Quote:
Originally Posted by atakdog
Transfer Advances of Overcalls
Discussion of the overcall structure prompted me to mention transfer advances to overcalls to someone. These have come up before (mostly because I push them), but there really are no good writeups that I have found on the 'net (there are some bad ones though) and the book in which I saw the system is out of print. I'm therefore going to attempt a writeup of the system.
In contrast to weirdnesses like Fouts's overcall structure and my troll club, transfer advances are almost unarguably good, and I recommend them to everyone who is intermediate or better and who cares about his results. This writeup will be long but they are not hard, and in contrast to many systems they give up almost nothing that's actually useful.
With that in mind, here we go.
Terminology
I see so much sloppy use of terminology, so let's get some things straight first:
- A bid is a number and a strain. (A strain is any suit, or notrump.) Double, redouble, and pass are not bids — they are calls, though (and all bids are calls, too).
- The first person who bids is the opener; his first bid is the opening bid and any subsequent bids are rebids.
- The partner of the opener is the responder. His first call is the response (though if his first call is a pass, this is usually not considered a response, and a double is arguable). His subsequent bids are rebids.
- The first member of the pair that didn't open who bids or doubles is the intervenor. If his first intervention is a bid, it it is an overcall.
- Finally, the most relevant terminology for this discussion: The partner of the intervenor is the advancer, and his first call after the intervention is an advance. (Arguably, only bids are advances.)
- A transfer is an artificial call, usually a bid, that shows a strain other than that bid and that requests (or sometimes demands) that the partner of the transferrer bid the suit actually indicated by the transfer. For future reference, there are four different kinds of related artificial bids:
- transfer — an artificial call that shows a strain (usually a suit); requests or demands bid of that suit. Doing as expected is called accepting or completing the transfer.
- puppet — an artificial call that requests, but does not demand, that partner bid a certain strain, but does not show that strain.
- marionette — same as a puppet but the partner of the puppeteer is absolutely required to complete the puppet.
- relay — an artificial call (usually a bid) that does not indicate anything in particular, but requires partner of the relayer to make one of a set of more than one bids depending on his hand — in other words, it requires partner to give more information.
With that in mind, we see that transfer advances are bids (and arguably doubles; more on this later) that are used by the partner of an overcaller to show a suit other than that bid, and that usually but not always, the overcaller will bid the suit that his partner is showing.
Onward.
When are transfer advances used?
Answers can vary, but for this writeup transfer advances will be used after intervenor makes a simple natural overcall (i.e., not a jump) in a suit (not notrump) at the one, two, or three level, of the opening suit bid, and only when the call between the overcall and the possible transfer is a pass or a double. It is possible to play them in other auctions, such as by fourth hand after opener and responder have each bid suits and after natural overcalls of notrump openings (as when playing landy), but for now we will confine discussion to the above.
Examples to clarify:
- Transfers are on:
- (1D) 1S – (P)
- (2D) 2S – (P)
- (3D) 3S – (P)
- (1D) P – (P) 1S; (P)
- (1D) 1S – (X) (note that it may be better not to play them on in this auction, and the writeups I'm finding mostly don't)
- Transfers are not on, i.e., bid as you normally would:
- (1D) 2S – (P) — Jump overcall.
- (3S) 4D – (P) — Too high (not 1, 2, or 3 level).
- (1D) 2D – (P) — the overcall is not natural (unless you're playing something really weird).
- (1D) X – (P) — not used as advances of doubles, only suit bids.
- (1NT) 2S — (P) — At the moment, not used over notrump openings.
- (1D) 1H — (1S) — Call after the overcall was not pass or double.
- (1D) 1NT – (P) — Used only after overcalls in suits.
- (1C! artificial strong) 1S – (P) — Used only after natural suit openings.
- Interesting questions:
- (1D! could be short) 1S – (P) — Though the opening could be short it usually isn't, so treat it as natural; transfers are on
- (1D! precision) 1S – (P) — in some precision systems the diamonds can be as short as zero. Still, experience has shown that treating the bid as natural is usually best, so transfers are on.
- (2H! hearts and a minor) 2S – (P) — I play that if the bid promises length in the suit named it's natural even if it also promises something else; treat this as natural, so transfers are on.
- (2D! heart preempt) 2S – (P) — a great question. You can treat this as a natural 2H bid, and I think that's best, so transfers are on but note that we will consider cuebids (discussed later) to be those in hearts, the suit shown, not diamonds, the suit bid.
Which bids are transfers?
Assuming transfers are on (see above), the following bids are transfers: Every suit bid starting at the cheapest available cuebid (bid of opener's suit) and continuing up to, but not including a simple raise of intervenor's suit. In some auctions there may be only one transfer bid; in others there may be as many as three.
Example to clarify:
If the auction begins (1D) 1S – (P),
- 1NT — natural; notrump bids are never transfers in this system.
- 2C — natural (and forcing, btw); it is below the cuebid.
- 2D — transfer (to hearts); it is the cuebid
- 2H — transfer (to spades, which, yes, is intervenor's suit); it is a suit bid above the cuebid but below a simple raise
- 2S — not a transfer; the simple raise is natural
- higher bids — not transfers (though some are conventional; see below)
What do transfer advances do?
They give advancer two rounds to describe his hand, which is useful in many cases. Basically, the advancer sends his primary message with his first bid, and his secondary message (which may be that the partnership is high enough, thus passing) at his second call. He always gets two calls because the transfer is never passed (though it may be bypassed).
Roughly speaking, intervenor responds to the transfer exactly as he would have to a nonforcing, not terribly constructive bid in the transferred-to suit. That means that with most hands he'll just complete the transfer, showing that he has nothing extra and can at least sort of tolerate playing in his partner's suit. If he has extras or can tell that he definitely doesn't want partner to pass in his suit, he bids as he normally would, naturally.
Advancer uses the information he gets from intervenor completing, or not, the transfer, to decide on his next call.
Besides transfers, what other advances are used?
- Direct, non-transfer raises of partner's suit:
- single raise is natural and competitive (not constructive)
- jump raise below game is preemptive
- jump to game is sometimes preemptive, but may be expecting to make
- Notrump bids are natural (though a jump to 2NT can be played differently; see below).
- Suit bids below the cuebid are natural and forcing for one round.
- jump shifts are fit bids: fit for partner's suit, values in the suit bid (even opener's, though that's rare — the writeups I've seen play them as splinters but I think fit bid is better), invitational to game.
- double jump shifts are splinters (though there may be room for improvement here; see below.
- If there is a double after the overcall, redouble is what it would be if transfers were not being played.
What does a transfer show?
Basically, you transfer to the suit that looks most important to you; your subsequent bid, if you make one, is in a strain that you're interested in playing in or asking a question in. Raises (including of yourself) are invitational.
It's probably easiest to look at some example sequences. Assume the auction started with (1D) 1S – (P). Starting with advancer's bid:
- pass — still allowed, amazingly enough
- 1NT — natural, whatever strength is appropriate for your overcalls (say 8–11 here)
- 2C — natural, one round force. Legitimate clubs; may have spade support.
- 2D — transfer to hearts. Promises hearts (five+, though I think there's an argument for changing this). If intervenor accepts the transfer by bidding 2H, meaning he doesn't have extra values and either has heart tolerance or doesn't have a good six-card spade suit, then advancer continues:
- pass — 2H is better than one spade opposite an average overcall.
- 2S — shows a decent (constructive) spade raise with heart values.
- 2NT — natural (balanced) invite, with hearts. Probably about 11–13 HCP in a normal system. Usually a doubleton spade.
- 3C — natural, one round force. At least five hearts, at least four clubs, and strength to be at this level; implicitly denies spade support.
- 3D — forcing obviously; usually a stopper ask. Advancer has hearts, usually not many spades, strength to be at this level, and interest in notrump but no diamond stopper. Note that other hands are possible but not common, such as a game force that will control bid at the next round.
- 3H — showing a side suit and then raising yourself is natural and invitational; implicitly denies a balanced hand, a second, suit, or support for partner's suit.
- 3S — showing a side suit and then jump-raising partner shows limit raise values (including length and strength in the side suit) but only three-card support.
- 3NT — to play, but why show hearts first? Because advancer is usually 2=5 in the majors. Promises a diamond stopper.
- 4C, 4D — one source I see has these as control bids in slam tries; I think they should be splinters.
- 4H — to play. Opener should not correct to spades; he had his chance.
- 4S — to play, but why follow this path? Probably because advancer is showing where his values are so that intervenor can make the right decision of opps compete at the five level.
- 2H — transfer to spades (intervenor's suit) ostensibly a constructive, usually three card raise, though other possibilities appear assuming advancer completes the transfer. After he does, by bidding 2S:
- 2NT — natural invite, with spade support
- 3C — three-card spade support, club length and strength, limit raise values.
- 3D — one round generic force; usually a stopper ask but other hands possible.
- 3H — as with 3C (three card spade support, heart length and strength, sufficient values to be this high) but in majors it is an offer to play in this strain. Why not transfer to hearts the first time? Because advancer only has four of them; with three spades and five hearts, transfer to hearts and then return to spades. We bid the most important part of our hand first.
- 3S — transfer to a raise, then raise our own raise, is a limit raise (four card support). Don't stretch for this, as partner already denied significant extras.
- 3NT — to play, but must have three card spade support also.
- 4C/4D/4H — control bids.
- 4S — to play, but why this sequence? Advancer must have been leaving slam possibilities open if intervenor had extras.
- 2S — competitive raise. Depending on partnership predilections, this could be really weak — one big advantage of the system is that this raise is safe on not a lot more than three spades and out. Usually three cards, or four in a particularly flat hand.
- 2NT — natural invite, without spade support.
- 3C/D/H — fit-showing, with four spades and mixed-raise values, and strength in the bid suit (even opener's suit, though there may be a better use for this).
- 3S — preemptive raise
- 3NT — to play
- 4C/D/H — splinters in the bid suit, with four card spade support and sufficient values to be at this level.
- 4S — to play. Did not leave slam in the picture, so presumed preemptive.
- 4NT — key card in spades
Summary
That looks like a lot, but it's actually pretty straightforward and can be summed up this way:
- With a weak hand and a fit, raise to the appropriate level immediately.
- With a weak hand, no fit, and a long suit, transfer to it and pass.
- With a notrump hand, bid notrump.
- With a three-card raise, transfer to a raise first, then either pass or show your hand.
- With a four card raise, transfer to a raise and then raise again if invitational or better; make an immediate fit-jump with a bit weaker than that.
- With a slam try, make an immediate splinter, or transfer to a raise and then start a control-bidding auction.
- With three card support and a side five card major, bid or transfer to the major and then return to partner's suit.
- With three card support and a four card major, show the support first, then the four-card suit.
- With a good hand but no fit, transfer to (or bid) your own suit, then raise yourself (in your suit or notrump) to the appropriate level. Remember that the raise isn't forcing, so use a cuebid to force.
How does the overcaller continue?
- If advancer raises (including conventionally), he bids to the appropriate level.
- If advancer makes a new suit bid below the cuebid, he bids as he would over a forcing bid in that suit (because that's what it is).
- If advancer bids notrump, he responds as he normally would.
- If advancer transfers to a new suit, he completes the transfer if he would have passed a non-forcing, non-invitational bid in that suit:
- If he has no fit and a good (usually 6+ cards) suit of his own, he rebids his suit.
- If he has substantial extra values, he does something other than that — bids notrump, jump-completes the transfer, jump-rebids his own suit, or bids a different suit (of which there's only one left unless you count opener's), whatever looks appropriate, keeping in mind that advancer hasn't shown much yet.
- Later in the auction, everyone bids pretty much normally, keeping in mind what's already been shown.
After god knows how many overcaller-advancer auctions going off the rails in some new and interesting way, I have convinced a partner to try Atak's transfer advance system. Not sure if Atak still posts here, but we had some general questions about the system, and about how to show various types of raises for intervenor's suit in particular. Would be grateful for any insight from Atak or others.
General questions:
1. What should intervenor's range be for overcalls at the (a) one-level; and (b) two-level?
2. In the context of this system, approximately what hand strength do the terms "limit," "invitational (same as limit?)," "mixed," and "constructive" denote?
3. is the below an accurate typology of what bid or series of bids to make with support for intervenor's suit, depending on the hand's distribution and strength?
4-card raise, outside suit, limit:
transfer to raise, then raise
4-card raise, outside suit, mixed:
fit jump
4-card raise, outside suit, constructive:
transfer to raise, then pass (?)
4-card raise, outside suit, weak:
simple raise OR preemptive jump raise
4-card raise, no outside suit, limit:
transfer to raise, then raise
4-card raise, no outside suit, mixed:
no bid describes this
4-card raise, no outside suit, constructive:
transfer to raise, then pass (?)
4-card raise, no outside suit, weak:
simple raise OR preemptive jump raise
3-card raise, outside suit, limit:
transfer to outside suit, then jump raise OR transfer to raise, then bid outside suit (depends on length of outside suit)
3-card raise, outside suit, mixed:
no bid describes this
3-card raise, outside suit, constructive:
transfer to outside suit, then raise
3-card raise, outside suit, weak:
simple raise
3-card raise, no outside suit, limit:
transfer to raise, then 2NT (?)
3-card raise, no outside suit, mixed:
no bid describes this
3-card raise, no outside suit, constructive:
transfer to raise, then pass (?)
3-card raise, no outside suit, weak:
simple raise
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