Bidding and conventions

New minor forcing

New minor forcing is an artificial bid of the unbid minor after an auction such as 1♣–1♥–1NT. It asks opener whether they hold three cards in responder's major and whether their 1NT rebid is minimum or maximum, so a 5-3 major fit is not missed.

The fit a 1NT rebid hides

A 1NT rebid shows a balanced minimum, about 12–14 points. It denies four cards in responder's major; with four, opener would have raised. It says nothing about three, and three cards opposite responder's five make an eight-card fit.

Opener
♠ A 6
♥ K 8 4
♦ J 9 3
♣ K Q 10 7 2

13 points, balanced, five clubs and exactly three hearts. A textbook 1NT rebid.

Responder
♠ K 7 3
♥ A Q 9 6 5
♦ K 8 4
♣ 9 6

12 points and five hearts. Enough to invite game, but in which strain?

These hands belong in 4♥, an eight-card fit with a ruffing value.

Without a convention responder must guess: raise to 2NT and end in 3NT with the heart fit never found, or rebid 2♥ and get passed in a partscore. Without a convention, responder has no way to ask.

How it works

Responder bids the unbid minor. It's artificial and forcing for one round. Opener then answers in a fixed priority order:

  1. With three-card support for responder's major: bid it. At the two level with a minimum, at the three level or in game with a maximum.
  2. Without support, but with four cards in the other major: bid that major. Responder may hold four of it.
  3. With neither: rebid notrump: 2NT with a minimum, 3NT with a maximum. Or rebid your own suit with six of them.
North asks with the unbid minor, South shows three hearts and a maximum, and the 5-3 fit is found.
West North East South
1♣
Pass 1♥ Pass 1NT
Pass 2♦ Pass 3♥
Pass 4♥ Pass Pass
Pass

Which bid is the ask?

The unbid one, which depends on how the auction started:

  • 1♣ – 1♥ – 1NT: the ask is 2♦.
  • 1♦ – 1♠ – 1NT: the ask is 2♣.

A bid of the opener's minor is natural and shows real length. Make sure you both know this when you agree the convention.

How strong, and two-way variants

Standard new minor forcing shows 11+ points (invitational or better), and opener's answer is pitched to it: the level opener chooses accepts or declines the invitation.

Many partnerships play two-way new minor forcing, where one minor is invitational and the other game-forcing. It's more precise, at the cost of one more agreement to remember.

As with every convention choice, pick the version you'll both remember at the table.

Checkback and its relatives

You'll hear this idea under several names. Checkback Stayman is the British term, often played as 2♣ regardless of which minor was opened. XYZ is a more elaborate scheme over one-level auctions.

The mechanics differ but the purpose is the same: after a limited notrump rebid, give responder a way to ask about three-card major support rather than guess.

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