[Shugart23]

I’m just curious. Bidding went 1Nt them -2d partner (announced hearts))-2s them-3d me meaning ‘partner, bid 3h—4s them. At the table When I bid 3D, does my partner announce ‘ hearts’. Or does he alert the bid and if asked say it’s a relay to hearts. Is my 3d bid a relay or a transfer?

[mw64ahw]

I'd alert and indicate Hearts if asked. I assume it's a transfer with some values.

[Shugart23]

Yes. But is it a transfer. Or a relay. Just a technical question on the definition ( not that it matters)

[Huibertus]

Shugart23, on 2026-January-11, 14:40, said:

I’m just curious. Bidding went 1Nt them -2d partner (announced hearts))-2s them-3d me meaning ‘partner, bid 3h—4s them. At the table When I bid 3D, does my partner announce ‘ hearts’. Or does he alert the bid and if asked say it’s a relay to hearts. Is my 3d bid a relay or a transfer?

It's called re-transfer, because the transfer was not completed yet. Same as (uninterrupted) 1NT-2♦-3♣-3♦ for instance. It's alertable of course. And if asked he answers "re-transfer". Opponents are assumed to understand this means ♥ and not some other suit, you don't have to school them.

Relay is a word used for bidding sequences where the OTHER hand is going to respond to identify one of multiple hand types. So in this case if this is a relay the 1NT opening can have several hand types,which makes no sense.

If alternatively the 3♦ bidder bids in order to show one of multiple hand types this is called a puppet, after which the mandatory 3♥ response is the relay and the next bid by the 3♦ bidder will identify which hand type he holds.

[shugart24]

Huibertus, on 2026-January-12, 04:34, said:

It's called re-transfer, because the transfer was not completed yet. Same as (uninterrupted) 1NT-2♦-3♣-3♦ for instance. It's alertable of course. And if asked he answers "re-transfer". Opponents are assumed to understand this means ♥ and not some other suit, you don't have to school them.

Relay is a word used for bidding sequences where the OTHER hand is going to respond to identify one of multiple hand types. So in this case if this is a relay the 1NT opening can have several hand types,which makes no sense.

If alternatively the 3♦ bidder bids in order to show one of multiple hand types this is called a puppet, after which the mandatory 3♥ response is the relay and the next bid by the 3♦ bidder will identify which hand type he holds.

Thanks. I have never heard the term - re-transfer. so in the case of Hello defense where 1NT them -2C us, and the 2C bid is either a long Diamond suit OR 55 in a undisclosed Major -minor, you would say that the 2C bid is a puppet, the 2D bid is a relay. And what is a 'waiting bid ' ? is a waiting bid the same as a puppet ?

or as another example, we play 1NT us -2NT -us requests partner to bid 3C upon which I will pass or correct to 3D. You would say the 2NT is a puppet and the 3C bid is a relay I gather

I guess the actual names of the terms doesn't matter; I was just curious

[mw64ahw]

shugart24, on 2026-January-12, 05:36, said:

Thanks. I have never heard the term - re-transfer. so in the case of Hello defense where 1NT them -2C us, and the 2C bid is either a long Diamond suit OR 55 in a undisclosed Major -minor, you would say that the 2C bid is a puppet, the 2D bid is a relay. And what is a 'waiting bid ' ? is a waiting bid the same as a puppet ?

or as another example, we play 1NT us -2NT -us requests partner to bid 3C upon which I will pass or correct to 3D. You would say the 2NT is a puppet and the 3C bid is a relay I gather

I guess the actual names of the terms doesn't matter; I was just curious

You can also throw in the term 'marionette'. In the 'hello' example where 2N 'puppets' to 3♣ it becomes a 'marionette' if you use say 3♦ as a forcing bid.