The answers to the Stayman quiz are below. If you haven’t yet taken the quiz then click here to go back to the version without the answers! If you want more on the Stayman convention there in an article here or a video here for you to have a look at.
In all of the below bidding auctions and with the corresponding hands, what do you think is the correct call opposite your partner’s opening bid? Your options are to pass, bid Stayman (2♣*) or to bid something entirely different!
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♠ Ax ♥ K10xx ♦ KQJx ♣ xxx – N E S W 1NT P ? –– 2♣* – A classic Stayman hand. You have sufficient strength to be in game but you want to explore a possible heart fit before settling for 3NT.
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♠ KQxx ♥ xxxx ♦ xxx ♣ xx – N E S W P P 1NT P ? – Pass – Whilst you would like to bid Stayman here, what is your solution if your partner replies with 2♦ denying a 4 card major? There is no solution hence why you must pass with this hand and accept the horrible fate of 1NT. It is worth noting that you could gamble and try Stayman here in the hope that your partner replies with a major and this improves your contract but it is a big risk to take.
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♠ xx ♥ AJxxx ♦ xx ♣ xxxx – N E S W 1NT P ? – 2♦* – Assuming you are playing red suit transfers then you want to transfer with this hand and not bid Stayman – remember that you can transfer with any number of points. Stayman is for locating 4-4 major fits and not useful when you have a longer major than 4 cards.
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♠ Kxxx ♥ Jxx ♦ Q10xxx ♣ x – N E S W P P P 2NT P ? – 3♣* – A slight trap question as you are now responding to 2NT and not 1NT but the premise is the same. We have enough to go to game but want to explore a potential spade fit by using Stayman. If you play 5 Card Puppet Stayman then this hand is perfect for it!
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♠ xxxxx ♥ Jxxx ♦ x ♣ xxx – N E S W 1NT P ? – 2♣* – A hand that looks too weak to use Stayman but actually you can use a special variant of Stayman known as ‘Weak Stayman’. This adaptation of regular Stayman states that you can use Stayman with any number of points as long as you have a 5+ card major to fall back on. However, with just a 5+ card major you would normally have transferred so ‘Weak Stayman’ is only useful for hands with 5/4 in the majors.
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♠ AQxx ♥ x ♦ AJx ♣ Kxxxx – N E S W 1NT 2♥ ? – Double – A hand that you would normally use Stayman on but you can’t because of South’s irritating overcall. You can’t just up your bid to 3♣ and hope that your partner will understand it as Stayman. A takeout double is perfect here as it will get your partner to bid and they are sure to bid spades if they have them, otherwise it is looking like 3NT or 5 of a minor.
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♠ KQxx ♥ xx ♦ AKQxxx ♣ x – N E S W P 1NT P ? – 2♣* – Another classic Stayman hand. You should not be tempted to bid your diamond suit here! Firstly because bidding 2♦* would be a transfer to hearts and secondly because you don’t really want to play in diamonds you would like to be in 4♠ or 3NT should your partner not have a 4+ card spade suit.
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♠ xx ♥ AKQJxx ♦ Kxx ♣ xx – N E S W 1NT P ? – 2♦*/4♥ – Stayman is not the correct call here because we do not have a 4 card major (our suit is longer!). You could either transfer your partner to hearts and then bid game there on the next round or just leap to 4♥ immediately. I prefer the former method as this gets the 1NT opener to be declarer so the likely black suit lead will be round into our partner’s hand.
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♠ xxxx ♥ x ♦ xxx ♣ J109xx – N E S W 1NT P ? – Pass – Nowhere enough points to bid Stayman here and because we are playing the Stayman convention we cannot bid 2♣ as a natural bid so we simply have to shrug our shoulders and pass.
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♠ AKxx ♥ KJxx ♦ xx ♣ Kxx – N E S W 2NT P ? – 3♣* – Immediate slam interest with this hand, and a bid of 6NT would not be unrealistic. There might, however, be a major fit present and in that case we may want to play in 6♥/♠ or maybe even 7♥/♠ so we should use Stayman to explore this possibility first.
