Bidding and conventions
Jacoby transfers
A transfer asks partner to bid the suit you actually hold. It looks like a pointless detour until you see what it buys: the hand with 15 to 17 points ends up as declarer, and the opening lead comes round to it rather than through it.
Why transfer instead of just bidding the suit?
Two reasons, and the first is worth more than most players realise.
The strong hand declares. If responder bids 2♠ naturally and plays it, the opening lead comes from opener's left — through the 15-count and up to the weak hand.
Every finesse is taken the wrong way round and every tenace in the strong hand is exposed.
Transfer, and opener declares. The lead comes up to the strong hand, and a ♥ A Q sitting over it wins two tricks where it would have won one.
Responder gets a second call. A natural 2♠ is one bid carrying every weak hand with spades.
A transfer costs nothing — opener's reply is forced, and hands responder the auction back with the whole two and three level free to describe strength.
When to transfer
Five or more cards in a major — any strength at all, from a bust to a slam try.
That is the other thing transfers buy. Unlike Stayman, which needs about 8 points because you must have a plan for every answer, a transfer is safe on nothing: opener's reply is forced and you may pass it.
Bid 2♥, opener bids 2♠, you pass. 2♠ on a 6-2 fit beats 1NT with this hand opposite.
Bid 2♥ first. The transfer costs nothing and you are going to be talking about slam afterwards anyway.
What responder bids next
This is the part worth memorising. Opener has bid your major; you now place the contract.
- Pass — 0–7 points. You have improved the contract and you are done.
- 2NT — 8–9 points, exactly five in the major. Invitational, and it offers opener the choice: pass, bid 3NT, or return to your major with three-card support.
- Three of your major — 8–9 points, six or more. Invitational, and it takes notrump off the table.
- 3NT — 10–15, exactly five. Offers opener the choice of 3NT or four of the major.
- Four of your major — 10–15, six or more. No choice to offer; just bid it.
- A new suit — game-forcing, showing a second suit and at least 5-4 shape.
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1NT | |||
| Pass | 2♥ | Pass | 2♠ |
| Pass | 3NT | Pass | 4♠ |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
Super-accepts
Opener is not entirely without a voice. Holding four-card support and a maximum, opener may jump to three of the major instead of completing the transfer at the two level.
It says: I have a fit better than you can be expecting and I am at the top of my range, so bid game with anything at all. Responder passes with a genuine bust and bids game with almost anything else.
Use it only with both conditions. A super-accept on a minimum takes away the two level from a partner who wanted to play there, and the hand that gets punished is the six-card bust the transfer was invented to rescue.
Transfers to the minors
Partnerships extend the idea downwards, and this is the part where agreements diverge most, so settle it explicitly:
- 2♠ as a transfer to clubs, with 2NT then showing diamonds. Common and tidy.
- 2♠ as "minor suit Stayman", asking opener to show a four-card minor.
- Nothing at all — 2♠ stays natural.
Minor-suit transfers matter far less than major-suit ones, because a minor game needs eleven tricks and 3NT usually needs nine. Most of the time the right answer with a long minor and a balanced partner is 3NT anyway.
Over a 2NT opening
The same convention, one level up. After 2NT, 3♦ transfers to hearts and 3♥ to spades. It applies after a 2♣ opening rebid into 2NT too.
Right-siding matters more here, not less: the hand you are protecting is even stronger.
Stayman or transfer?
Count your major.
- Five or more — transfer. Opener needs only three-card support for an eight-card fit, and Stayman cannot find that, because opener only answers with four.
- Exactly four — Stayman, if you have the values for it.
- Five in one and four in the other — transfer to the five-card suit first, then bid the four-card suit, which is forcing and shows exactly that shape.
Learn these two together. Between them they cover nearly every hand facing a 1NT opening, which is roughly one deal in eight.