[hylins]

After partner's 15-17 1NT opening bid, several conventions(Stayman 2♣, Transfer 2♦/2♥, .. ) have been widely used
when holding one or two Major suits at various strength levels. The responder is the captain for deciding the level of the final contract.

In this article, a simpler and more effective approach of using 2♠ and 2NT bids to handle holding one or two minor suits at various strength levels is introduced.
Again, the responder is the captain for deciding the level of the final contract.

When holding
1) Two 55 or better minor suits with any strength.
2) One 6+ cards ♦ suit with any strength.
3) One 6+ cards ♣ suit with at least invitational strength
the responder will bid 2♠ to ask the opener to show which minor suit is longer or better (at the same length).

The 1NT opener's responses can be
a) 2NT Longer or better ♦ than ♣
b) 3♣ Longer or better ♣ than ♦

If the opener bids 2NT to show longer or better 3+ cards ♦suit,

1N 2♠
2N ?

then the responder can bid
3♣ To invite with one invitational 6+ cards ♣suit
5♣ To play with one good 6+ cards ♣suit
3♦ To play with one weak 6+ cards ♦suit or two weak 55 minor suits
4♦ To invite with one 6+ cards ♦suit or two 55 minor suits
5♦ To play with one good 6+ cards ♦suit or two good 55 minor suits

3♥ Slam going RKC-♣ for ♣suit
3♠ Slam going RKC-♦ for ♦suit


If the opener bids 3♣ to show longer or better 3+ cards ♣suit,

1N 2♠
3♣ ?

then the responder can bid
4♣ To invite with one 6+ cards ♣suit or two 55 minor suits
5♣ To play with one good 6+ cards ♣suit or two good 55 minor suits
3♦ To play with one weak 6+ cards ♦suit
4♦ To invite with one 6+ cards ♦suit
5♦ To play with one good 6+ cards ♦suit

3♥ Slam going RKC-♣ for ♣suit
3♠ Slam going RKC-♦ for ♦suit


When holding
1) One weak 6+ cards ♣suit
2) Any 4441 hand with GF strength
The responder will bid 2NT for the opener to relay to the 3♣ bid.

After the opener's relayed 3♣ bid,

1N 2N
3♣ ?

The responder can bid
Pass To play with weak 6+ cards ♣suit
3♦ 4414
3♥ 4144
3♠ 1444
4♣ 4441


In the case of holding Slam going 44 minors, one can borrow the rarely used bidding sequence (1N 2♦ 2♥ 2♠) to do minor Stayman asking

1N 2♦
2♥ 2♠
?

The 1NT opener can bid
2N To show NO 4+ cards minor
3♣ To show 4+ cards ♣, maybe 4+ cards ♦suit
3♦ To show 4+ cards ♦suit ONLY

[mikeh]

I appreciate the work that you’ve obviously put in, but:

1. It doesn’t look ‘simple’ to me, and I probably play one of the more complex set of agreements out there

2. When designing a new gadget, it’s very important to avoid getting tunnel vision by looking only at (what you see as) the benefits: one has also to look at what you are giving up. Are the gains that you think you make more valuable than the costs of using your gadget?

In terms of point 2:

A lot of players use 2S as either any hand with long clubs and no major or an invitational no trump hand. A primary benefit of bidding 2S with a balanced invite, no major, is that opener doesn’t leak information about his major suit holdings. If one goes through stayman to invite in no trump, opener has to leak information that may be useless to responder but very useful to the defenders

All good methods permit showing minor one suiters or two suiters. I don’t know any method that shows 4=4 minors. There will occasionally be hands on which being able to show 4=4 may lead to a good minor suit contract. However, your method caters only to 4432 hands….presumably a hand with a 4 card major uses stayman. And in almost every case 3N will be the better or the same score, so any gain will likely be in slam auctions, which will be few and far between.

Using 3H or 3S as keycard simply because one has found a fit in a minor is very bad, imo. You are very rarely going to hold a hand, as responder, where an immediate keycard tells you all you need to know. It’s common, after showing a long minor, for 3M to show gf values and shortness. This lets opener evaluate his hand. There’s always time for keycard later if it’s appropriate.

Those are not the only shortcomings I see, but I hope you look at what I’ve written. It’s fun to design methods…my main partner is extremely good at this sort of thing and I’ve designed entire bidding systems myself. So keep trying: but always look for downsides rather than simply looking at the upsides

[mike777]

Yes, a lot of effort put in for what I thought were extinct suits in 2026.