Declaring in a Suit

 To maximize your chance of making the contract, you should, before the first trick has been taken,

• Analyze sure losers and determine how to minimize losses using sluffing.
• Determine the number of certain trump tricks you can capture.
• Seek to ruff or set up to ruff on the short side of the table (ie, the side of the table where you have the least number of trump cards). Each ruffed trick increases the number of trump tricks you can capture.
• Strategize on the number of non-trump tricks you can capture and whether you can maximize them by developing winners (by finessing, for example).

Start capturing trump tricks early to prevent your opponents from using them.

After capturing opponents' trump cards, switch to a no-trump strategy, developing additional winners as appropriate.

Transfers

 The "transfers" convention is practical, easy to understand, and has no point requirements.

Jacoby Transfer

If your partner opens with a bid of one or two NT, and you hold a major suit with five or more cards, you "transfer" your suit to the opening partner. If the bid was one NT, for example, you respond with two diamonds to indicate hearts, or two hearts to indicate spades. Your partner will then bid your suit at the two level, making him the declarer if a contract is made in that suit.

After the transfer is made, you should pass if you have fewer than eight points. If you have ten or more points, you have game points (your minimum of ten plus your partner's minimum of fifteen); in this case, you should raise the contract to game. If you have eight (or nine) points, you and your partner have game points if your partner has his maximum of seventeen points (eight plus seventeen). In this case, bid your suit at the three level to invite your partner to game. If your partner opened with two NT, you only need five points to respond at game level or four points to invite partner to game.

If you have fifteen points, you and your partner have a minimum of thirty points and slam should be investigated.

Texas Transfer

If, after your partner opens with one NT, and you have six or more cards in a major suit and ten to fifteen points, bid four diamonds or four hearts in response to a one NT opening, and your partner will accept the transfer by bidding game in your suit. If your partner opens with two NT, make a Texas Transfer if you have six or more cards in a major suit and five to ten points.

Stayman

When using the Stayman convention after your partner opens 1NT (or a 1NT overcall), only use it if you have at least one 4-card major suit. The purpose of Stayman is to explore whether your partner also holds a 4-card major, aiming for a better major suit fit. If you lack a 4-card major, consider other bids like a direct raise or a transfer, depending on your hand's strength and distribution.

Opening in NT

 Opening the bidding with 1NT (one no-trump) shows a balanced hand with 15-17 high card points (HCP). This bid helps your partner gauge the strength and shape of your hand, making it easier to find the right contract. Remember, a balanced hand typically means no singletons, voids, and, at most, one doubleton.

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/share/0ccf285b-7b9d-4b71-9b5f-fdb4cecf8f93

A Response By Your Partner that is Forcing for One Round

• You opened the bidding with one of a suit.
• Your partner, who had not passed, responded in a different suit at the 1-level (1 over 1).
• Your partner's response is forcing for one round.

Why: If your partner had previously passed, his point range was 6-11 points. But, in this example, he did not, so he did not put an upper limit on his range. He might have opening points that, combined with yours, could result in a game bid or even a slam.

Posted by Dick.