[silvr bull]

I picked up the hand below and partner opened 2NT. I wasn't sure how best to invite a minor suit slam, so I jumped to 4NT and partner bid 6 and made it by guessing the ♥ finesse (missing the A & Q). All's swell that ends swell.

♠K9
♥6
♦AKT54
♣T9832

But 6♣ would not have needed any guesses on this hand, and 6♦ could be the best spot on other hands. Does anyone have a tool for inviting a choice of minor suit slams after partner opens 2NT? Note that I cannot simply force to a choice of a minor suit at the slam level because partner could be 4-4-2-3 with only one honor in clubs. I could have an even stronger hand (like K9 void AKT54 T98632, for example) that makes it more imperative to invite slam in a minor. The only sequence I can see is for me to bid 3♠ (relay to 4♣ because we bid transfers after 2NT), and then jump to 5♦ (because 4♦ would be non forcing with something weak like six small ♦s and not much else). Then partner can sign off in 5NT with no fit for either minor, or pass 5♦ with a weak preference for ♦, or bid 6 of either minor with a good fit. Anyone have a better approach?

[Vampyr]

A decent method is to play 3♠ as a transfer to 3NT. After this you can use 4♣ and 4♦ as 2-suited slam tries in the minors, and 4♥ and 4♠ as single-suited tries.

[Cyberyeti]

Vampyr, on 2013-June-27, 03:36, said:

A decent method is to play 3♠ as a transfer to 3NT. After this you can use 4♣ and 4♦ as 2-suited slam tries in the minors, and 4♥ and 4♠ as single-suited tries.

We do the reverse of this, and also you can either show your short major or your longer minor with the 2 suited bids, we'd bid this 3♠ then 4N to show the 5-5 (we use 4M rebids for 5-4s).

[lowerline]

silvr bull, on 2013-June-27, 03:01, said:

I picked up the hand below and partner opened 2NT. I wasn't sure how best to invite a minor suit slam, so I jumped to 4NT and partner bid 6 and made it by guessing the ♥ finesse (missing the A & Q). All's swell that ends swell.

♠K9
♥6
♦AKT54
♣T9832

But 6♣ would not have needed any guesses on this hand, and 6♦ could be the best spot on other hands. Does anyone have a tool for inviting a choice of minor suit slams after partner opens 2NT? Note that I cannot simply force to a choice of a minor suit at the slam level because partner could be 4-4-2-3 with only one honor in clubs. I could have an even stronger hand (like K9 void AKT54 T98632, for example) that makes it more imperative to invite slam in a minor. The only sequence I can see is for me to bid 3♠ (relay to 4♣ because we bid transfers after 2NT), and then jump to 5♦ (because 4♦ would be non forcing with something weak like six small ♦s and not much else). Then partner can sign off in 5NT with no fit for either minor, or pass 5♦ with a weak preference for ♦, or bid 6 of either minor with a good fit. Anyone have a better approach?

I play Minor Suit Stayman over 2nt: 3♠ asks about a 4crd minor, partner bids 3nt without one.

Steven

[Vampyr]

Cyberyeti, on 2013-June-27, 04:57, said:

We do the reverse of this, and also you can either show your short major or your longer minor with the 2 suited bids, we'd bid this 3♠ then 4N to show the 5-5 (we use 4M rebids for 5-4s).

So 4NT is forcing then? It seems that you are a little high if opener has no interest at all. I prefer to keep the ability to settle in 4NT if need be.

[Vampyr]

lowerline, on 2013-June-27, 04:59, said:

I play Minor Suit Stayman over 2nt: 3♠ asks about a 4crd minor, partner bids 3nt without one.

What continuations over 3NT have you found to work best?

[Zelandakh]

If you play the 4♣ response as showing diamonds as I suggested in the other thread, you can use a 3♠ response to promise 5+ clubs. This allows Opener to either set clubs or bid 3NT without a fit. After this, you have the 4 level to show single-suited club hands and 2-suited minor hands, for example 4♣ = clubs; 4♦ = 5-5 minors without void; 4M = 5-5 minors with void in M. You can reverse the first 2 steps if preferred.

On the given hand, it is also tempting to treat it as 5♦4♣ for slam purposes. I have a little gadget for this within a Puppet structure: 2NT - 3♣; 3♦ - 3♠ shows 5♦4♣ and slam interest (3♥ instead would be 5♣4♦). Several non-Puppet schemes also have sequences for showing this hand type.

[Cyberyeti]

Vampyr, on 2013-June-27, 05:22, said:

So 4NT is forcing then? It seems that you are a little high if opener has no interest at all. I prefer to keep the ability to settle in 4NT if need be.

4N is NF but very rarely passed, if a touch better I can bid 5N instead (our 2N is good 19-21).

[Winstonm]

4S seems to be an unused bid over 2NT for most partnerships. I would suggest assigning MSS to that bid.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

Here's one structure from the May 2006 ACBL Bulletin ( that I've posted before ):

2NT - 3S! = relay to 3NT

3NT - ?? then:
..... Pass = to play ( Needed since direct 3N is major 4-4 )
..... 4C = slam try in ♣
..... 4D = slam try in ♦
..... 4H = ♥ splinter, both minors
..... 4S = ♠ splinter, both minors

[fromageGB]

Same as lowerline, I play 3♠ minor suit stayman, and with this hand would ace ask (kickback) over a 4 card minor. Over 3NT (no 4 card minor) we play 4NT "pick a minor" if we wanted to play game, or 4♣ pass or correct to play in a part score, or on a stronger hand 4♦/♥ is ace asking in the minor beneath.

For the stronger void hand, we have 4M as a slam invitation with void in that suit.

[lowerline]

Vampyr, on 2013-June-27, 05:30, said:

What continuations over 3NT have you found to work best?

I cannot remember a hand where I continued after openers 3nt, because it doesn't come up that much... It makes sense to play 4♥/♠ as shortness with a 5-5. 4♣/♦ can be played as a 6crd in the bid suit and at the same time asking for keycards.

Steven

[fromageGB]

lowerline, on 2013-June-27, 10:00, said:

4♣/♦ can be played as a 6crd in the bid suit and at the same time asking for keycards.

In which case you can never use MSS as a minor escape. I have used it to play in 4m, and would not like to give that up.

Edit - if you are a 65 minor hand that is slamming, the method I posted works fine - just ace ask immediately over 3NT.

[ggwhiz]

Vampyr, on 2013-June-27, 05:30, said:

What continuations over 3NT have you found to work best?

We play that 4♣ asks for a 3-card minor after pard has denied 4. 4d might be both but anything else is a cue with 3 clubs and 2 diamonds.