Thursday Tips 01
Vil is starting a new series to be emailed to Hutt's Thursday players (but I'm sure he wouldn't say "no" to including you if you sent him your email address to villyn@xtra.co.nz). He's billing it as Thursday Tips. Here's the first installment
Board 4 from last Thursday is a good example of when you need STAYMAN, and not only that - but when you need Stayman at its most effective, and that is, when you can use it without restriction on point count, from zero to 20!
Board 4 from Thursday night June-26
Dealer W All Vul
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J53
Q2
QT987
AJTAfter two passes, East opens 1NT and South passes. West should see that the hand is not suitable for No Trumps and should be played in either 2H or 2S. If EW play Stayman that can have any point range (and why should Stayman have any point range at all?) West can bid 2C and when East bids the expected 2D (no four card major), West can take a guess at which major suit to play in, or just bid 2H. Some people play such a sequence as asking the 1NT opener to correct to 2S if they have three spades and only two hearts.
If you don’t play Stayman with a weak hand, ask yourself why not, and if you still won’t bid Stayman with a hand like West’s then, rather than pass 1NT, take a guess at which major suit to make a weak takeout to. Without transfers, just take pot luck, a rule of thumb might be to choose your better suit, which is hearts. But if playing a weak 1NT, use Stayman with weak hands like these as long as you don’t go past 2S. After all, Stayman is a question and the answer won’t be higher than 2S. And learn to play transfers, but learn them properly and use them correctly and hope your partner also plays them the same way.
