Parrish the Thought Newsletter
May 2025
The weather has turned in New York, and the flowers are budding. It’s gorgeous in my park. Time to break out the tennis racket.
I spent the first part of April preparing for the Team Trials; now I’m going over and analyzing all the hands. It was a great tournament. I’ll be doing some commentary during the rest of it, so check out all the coverage.
Greg and I are getting back to work; it’s already time to start preparing for the Summer NABC in Philadelphia!
I was able to take in a lot of culture this month. Highlights included a couple of Mozart operas at the Met and some Broadway musicals. I went up to Boston to celebrate Passover with my family, which was lovely. And it meant I got in a bridge game with my niece and nephew (who is sporting a mohawk!)
My Monday "Expert Thought Process" and Thursday "Thinking Through Declarer Play" classes are on their regular schedules until the NYC Memorial Day regional at the end of the month. You can get information about both classes here: https://learnbridgeonline.com/adam-parrish/
Upcoming topics in my Monday class are (schedule always subject to change if things take extra time):
May 5 Declarer Play May 12 Mixed Raises May 19 Defense May 26 Robot Tournament (recorded)
I’ve really been enjoying the conversations I’ve been having for my podcast. I’ve got some great ones coming up, including Brad Moss and Marty Fleisher, who I had the pleasure of playing in the Team Trials.
Time for some questions! Please keep them coming.
Having it all over 2NT
Hi, Adam,
My partner and I use Puppet Stayman over partner’s 2NT (20-21 HCP) opening, but are having trouble figuring out what to do when responder holds 5-4 in the majors.
When responder holds 5 hearts and 4 spades, he can first transfer to hearts and then rebid spades (i.e., 2NT-3♦, 3♥-3♠).
However, when holding 5 spades and 4 hearts there is an issue: the auction 2NT-3♥, 3♠-4♥ takes 3NT out of the picture. Not optimal when opener has 2 spades and 3 or fewer hearts.
We have tried using an agreement that responder's bid of 3NT shows 5 spades + 4 hearts. To get to a 3NT contract, responder bids 3♠, opener relays to 3NT and responder passes. Unfortunately, we have had miscommunications with this agreement with bad results.
If we play regular Stayman over partner’s 2NT opening, this problem goes away. However, using regular Stayman over a 2NT opening forgoes the ability to identify when the 2NT opener has a 5-card major.
Can you offer a solution and some advice?
You've hit the nail on the head that the big downside to Puppet Stayman over 2NT is that you can't use Smolen, so the 5-4 hands are difficult to bid. The two sequences you mentioned—transfer to hearts then bid spades and transfer to spades then bid hearts—are typically used to show 5-5 hands. The lower one (transfer to hearts then 3♠) is generally slam interest, while transferring to spades and then bidding 4♥ is game only.
I do have a solution, but it’s a little bit complicated. This is what Greg and I play:
Over 2NT, 3♣ is sort of a hybrid Stayman/Puppet Stayman
3♦ is either no 4- or 5-card major OR 5 spades
3♥ asks
3♠ shows 5
3NT is no major
3♠ is Smolen (4 spades, 5 hearts)
3NT is the other Smolen (5 spades, 4 hearts)
[This is the trickiest one to remember. If you want to play 3NT, you have to start with the 3♥ ask]
3♥ is 4 or 5 hearts, but fewer than 4 spades
3♠ asks,
3NT shows 4 hearts
With 5 hearts, opener control bids
3♠ is 4 spades
3NT is 4-4 in the majors
Now responder transfers if they want to play a major
There are simpler versions of this, but this one covers all the bases.
Adam
What exactly are “system notes?”
Dear Adam,
I keep hearing about "System notes" and I am wondering what is your recommendation for someone who is more than a beginner and knows a few conventions. I have points but still have not made "Life Master."
System notes are more than a list of conventions, they're deeper agreements about the follow-ups to those conventions, what changes by a passed hand or in a competitive auction, perhaps some partnership-specific nuances or augmentations. They cover situations that aren't "conventions," that require conversation. Even at the expert level—especially at the expert level, sometimes—there are differing versions of "Standard," so you need to agree which to use. And having that written down cements it as a firm agreement and gives you a guide to remember.
For example, here is a short section from my generic notes on Inverted Minors. Note how much more detailed it is than just agreeing that "We play Inverted Minors." (And this is not a particularly detailed set of notes.)
1m-2m is Inverted Raise: denies 4-card major, forcing to 3m
Now, opener’s 3NT is 18-19
3m is worst hand, does not deny stoppers
2NT is forcing with majors under control
2M and Om [the other minor] show stoppers, some reason not to bid NT
3M (and 3♦ over 2♣) is a splinter (with extras)
1m-3m is Mixed; opener should bid 3NT with 18-19
Most partnerships at your level don't need a detailed set of system notes. But I would encourage you to create one for yourself, outlining all the conventions and agreements you know and like, and all of the details. You can use it when you play with a new partner as a starting point. (I have one of those—that's what the above notes are from.) It's a good exercise for you to go through everything you play and make sure you understand it. And it's a good reference to have to make sure you're on the same page about things with current and future partners.
You can use the ACBL convention card as a guide for organizing it. I tend to have sections covering the major areas:
General agreements
Defense
1NT and 2NT auctions
1M auctions
1m auctions
2C auctions
Preempts
Competitive Bidding (including a subsection on doubles)
Slam Bidding
I hope that's helpful!
Adam
Deciding when to open 2♣ is hard!
Dear Adam,
Please comment on this hand:
♠ — ♥ Kxxx ♦ AKQxxxx ♣ AK
Here was my thinking for opening 2♣:
I have a losing trick count of 2
I really don't want to open 1♦ and have to reverse into such a weak 4-card heart suit
The strength and length discrepancy between the red suits is very large
The hand is too strong for a 3♦ jump rebid
By opening 2♣ I can describe the hand much easier
Does my thinking make sense or would you have opened 1♦?
I find it helpful to think not just in terms of the best way to describe a hand, but about the final contract: what are the likely final contracts I’m aiming for and what sequence will be most likely to get me there?
On this hand—on any hand with a solid running minor—the most likely contract is 3NT, so my primary goal is to get there when it’s right. Other likely contracts are 4/6♥ and 5/6♦. On 7-4 hands, it’s usually right to play in the 7-card suit rather than a 4-4 fit, though at matchpoints sometimes we have to prioritize the major. If partner has 5 hearts, that’s likely our spot.
So which approach is most likely to get us to the right spot? The problem with 2♣-then-3♦ is it takes up an awful lot of room. If partner now bids a major, what does that mean? Does it show 5? 4? Just a stopper? I feel like whatever partner bids over 3♦ I’m going to be guessing. So I like the 1♦ opening approach.
Not saying that will always work out, but it’s how I think about it.
Adam
That's all for now. I encourage you to send me questions about my column or anything else at adam@adamparrishbridge.com. Maybe they'll end up in the next newsletter!