Jordan's Symmetric Positive Relay

Jordan's Symmetric Positive Relays

Opener's 1♣ shows a strong hand. With 8+ HCP and 2+ CP, Responder makes a game forcing relay bid. Otherwise, Responder bids 1♦. If Responder is a passed hand, then the game force is reduced to 7+ HCP and 1+ CP. Without a game force, Responder bids 1♦ negative and further bidding is described elsewhere.

Generally speaking, the relays clarify Responder's hand in order:

  1. Long Suits / General Shape
  2. Short Suits / Exact Shape
  3. Hand Strength
  4. Control Points
  5. Exact Honor Cards
We always show high shortness first and low shortness later. We also show more probable shapes at a lower level, where possible, except if the 2nd rarest is actually more common than the rarest, we'll swap those two since zoom saves a step.

We cover all shapes with up to 7 cards in one suit or 11 cards in two suits (except 7321/7420 we cannot distinguish the second and third suits). Note we consider 7420 a one suited hand (shape 7xx0). If Responder should be so unfortunate as to get a shape outside the box, Responder should pick the least damaging lie.

Zoom

We make heavy use of the zoom principle. At any given point in the structure, there are small number of responses to the last "question". If we happen to hit the last response on the list, instead of making that response, we go right on to the next question. This can cascade, so a single bid could answer several questions at once.

As an example, an immediate response of 3♥ to 1♣ shows minors (zoom to 2♥), higher length (zoom to 2NT), lower shortness (zoom to 3♦) 6421 shape. That is, exactly 2=1=6=4 shape.

We indicate zooms below using ">>"

Some Principles

Initial Shape

Responder has four hand types: one suited (one 5+ card suit, no other 4 card suit), two suited (at least 54), three suited (4441 or 5440), or balanced (4432 or 4333). The basic bids are:

With a one suited hand, you make the bid which shows your hand, and then jump to one-suited mode which starts at 2♠. With a two suited hand, you make bid for your first suit, then your second suit, then go to two-suited mode. Balanced hands go through 1♠, and three-suited hands are explained below.

5332 with 2 Hearts and Long Minor

These two shapes are very likely to end up playing in 3NT; having no notable major length. They also wrong-side NT since Responder's second bid is 2NT. Since this is no fun, these two shapes are considered "balanced" and start with 1♠ rather than 2m. Note that with excellent tenaces for a future NT contract, Responder can use judgement to treat those hands as one-suiters anyway. The tester, however, always considers them balanced.

Two Suiters with a Major and Clubs

To fit these in, we have to perform a little sleight of hand. If the first bid in Two Suiter mode is 2♥ we bid that directly. If the first bid in Two Suiter mode is 2♠ or higher, we pause in 2♦ to "set clubs". We have to do this to distinguish between a direct 2♠+ bid which always shows a one-suiter.

An easier way to think of this: 2♥ shows longer clubs, and 2♦ shows equal or shorter clubs.

7-4 Hands

Because the 7 card suit usually plays better, we do not cover these hands. Responder should use judgement whether to consider the hand 6-4 (if the long suit is relatively bad), or report the hand as 7xx1 or 7xx0. The Practicer always treats them as one-suited.

Full Details

1♥Spades
1NT+ Hearts
2♦MMm Three Suiter
2♥>>♠+♥ Two Suiter
2♣♠+♦ Two Suiter
2♦♠+♣ Two Suiter
2♥
2♠>>♠ One Suiter
1♠Balanced or Reds
2♣♥+♦ Two Suiter
2♦>>Balanced
1NTHearts
2♦♥+♣ Two Suiter
2♥
2♠>>♥ One Suiter
2♣Diamonds
2♥Mmm Three Suiter
2♠>>♦ One Suiter
2♦Clubs One Suiter
2♥>>Minors ♦+♣ Two Suiter

Exact Shape

One Suiters

There are shapes with one short suit, and those with two or three doubletons ("flatness"). Meanwhile, we cannot distinguish the fragments for 7321 shape.
2♠H shortness (single or double)
3♣H=2 double
3♦>>single
2NTM shortness (single)
3♣ML=22 double/triple shortness
3♦>>L shortness (single)

Double (triple) Shortness: two or three doubletons

Single Shortness

Two Suiters

First we identify the relative lengths of the longs suits (following the "high shortness first" rule implies low length first) then the relative lengths of the short suits.

Fifty-Five or Eleven

After showing the short suit... note that we've done the zoom reverse for the more likely 5521.

Long Suits Unequal

Now we need to identify which short suit is shorter.

Long Suits Unequal, Short Suits Unequal

We could potentially try to squeeze 7420 in here, at the cost of going past 3NT.

Balanced

When resolving balanced hands, we first resolve the number of hearts, then a specific hand shape, and finally identify the shortest suit. The full pattern:
2♦4 hearts
2♠other suits 2-3-4 ("2 above 3")
2NT3433
3♣>>other suits 4-3-2 ("3 above 2")
2♥2 hearts
2NT5 minor
3♦3235
3♥>>3253
3♣>>2 hearts 4432
2♠33 majors, 34 minors
3♣3334 ("high shortness")
3♦>>3343
2NT4333
3♣>>3 hearts 4432

4-3-2 explanation #1

4-3-2 and 2-3-4 mean that if you go around the non-heart suits in a circle -- ♠-♦-♣-♠-♦-♣ -- then you will meet the lengths in that order. So, 3442 would see 3-4-2-3-4-2 going around the circle which contains a 2-3-4 inside it.

4-3-2 explanation #2

Look at the 2 card suit and the 3 card suit. They are next to each other if you ignore hearts and consider spades and clubs to be adjacent. If the two card suit is immediately above the three card suit (2♠-3♦ or 2♦-3♣ or 2♣-3♠) then you have a 2-3-4. If it's immediately below (3♠-2♦ etc) then you have a 4-3-2.

The 4-3-2 shapes are 4432, 2443, 3424. The 2-3-4 shapes are 2434, 3442, 4423.

In 4432 and 5332 cases, we now identify the short non-heart suit, using H lowest rules:

Three Suiters

The three-suiters are not symmetric, so we have to count out steps. With a short minor we started 1♣-1♥-R-1NT-R-2♦-R and the first informational bid is 2♠ (where R implies the next step, relay bid). With a short major, we started 2♣-R-2♥-R, so the first informational step is 2NT. In any case, the first step shows high shortness (♠ or ♦) and we zoom with low shortness (♥ or ♣).

After showing the short suit, we now show exact shape:

No zoom reverse since 5440's are all equally likely.

Hand Strength

TOSR defines three hand strengths: We discourage responding a positive with less than 2 control points, but we absolutely never call it a medium! Control points, as a reminder, are 2 for an ace and 1 for a king. AKQ points (I like to call them "royal points") are A=3, K=2, Q=1.

When Opener asks for strength, the typical response structure is:

If strength is medium or better, then 3NT becomes forcing.

If the auction is already past 3♠, there is no HCP Range ask, and we go directly to showing control points.

Also, if Responder is a passed hand, it is automatically a "minimum", so we go directly to controls, and we additionally use the first step for 1 CP.

Voluntary Rebids

When Opener jumps to game (usually 3NT), Responder can rebid with 14+ HCP, showing number of controls starting at 3 (4♣=3, 4♦=4, etc). Bidding proceeds naturally at this point. showing number of Royal Points (A=3, K=2, Q=1), starting at 8 over 3NT; (e.g. 4♣=8, 4♦=9, etc.) or starting at 10 over a game level contract since space is more limited. Typically 21 RP is good for 6NT and 20 RP for a suit slam although sometimes a 19 RP pair of hands can squeak through. Without enough Royal Points we do not bid on.

Exact Control Points

If after strength showing, the number of controls is still uncertain, the next relay asks for exact number of controls, with expected responses:

Exact Honors

Responder orders his suits from longest to shortest, using S-H-D-C order to break ties. A circular scan of these suits is now performed. First we scan for Aces and Kings, then a second scan for Queens, then a final scan for Jacks.

Example 1

Responder holds ♠x ♥AQxxx ♦AKx ♣QTxx. After showing a 1534 maximum with 5 controls, the scan order is ♥-♣-♦. Assuming responder has just bid 4♠ asking for exact honors, we skip the next bid, 4NT, because we have 1 AK in ♥. In ♣ we have none, so we stop, and bid 5♣. 5♦ resumes the relay, and we stop again in 5♥ because we have 2 AK in diamonds. 5♠ resumes the relay again, and this time we skip 5NT because of the ♥Q, skip 6♣ because of the ♣Q, and stop bidding 6♦ to show the ♦Q. The highest possible relay is 5NT so Opener's next bid places the contract.

Example 2

Responder holds ♠QTxxx ♥AKQxx ♦Jx ♣x. After showing a medium 5521 with 3 controls, Opener asks for honor cards with 4♥. We stop at 4♠ because of 0 in ♠. 4NT asks again, and we stop in 5♣ because of 2 in ♥. 5♦ asks a third time, and this time we assume Opener knows we showed 3 controls in hearts, so there are none more. We now go to queens. We have the ♠Q so skip 5♥, we have the ♥Q so skip 5♠, but no ♦Q so stop in 5NT.

Practicer

The practicer always assumes that 5332 hands with 2 hearts and 5 minor are balanced. It also assumes 74xx hands are one suiters. It now handles stopper asking breaks. Other features like reverse relays, and 4♣/4♦ "end bids" (none of which is currently mentioned above, but are mentioned in other TOSR docs) are not implemented. Try it

Last Chance Slam Try

If Opener makes a jump bid to 4♣ or 4♦, that is asking Responder to make a judgement good-bad call within the context of what has been shown so far. The next step is "bad" and Opener's next call places the contract. Further steps continue with control count or honor scan as appropriate.

For the specific case when Responder just bid 3NT showing a minimum, 4♦ asks for 6 AKQ poits.

Interference

Directly over 1♣

If the Opponents bid directly over 1♣, we ignore when possible. There are two options for 1♠.

After the Relay has Started

The most important rule is that if the opponents bid 3 steps or above, the relay is off and we revert to natural. If the opponents double, or bid the first two steps, we continue the system.

Opponents interfere over Responder, Opener makes the next call

Opener is Captain, so can Double as a strong penalty try, Redouble as a cooperative penalty try (Responder may Pass to accept the penalty try or bid the next relay response to deny it), Pass to ask for the next relay step, or break the relay.

If Opener Passes to continue the relay, if we are in the shape-showing part of the relay (where bids still have specific meanings like 3♥ showing 6-3-3-1 shape), then Opener just makes the appropriate bid and uses X for stolen bids.

If we are in the part of the relay where we are counting steps: control counts, honor scans, or even three suiter exact shapes, then Responder uses X/XX for first step and bids for second+ steps.

Opponents interfere over Opener, Responder makes the next call

If we are in shape-showing mode, Responder typically just makes the relay bid, using Pass and X as first and second stolen bid as appropriate. That is, if the Opener's last call was 2♥ continuing the relay..

Advanced: Whenever we're below 3NT - Look for Stoppers

If the interference is an opposition double and we are in the shape-showing phase, we can additionally try to suss out stoppers for free. In general, if we looked for a stopper and failed to find one and then Opener breaks the relay, this is showing a minimum 1♣ opener which has lost confidence in the ability to make game opposite a minimum GF response now that 3NT is unplayable. Bidding is natural but NF. Responder can cue bid the danger suit to create a GF.

Stopper Asking

If we are going along showing shape, or we have just finished showing shape but have yet to show strength, and Opener can tell that 3NT is the likely final contract and there is a suit with a dubious stopper, Opener can break the relay below 3NT to find out about that suit.

The suits are in standard order ♠-♥-♦-♣, however:

Opener's 1st step is the standard relay. 2nd step asks for the first danger suit. 3rd step asks for the second danger suit, and so on.

Responder's answers are:

after stopper denying bids, Opener's next bid is to play. Over 3NT, 4♣ asks for controls (4♦=2, etc). Over stopper showing maximums, the next step starts the honor scan.

Possible Changes

Here are changes I would like to consider, but have not implemented yet.

Honor Scans with Few Controls

When the number of controls is less than the number of suits to be scanned, it saves relay steps on average to reverse the answers: stop on 1 and to skip on 0/2. Some sample data:
PatternControlsRegularReversed
433326.174.74
433335.174.56
443226.134.80
443235.174.67
533226.154.79
533235.054.56
543124.684.06
444124.714.08
552124.644.03
We can also find cases where the number of queens is limited and get a similar savings on the queen scan (e.g. if we showed a minimum with 3 controls, there is at most one queen (AK) or none (KKK))

Two Suiters with 55+

The original TOSR document puts all such shapes considered: 5521, 5530, 6511, 6520 into the 2♠ bucket. This document currently keeps 6520 in the non-2♠ sequence. TOSR's version has the (minor?) benefit that once Responder fails to bid 2♠ (either by stepping on the 2♥ Reverser or zooming past), we know that the second suit is exactly 4 cards. In particular with 3 cards opposite, there is no pressure to necessarily find out the exact shape in the forlorn hope that this is the 1 time in 1000 that Responder actually has the 6520. Pulling 6520 out of the main line would also allow us to add 7420 to the main line, should we feel that is a benefit (instead of using 7xx0).

The downside to putting 6520 shapes into the 2♠ followups is that there isn't enough bidding space to fit in all shapes below 3NT. Only 8 shapes can be fit but there are 10 total (since there are actually 4 6520's).

Other possibilities would be to give up on covering 65xx shapes altoghether (they are fairly rare); give up on being able to distinguish the 6 from the 5 (e.g. 3♣=5521, 3♦=5530, 3♥=(65)02 high 0, 3♠=(65)11, 3NT=(65)20, low 0); or let ourselves use 4♣ for a couple of the rarer shapes.

Other 5332 Shapes

We allow 1♠ (balanced) to show 5 heart hands to avoid wrong-siding an eventual NT contract. We could consider doing a similar thing for 5=3=2=3 (1♥-2NT-3♦), 3=2=3=5 (2♦-2NT-3♦), 3=2=5=3 (2♣-2NT-3♦). There is currently space to squeeze two of the three shapes in (1♠-2♦-2NT and 1♠-2NT could both take a 2-step response and still give us full shape by 3♥). If we are willing to go to 3♠ on a couple of balanced shapes, we can fit all three in. One might argue that 4333 shapes are poor for slams and therefore it is not so costly to have them come out at 3♠ (Actually, at 3♥ with the more useful shape zooming at 3♠, saving the step for the useful shape).

Balanced, 4 Hearts

Rather than have the second step show 2-3-4 vs. 4-3-2, maybe it is better to show the doubleton first, and then show the tripleton? This would give Opener more ability to break the realy for a stopper ask. Currently, by the time we know which suits are short we are often quite high.

Relays over 1M Openers

We use 1NT as an artificial game force, and with a small amount of work, we can use the same relays as above. Some work is also needed to handle non-GF hands, which I will write sometime.

1NT GF Relay

After 1M-1NT, we have either a three suiter (5440), a two suiter (noting we don't need the reverser) or a one suiter. Opener is now the answerer and responds as:

Strength Asks

When we get to the strength ask part of the relays, we only have two strengths: min and max. Max is, like over 1♣ positives, 13+ with 4 controls or AAQQ or AAA or AKKQ. Min is "anything else". Max zooms at 7 controls (AAAK), and Min zooms at 5 controls (AAK).

Minor Improvement when M=♥

n.b. when the opening major is hearts, the sequence 1♥ → 2♦ → 2♠ is sort of wasted space; we wouldn't open 1♥ with 55 majors. This suggests the mild improvement that when M=♥, then:

Other Two Suiter Changes

When we open with 1M and reveal a two suited hand, there is only 6511 shape, so we collapse that into 3♠>> when in 55-11 mode.