[Creeksider]

Handviewer link

I believe my bidding in this hand promises invitational values and four spades, as I must have a four-card major to use Stayman and I deny hearts when I bid 2NT. Unless I'm mistaken, the correct bid for opener holding a maximum with four cards in each major is 4♠, not 3NT.

[diana_eva]

Creeksider, on 2010-December-26, 07:53, said:

Handviewer link

I believe my bidding in this hand promises invitational values and four spades, as I must have a four-card major to use Stayman and I deny hearts when I bid 2NT. Unless I'm mistaken, the correct bid for opener holding a maximum with four cards in each major is 4♠, not 3NT.

Robots play 2nt transfer to ♣. Stayman does not promise 4 carder major.

[JoAnneM]

I agree with the OP that his method is the way I bid with virtually all of my partners - except the robots because they use the 4-way transfers. I don't know how to reach the spade contract when playing that stayman doesn't promise a 4 card major.

I have learned to click on most of the robot's bids because they frequently surprise me, and even then they don't always put that hand down on the table.

[gordontd]

When playing that balanced invites go through 2NT, 2NT after 2H denies four spades and 2S shows four spades. Both are invitational - stronger hands with four spades would bid 3NT over 2H.

[Bbradley62]

gordontd, on 2010-December-26, 12:23, said:

When playing that balanced invites go through 2NT, 2NT after 2H denies four spades and 2S shows four spades. Both are invitational - stronger hands with four spades would bid 3NT over 2H.

When you play with GIB, you are agreeing to play his convention card. Explanations of bid and potential bids are available to you by mousing-over those bids.

Gordon is correct. This auction goes:
1NT-2♣
2♥-2♠
4♠

[Creeksider]

I hadn't thought to check GIB's convention card because all my references say you need to have at least one four-card major to invoke Stayman, but the card clearly says otherwise so this is my mistake.

[Bbradley62]

Creeksider, on 2010-December-26, 15:22, said:

I hadn't thought to check GIB's convention card because all my references say you need to have at least one four-card major to invoke Stayman, but the card clearly says otherwise so this is my mistake.

The key is that playing 4-way transfers can affect the use of Stayman. If 1N-2N shows something other than an invitational hand with no 4-card major, then that invitational majorless hand would have to use 1N-2C-2x-2N.

[Creeksider]

Thanks, you answered my next question without my having to ask it, explaining why you would ever need to invoke Stayman without having a 4-card major. This makes a lot of sense, and I wonder why it isn't the predominant way of handling these conventions, as it seems to add flexibiity to transfers without giving anything up. Is there a drawback to this approach, apart from being perhaps a tad more complicated to learn?

[barmar]

4-way transfers are quite popular among advanced players in the US. Probably the only downside is that it gives the opponents more opportunities to interfere: they can overcall on the 2 level, or double the 2♣ bid. But if responder has enough to invite game, they're taking a risk overcalling, so the lead-directional double is probably the only likely interference.