Transfer or Stayman?

[SimonFa]

I'm sure there must be a theoretical way to bid this hand.

 

IMPs W V R

 

♠KTxxx

♥ATxx

♦xxx

♣x

 

I chose transfer and passed and it turned out well, but in hindsight maybe Stayman and then Spades if partner bides 2D?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Simon

[wank]

yes stayman is better - firstly 4-4 (or even 5-4) fits are better than 5-2s and secondly, if partner shows hearts you're worth a game try or a jump to game depending on the scoring, vulnerability, etc.

 

some people play stayman followed by 2♠ as natural and invitational which would also be a good description of your hand.

[han]

Yes, what wank said.

[gordontd]

Do we know the strength of the opening 1NT bid?

[aguahombre]

some people play stayman followed by 2♠ as natural and invitational which would also be a good description of your hand.

It seems a bit short of invitational, especially opposite a chronic upgrader; but if it is considered strong enough to invite and if 2M is invitational after Stayman, we would Stayman, followed by 2H if opener bids 2D as a mini-Smolen.

[Zelandakh]

Simon, it is difficult to answer a question on NT responses without knowing what the response scheme is or the NT range. For me, if this hand qualifies as invitational, the response would be 2NT which I use as 5 spades, 4 hearts and invitational strength. If partner corrected this to 3 of either major then we can raise to 4. Some alternatives are Stayman followed by 2♠ over 2♦ (showing the same hand as my 2NT but you play only 2♠ if partner has a minimum and 3 spades) and Stayman followed by 2♥ (Smolen-style, showing 5+ spades and 4 hearts). This latter method has the advantage that you can make a further try over 2♠, the downside comes on hands where you wanted to bid 2♥ to show something else.

 

If the hand does not qualify as invitational for your NT range then you either transfer, passing unless partner super-accepts, or Stayman and bid 2♥, if this shows a weak hand with both majors.

 

It is noteworthy that hands with the distributional strength for 4M opposite a fit, but not for 3NT opposite a max, are a common source of difficulties over a 1NT opening. It would not surprise me if NT structures increasingly evolved to find methods to accomodate such hands more comfortably in the future.

[Quartic]

With this hand I would bid Stayman then sign-off in 2♠ if partner denied a 4+ major. (I play a weak NT.)

 

If I had a similar hand with enough strength to invite game, with some partners I would bid Stayman then transfer to ♠ with 3♥ over a 2♦ response. Partner can now complete the transfer to decline the invite, or cue, bid 3NT or 4♠ to accept.

[han]

For what it is worth, if you play that 1NT - 2C - 2D - 2S is invitational with 5 spades, while 1NT - 2C - 2D - 2H shows a weak hand with both majors, then it makes good sense to agree that the second auction shows spades at least as long as hearts. That way opener will always correct to 2S with equal length and play the hand more often.

[jallerton]

For what it is worth, if you play that 1NT - 2C - 2D - 2S is invitational with 5 spades, while 1NT - 2C - 2D - 2H shows a weak hand with both majors, then it makes good sense to agree that the second auction shows spades at least as long as hearts. That way opener will always correct to 2S with equal length and play the hand more often.

 

That doesn't make much sense to me. Swap the majors round so you now hold ♠A10xx ♥K10xxx ♦xxx ♣x and suppose that partner opens a 15-17 NT. You can envisage a possible game opposite a 4-card msjor so you'd like to start with Stayman. However, what do you do over a 2♦ response? Playing normal methods, this hand bids 1NT-2♣-2♦-2♥.

[blackshoe]

The method Han describes is "normal" for a lot of players in this country. ;)

[rmnka447]

The second auction Han covers (using 1 NT - 2 ♣ - 2 ♦ - 2 ♥ as a runout of 1 NT) is often referred to as "Soft Stayman" or "Garbage Stayman" by expert players.

 

I believe that with ♠ A10xx ♥ K10xxx ♦ xxx ♣ x, those playing Soft Stayman transfer to ♥ and then bid 2 ♠ --- 1 NT - 2 ♦ - 2 ♥ - 2 ♠. This would show invitational values, 5 ♥s, and at least 4 ♠s. Since responder might have more than 4 ♠s, opener can still support with 3 ♠s and a max by bidding 3 ♠. Responder can then correct to 3 NT when holding just 4 ♠s or bid 4 ♠ with 5 or more ♠s. When opener holds 4 ♠s and a max, opener simply bids 4 ♠.

 

Transferring the other way -- 1 NT - 2 ♥ - 2 ♠ - 3 ♥ shows a 5-5 game forcing major hand.

[mikl_plkcc]

Assume that no 5-card majors in NT, I would play crawling Stayman.

 

1NT - 2♣

pass any major response

bid 2♥ over 2♦

 

In my system, 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♠ would be invitational.

 

I like to play

1NT - 2♥ - 2♠ - 3♥ as 5-5 invitational (pass or correct to 3♠)

and 1NT - 2♥ - 2♠ - 4♥ as 5-5 game-forcing (pass or correct to 4♠)

since the NT opener cannot have 2 doubletons, an 8-card fit is guaranteed in this case.

 

That doesn't make much sense to me. Swap the majors round so you now hold ♠A10xx ♥K10xxx ♦xxx ♣x and suppose that partner opens a 15-17 NT. You can envisage a possible game opposite a 4-card msjor so you'd like to start with Stayman. However, what do you do over a 2♦ response? Playing normal methods, this hand bids 1NT-2♣-2♦-2♥.

I would transfer to ♥ than bid ♠ to show 5-4 in ♥-♠