[jillybean]

---

MP 2♦ NMF
I hope you evaluate this hand as invitational.
Over a minimum response from partner do you like to invite with 3♥ or 2N?
Does 3♥ show 6, less points?

[mw64ahw]

Nope - South is worth 4♥ 14 total points, 7 mod. losers opposite a min 12hcp and 3-card support assuming no light club opening.

[jillybean]

Yeah, ok. Can you ignore the hand and answer the question?

[jdiana]

Sorry if I'm committing the same sin as mw64ahw, but I'm not sure what the point of inviting is. Opener has already told you they have a minimum hand (11 to a bad 13) and 3-card support. (They would have bid 3♥ if they were at the upper end of their 12-14 point range.) So I think you just make a decision and ether pass or bid 4♥. I would also bid 4♥.

[mw64ahw]

Answering the question you can use any of the bids from 2♠ to 3♥ to invite now that a fit has been found.

[jillybean]

Let me rephrase this.

---

Over a minimum response from partner do you like to (re) invite with 3♥ or 2N?
Could 3♥ show 6, stretching the invitation?

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

3H is not inv., it is game forcing, showing slam interest.
2NT may or may not be inv., ..., assuming the 1NT rebid could
contain a 4 card spade suit, and you want to right side the contract,
although for simplicity I would again play 2NT as forcing.

The reason is simple: partner showed a min, if you found a fit with
exactly inv. values, you pass, playing happily 2H, maybe you make +1.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[jdiana]

jillybean, on 2024-December-04, 10:47, said:

Let me rephrase this.

---

Over a minimum response from partner do you like to invite with 3♥ or 2N?
Could 3♥ show 6, stretching the invitation?

The first part of my comment was not hand-specific - it was more about my understanding of how to play NMF. But, after carefully re-reading this write-up from Karen Walker - https://kwbridge.com/nmf.htm - it looks like she recommends bidding 3H to invite game. I don't really get that because, in my mind, opener's 2H bid already said he would decline an invitation. But c'est la vie.

[DavidKok]

There are several ways to play this. I'll share some questions and thoughts, to be answered by your partnership:

• Does 1NT deny a 4c♠ suit? It doesn't for me, in which case responder needs to ask for that with 4=4 in the majors. In return, this means that 2♦ does not promise a fifth heart. If 1NT denies four spades then 2♦ should always be 5(+)♥.
  
• Can 1NT ever contain a singleton in responder's major? This may make it unsafe to set trumps with a slammish hand with 6 of them, which might cause issues regarding negative inferences.
  
• Does opener jump ever in response to 2♦? In some versions of NMF, opener's 2-level responses show a minimum. This gains opposite an invite, allowing you to stay at the 2-level, as well as gaining if responder was slammish facing a maximum but not a minimum (allowing for less information leakage on the way to game). Conversely, when opener jumps with a maximum and responder had slam ambitions, the preemptive effect is undesirable. When I played Checkback Stayman (not 2-way) we had the agreement to never jump.
  
• If opener is going to commit to 3M on the 1m-1M; 1NT-? start, there are two routes to do it: immediately, and through NMF. At most one of these should be an invite, and possibly neither. I think it is sensible for the direct jump to set trumps and be a slam try, promising 6(+) cards. What are your agreements here? An extra complication is that, in my style, where 1NT doesn't deny 4 spades, so 2♦ can be 4=4 majors, a 3-5 heart fit isn't confirmed on 1♣-1♥; 1NT-2♦; 2♥-?. Therefore responder, with a slammish hand with exactly 5 hearts (remember: the direct jump to 3♥ showed 6(+) for me) needs a way to confirm trumps.