Splinter bids - Useful Conventions

OUR second convention is a tool which allows for greater accuracy when judging whether to bid towards slam with minimal values. When seeking to bid low point count slams, it is important to determine whether the partnership’s hands are fitting together well. The key to this often lies in the ability to judge whether a player’s short suit holdings are going to either generate extra tricks by ruffing or reduce the number of losers held in the short suit.

How can this be achieved?

While it is helpful to count points when supporting partner with a balanced hand, it is usually advisable to be bolder with unbalanced hands.

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Trial bids - Useful Conventions

THIS month we shall look at another way of judging whether your hand and partner fit well enough to bid low point-count games and slams. As with Splinters, this tool will be useful when seeking to evaluate unbalanced hands.

What is a Trial Bid?

A ‘Trial Bid’ is a length-showing bid which allows the partnership to assess whether holdings in a non-trump suit will positively affect the side’s trick-taking potential.

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Ace-showing cue-bids - Useful Conventions

IN this article I will discuss a treatment which is useful when developing auctions in which at least one member of the partnership has some interest in looking for a slam. My approach is aimed at players who have not used cue-bids before, and wish to continue using other slam-going methods covered in this series so far.

What is an ace-showing cue-bid?

While the term ‘cue-bid’ is used in several different contexts, ‘ace-showing cue-bids’ are control-showing bids which may be used to help the partnership to assess the prospects of a slam.

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The Jacoby 2NT convention - Useful Conventions

THIS month’s convention, which shows a flat hand with support for opener’s major suit, was the idea of one of the most famous bridge players of all time – the American star, Oswald Jacoby. Though it has achieved greater popularity across the Atlantic, an increasing number of Europeans now employ this very useful tool.

When is the Jacoby 2NT useful?

One of the areas that is particularly awkward for standard bidding involves hands that wish to raise to at least game, but do not contain a singleton or void (with a shortage, responder can make a Splinter Bid).

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The Stayman Response - Useful Conventions

THIS month we turn our attention to methods which are commonly employed when responding to an opening bid of 1NT. We will begin by exploring one of the best known conventions played around the world: Stayman. For the purpose of this article I shall assume that other responses to 1NT are natural.

Why is Stayman useful?

When seeking to bid towards game, it is important to explore fully the possibility of playing in 3NT or 4♥ /4♠.

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Transfers Part I: Major suits and Transfers Part II: Minor suits - Useful Conventions

LAST time we looked at Stayman, a convention used to find 4-4 major-suit fits after partner has opened 1NT. We are now going to consider a method which allows responder to look for fits when he has at least five cards in his longest suit. Outlining this method will take two articles, the first on major suits, the second on minor suits.

Why are transfers useful?

The standard methods learned when beginning to play bridge are relatively inefficient when you hold a five card major in response to partner’s 1NT opening bid.

Read full bridge article by David Bakhshi