Source: VBA Bulletin April 2009
MUPPET AND PUPPET
Partner bids a strong 2NT, and you have a moderate hand with 5 spades and 4 hearts. This shape has always been a bugbear: it seems impossible to construct a method that allows a choice between 3NT, 4
and 4
.
If you transfer to spades, then you cannot then show the hearts without bypassing 3NT. But if you use Stayman, you cannot easily locate a 5-3 spade fit.
Some players “solve” this dilemma by defining the auction 2NT-3NT as showing 5/4 in spades/hearts. This is a bit like getting rid of nuclear waste by firing it into space: it is a method which entails an obvious risk. And even if you remember it, the simple 2NT-3NT auction is replaced by 2NT-3
-response-3NT, which unnecessarily reveals data about the 2NTer to the defence.
If you play Puppet Stayman, the problem can be resolved with a small modification. The responses after 2NT-3 become:
- 3
: some 4-card major - 3: no 4 or 5 card major
- 3: 5 spades
- 3NT: 5 hearts (partner can bid 4 to transfer back into 4).
So essentially, the 3 and 3NT responses to Puppet Stayman are switched.
If opener responds 3, the case of interest if responder has the dreaded 5-4 hand, responder’s followups are:
3: puppet to 3NT (a puppet within Puppet)
3NT: shows 5 spades, 4 hearts: opener can choose the contract
This gadget has plenty going for it: it gets the strong hand to declare in all the common scenarios; moreover it is less prone to being forgotten than the radioactive 2NT-3NT=5/4 method.
March 2010
Back in the April ’09 bulletin, I described Muppet Stayman – a variation on Puppet Stayman, and Noelle Kebby then wrote to me as follows: We found your Puppet in Puppet in an old newsletter and decided to use it in a congress last weekend – partner showed 22-23, and I held: AK654 10973 K6 73
I used the convention and partner bid 3 – I bid 3NT and she bid 4 so we were able to bid the slam but we realised later that 3NT can’t be right with a slamgoing hand as she can pass with three hearts and two spades – unlikely but not impossible. What do you suggest with this particular hand?
What an excellent question!
The solution, I believe, is to have firm principles on what various notrump bids mean in a notrump auction where no suit has yet been shown. My recommendation is:
4NT: quantitative
5NT: pick a slam, partner
So after the auction 2NT-3-3, …
3NT: 5 spades, 4 hearts, game values
4NT: 5 spades, 4 hearts, slam invitational
5NT: 5 spades, 4 hearts, pick a slam
Similarly, after the secondary puppet 2NT-3-3-3-3NT, …
4NT: invitational, I was checking for majors
5NT: pick a slam – I was checking for majors, but perhaps you have a long minor
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