The Bridge Experts
  • Home
  • Articles
  • The Bridge Fellowship
    • Bridge Can Be Easier
    • General Coaching + Simulations
    • Gift certificates
  • Give us a Hand!
  • Team

Finding a 5-3 major fit after a 2NT opening

9/14/2021

0 Comments

 

Author

Paulo Brum

Picking up from where we last spoke on the subject (check it out). 
I suspect that some form of Puppet Stayman is the most popular system nowadays (2021) among experienced players. As with any convention, discussion of follow-ups is very important. Any bidding structure over 2NT (which swallows up a lot of important bidding space) should be able to solve the following problems:
  • Finding 4-4 major fits
  • Finding 5-3 major fits (whether the 5-card suit is with opener or responder)
  • Dealing with the hands in which both possibilities are present (responder has 5-4 in a major, the Smolen case)
  • Setting up a trump suit for slam purposes as early as possible
  • Exploring possible minor-suit fits after checking on the major-suit possibilities, in the case of slam-going hands.
  • Last, but not a minor consideration: it should do that divulging the least amount of gratuitous information. In other words, answers to questions that have not been asked should not be offered.
Puppet Stayman in some of its (many) variants does a good job with that list. But that comes at the expense of some serious complexity. For instance, the version played by some Italian partnerships includes the sequence 2NT-3C-3H to deny a major (leaving more room for this case), while 2NT-3C-3NT shows 5 hearts. 

My suggestion here is perhaps slightly less efficient than the best versions of Puppet Stayman, but it is much simpler and easier to manage. It must be remembered that this is a low-frequency issue; any budding partnership should devote their time to more pressing matters before trying to fine-tune this sequence, which is why a simple alternative is often best.

Here it is:

After 3C, opener bids:

3D: denies hearts. Can still have spades (but can also have no major)
3H: 4+ hearts. Denies 4 spades.
3S: 5 spades
3NT: both majors

Over 3D from opener, responder, if interested, asks with 3H. Opener bids 3S with 3 cards in spades (right-siding the hand when responder has a Smolen-type, 5S4H), 3NT with 2 spades, and something at the 4-level with 4 spades.

If responder bids 3S over 3D, he is showing 4 spades and 5 hearts. Notice how responder bids the Smolen hands just as he used to do with plain Stayman; he bids the 4-card suit after a 3D response.

After opener bids 3H, showing hearts and denying spades, responder can (if he feels like it) inquire about whether opener has 4 or 5 hearts by bidding 3S. Opener will only bypass 3NT when he has 5 hearts. Note that this also establishes hearts as the trump suit for slam investigation, if responder bids something forward-going in the next round. (Again, this is very much like expert bidding over plain, 70's style Stayman).

The other 2 responses to the 3C inquiry are easy to deal with. If opener bids 3S, showing 5 spades, responder bids 4H to establish spades as the trump suit for slam. Other bids are natural. After 3NT showing both majors, it is useful to play (at least) 4Red as a transfer to the next suit, to allow for setting the suit, right-siding the contract, and exploring for slam.

So there it is. An alternative to Puppet Stayman which is much easier to navigate than the most exotic varieties out there.


0 Comments

    Archives

    September 2021
    May 2021
    December 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019

    Categories

    All
    1st FSO
    2020 Brazilian Trials
    2/1
    Adriano Rodrigues
    Advanced
    Bidding Judgment
    Bidding Systems
    Bobby Levin
    Books
    China
    Contested Auction
    Declarer Play
    Defense
    Diego Brenner
    Double Dummy
    Emilio La Rovere
    Ernesto Muzzio
    Expert
    FSO
    Gabriel Chagas
    Giorgio-duboin
    Henrique Salomão
    Inferences
    Intermediate
    Ira Rubin
    Israel
    Jeovani Salomão
    João Paulo Campos
    Marcelo Branco
    Marcos Thoma
    Miguel Villas Boas
    Opening Lead
    Pablo Ravenna
    Paulo Brum
    Pietro Berlusconi
    Poland
    Pressure Bidding
    Raises
    Roberto Barbosa
    Roberto Mello
    Singapore
    Slam Bidding
    Stefano Tommasini
    Sweden
    Tournament Report
    Transfer Responses To 1C
    Trump Maneuvers
    USA
    Video
    World Youth Teams

    RSS Feed

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Site powered by Page One Agency
  • Home
  • Articles
  • The Bridge Fellowship
    • Bridge Can Be Easier
    • General Coaching + Simulations
    • Gift certificates
  • Give us a Hand!
  • Team