The Stayman Convention II

Pass When It's Right. Responder may pass with a weak hand and a fit for the bid suit, including 2 Diamonds, or he may bid two No Trump (invitational) to indicate a non-fit with openers major, or bid 3 No Trump with 10+ HCP.

Bailing Out At the Two Level. A weak responder hand could bid 2 Spades with 4 Spades over a 2© rebid to try for a 4-4 or even a 4-3 fit at the two level. Opener should respect this try and pass with 3 or four Spades.

N

E

S

1NT 

P 

2§

Stayman 2§

 2©   P  P  
P = "Hearts it is North"
 North  South
ª KQx   ª Jxxx
© Axxx   © xxxxx
¨ AKxx   ¨ xx
§ xx   § AQ 

N

E

S

1NT 

P 

2§  

Stayman 2§

 2©  

P 

3©  

3©

= " I have 4 Hearts and about 8+ HCP"

P

P = " 3 Hearts is enough South -- I'm at minimum HCP"

 North 

South

ª KQx  

ª Jxxx

© Axxx  

© xxxx

¨ AKxx  

¨ Qxx
§ xx   § KQ 

Implied Major. If responder bids 3 NT after 1 NT opener rebids a four card major, he has the other major - guaranteed.

A sequence such as this is common:

N

E

S

1NT 

P 

2§

Stayman 2§

2© P

P 

3 NT

3NT = "I have 4 Spades North"
P =  "I don't have four Spades", South

Invitations. With 8-9 dummy points and a fit, responder should invite game:

N

E

S

1NT 

P 

2§  

Stayman 2§

2©

P

3©

3© = "We have 8+ Hearts; go on with a max"

4©

4© =  "I'm at the maximum", South

"Pushers". Maximum means any 17 HCP hand. 16 HCP hands should be evaluated by looking at long suits and/or "pusher cards" - 10's and 9's. 15 HCP hands should usually pass.

Stopping At Two Clubs. There is no way in our system to stop at Two Clubs after a 1NT opening without opponent cooperation.:

N

E

S

W

1NT

P 

P

Dbl

P

 P

2§  

All Pass

Ending up in 2 Clubs