When a player makes a transfer bid, his or her partner must say, "transfer" (or, under EBU rules, state the suit in question). Under ACBL and EBU rules, some conventions are also announced, for example Jacoby transfers. If the right-hand opponent does not ask about the convention, their partner may do so when it is their turn.
The right-hand opponent may ask the alerter about the meaning of the convention, or may proceed as usual. Under the rules of the sponsoring organization (for example national federations such as American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) and the English Bridge Union (EBU), zonal organizations, and the World Bridge Federation (WBF)), certain conventions are alertable, the partner of the player making the conventional call must say "alert" (or show an alert card from the bidding box) before the right-hand opponent calls.
It could be argued that takeout doubles are conventional but their usage is so widespread that they may be considered a natural call.īridge conventions can be classified according to their purpose: Perhaps the most widely known and used conventions are Blackwood, which asks for and gives information about the number of aces and kings held, Stayman convention, used to discover a 4-4 fit in a major suit following an opening no trump bid, Jacoby transfers, used to find a 5-3 fit in a major suit, and strong two clubs to show a very strong hand (usually at least 22 HCP). Failure to reveal fully the existence and meaning of a convention generally constitutes an illegal communication of information between partners. Generally, this disclosure also must include the negative implications of choosing the bid over another alternative. The term conventional is also used to describe certain opening leads, discards and signals that have specific agreed meanings.Ĭonventions to be played must be agreed by partners before play begins and must be disclosed to their opponents, either in advance by the use of convention cards or by alerts, announcements, and answers to questions about one's partner's bids once bidding has begun. However, some conventions, for example, Stayman, are very widely used and cannot be said to be unusual.Ĭonventions are often named after their ostensive author (the Drury convention), their promulgator (the Stayman convention), or the methodology itself (the strong two clubs convention). Bill Root defines "convention" as, "A specific agreement between partners to give an unusual meaning to a bid". Although bidding is often "natural" (describing a hand by simple reference to possession, shape, and strength of the named suit), players may also bid using conventions, which assign more specific information to certain calls, particularly at the more advanced levels of competitive play. The purpose of this bidding is for players to inform their partners of the content of their hand and to arrive at a suitable contract at which to play the hand (or to prevent the opponents from arriving at a suitable contract). Contract bridge is a trick-taking card game played by four players in two competing partnerships in which a sequence of bidding, also known as the auction, precedes the play of the cards.