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The 1 Bid

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The strong club bid shows any hand with 16⁺ HCP.  The 1 response is negative (0-7 HCP), while all other responses are game-forcing (8⁺) and initiate a relay sequence aimed at revealing to opener as much as possible about responder's hand and having opener become declarer of the final contract.  All these responses assume that the opponents stay out of the auction.  Since some obnoxious opponents refuse to keep quiet, we have some methods for responding to interference. The responses to 1 are as follows:

1: Negative response 0-7 HCP.  Continuations after the 1 response are found here.

1: Unbalanced hand with at least 4.

1: Balanced hand. Any 5332, 4432, or 4333 hand, as well as a 5422 hand with both minors.

1NT: Shows and a minor: at least 5+/4+ and either can be longer.

2: Shows either a 6+ single-suited hand or an unbalanced hand with both minors (5+/4+).

2: A single-suited hand with at least 6.

2: A single-suited hand with at least 6.

2: Any 4441 distribution.

Unbalanced Shape Relays:

After any of these bids, except 1, opener makes the cheapest available bid, beginning a shape relay.  The first task is to determine which suit(s) are held by responder.  Once this is done, we progress to either the Single-Suited Relay or the 2-Suited Relay to determine exact shape.  The first steps after 1, 1NT, or 2 are summarized in the following tables.  After a response of 2 or 2, we proceed directly to the Single-Suited Relay.  After the 2NT relay from a 2 bid, responder bids his singleton at the 3-level.

A word on "Zoom." When the answer to a relay question is the highest possible response, we use "Zoom" to go into answering the next question.  For example, after 1-1-1, responder's 2^nd calls of 2 and above show Single-Suited hands.

Relays after 1-1-1 (4⁺ Unbalanced)

Relays after 1-1NT-2 ( and a minor)

Relays after 1-2-2 ( or Both Minors)

Once the general hand shape is determined, we use the following table to determine more specifically the shape of the hand. For the 2-Suited Relay, if it is know that one of the suits is strictly longer than the other, we skip the equal-length steps in the relay.

After this question is answered, opener again makes the cheapest bid.  Tthe next task is to determine the exact side-suit holdings.  For a single-suited hand, the answer depends on the hand type.  With a balanced (6322 or 7222) hand, responder shows side length (low - mid - high - none).  With other single-suited hands, opener shows the location of the singleton or void (low - mid - high).  For 7321 hands, the 3 vs. 2 position is not resolved.

Responses show actual length in the remain suits. The answers begin with the most likely (even) split, and then alternate higher/lower by one card, with more cards in the lower ranking suit coming first.

Side-Suit Distribution Relays  for 2-Suited Hands

* For hands with both minors, the 2-2 step is skipped as 22(54) hands are treated as balanced and respond 1 initially.
** The 4-card side suit can never be and can only be with exactly 4450 or 4405 distribution.  Thus, this step may be skipped on some sequences.

Once the shape is completely known, we relay for values.  There are 2 methods that have been used with this system thus far:

• 1430 Relays
• Denial Cuebids

Balanced Shape Relays:

After 1-1-1NT, showing a balanced hand, we relay to get the exact shape.  The relay questions are as follows:

1. What is your first 4⁺-card suit, or are you 4333?
2. What is your 2nd 4-card suit, or are you 5332?
3. Where is your doubleton, or do you have a 22(54) hand?

To answer the first question, transfers are used, and 4333 hands have their own higher level bids.  With the transfers on, the "first" 4⁺-card suit is answered in the order < < < .  These are the bids up through 2.  The bids of 2NT and 3-level bids up to 3 show the 4333 hands, and again, transfers can be used as a mnemonic.  The 1^st round answers are summarized in the following table:

First-Round Balanced Shape Answers

Again, we use Zoom when the answer is as high as possible.  So with 4333 distribution, bids of 3 and above show this shape and answer the next question.  Here, the next question is value-showing, and we'll get to the options for this later.

For the second round, responder may still have a 2^nd 4-card suit. The second suit is shown by bidding steps in the usual rank order < < < , and we skip any suit that we already know has less than 4-cards.  For example.  If the answer to the first question was 2, showing 4 (and denying 4), then for the answer to the 2^nd question we use steps 1-3 to show 4, 4, and 5332 with 5.  Again we zoom on the last step to answer the next question, which is the location of the doubleton.

The next question is "where is your doubleton?" and this is answered in steps low-high (for 4432 hands) or low-med-high (for 5332 hands).  In both cases, the "high" response should zoom for values.

The only hands that do not fit into this description are the 22(54) hands, which have 2 doubletons.  When holding a hand like this, the auction will proceed 1-1-1NT-2-2-2-2.  This shows a balanced hand (1) with at least 4 (2) and at least 4 (2).  After the 2 relay by opener, responder bids the first two steps to show normal low-high doubleton for a (23)44 hand.  The next 2 steps (3, 3) show distributions of exactly 2-2-4-5 and 2-2-5-4, respectively (zoom on the latter).

Once the shape is completely known, we relay for values.  There are 2 methods that have been used with this system thus far:

• 1430 Relays
• Denial Cuebids