STAYMAN

A 2 response to a 1NT opening is the Stayman convention. It says nothing about clubs: it is an artificial bid that asks opener if he has a 4 card major suit. Stayman is an important convention because it lets us find 4-4 major suit fits after our side opens 1NT. It can be used with unbalanced hands as well as balanced ones.

To bid Stayman you should have...

• 8+ HCP (no upper limit)
• At least one 4 card major*
• Not 4-3-3-3 shape**

* When we have a hand with slam interest (typically 15+ points) and a 5+ card minor suit, we also start by bidding stayman even when we do not also have a 4+ card major.  This is the only time that you will bid stayman without a major suit.

** Without any shortness in our hand, the value of playing in a trump suit is significantly less than if we had a doubleton or singleton.  Therefore with these 4-3-3-3 patterns we typically raise NT directly rather than looking for a 4-4 major suit fit.

Opener's Response

After a Stayman bid, opener must make one of the following three responses -- no other bid is allowed!!

     2 -- artificial, denies a 4 card major
     2 -- shows 4+ hearts, might also have 4 spades
     2 -- shows 4+ spades and denies 4 hearts

Responder's second bid

If opener bids a major that you have 4 card support for:

• Raise to 3 with an invitational hand (8-9 points)
• Raise to game with game values (10-14 points)

If opener bids the major that you do NOT have support for:

• Bid 2NT with an invitational hand (8-9 points)
• Bid 3NT with game values (10-14 points)

If opener bids 2, denying a 4 card major:

• Bid 2NT with an invitational hand (8-9 points)*
• Bid 3NT with game values (10-14 points)*

* If you are 5-4 in the majors, bid your 5 card major: a) at the 2-level with 8-9 points, or b) at the 3 level with game values (10-14 points).