[hirowla]

Hi, I was wondering what people recommend for the 3-level responses to a 1NT opening. I've seen a variety of schemes but not sure what everybody else plays and recommends. If it makes a difference, can you suggest what you would do differently if it was a weak NT opening rather than the Standard NT (most people at my club play a weak NT)?

Thanks,

Ian

[Zelandakh]

 hirowla, on 2012-February-29, 08:00, said:

Hi, I was wondering what people recommend for the 3-level responses to a 1NT opening. I've seen a variety of schemes but not sure what everybody else plays and recommends. If it makes a difference, can you suggest what you would do differently if it was a weak NT opening rather than the Standard NT (most people at my club play a weak NT)?

This question is impossible to answer without knowing the rest of the system being used. Some common methods are:-

1. natural with slam interest. These are an important hand type so you should have a bid for it regardless of which method you play. If you have covered them a different way, such as through transfers, then you can of course forego this option. For what it is worth I still use a natural 3m response in my preferred scheme (over a weak NT).

2. shortage-showing. Increasingly popular is to use these bids to show specific 3-suiters. These might be 4441 hands or (31)(45) hands, or a combination of the two. One example scheme is 3♣ = (31)(45); 3♦ = 4441 with short minor; 3♥ = 1♥444; 3♠ = 1♠444. I personally use my 3M responses this way (to show 4441 with short minor).

3. puppet Stayman. A very popular treament in the USA is to use a 3♣ response to ask Opener if they have a 5 card major. Sometimes 3♦ is used for this purpose instead. Obviously this option is useless to you if you do not open 1NT with a 5 card major fairly often.

4. invitational. Most common in the minors, having a 3 level response show an invitational hand with a good minor is very useful. If Opener has a top honour in your suit they can bank on the suit running and bid a low-hcp 3NT.

5. 2-suiters. If you have issues with particular 2-suited hands in your structure then the 3 level responses can be a way of resolving this. In particular you can regularly see 3 bids as both minors or both majors. You can usually avoid this if your 1NT structure is good enough but it can sometimes be a helpful crutch. 3♣ as both minors and weak over a weak NT is actually quite good if you have space for it.


No doubt others will post with some additional possibilities but the above are the main ones. The options are written in what I would consider an approximate order of priority. Which are best to use depends more on the rest of your methods than whether you are playing a weak versus strong NT.

[ggwhiz]

Good question but I have no answer.

It's something my partnership has changed frequently over time and have never found anything that comes up with any frequency or stands out.

Currently 3♣/♦ show 5-5 in the minors, weak/strong and 3♥/♠ show a GF with a stiff in the bid major and 3 cards in the other one. Often a good swing at imps but......

We'll soon get tired of these never coming up and will switch to something equally rare.

[BunnyGo]

 hirowla, on 2012-February-29, 08:00, said:

Hi, I was wondering what people recommend for the 3-level responses to a 1NT opening. I've seen a variety of schemes but not sure what everybody else plays and recommends. If it makes a difference, can you suggest what you would do differently if it was a weak NT opening rather than the Standard NT (most people at my club play a weak NT)?

Thanks,

Ian

What do you play as 2 level responses?

I have some preferred systems for weak or strong NT, but the three level responses should fit well with, and thus depend on what you like the 2 level to be. Some options:

1) 2♠ = wk clubs, 2NT = wk diamonds, 3♣/♦ natural and forcing, 3♥ = 55 Majors NF, 3♠ = 55 Majors Forcing

2) Some people play that 3♣ or 3♦ is a puppet stayman, there are nice reasons to do this.

3) Some people play that 3♥/♠ is a splinter showing exactly 3 cards in the other major and 54 in the minors (and GF strength).

4) Some people over weak NT don't play transfers, so that 2♥/♠ is to play, 2NT is a club transfer, 3 clubs is a diamond transfer

[gwnn]

http://www.bridgebas...__1#entry613899

[mycroft]

I tell people "don't care what we play at the 3 level, it won't come up."

Is there a benefit to bidding the singleton (in fragments) - guessing that it means the NT hand is playing the Moysian major game if 3NT is untenable - that's higher than the demerit of letting them double, rather than bid, the splinter suit looking for a sacrifice? I've always wondered, and that's why when I play Baron Corollary, I bid the 3 in the (32)(44) rather than the 2.

[hirowla]

 Zelandakh, on 2012-February-29, 08:26, said:

This question is impossible to answer without knowing the rest of the system being used.

Ok, we effectively play Standard but with a weak NT (there will be no 5-card major). We play Stayman (Garbage if appropriate) and 3-way transfers (2♠ is a transfer to either minor), with no Texas transfers. What we currently play at the 3-level is the following (I believe it's what is part of SAYC):

• 3♣/♦ is a 6-card minor with 2 of top 3 honours, asking whether partner has at least 3 to a honour. It's an invite to 3NT and a check to see if we can run the suit - if we think we can, it goes to 3NT.
  
• 3♥/♠ is a good 6 card suit and asking about an interest in slam.

Is anything else relevant (I'm not sure what other parts of the system you have in mind)? Let me know and I'll try to clarify.

I'm mainly asking because as I said in the original post, there are lots of options out there).

Thanks,

Ian

[Zelandakh]

 hirowla, on 2012-February-29, 17:52, said:

Ok, we effectively play Standard but with a weak NT (there will be no 5-card major). We play Stayman (Garbage if appropriate) and 3-way transfers (2♠ is a transfer to either minor), with no Texas transfers. What we currently play at the 3-level is the following (I believe it's what is part of SAYC):

• 3♣/♦ is a 6-card minor with 2 of top 3 honours, asking whether partner has at least 3 to a honour. It's an invite to 3NT and a check to see if we can run the suit - if we think we can, it goes to 3NT.
  
• 3♥/♠ is a good 6 card suit and asking about an interest in slam.

Is anything else relevant (I'm not sure what other parts of the system you have in mind)? Let me know and I'll try to clarify.

I'm mainly asking because as I said in the original post, there are lots of options out there).

Thanks,

Ian

OK, so you currently have no way of showing a slammy hand with a minor 1-suiter. Presumably you Stayman and rebid the minor but this does not show the 6th card and mixes 1 and 2-suited hands together. Some easy options for tweaking this:-

1. use 2♠ as a transfer to clubs. Then 3♣ can be used as a transfer to diamonds and 3♦ stays with its current meaning (invitational). This solution gives you the slammy 1-suiters but loses the invitational hand with clubs.

2. use 2♠ for clubs and 2NT for diamonds. The most common modern solution. Weak hands with a minor and strong one-suited hands go through the transfers and 3m responses are free to cover the invitational hands. The downside is that invitational hands without a major have to go via Stayman giving the defence extra information.

3. as 2 but bundle balanced invites into 2♠. In this method Opener differentiates between a min and a max hand with their response to the 2♠ response, 2NT for minimum and 3♣ for maximum. It is otherwise identical to 2.

4. as 3 but bundle weak minor 2-suiters into 2NT. In this method Opener bids their better minor over a 2NT response. If Responder has the weak hand with both minors they can pass; if they have the weak hand with diamonds they can correct 3♣ to 3♦; or if they have the strong one-suiter they can bid anything else.


There are more complicated things you can do here too but I think the above 4 schemes require the smallest changes to your base and are probably aimed at the right level for you. You will notice that I have concentrated on the 3m responses here. The reason is that incorproating the strong 1-suited major hands into the Jacoby transfers is somewhat more complicated and probably best avoided at this time. Therefore I would suggest leaving them with their current meaning - getting a solid cue auction on these hands is very useful when it turns up. You will also notice that most of these schemes (2-4) do not change the meanings of your 3 level bids at all. That is also quite normal - there is just so much more you can do with the 2 level responses and it is only by optimising these that you can afford to play the more exotic varieties at the 3 level.