SAYC bridge2math Convention Card. See SAYCBridge.com to practice bidding online. A more detailed description of SAYC.
| opening | opening meaning | response | response meaning | continuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1♣ | 3+ cards, 12-21 HCP | 2NT | 10-12 HCP, invitational | |
| 3NT | 13-15 HCP, sign off | |||
| other | see natural responses to 1♥ | |||
| 1♦ | 4+ cards or 4432, 12-21 HCP | see 1♣ opening | ||
| 1♥ | 5+ cards, 12-21 HCP | 1♠ | 4+ spades, 6+ pts, usu. no ♥ support | |
| 1 NT | 6–9 HCP; denies 4 spades or 3 hearts | may be passed | ||
| 2 ♣/♦ | 10+, 4+ cards | promises another bid unless passed hand or game bid | ||
| 2♥ | 6-9 HCP, 3+ hearts. | |||
| 2NT ! | Jacoby: raise, 13+ HCP | 3♣/♦/♠ shortness, 4♥ min, 3NT med, 3♥ max | ||
| 3♥ | limit raise, 10–12 HCP, 3+ hearts (preempt over X) | |||
| 3NT | 15–17 HCP, balanced, 2-card support | |||
| 4♥ | usu. 5+ hearts, shortness, <10 HCP | |||
| 1♠ | 5+ cards, 12-21 HCP | see 1♥ opening | ||
| 1NT | 15–17 HCP balanced | |||
| 2♣ | Stayman, 8+ HCP | 2 ♦/♥/♠ (2♥ with both majors) | ||
| 2♦ ! | Jacoby transfer to hearts | 2 ♥, or 3 ♥ with max. | ||
| 2♥ ! | Jacoby transfer to spades | 2 ♠, or 3 ♠ with max. | ||
| 2♠ ! | transfer to 3♣ | resp. rebid 3 ♦ signoff | ||
| 3♣/♦ ! | inv. to 3NT with 6+ card suit | |||
| 3♥/♠ | 6+ card suit, slam interest | |||
| 4♣ | Gerber, asking for aces | 4♦ = 0 or 4, 4♥ = 1, etc | ||
| 4NT | natural, invites 6NT | |||
| 2♣ | strong artificial, 22+ HCP or playing equiv. | 2♦ | artif., may be waiting | opener’s suit rebid forcing to 3 of his major or 4 of his minor; after 2 NT rebid: Stayman, Jacoby, Gerber |
| 2♥/♠ 3♣/♦ |
natural, GF, 5+ cards, 8+ pts | |||
| 2NT | balanced, 8+ HCP | |||
| 2♦/♥/♠ | 6+ cards, 5–11 HCP; usually no major side suit | 2NT | forcing, game interest | with min. (5–8 p): rebid the suit; with max.: new suit (shows A/K) or 3NT or 4 of minor (shows 4–5 cards with at least Q) |
| any raise | to play | |||
| 2NT | 20–21 HCP balanced, may contain 5-card suit | 3♣ | Stayman | |
| 3♦/♥ ! | Jacoby transfer | 3♥/♠ | ||
| 4♣ ! | Gerber | |||
| 4NT | inviting to slam in NT | |||
| 3NT | 25–27 HCP balanced | 4♣ ! | Stayman | |
| 4♦/♥ ! | Jacoby transfer | 4♥/♠ | ||
| 3/4 of suit | pre-empt, rule of 2/3/4 | |||
Choosing the opening
- open the higher of long (at least 5 cards) suits of equal length
- with 4–4 minors, open 1 ♦
- notrump openings show a balanced hand but may contain a five-card suit (minor or major)
Continuation
- fourth suit may be artificial (“4th suit forcing”), except in 1♣–1♦–1♥–1♠, which is natural
- after opener’s rebid in a suit, a new suit by responder is forcing
- after opener’s rebid of 1 NT (e.g., 1♥–1♠–1NT), responder’s simple non-reverse rebid in a new suit (e.g., 2♣/♦) is non-forcing
- in that situation, a reverse rebid (e.g. 1♣–1♥–1NT–2♠) or a jump shift into a new suit is game-forcing
Slam conventions
- regular Blackwood: 4 NT asks for aces, 5♣ = 0 or 4; 5 ♦ = 1; 5 ♥ = 2; 5 ♠ = 3; then 5 NT asks for kings similarly
- Grand Slam Force: jump to 5 NT asks partner to bid grand slam in agreed suit with two of three top honors in it
Effect of interference
- usually interference cancels conventions (e.g., after major suit opening and interference, a response of 2 NT is natural, 12–14 HCP, not Jacoby)
- double of 1 NT does not affect conventions
- after 1 NT and interfering bid, bid in opponent suit is game-forcing and substitute for Stayman
Defensive bidding
- D for takeout over opening partscore, penalty opening game bid
- simple overcall 8–16 points; only forcing response is opp. suit
- 1 NT overcall 15–18 HCP (10–15 when reopening), balanced, preferably a stopper in opp. suit; 2♣ response Stayman, otherwise natural
- jump 2 NT is “unusual”, i.e. 5–5 lowest unbid suits
- jump overcall in suit preemptive
- a bid in opp. suit is
- Michaels when opps have bid one suit only (Michaels: 5–5 in majors and 8+ pts when opening was in a minor, otherwise the other major and a minor and 10+ pts)
- natural when opps have bid 2 suits
Competitive bidding
- neg. D up to 2♠
- RD 10+ pts
- responders jump shift over D is to play
- cuebid in right-hand opp. forcing to game
- RD of a D of conventional bid is for business
- RD is SOS when suit contract of 3 or lower is doubled for penalty
- D of conventional bid like Michaels or unusual 2 NT shows 10+ pts
