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Theory

Opening 3NT

Natural

In the very earliest days of bridge this bid meant exactly what it said - a balanced hand of about twenty five points which has every intention of making nine tricks by brute force.

No one plays it that way any more.  (If by any chance you are the one who still does then please change to something better sooner rather than later.)

In the first place it becomes very difficult for partner to locate a superior suit contract, and because of this it can be difficult to find a slam other than those of the pure rock-crusher variety.  Furthermore, the argument about getting there fast before your opponents find their fit really does not apply in this case.  With twenty five points in your hand you would just love the opponents to get involved - a penalty double is all but certain to be extremely lucrative.

Quite simply, with such a hand start with whatever strong opening bid you have available for the purpose.  Typically this will be either 2♣ or 2♦ followed by a natural and forcing 2NT or 3NT.

The Gambling 3NT

It did not take long before alternative uses were found for the bid.

This bid has long been part of the repertoire and is still to be found on many a convention card.

It has the unusual attributes of being both preemptive and semi-realistic at the same time.

There are many variations on the basic theme, but the common factor is a long solid minor suit - typically seven cards to the AKQ.

It is the strength required in the outside suits which varies from system to system and from partnership to partnership.

At one time stoppers were required in two outside suits - something like the following.

In this form it is clearly a constructive bid.  It will not take much for partner to set off in search of a slam.

Increasingly this approach has fallen out of fashion.  Such a hand can be taken via a slower route, and so the bid is now more often used in a more preemptive manner with no more than one king or queen outside the long suit.

There are a number of points to be noted, and to be agreed by any partnership new to the convention.

First, clearly, it must be agreed which of the versions - weak or strong - discussed above you are playing;

secondly there should be a partnership agreement as to whether or not the requirement is affected by the vulnerability, and if so to what extent;

thirdly you should agree as to whether or not the bid will be played in the same style in fourth seat.

In its favour this bid has the same preemptive effect as 4♣ or 4♦, and so releases these bids for other purposes (see Namyats).  Note that partner has the option to escape to the minor suit, and you will have an opportunity to do so should your opponents do something ungentlemanly such as double.

Against the bid is the fact that it is a two-edged sword - you will win some, but you will lose too many.

Even when the convention is given as a part of a partnership’s methods its actual appearances will be few and far between, particularly if its use is limited to non-vulnerable and only at certain seats around the table.

It is a far less fashionable bid than it once was, and my view is that it is unnecessary bit of clutter on your system card.

The minor suit preempt

In this method 3NT is used to show a four-level preempt in either clubs or diamonds.  Clearly this bid has much in common with the gambling 3NT.  The principle difference is that the minor suit is unlikely to be of sufficient quality to run, and responder is therefore more likely to find an escape to the minor suit.

The point of this bid is that it is likely to be played in conjunction with the Namyats convention which uses the opening bids of 4♣ and 4♦ to show a specific hand-type based on a long major suit.

Responder can pass if he really wants to, but a response of 4♣ requests opener to pass or correct.

The Kabel 3NT

In this convention the bid replaces the specific ace ask usually attached to an opening bid of 4NT, except that there is now space for partner to give more precise information.

The responses will be found in the section on responder’s bids, but there are two basic options:-

either agree to show specific single aces or specific combinations of two aces;

or agree to show specific single aces and specific kings.

I shall assume on this site that you have agreed the first of these options, concentrating just on the ace holding.

This will also be a rare bid, but it is an extremely powerful tool on those occasions when it is appropriate.

Think of it as an expert tool, but it is possibly the best use of the bid as and when you wish to expand your repertoire.

Context  -  The opening bid.

Responder’s continuations