A bridge convention is a bid with an artificial meaning that the partnership has agreed in advance. The first ones to learn are Stayman and Jacoby transfers, which both follow a 1 notrump opening, then the takeout double and Blackwood. A natural bid says something about the suit you name: 2 hearts means you have hearts. A conventional bid is a code instead. Conventions exist because the 35 available bids cannot describe every hand naturally, so partnerships give a job to bids they would rarely need in their natural sense. The basics of natural bidding are in Bridge Bidding Basics.
The first bridge conventions to learn#
| Convention | The bid | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Stayman | 2 clubs over 1 notrump | Do you have a four-card major? |
| Jacoby transfer | 2 diamonds or 2 hearts over 1 notrump | I have five or more cards in the next suit up. Please bid it. |
| Takeout double | Double of an opponent's opening bid | I have opening strength. Please bid your best suit. |
| Blackwood | 4 notrump once a trump suit is agreed | How many aces do you hold? |
| Weak two | Opening 2 diamonds, 2 hearts or 2 spades | A six-card suit and 5 to 11 points. |
One rule before the list. In duplicate bridge, the opponents are entitled to know your agreements. Unusual ones are alerted when made, a few common ones such as transfers are announced, and the opponents can ask what any bid means. Keeping an agreement secret is not allowed, and the same applies to robots, which is why the Shark robots publish their convention cards.
Stayman#
After partner opens 1 notrump, a response of 2 clubs asks whether the opener holds a four-card major. It says nothing about clubs. The opener replies 2 diamonds with no four-card major, 2 hearts with four hearts, or 2 spades with four spades and not four hearts. Responder uses Stayman with a four-card major and 8 or more points, enough to invite game, hoping to play in a 4-4 major fit rather than in notrump.
| Opener's reply to 2 clubs | What it shows |
|---|---|
| 2 diamonds | No four-card major |
| 2 hearts | Four hearts, and possibly four spades as well |
| 2 spades | Four spades and fewer than four hearts |
Say partner opens 1 notrump and you hold four spades to the king, three small hearts, four diamonds to the ace and queen and two small clubs: 9 points. You bid 2 clubs. If partner replies 2 spades, you have found a 4-4 fit and raise to 3 spades to invite game. If partner replies 2 diamonds or 2 hearts, you bid 2 notrump, which invites game in notrump instead.
Jacoby transfers#
Also after 1 notrump. A response of 2 diamonds asks the opener to bid 2 hearts, and a response of 2 hearts asks the opener to bid 2 spades. Responder has at least five cards in the major being transferred to. The point of the transfer is that the strong hand becomes the declarer and the strong hand stays hidden, while the weak hand goes down as dummy. After the transfer, responder passes with a weak hand, invites with a medium one, or bids game with a strong one.
| Responder bids | Responder holds | Opener bids |
|---|---|---|
| 2 diamonds | Five or more hearts | 2 hearts |
| 2 hearts | Five or more spades | 2 spades |
Now say partner opens 1 notrump and you hold six hearts to the jack and 3 points. Without transfers you would bid 2 hearts yourself, and the weak hand would play the contract with the strong hand on view as dummy. With them you bid 2 diamonds, partner bids 2 hearts, and you pass. The hand plays in your long suit, and the lead comes up to the strong hand. Stayman and transfers work as a pair: use Stayman with a four-card major, a transfer with five or more.
Stayman vs Jacoby transfer: when to use each#
Both follow a 1 notrump opening, so the choice depends on how long your major is and how strong your hand is. Stayman needs a four-card major and about 8 points or more. A transfer needs five or more cards in a major and works at any strength.
| Your hand after 1 notrump | Your bid | Then |
|---|---|---|
| A four-card major, 8 or more points | 2 clubs, Stayman | Raise a 4-4 fit, otherwise bid notrump |
| Five or more in a major, 0 to 7 points | Transfer | Pass once partner completes it |
| Five in a major, 8 or 9 points | Transfer | Bid 2 notrump to invite game |
| Five in a major, 10 or more points | Transfer | Bid 3 notrump, or 4 of the major with six cards |
| Five of one major and four of the other | Weak: transfer. Game values: Stayman | Agree Smolen with partner before you use it |
A short rule covers most hands: five cards, transfer; four cards and enough points to invite, Stayman. A weak hand with only a four-card major passes 1 notrump.
Blackwood#
When the partnership has agreed a trump suit and is thinking about a slam, a bid of 4 notrump asks how many aces partner holds. The replies are 5 clubs for zero or four aces, 5 diamonds for one, 5 hearts for two and 5 spades for three. If two aces are missing, you stop below slam. Many partnerships now play Roman Key Card Blackwood, which counts the trump king as a fifth ace and can also locate the trump queen. Agree which version you play before you need it.
Roman Key Card Blackwood: 1430 and 3014#
Roman Key Card Blackwood counts five key cards: the four aces and the king of the agreed trump suit. 4 notrump asks, and the two common versions differ only in the first two replies. The name of each version is the order of those counts.
| Reply to 4 notrump | 1430 | 3014 |
|---|---|---|
| 5 clubs | 1 or 4 key cards | 3 or 0 key cards |
| 5 diamonds | 3 or 0 key cards | 1 or 4 key cards |
| 5 hearts | 2 key cards, no trump queen | 2 key cards, no trump queen |
| 5 spades | 2 key cards and the trump queen | 2 key cards and the trump queen |
The player who asked can almost always tell from their own hand whether partner has 0 or 3, or 1 or 4. When clubs or diamonds are trumps there is less room for the replies, so settle the details with your partner before you play it.
Takeout double#
A double of an opponent's opening bid at a low level is not a claim that they will fail. It asks partner to bid their best suit. It shows opening-bid strength, shortness in the opponent's suit and support for the other suits. Partner must bid unless they have a strong holding in the opponent's suit and want to defend. This is the most useful competitive tool a beginner can learn.
Negative double#
When partner opens, the next opponent overcalls, and you hold a hand that would have responded in a new suit but can no longer do so cheaply, you double instead. The negative double shows the unbid suits, usually with an emphasis on an unbid major, and about 6 or more points. It needs no alert in ACBL games, and it is standard in nearly every modern system.
Weak two bids#
Openings of 2 diamonds, 2 hearts and 2 spades show a six-card suit and a hand too weak to open at the one level, typically 5 to 11 points. They describe the hand in a single bid and make it harder for the opponents to find their own contract. Because 2 clubs is the strong opening in Standard American and 2/1, weak twos and the strong 2 clubs come as a package.
Michaels cue bid and the unusual 2 notrump#
Two conventions for showing a two-suited hand in competition. A direct cue bid of the opponent's suit (they open 1 heart, you bid 2 hearts) shows at least five cards in each of two other suits: both majors over a minor opening, and the other major plus a minor over a major opening. A jump to 2 notrump over an opponent's one-level opening shows the two lowest unbid suits. Both let you show two suits with one call before the auction gets high.
How many conventions do you need?#
Fewer than you think, and this order works for most beginners.
| Stage | Conventions | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| First weeks | Stayman, Jacoby transfers | A 1 notrump opening comes up often |
| Next | Takeout double, negative double | Compete instead of passing |
| Next | Blackwood | Needed as soon as you bid slams |
| Next | Weak twos, Michaels, unusual 2 notrump | Pre-empt and show two-suited hands |
| Later | Roman Key Card Blackwood, Gerber | More precise slam bidding |
| Later | New minor forcing, fourth suit forcing | Find the right game after a natural rebid |
A partnership playing five-card majors, a 15 to 17 notrump, Stayman, transfers, Blackwood, takeout and negative doubles and weak twos is playing what many clubs call the standard card. Add conventions only when a specific problem keeps coming up. The best way to make a convention stick is to use it at a table. In Shark Bridge Game the robots play Stayman and transfers too, so you see both sides of the auction. Play Bridge 4 Hands explains how to sit down with three robots. If the rules about alerts are new to you, see Bridge Rules for Beginners, and What Is Duplicate Bridge explains where they apply. Teachers can build a whole lesson around one convention in Teacher's Console using pre-set deals, as described in How to Teach Bridge Online.