Lesson 5: STAYMAN (Chapter 13) Surendra Mehta January 2007

Quick recap Recap of what we have learnt so far

Counting points High Card points Length points Support points Ace - 4 King – 3 Queen – 2 Jack – 1 5-card suit - 1 6-card suit - 2 7-card suit - 3 8-card suit - 4 Voids - 5 Singleton - 2 Doubleton - 1 (when responding)

Suit ranking Clubs Diamonds Hearts Spades No trumps

Unbalanced hand Could have a void Could have a singleton Could have more than one doubleton Examples of unbalanced hands: 5-5-3-0; 5-4-2-2; 6-3-3-1

One No-trump opening bid Balanced hand 12 or 13 or 14 points (i.e. not < 12 and not >14 points) (IT IS IMPORTANT TO STICK TO THIS RULE RIGIDLY TO PASS A CONCISE MESSAGE TO YOUR PARTNER)

Opening bid one of a suit Requires: Unbalanced hand of > 12 points; or Balanced hand of with > 14 points BID LONGEST suit; If 2 4-carder, bid lower ranking; If 3 4-carder, bid middle ranking; If 2 5-carder or 2 6-carder, bid higher

Responses to 1NT Balanced hand – 10 pts or less – No bid Balanced hand – 11 or 12 ???????????? Balanced hand – 13 to 18 pts – 3 NT Balanced hand – > 18 pts – 4 clubs Gerber Unbalanced hand with 6-carder or 5-carder - Bid 2D, 2H or 2S in longest suit (Why not 2 clubs? – Stayman) Pass with no 5 or 6 carder suits

Stayman What is Stayman? Condition for Stayman (10 – 12 points)

Responses to 1NT (cont) 2Club response is a Stayman asking partner for which major he prefers. (Partner bids Hearts or Spades or diamond if he does not like any major) With 14 points and very good major – bid 4 of that major With 13 points and good major – bid 3 of that major inviting partner to go 4 if he/she has 12 points With 12 points – just bid 2 of your better major – must have at least 4

What if you want to bid clubs? Responses to 1NT (cont) What if you want to bid clubs? Respond two clubs Partner will take that as stayman and will bid, H, S or D You bid clubs again and the partner will get a message that club is your genuine bid.