This Week in Bridge
(549) Slam Tries after Stayman
© AiB Robert S. Todd
Level: 8, 9, 10 of 10 robert@advinbridge.com
General
One of the most common gadgets that we use when partner opens 1NT is Stayman. We primarily use Stayman to search for a 4-4 Major suit fit. After we find such a fit we will usually make one of the following bids:
Pass Bad Hand (Garbage or Drop Dead Stayman)
Raise to 3M Invitational
Bid 4M Game with no slam interest.
These bids cover most of the hand types that we could have, but sometimes we want to have a way to raise partner’s suit where they cannot pass. We will want a “Forcing Raise” (similar to Jacoby 2NT or Inverted Minors) to find out more about Opener’s hand. This is missing from a standard bidding system. It is a valuable tool for making a slam try while keeping the auction from getting too high.
3-of-Other-Major (3oM) as Forcing Raise – Slam Try
When we bid Stayman we usually do not have a 5-card Major. If we do, it is because we have both Majors and we are looking for the 4-4 fit first, and will look for a 5-3 fit only if we fail to find a 4-4 fit. Thus, when an auction begins 1NT - 2♣ - 2M we do not need to have a forcing bid of the other Major as a natural bid. We cannot have the other Major unless we also have a fit for partner’s Major. We are free to define 3-other-Major (3oM) as a conventional bid. We will use this bid to be a forcing raise in partner’s Major. It promises 4-card support, sets trump, and shows interest in slam.
Example 1
1NT 2♣
2♥ 3♠*
Forcing ♥ raise. 4+card ♥, Game Forcing, Slam Interest
Example 2
1NT 2♣
2♠ 3♥*
Forcing ♠ raise. 4+card ♠, Game Forcing, Slam Interest
Opener can then sign off in game (4-Major) with a bad hand or make a control showing bid with a hand interested in slam.
Once we have this 3oM forcing raise convention available then we have a way of setting trump before bidding 4NT. Thus, we can make it clear when we are bidding Keycard and when we are using 4NT as a quantitative bid. If we bid 4NT immediately after partner’s Stayman response, it is Quantitative. If we want to Keycard, we use the 3oM forcing raise to set trump, and then bid 4NT as Keycard.
Example 3
1NT 2♣
2♥ 4NT
Quantitative with 4-card ♠
Example 4
1NT 2♣
2♠ 4NT
Quantitative with 4-card ♥
Example 5
1NT 2♣
2♥ 3♠*
4♥ 4NT
Keycard in ♥. Use the other Major first to set up a Keycard auction.
Example 6
1NT 2♣
2♠ 3♥*
4♠ 4NT
Keycard in ♠. Use the other Major first to set up a Keycard auction.
Other Major Slam Try after 2NT Opening
This bidding is similar when partner opens 2NT.
Example 7
2NT 3♣
3♥ 3♠*
Strong ♥ raise. 4+♥, game forcing values.
Example 8
2NT 3♣
3♠ 4♥
Strong ♠ raise. 4+♠, game forcing values.
Reverse Baze
This auction is common enough and difficult enough that there is an entire system structure that has been developed to efficiently make slam tries without getting too high. The modern expert approach is called Reverse Baze. This builds on the 3-other-Major (3oM) as forcing raise and adds several other conventional bids to describe most slam-interested hands below game.
In Reverse Baze we use the following artificial bids after 1NT - 2♣ - 2M:
3oM* Forcing Raise with some shortness (relay asks for shortness information)
4♣* Quantitative with a fit
4♦* Keycard in Opener’s Major
4NT Quantitative without a fit
When we bid 3♥* as a forcing raise for ♠ we have more space available below game than when we bid 3♠* as a forcing raise for ♥. This means that we have more room for better describing the type of shortness that we have. In the auction that uses a forcing raise of 3♥ we have enough space to show our shortness and whether it is a singleton or a void. We use the steps Void, Low, Middle, High (VLMH.) In the auction that uses a forcing raise of 3♠ we only have room to show our shortness (LMH.) See the examples below for details.
Reverse Baze is a step-based bidding system. When we use a relay bid to ask partner for information, they do not answer our question with a natural bid. Instead, partner bids in steps where the first bid has a certain meaning, the second bid has another meaning, etc. This allows us to use our space as efficiently as possible.
Example 9 – Reverse Baze Auction
1NT 2♣
2♥ 3♠* Forcing Raise with Shortness
__?
3NT* Asks for Responder’s Shortness (LMH)
4♣ Singleton or Void in ♣ (Low shortness)
4♦ Singleton or Void in ♦ (Middle shortness)
4♥ Singleton or Void in ♠ (High shortness)
Example 10 – Reverse Baze Auction
1NT 2♣
2♠ 3♥* Forcing Raise with Shortness
__?
3♠* Asks for Responder’s Shortness (VLMH)
3NT* Some Void (relay asks)
4♣ Asks for Void (LMH)
4♦ Void in ♣ (Low)
4♥ Void in ♦ (Middle)
4♠ Void in ♥ (High)
4♣ Singleton in ♣ (Low shortness)
4♦ Singleton in ♦ (Middle shortness)
4♥ Singleton in ♥ (High shortness)
Carmichael-Baze
This structure is an upgrade to Baze that allows Responder even more ways to raise Opener in a Stayman auction.
Example 11
1NT 2♣
2♥ __?
3♣* Artificial, GF, 4-card ♠, and 5+card minor (3♦ Relay asks for minor, LH).
3♦* Balanced GF with Fit, either Choice of Games or Slammish
o 3♥ Choice of Games, leaning to 4♥
o 3NT Prefer 3NT to 4♥
o 4♥ Prefer ♥ to 3NT
3♥ Invitational
3♠* GF, 4+card ♥, Shortness (Relay Asks, LMH)
3NT GF, 4-card ♠
4♣ 6-card ♠ + 4-card ♥, choice of games
o 4♦ Slam Cooperation
o 4M Offer to Play (no slam cooperation)
4♦ Keycard in ♥
4♥ To Play
Example 12
1NT 2♣
2♠ __?
3♣* Artificial, GF, 4-card ♥ and 5+card minor (3♦ relay asks for minor, LH)
3♦* Balanced GF with Fit, either Choice of Games or Slammish
o 3♠ Choice of Games, leaning to 4M
o 3NT Prefers 3NT to 4♠
o 4♠ Prefers ♠ to 3NT
3♥* GF, 4+card ♠, Shortness (Relay Asks, VLMH)
3♠ Invitational
3NT GF, 4-card ♥, To Play
4♣ 4-card ♠ + 6-card ♥, choice of games
o 4♦ Slam Cooperation
o 4M Offer to Play (no slam cooperation)
4♦ Keycard in ♠
4♠ To Play
If we do not have a fit for partner’s Major suit (meaning we have the other Major), but we have a distributional enough hand that we want to show our long minor suit, we do that in a “concealed” way. If Opener is interested in finding out our minor suit they can ask; if not, then we do not reveal this information to the opponents.
Conclusion
Reverse Baze is not for everyone and should not be played unless you have an established partnership. But the concept of a forcing raise in the other Major is an important one that every improving bridge player should think about using it in their slam try auctions. We give up very little by adding this “other Major” bid to our system, as this is an illogical bid in most auctions (we usually bid NT to show the other major after Stayman.) One of my teammates, Tom Carmichael, came up with an upgrade to Baze that is an improvement. If you love gadgets give it a try!