Those Useful Conventions - Transfer Advances (Part 2)
Marc Smith

Last month, we saw how you can use transfers to increase your options when responding to partner's overcall. This month we take a look at how the auction continues and consider some deals illustrating the method in action.

To recap, we established last month that transfers could be used by switching the meaning of the bids between a cue-bid raise and the bid immediately below a simple raise. Thus: 

Standard methods:

2 Sound spade raise
2 Natural (weak, invitational or forcing - choose one only)
2 Natural (weak, invitational or forcing - choose one only)
2 Competitive-only raise

Using Transfer Advances:

2 Transfer to diamonds (may be weak, invitational or strong, with or without a spade fit)
2 Transfer to hearts (may be weak, invitational or strong, with or without a spade fit)
2 Transfer to spades (sound spade raise)
2 Competitive-only raise

Note: Any hands that you could have shown using standard methods can still be shown using transfers.

The advantage is that so too can many of the hand types that could not be described using standard methods.

OK, so how does partner respond to your transfer? In most cases, he simply accepts the transfer.

Partner should always remember that you might have a very weak hand - something like:

4  Q 7 2  K J 10 7 6 4 2  9 5

Which do you think would be a better contract: 1 or 2? You will be wrong occasionally, but I'll bet you voted for 2.

Partner's simple acceptance of the transfer is neutral and suggests that he would have passed a non-forcing bid in the suit. This allows you to correct the contract when you hold a weakish hand with a long suit and no fit for partner's overcall. Partner is allowed to rebid his own suit (with a good six-card suit but usually longer and no fit for your suit). This does not show extra values:

K Q J 10 7 6 5  K J 7  9  7 2

He wants to play in spades, even if you have the diamond hand shown in the previous column.

He can also accept your transfer with a jump:

A K 6 5 2  7 6  K 8 6 3  J 5

If your RHO has a weak hand with five or six hearts, he is quite likely to take the opportunity to show his suit if your partner simply bids 2. The pre-emptive jump may shut out the enemy's best suit. Again, this jump does not show extra high-card values. If you now return to partner's suit, this is non-forcing, but you have shown an invitational raise with values in the suit to which you transferred.

A bid of the fourth suit is natural and shows extra values.

Partner will often be 5-5, but may be 5-4-3-1 with a three-card fit for your suit.

A cue-bid, as in the auction below:

shows a good hand with a fit for your suit.

2NT is natural with extra values and usually doubleton support for your suit. With a weak hand and a long suit, you can now repeat (bid) your suit and partner will pass. Thus:

It is when you intend to bid on after transferring that the method offers the greatest flexibility. Assuming partner makes the neutral transfer-completion response, you can now describe your hand much more accurately than standard methods allow. Let's use the following auction as an example:

2 A sound three-card heart raise with diamond values/length
e.g. J 7 3  J 8 5  A Q 10 5 4  Q 5

2 Natural reverse,
e.g. A Q 10 5  9 4  A Q 10 5 4  9 2

2NT Natural and invitational,
e.g. K 8 4  9 3  A Q J 8 3  K 10 6

3 Stop-asking,
e.g. A 9 5  8 3  A K Q 10 8 6  9 6

3 Invitational,
e.g. 5 4 3    9   K Q J 9 6 5 4  A 8

3 Invitational three-card heart raise with diamond values.
e.g. J 6 5    A 8 5  A Q 10 7 6  Q 9

3 Splinter with heart support,
e.g.  8    A 9 6    A Q J 9 7 5  K 10 9

Let's finish by looking at a few complete auctions. In each case, you are sitting West.

You have shown a constructive heart raise with length/values in diamonds. With a misfitting hand, partner has an easy pass despite having some extra high cards to spare. By contrast:

The auction begins in the same way but, with a diamond fit and a non-minimum overcall, partner bids game confidently.

On the lay-out above, you transfer and then raise yourself to show an invitational hand with very good diamonds. With stops in the other two suits, partner takes a reasonable shot at game. 

This time, you transfer to diamonds and then jump to 4, showing slam interest with good diamonds, a heart fit and a club control (remember that 3 would be forcing). Opposite a slam try, partner's hand looks good. Once he shows a spade control, you can take over with Blackwood and bid the excellent slam.

When electing to add a new toy to your system, you must always remember to discuss situations that may arise. For example, suppose opener's partner does not pass. Do transfers still apply? My suggestion is that they should do so if LHO's bid is below a raise of opener's suit (i.e. if the bid does not remove one of your artificial bids). What if responder makes a negative double? Then you can play that a Redouble is a lead-directing raise (a la Rosencrantz) showing a top honour in the overcaller's, suit while a simple raise denies one. (The transfer-raise says nothing about a top honour.) If third hand bids a new suit below a raise, then Double can still be used as a normal responsive double, showing the fourth suit and at least tolerance for partner's overcall.

If opener's partner raises or bids anything higher, then all transfer advances are off and you bid as you would using standard methods.