[thebiker]

Six or more years ago I devised a set of reponses to 2NT openers, which I never played with anyone, because I thought that (a) they might be difficult for partners to remember and (b) would rarely occur.

I would be interested to know (a) if anyone plays similar methods (b) Do you think that they would be practical and have some merit.

The suggested methods were:
2NT 3C Standard Puppet Stayman
3D/3H Standard Transfers
3S/3NT Relays

2NT 3S Relay to 3NT
3NT Pass
4C Slam Try 1=3=4=5 or 1=3=5=4 shape
4D Club Slam Try
4H 6D/4C or 6C/4D
4S Slam try 2=2=4=5
4NT NF Slam try 1=2=5=5
5C 6C/5D
5NT F 1=2=5=5

2NT 3NT Relay to 4C
4C Pass (Rare)
4D Slam try. 3=1=5=4 or 3=1=4=5 shape
4H Slam try in diamonds
4S Slam try 2=2=5=4
4NT NF Slam try 2=1=5=5
5C 6D/5C
5D
5NT F 2=1=5=5

2NT 4Mi Available as transfers
2NT 4Ma Spare bids


I would be interested to hear the views of other players

thank you in advance

Brian Keable
alias "thebiker"

[TWO4BRIDGE]

I'm a bit concerned about Responder having to use 5NT to show a forcing 1 2 5 5 hand .
An example I had posted back in August had N/S with 32 combined hcp and they had a cold grand.

How can Opener know if a key card is missing ?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Edit: Probably the example hands I showed aren't the best.
Because if Responder were missing the ♣Ace, he would have made a a NF 1 2 5 5 bid of 4NT.

[PhilKing]

I play something pretty similar and have a couple of observations:

1) The 5521 hands are misguided imo. The amount you gain by knowing the singleton is way less than the amount you lose by telling them which major to lead if they want to attack.

2) You need some room, as pointed out, for the slam-forcing 55.

So play the first auction 4NT auction as 55 inv and the second as 55 forcing to slam. Then partner can bid 5m to keycard opposite the stronger auction to explore grand. And you can play 5♥+ as 6 ace RKCB responses with a double fit if you want, which is a technique that can be applied to most of the sequences that you have starting with 3♠ and 3NT.

[Zelandakh]

You can save some space by moving some or all of the (31)(45) hands into the 3♣ response. The sequence 2NT - 3♣; 3♦ - 4M can be used to handle these hands. Also better (imho) would be to split the hands initially according to minor length rather than major shortage. Then 2NT - 3♠ promises 5+ clubs and 2NT - 3NT promises 5+ diamonds, which allows for the puppet to be broken with support should you include an alternative route to 3NT. You can add 2NT - 4♣ to show a one-suited hand with diamonds and then the 3♠ and 3NT responses become identical in format. So, for example

2NT - 3♠ - 3NT
==
4♣ = one-suited
4♦ = 4♦6♣
4♥ = 2155
4♠ = 1255
4NT = 2245

2NT - 3NT - 4♣
==
4♦ = 4♣6♦
4♥ = 3055
4♠ = 0355
4NT = 2254

2NT - 4♣ = diamonds, one-suited


Overall I remain somewhat unconvinced that using 3NT conventionally in this way is optimal. But if you do go down this route then I think you have to do some additional optimising before it can compete with some of the alternatives.

[thebiker]

Thanks to those who replied for their constructive suggestions

Many thanks

Brian Keable
alias "thebiker"