Theory:

1. Looking for minor suit games is generally not very productive. Usually, 3-notrump makes if a minor-suit game makes, and gets more points. Thus, the bidding system below is highly geared to major-suit and no-trump games, and the responses to major- and minor-suit openings are completely different.
2. Making a bid that consumes lots of space is not generally a good idea if the bid is meant to be strong, because it uses up bidding space that could be used to determine whether a game, slam, grand slam, or whatever, is on. On the other hand, making pre-emptive bids that take lots of space is quite a good idea.
3. Many of the gadgets below attempt to quickly pinpoint the contents of strong hands, so that slam can be investigated. After interference, slam is almost never on, and it's more important to compete to the right contract and keep the opponents from finding a better one. Often the right contract is not even a game. Also, fancy gadgets tend to get messed up with interference. The result is that in a competitive situation bids are almost always natural and simple, without complex asking bids, artificial bids, etc.
4. a "final bid", as used below, is any bid that is a game or slam bid (3 NT, 4S, 6H, etc.).

OPENINGS (with no interference):

1 of a minor: 13+ points, 3+ cards in suit, probably no 5-card major (could have 5-card major with 5+ card minor).

Responses:

1. pass -- < 6 points
2. 1 of higher suit -- 6+ points, 4 cards in suit, forcing by non-passed hand
3. 1 NT -- 6-9 points balanced, no 4-card major
4. 2 NT -- 10-12 points balanced, no 4-card major. Invitational to 3 NT.
5. 3 NT -- 13+ points balanced, no 4-card major.
6. 2 clubs over 1 diamond -- 10+ points, 4 cards in suit, forcing by non- passed hand
7. (Inverted Minor) jump raise to three -- pre-emptive. Shows 5-9 points, 5+ trumps, discouraging.

Further raises by opener are pre-emptive (or expecting to make) and are non-forcing. Any other

non-final re-bids by opener (other than game or slam) are strong and forcing, looking for game or

slam. Responder can discourage by re-bidding trump suit.

8. (Inverted Minor) raise to two -- 10+ points, 4+ trumps, no 4-card major, forcing.

1. 2 NT -- suggests a balanced minimum, looking to play NT. Responder can pass, bid 3, 4, 5, etc. NT, can bid 3 of trump suit as discouraging, or 3 of new suit as strong and forcing.
2. 3 of trump suit -- suggests an unbalanced minimum, not interested in NT.
3. jump to 3 NT -- opener has "1.5 NT" (18-20 points, balanced).
4. new suit -- at least a Q better than minimum, 4+ cards (possibly 3) in suit. If responder still doesn't want to play game, he should just return to the trump suit.

1. raise to four, five, etc. -- highly preemptive
2. jump-shift, double jump-shift, etc. -- preemptive; should have at least a good six-card suit. Bid what you expect to make, overbidding by 2 tricks (unfavorable vul.) 3 tricks (equal vul.) 3-5 tricks (favorable vul.)

1 of a major: 13+ points, 5 cards in the major

1. pass -- < 6 points.
2. 1 of a higher major -- 6+ points, 4 cards in the major, forcing by non- passed hand
3. (Forcing No-trump) 1 NT -- 6-12 points, no other convenient bid, forcing

1. re-bid major with 6 cards in suit (occ. 5 cards with 4 spades, 5 hearts, no 3-card minor)
2. bid lower 4-card major
3. a higher suit is a REVERSE BID; see below
4. bid a 3-card minor; bid clubs over diamonds
5. other bids fairly obvious

1. jump to 3 of major -- 10-12 points, exactly 3 cards in suit (compare to limit raise below)
2. new suit is shutout -- weak, long in suit (compare to directly bidding suit)
3. pass or bid 2 of major is simple preference, expecting to be passed by opener
4. 2 of a lesser suit -- 13+ points, 4 cards in the suit, game forcing by non-passed hand (exception: 2 clubs, then rebid 3 clubs, shows 10-12 points, 6+ clubs)
5. raise to 2 of major -- 6-9 points, 3+ cards in suit
6. jump shift -- weak, with long (good six cards or 7+) suit; shutout
7. (Forcing Major Raise) 2 NT -- forcing raise with no singleton (13+ points, 4+ cards in opener's suit). Possible slam.

1. 3 of new suit shows singleton or void
2. 4 of major -- shutout in game, no slam interest
3. 3 of major -- stronger than 4 of major, possible slam interest, responder should cue-bid ace or void

1. (Limit Raise) raise to 3 of major -- 10-12 points, 4+ cards in suit (compare to 1 NT, then jump to 3 of major)
2. (Splinter) double jump shift -- forcing raise with singleton in bid suit (13+ points, 4+ cards in opener's suit). NOTE: Splinter bids apply over a takeout double, but NOT over an overcall. In this case, all jump bids in a new suit are pre-emptive. Cue-bid of the opponents' suit is a splinter (see section below on overcalls).
3. 3 NT -- ??? Let's say this is a shutout bid with a long, strong suit that declarer expects to run11) raise to 4 of major -- preemptive bid, with lots of trump (5+) and not that many points

1 NT: 15-17 points, balanced hand, no 5-card major

Responses:

1. pass -- obvious.
2. (Stayman) 2 clubs -- 8+ points, at least one 4-card major, looking for 4-4 major fit (exception: if responder rebids 3 clubs or 3 diamonds, this is natural, showing a 5-card suit and not necessarily a 4-card major)

Rebids by opener: -- MUST bid one of the following.

1. 2 diamonds -- no 4-card suit
2. 2 hearts -- 4-card heart suit (possibly 4-card spade suit)
3. 2 spades -- 4-card spade suit (no 4-card heart suit) Note: with both hearts and spades, bid hearts so that responder can show a 5-card spade suit.

Rebids by responder: -- if either player has more than a minimum, you should be in game. Thus, responder

should not pass, and should indicate whether he has a minimum or not. -- if responder bids NT, he denies a

fit in any major suit shown by opener, and by inference has 4 cards in the other major (O.M.). Thus, any

NT bid (including 4 NT) should be treated just like a direct NT raise, except that opener can bid a major

suit if he senses a 4-4 fit. Logically, then, 4 clubs is Gerber. -- any new suit shows five cards.

Minimum:

1. 2 NT -- did not find fit (by inference has 4 cards in O.M.). Invitational to 3 NT or 4 of O.M. To deny invitation, opener passes or corrects to 3 of O.M.
2. 2 of new major -- has 5 cards in that major (and probably 4 in the other one; otherwise responder should have used a Jacoby transfer.)
3. raise a major bid by opener -- invitational (obvious).

Non-minimum (game-forcing):

1. 3 of minor -- 5 cards in suit, doesn't necessarily have 4-card major
2. 3 of major -- 5 cards in suit.
3. 3 NT -- wants to play in 3 NT or 4 of O.M.
4. 4 clubs -- Gerber.
5. 4 NT -- invitational to 6 NT or 6 of O.M.
6. (Jacoby Transfer) 2 diamonds, 2 hearts -- shows 5 cards in the suit one above the one bid. Says nothing particularly about points.

Rebids by opener: MUST bid the next-higher suit, except when opener has strong support for suit and a

maximum for his opening no-trump, in which case he can jump in the next-higher suit.

Rebids by responder: -- these are very similar to the Stayman ones. --

1. (Minor-suit Stayman) 2 spades -- this is stronger than regular Stayman (it's game-forcing). Bidder should not have much interest in NT. Opener bids a 4-card minor, or bids 2 NT with no 4-card minor.
2. 3 clubs, 3 diamonds -- weak shutout bids. (bid Stayman first if you're stronger)
3. (Texas Transfer) 4 diamonds, 4 hearts -- transfer to 4 hearts, 4 spades. Responder has a 6-card suit and wants to shut out in game. Texas DOES apply over interference -- in fact, it works very well, shutting out the opponents. Note: Stayman and Jacoby transfers also apply after opening 2 NT bid (shows 21-22 points) and after 2-clubs then NT rebid (see below).

"1.5 NT": To show 18-19 balanced points, open 1 of minor, then jump to 2 NT.

Strong 2-club opening: shows 23 balanced high-card points, or 21 unbalanced high-card points, or within one trick of game and at least 17 high-card points.

Responses:

1. Any suit bid other than 2 diamonds shows 5 cards (with at least the Q), orany 6-card suit, with at least 8 points or 1.5 honor tricks (AK = 2, AQ = 1.5,A = 1, KQ = 1, Kx = .5).
2. 2 NT -- balanced, at least 8 points3) 2 diamonds -- couldn't make one of the above two bids.#1 and #2 above are called "positive" responses. Rebids by opener:1) 2 NT shows 23-24 balanced points.
3. 3 NT shows 25-27 balanced points.
4. suit bid shows good 5-card suit.

Rebids by responder: Responder MUST bid again. If he has nothing, he bids a second negative (cheapest

available minor bid, or 3 NT if the cheapest minor bid would be on the 4 level). Otherwise he does

something else; this shows at least5 points or an ace.

Note: 2-club opening is ALWAYS game-forcing, except in an auction like this:

If 2-club opener is overcalled, bids by responder:

1. double or redouble -- penalty
2. bid a decent five-card suit with at least 5 points
3. with a balanced positive response, bid NT
4. with a positive response and a singleton or void in the overcalled suit, cue-bid the suit.
5. pass otherwise.

2 NT: 20-22 balanced points (with 18-19, bid 1 of a suit, then jump to 2 NT, or cue-bid opponents' suit if they got in

the way).Stayman and Jacoby transfers apply after opening 2 NT -- just scale down the points needed by

responder.

(Gambling) 3 NT: suggests a solid seven-card minor suit from which seven tricks can immediately be run, plus

higher suit bids are preemptive, showing a long suit with little, if any, defense. The higher a bid, the more

preemptive it is, and the less defense it shows. Normally, a 2-level bid shows 6 cards, a 3-level bid shows 7

cards, a 4-level bid shows 8 cards, etc. However, you should evaluate the tricks you expect to take in your

hand, and should expect to be overbidding by 2 tricks (unfavorable vul.) 3 tricks (equal vul.) 3-5 tricks

(favorable vul.) (these are the same values as for a weak jump shift, above). If your evaluation is far off the

"normal" preemptive bid, make a different one. E.G., if you have a 7-card suit, but extreme distribution

(e.g. 7-4-1-1) and an honor in the 4-card suit, you might preempt on the 4 level, expecting that the

opponents almost certainly have a good fit in one of your singleton suits. Conversely, if you have a weak 7-

card suit with 7-2-2-2 distribution, you might consider preempting on the 2 level, especially if vulnerable.

Responses: -- Any raise of the suit bid is preemptive (or expecting to make). Bid to where you want to end

up immediately, rather than raising singly and expecting perhaps to raise again later. (Doing this latter

practice would make it easier for the defense.