Talk:Stayman convention

Not all readers will understand HCP

Should link to explanation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.18.25.129 (talk) 20:52, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

 Done. Full term used with following abbreviation when first use; link to glossary added. Newwhist (talk) 22:08, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

George Rapee was the second inventor.

According to an old article of Alan Truscott in the New York Times [1], it was J.C.H. Marx the one who invented first the Stayman convention in July 1939. George Rapee re-invented the convention in 1944 and it was published by S.M. Stayman in 1945). --Anax 15:55, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

good enough for me, you should edit the main article accordingly.Abtract 21:06, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Noted as  Done. Newwhist (talk) 22:09, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Why go for majors, not minors !

Quote from article "A game contract bid and made in a major suit (i.e. 4♥ or 4 ♠) scores better than a game contract bid and made in a minor suit (i.e. 5♣ or 5 ♦) or in notrump (i.e. 3NT)." I would say that's of a far less concern than folowowing - a game in Hearts or Spades requires 4 trick, a game in Clubs or Diamonds requires 5 trick - which means you can loose 3 sticks in a major game but only two in a minor game - and that's a BIG difference. No Trump requires 3 trick, and one can loose 4 sticks, but playing without trump is just about one stick more difficult. Anyone who thinks I'm wrong here ? 81.230.36.59 (talk) 01:03, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

What to do with 4 cards in both majors (5 Card major / SAYC)

I don't really remember how I got acquainted with this convention (neither its name). But the NT-opener/overcaller's replies should be

• 2 ♦ - no four card major
• 2 ♥ - four cards ♥ (never 5 as NT wasn't allowed with 5 cards in a major) , not 4 cards ♠
• 2 ♠ - four cards ♠ (never 5 etc), not four cards ♥
• 2 NT - four cards in both ♥ and ♠

Some meant that the NT-bidder could raise these bids one level with maximum. But the main issue is how to show four cards in both majors ? In order to let the NT-bidder play the hand, and after 1 NT - 2 ♣ - 2 NT then responder should should bid 3 ♣ for Hearts and 3 ♦ for Spades. Can't really find how Stayman meant having both majors should be bid.
While at it, shouldn't transfers be made to minors too ? 2 ♦ -> ♥, 2 ♥ -> ♠, 2 ♠ -> ♣ and 3 ♣ -> ♦ ? Boeing720 (talk) 23:46, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

The drawback with the 2NT rebid showing both majors is that you can no longer play Garbage/Weak/Rescue Stayman, which is useful, particularly after a weak NT opening (12-14). A useful alternative is that after 1NT - 2 ♣, 2 ♥, if responder has 4 spades rather than 4 hearts they will rebid 2 ♠. This will find a 4-4 spade fit, although responder will end up playing the hand. Hyperman 42 (talk) 15:24, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Also, transfers can indeed be made to minors as well as majors, but that is optional and separate from Stayman. Hyperman 42 (talk) 15:41, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Garbage Stayman and Crawling Stayman

I have rewritten and shortened this section and have therefore removed the style marker present since 2012, hopefully readers will agree that this is justified. Hyperman 42 (talk) 15:39, 8 August 2019 (UTC)