advanced No Trump bidding book. |
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The first thing to remember when partner opens 1NT is that he has a balanced hand. Balanced hands usually play well in NoTrump and No Trump scores more than a minor suit. In all of our examples, partner had opened 1NT (15-17). |
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Now when partner opens 1NT we know how many points he has (15-17) and it is up to us to stop now, invite game or bid game. We need 8-9 points to invite game and a good 9+ points is usually enough to bid game without inviting. |
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| Hand 1 |
Hand 2 |
Hand 3 |
All of these hands are fairly balanced and we have no reason to think of anything other than NT asa final strain. So with hand 1 we pass; with Hand 2 we invite with 2NT and with Hand 3 we bid 3NT. Note that even a 5 card ♣ or ♦ suit is not worth mentioning, No Trump scores more. |
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| ♠ |
1095 |
♠ |
1095 |
♠ |
K105 |
| ♥ |
976 |
♥ |
Q76 |
♥ |
QJ8 |
| ♦ |
J9 |
♦ |
KJ942 |
♦ |
KJ942 |
| ♣ |
KJ942 |
♣ |
Q9 |
♣ |
KJ |
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Stayman |
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Fine, a minor suit is usually not even worth mentioning; but major suit(s) are different! There is only 10 points difference between the scores for a NT contract and a ♥/♠ contract and if there is a major suit fit (4-4, 5-3 or better) then you usually get more tricks by playing in the major. |
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| Hand 4 |
Hand 5 |
Partner has again opened 1NT. Hand 4 is worth a game invitation and Hand 5 is worth game. But in NT or is there a 4-4 ♥ fit? If we respond 2♥, how does opener know if that is a 4 or 5 card suit? Now I said above that we don't bother to mention a ♣ or ♦ suit, so the 2♣/♦ bids are spare. We use the 2♣ bid for the Stayman Convention. It says ‘I have a 4 card major' (possibly two 4 card majors) and I want to find out if we have a fit. It is totally artificial and says nothing about the ♣ suit |
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| ♠ |
J87 |
♠ |
Q76 |
| ♥ |
Q1095 |
♥ |
A1095 |
| ♦ |
KJ92 |
♦ |
KJ92 |
| ♣ |
Q9 |
♣ |
J9 |
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With both Hand 4 and 5 we bid Stayman 2♣ . The responses to Stayman by opener are: - |
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| 2♦ |
= |
I have no 4 card major |
| 2♥ |
= |
I have 4 ♥'s (and also possibly 4 ♠'s) |
| 2♠ |
= |
I have 4 ♠'s but do not have 4 ♥'s. |
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So with Hand 4 we bid 2♣ Stayman. If partner replies 2♦ (no major) or 2♠ (4♠ 's but not 4 ♥ 's) then we bid 2NT – showing our 8-9 points and invitational to 3NT. If partner bids 2♥ then we invite the 4♥ game by bidding 3♥. Hand 5 is worth game but we still start with Stayman. Over 2♦/♠ we bid 3NT and over 2♥ we bid 4♥. One final point; since partner must respond to 2♣ we may have to play in 2NT and so 2♣ guarantees invitational values +. There are exceptions (see Garbage Stayman), but for now let's say Stayman guarantees 8 or more points. |
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Stayman when you have both majors. |
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Let's now consider the situation when responder has two 4 card majors: - |
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| Hand 6 |
Hand 7 |
Partner has again opened 1NT. Hand 6 is worth a game invitation and Hand 7 is worth game. But in NT or is there a 4-4 major suit fit? So we know now to bid 2♣ , Stayman. It's easy then. If partner responds 2♥ or 2♠ we invite with 3 of the major with hand 6 and bid 4 of the major with Hand 7. If partner responds 2♦ then we bid an invitational 2NT with hand 6 and bid 3NT with Hand 7. |
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| ♠ |
KJ92 |
♠ |
KJ92 |
| ♥ |
Q1095 |
♥ |
A1095 |
| ♦ |
J87 |
♦ |
Q76 |
| ♣ |
Q9 |
♣ |
J9 |
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Pattaya Bridge Club - |
www.pattayabridge.com |
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