TRANSFERS
CONTENTS
1. Why Transfers?
2. Simple Transfers Over 1NT
3. Advanced 2♠ / 2NT Transfers
Over 1NT
4. Transfers Over 2NT
5. Breaking the Transfer
6. Extended Stayman
7. Opponents Intervene Over Transfers
1. Why Transfers?
A Transfer is a response to 1NT in the suit below the one actually held,
asking partner to bid your 5-card major. So a response of 2♦ shows five or more hearts and asks Opener to bid 2♥ .
Whilst Stayman is useful to find 4 – 4 major fits over 1NT, Transfers
have several further benefits: -
- They allow you to show a 5-card major and to show the strength of your
hand below game level, aimed at finding a 5 – 3 fit.
- They allow the hand to be played with the stronger 1NT or 2NT opening
hand hidden, and the lead running up to Opener’s tenaces.
- They provide additional bidding sequences to describe Responder’s hand
to Opener.
There is a small downside to Transfers – you haven’t got a weak take-out
into 2♦ . However, if the 1NT opening hand is doubled,
you can escape into 2♦ using ‘Exit Transfers’ –
see Section 7.
One example of the advantage of Transfers can be seen in the following
hand where Responder bids after a weak 1NT opening hand: -
♠
AQxxx ♥ xx
♦ Qxx ♣ Kxx
Without Transfers, the bidding would go: -
1NT – 2♣ – 2♦ – 3♠ invites Opener to bid 4♠
or 3NT. But if Opener has a doubleton spade and a minimal 1NT opening hand,
he must either pass, leaving partner in a 5 – 2 fit at the 3-level with possibly
only 23 points, or bid 3NT, again with possibly only 23 points.
With Transfers, Responder bids 2♥ , asking Opener
to bid 2♠ , at which point Responder bids 2NT,
showing a 5-card spade suit and 11/12 points.
- With a minimum opening hand, Opener can pass 2NT with doubleton support
or raise partner to 3♥ with 3-card support – keeping
the bidding as low as possible.
- With a maximum opening hand, Opener bids 3NT with doubleton support and
bids 4♠ with 3-card support.
2. Simple Transfers Over 1NT
☀After a 1NT opening bid, responses with Transfers
are: -
- 2♣ - Stayman
- 2♦ / 2♥ - Transfer
asking partner to bid 2♥ / 2♠
. At this stage, Responder has shown at least a 5-card heart / spade suit
– but no indication of strength
- 2♠ – 11 points and even distribution
- 2NT – 12 points and even distribution
- 3♣ / 3♦ / 3♥ / 3♠ show a good 6-card
suit and interest in a slam
- 3NT to play
- 4 of a major or 5 of a minor to play.
☀ After Opener responds 2♥ / 2♠ to the 2♦ / 2♥ Transfer bids, the next
bids by Responder are: -
- With a weak hand, pass.
- With 11 / 12 points and a 5-card major, bid 2NT
- With 13+ points and a 5-card major, but no interest in slam, bid 3NT
- With a hand around 10 points to a poor 12 points and a 6-card suit, raise
the transferred suit, inviting, but not forcing, partner to bid four of the
agreed major
- With a 5 – 4 distribution and sufficient points for game, bid the second
suit, which is a forcing bid. The partnership bids naturally until a game
fit or 3NT is found. If Responder is strong enough, he can then use Cue bids
and /or Blackwood to investigate a potential slam.
After the 2♠ (11 points) or 2NT (12 points)
response to 1NT, Opener defines the final contract as 2NT or 3NT, depending
on his values.
After a jump response at the 3-level (1NT – 3♣
/ 3♦ / 3♥ / 3♠ ), Opener replies 3NT with doubleton support and
Cue bids with either 3- or 4-card support. Further Cue bidding and / or Blackwood
can then be used to investigate a potential slam.
3. Advanced 2♠
/ 2NT Transfers
In the previous section, the 2♠
and 2NT bids showed 11 and 12-point hands with even distribution, a simple
form of Transfers. However, the ‘Baron’ 2♠ bid
and the 2NT ‘escape into minors’ bids can be used to provide a more precise
definition of Responder’s hand. The following is the EBU Standard Modern
Acol approach to Transfers, using Baron 2♠ , documented
in more detail in their book “Really Easy Modern Acol”.
2♠ Response to 1NT
☀
The 2♠ bid (Baron) is a 2-way bid showing either
11 / 12 points with even distribution, or 18+ points with an interest in
slam.
Bidding, after the 2♠ bid, is: -
- If Opener has a minimum hand (12 or poor 13 points) he bids 2NT and Responder
will then pass if he holds 11 / 12 points. If Responder holds the 18+ point-count
hand and is still interested in slam in spite of the negative bid by Opener,
they continue bidding 4-card suits in ascending order until a suit-fit or
3NT is found. If a suit-fit is found, Cue bids and /or Blackwood can be used
to investigate slam. If no suit-fit is found, Blackwood can still be used
to investigate a slam in No Trumps if Responder is strong enough.
- If Opener has a maximum hand, Opener bids his lowest 4-card suit. If
Responder has the 11 / 12 point hand, he bids 3NT, closing the auction. But
if Responder has the 18-plus point hand, they continue bidding 4-card suits
in ascending order until a suit-fit or 3NT is found. Again, if a suit-fit
is found, Cue bids and / or Blackwood can be used to investigate slam, or
Blackwood can be used to investigate a slam in No Trumps.
2NT Response to 1NT
☀The 2NT bid is aimed at escaping into a
minor suit and tells Opener to bid 3
♣ .
Responder passes with a long club suit, or converts to 3
♦ with a long diamond suit.
4. Transfers Over 2NT
Stayman and Transfers are used over 2NT as well as over 1NT. This also
applies to a 2♣ opening bid followed by a negative
2♦ response and then 2NT. (NB if there is a positive
response to 2♣ , subsequent bidding is natural,
not Stayman / Transfers, after 2NT.) The responses to the 2NT
or 2♣ – 2♦ – 2NT opening
bids are: -
- 3♣ - Stayman
- 3♦ - Transfer to 3♥
- 3♥ - Transfer to 3♠
- 3♠ - ‘Baron’ strong hand with interest in
a slam. In reply, Opener rebids 3NT with a minimum. With a maximum, they
bid 4-card suits in ascending order until a suit-fit is found, after which
Cue bids and / or Blackwood can be used to investigate a slam.
- 3NT - to play
- 4♥ / 4♠ /
5♣ / 5♦ - to play
- 4NT - a quantitative invitation to 6NT. Partner passes with a minimum
opening 2NT (20 / poor 21 points), and bids 6NT with a maximum.
- 5NT- a quantitative invitation to 7NT. Partner bids 6NT with a
minimum opening 2NT (20 / poor 21 points), and bids 7NT with a maximum.
5. Breaking The Transfer
☀‘Breaking the
Transfer’ is a further option that can be used over the 1NT and / or 2NT
opening hand – you need to decide with your partner whether to adopt it -
either over 1NT, over 2NT or over both.
Break the Transfer
over 1NT
The Transfer bid by Responder over 1NT asks Opener to bid the next suit up.
If Opener has a maximum opening 1NT hand and excellent support for Responder’s
suit, Opener can “Break the Transfer” by jumping to the 3-level in the ‘Transferred’
suit, e.g. 1NT – 2
♦ – 3
♥
. If Responder has a moderate hand, say a good 9 or 10 points, a game can
be found. If Responder has a weak hand, this pre-emptive bid may make it
more difficult for the opponents to compete.
Break the Transfer over 2NT
Breaking the Transfer can also be used over a 2NT opening hand - in this
case it shows that Opener has excellent support for Responder’s suit, has
a maximum 2NT opening hand and is a Cue bid. Responder, if sufficiently strong,
via further Cue bids and / or Blackwood, can then investigate a Slam.
6. Extended Stayman
☀
Stayman can be used to find a 4 - 4 major fit. Transfers can be used to find
a 5 - 3 major fit, where Responder has a single 5-card major. With 5 – 4
in the majors and a game going hand, Responder can seek a fit by an immediate
Transfer to the 5-card major followed by a bid of the other 4-card major.
But Stayman and Transfers don’t easily cope when Responder holds a 5 – 5
distribution in the majors.
If Responder has two 5-card majors, then a further tool is available
to find a 5- 3 major fit - ‘Extended Stayman’. The bidding sequence for this
is: -
1NT
- 2♣ (Stayman)
2♦ (no 4-card major) - 3♦ (Extended Stayman)
The 3♦ bid asks partner to bid 3-card majors
in ascending order – the 3♠ response therefore
denying a 3-card heart suit (same as 4-card majors for Stayman). Since
Opener cannot possibly have opened 1NT without a 3-card major, a 5 – 3 fit
in the majors must be found. But to use Extended Stayman, you need to have
a game-going hand. With a weak to moderate hand and 5 – 5 in the majors,
Extended Stayman should not be used. The best bet is to use Stayman, just
in case Opener holds a 4-card major; and if Opener responds 2♦ , bid your best major at the 2-level, closing the auction.
7. Opponents Intervene over Transfers
If the opponents overcall or double a 1NT bid, then Transfers are abandoned
and bids at the 2-level are weak take-out. Alternately, conventional
escapes from 1NT doubled can be used, such as Helmic, Wriggle, Exit Transfers,
etc. Since this tuition is about Transfers, below is a description of ‘Exit
Transfers’.
Exit Transfers over 1NT doubled are usually weakness take-out bids, though
they may be based on a moderate hand, which will play better in the long
suit. One version of Exit Transfer bidding after a penalty double of 1NT
is as follows: -
- 2♣ is Stayman
- 2♦ / 2♥ tell partner
to Transfer to the next-level up suit e.g. 1NT – Dble – 2♦ tells partner to bid 2♥
- Redouble tells partner to bid 2♣ , which
Responder will pass or convert to 2♦ .
Another simpler Exit Transfer option excludes Stayman and has 2♣ / 2♦ / 2♥ as Transfers, with Redouble as the exit to 2♣ - but the first option seems to have greater flexibility,
especially if Responder has a strong hand with one or two 4-card majors.