MINOR SUIT STAYMAN

This convention, a variation of the Jacoby Transfer originally devised by Mr. Oswald Jacoby, is used by the responder whose partner has opened the bidding with 1 No Trump. The bridge community liked the original concept of Mr. Oswald Jacoby and created new variations. The concept of this convention was created for the responder, whose holding includes a long Minor suit and, generally, very little values or very strong values indicating a strong interest in a possible slam contract in a Minor suit. This variation is also used to explore the possibility of a No Trump contract as the final contract and to determine whether of not the holding of the responder justifies a No Trump contract.

The original version of the Jacoby Transfer convention did not use the bid of 2 Spades as a transfer bid. This bid became an idle bid and the ensuing variations took this feature under consideration to construe other variations of the concept, especially for the Minor suits. Basically, the Minor Suit Stayman convention is applied as follows, and the assumption is made that the first opponent passes:

Opener		Responder		Meaning
1 NT		2		Responder wishes to inquire about the Minor suits
3				Opener has a 4-card Club suit
3				Opener has a 4-card Diamond suit
3				Opener has both 4-card Minor suits and shows a control in Hearts
3				Opener has both 4-card Minor suits and shows a control in Spades
2 NT				Opener indicates interest in a possible Minor slam
3 NT				Opener indicates no interest in a Minor suit slam
		3 or 4		Responder shows a singleton in Hearts; the Level is dependent
		3 or 4		Responder shows a singleton in Spades; the Level is dependent

The Minor Suit Stayman convention was devised for specifically three types of holdings held by the responder, and which will be determined during the ensuing auction:

1. a holding with a 6-card plus Diamond suit and weak values
2. a 5-5 distribution in both Minor suits and weak values
3. a 5-4 distribution in both Minor suits and possible slam values

Note: some partnership understandings have the agreement that, after the auction shows slam interest, any rebid by the responder at the lowest possible level of No Trump promises a distribution containing doubletons in both Major suits. This partnership understanding also includes the feature that if the auction allows the responder to safely bid 3 No Trump, then this rebid shows a mild interest in slam. If, however, the responder is able to jump one level and rebids 4 No Trump, then this rebid is quantitative, and requests the No Trump bidder to continue to slam with a maximum and to sign-off if holding a minimum. This rebid of 4 No Trump is not forcing.

In several partnership agreements, there is also the understanding about the following auction:

Opener		Responder		Meaning
1 NT		2		Responder wishes to inquire about the Minor suits
2 NT		3 or 3		Responder shows a singleton in Hearts and/or Spades
anything		4 or 4		Responder shows a void in Hearts and/or Spades

When seeking a slam in a Minor suit, if the responder bids and rebids a Major suit, the second bid of the same Major suit promises a void.

As one illustration for the responses of the No Trump bidder, the following example, showing a holding of the No Trump bidder, should clarify the reason behind a 3 Spade rebid after a 2 Spade response by the responder:

	AQ6
	J9
	KQ73
	AJ85

Opener		Responder		Meaning
1 NT		2		Responder wishes to inquire about the Minor suits
3				Opener has both 4-card Minor suits and shows a control in Spades

The No Trump bidder is showing his partner that he holds both a 4-card Club suit and a 4-card Diamond suit. Only a 4-card Minor suit is required when using the Minor Suit Stayman convention as compared with the Jacoby Transfer For The Minor Suits convention, where the Minor suit should contain at least a 5-card suit. And by bidding 3 Spades, the No Trump bidder promises a control feature in the Spade suit, and indicates possible interest in exploring for a slam in a Minor suit. This information, contained in one rebid, could prove to be invaluable if and when the responder should consider exploring for a slam in one of the Minor suits.

The continuation of the auction is dependent on the rebid of the No Trump bidder. If the rebid shows any possible slam interest, then the partnership understanding should be solid and the partnership agreement must be adhered to, as in the following example:

Opener		Responder		Meaning
AQJ AK95 K94 1095		65 Q7 AQ8763 A87
1 NT		2		Responder wishes to inquire about the Minor suits
2 NT				Opener indicates interest in a possible Minor slam
		3		Responder accepts the slam attempt by naming the desired Minor suit
3				Opener cuebids his next higher-ranking control
		3 NT		Responder bids game and does not cuebid his Club control
6

The No Trump bidder, by inference, realizes that the responder must have the first-round control in Clubs, otherwise the responder would not have accepted the slam attempt by naming the desired Minor suit of Diamonds. Therefore, the opener can reason that a slam contract in Diamonds is a sound contract. In the above example, the responder becomes the declarer and drops the two losing Clubs on the winning Heart and Spade and/or finesses the King of Spades correctly. Whether or not the No Trump bidder decides to convert the final contract to a No Trump contract is absolutely dependent on his holding and is a judgment call.

If the partnership agreement is to apply the Minor Suit Stayman convention, then this information must be made available to the opponents. There will also be other possible holdings than those shown above, which will demand different auctions than those presented here. The concept, however, remains the same and the rebids of the No Trump bidder and the responder should retain the same information as presented above. It is important for the partnership to recognize those rebids, which show slam interest before individually exploring for a possible slam. The rebids showing no interest in slam should be respected and accepted as a sign-off. An interesting article about the application of the Minor Suit Stayman convention is contained in the Bridge Bulletin, published by the ACBL, Issue January 2002, page 85, written by Mr. Max Hardy.

If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.