Jacoby and Texas Transfers by Walt Sturm
Transfer bids are
very effective because they improve the accuracy of your own bidding while
simultaneously making competition by the opponents more difficult. Jacoby
Transfers are used opposite opening bids of 1NT and 2NT as well as 2C followed
by a rebid of 2NT. For example, over partner`s opening bid of 1NT,
holding 5 hearts, you bid 2D to command him to bid 2H, and holding 5 spades,
you bid 2H to command him to bid 2S. With only a 5-card suit, you now
invite game by rebidding 2NT or force game by jumping to 3NT. In either
case, opener should correct to your suit if he holds more than a
doubleton. With a 6-card suit, you invite by raising your suit.
Texas Transfers are
similar except that they are used immediately at the four level, e.g., 1NT
– 4D is a transfer to hearts. This shows a 6-card heart suit with
expectations of making the contract but without any slam interest. Hence,
starting with a Jacoby Transfer and then jumping to the four level shows mild
slam interest.
Caveat
emptor! Some of the most spectacular bidding disasters befall players who
forget that they are using transfers. Please don`t use them with any
partner who is prone to memory lapses.
Responder holding
a 5-card major and a 4-card major should use Stayman, not Jacoby. It is
more desirable to discover a 4-4 fit than a 5-3 fit. You also need an
agreement about how to proceed if opener responds 2D. Simplest is to
rebid your 5-card major, but this makes you the declarer. Using the
Smolen convention, you rebid your 4-card major, belatedly transferring opener
into your 5-card major.
Ed Note: The following external links are
provided by the web developer.