This Week in Bridge
(633) Stayman Auctions After a 2NT Opening
© AiB Robert S. Todd
Level: 4 of 10 robert@advinbridge.com
General
When partner opens the bidding 2NT they eat up a lot of bidding space. As the Responder we need to search for a Major suit fit (or even a minor suit fit) while keep the auction from getting too high. Our most common action will be to start with a 3♣ Stayman response. Let’s take a look at these auctions in detail and make sure that we are on the same page as partner.
Responding to 2NT Fundamentals
After a 2NT opening bid here are the auctions we want to consider:
Opener Responder
2NT 3♣
__?
• 3♦ No 4-card Major
• 3♥ 4-card ♥ (Could have 4-card ♠)
• 3♠ 4-card ♠
There are all of Opener’s rebid options.
But after Opener shows a Major suit, then how can Responder continue the bidding.
Example 1
Opener Responder
2NT 3♣
3♥ __?
The most common action with a Heart fit is to just raise to 4♥ and have partner play game.
Example 2
Opener Responder
2NT 3♣
3♥ __?
If we do not have a Heart fit, then any other action implies that we bid Stayman in order to look for a Spade fit.
• 3NT 4-card ♠, choice of games.
• 4NT 4-card ♠, Quantitative (slam invite) – This is not keycard in ♥, see below.
• 5NT 4-card ♠, choice of slams.
• We can even bid a minor at the 4-level to show a 5+ card Minor and 4-card ♠ suit.
Example 3
Opener Responder
2NT 3♣
3♥ __?
When we have a fit for partner’s Major suit, we let them know ASAP.
The most common action is to just raise to 4♥ and have partner play game. But we have other auctions that show a fit and interest in playing slam.
• 4♥ To play
• 6♥ To play
• 3♠* Strong ♥ raise, setting ♥ as trump and expressing interest in slam.
After we bid this 3♠ bid, then we can later bid 4NT as Keycard.
Example 4
Opener Responder
2NT 3♣
3♥ 3♠*
4♣ (control) 4NT
This 4NT is Keycard in ♥.
We have a similar auction when ♠ are our fit.
Example 5
Opener Responder
2NT 3♣
3♠ 4♥
This 4♥ bid is a strong raise to 4♠ and expresses slam interest. A 4NT by either player after this is Keycard in Spades.
Conclusion
Stayman is a very useful convention, even after a 2NT opening bid. It allows us to search for a Major suit fit and keep the auction below 3NT. Of course, with the right hand, we want to go beyond 3NT and can do so. It is important to know what these higher-level bids mean (be on the same page with partner). So make sure you discuss these bids. Especially when is 4NT keycard and when it is Quantitative, that is one of the most common bidding mixups in these kinds of auctions.