The Jacoby transfer, or simply "transfers", in the card game contract bridge

Contract bridge

Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...

, is a convention

Bridge convention

A bridge convention is a system of calls made during the auction phase of a contract bridge game which conveys a coded meaning about the players' card holdings...

 initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that requests opener rebid in the suit ranked just above that bid by responder, i.e. a response in diamonds requests a rebid in hearts and a response in hearts requests a rebid in spades; other responses may carry other meanings; designed to make the stronger hand declarer.

History

Transfers were first described in a series of articles by Ollie Willner in Bridge Tidningen in the early 1950s, and were popularized for English speakers in 1956 in The Bridge World article by Oswald Jacoby

Oswald Jacoby

Oswald Jacoby was an American contract bridge player and author, considered one of the greatest bridge players of all time. He also excelled at, and wrote about, other games including backgammon, gin rummy, and poker.Born in Brooklyn, he was taught to play whist at the age of six and played his...

. Transfers have such utility in no trump bidding that they enjoy broad acceptance by most players, in duplicate and in rubber bridge. In many parts of the world their usage is so widespread (e.g. the United Kingdom) that they are known simply as "transfers".

Usage

By a simple procedure, transfers allow a weak take-out contract (following an opening 1NT) in a major suit to be played by the opening (i.e. the stronger) hand thus concealing the tenaces in that hand. An additional benefit of transfers is that they allow more bidding space in the search for the optimum contract.

In the 1990s further developments of the transfer procedures enabled them to be used to even greater effect. The use of "bouncing" and "breaking" rebids by opener offered partnerships the opportunity to find safe game contracts with fewer high card points than with traditional methods.

Initial transfer bid

The transfer procedure is quite simple and is described first in response to your partner's 1NT opening bid. Since a 1NT opening bid requires a balanced hand

Balanced hand

In the game of bridge a balanced hand denotes a hand containing no singleton or void and at most one doubleton. As a bridgehand contains thirteen cards, only three hand patterns can be classified as balanced: 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 and 5-3-3-2...

, i.e. no more than one doubleton, it promises to have at least two cards in the desired suit):

• Holding a 5-card major suit, responder would traditionally bid two, three or four of that suit depending on strength; using transfers, responder will instead bid two of the suit below the major suit
• Partner (opener) must then bid two of the next suit up (i.e. the major suit in question)
• Examples:
  • 1NT - 2 (i.e., "I have a 5-card heart suit, please bid my suit") - opener must rebid 2
  • 1NT - 2 (i.e., "I have a 5-card spade suit, please bid my suit.") - opener must rebid 2

Opener can super-accept the transfer by bidding three of the major with a maximum hand containing at least four cards in that major.

An immediate disadvantage of this method is that it is incompatible with a weak take out into 2, although as with the loss of the 2 weak take-out when using Stayman

Stayman convention

In the card game contract bridge, Stayman is a convention used to find a 4-4 trump fit in a major suit after the 1NT opening bid, and it has been adapted for use after an opening 2NT, a 1NT overcall, and many other natural notrump bids...

, this is not generally considered a serious loss.

Subsequent standard bids

After the transfer has been completed by the 1NT opener, subsequent bids by the transfer initiator are:

• Weak hands
  • Pass, to play a partial game in the transferred suit
• Invitational hands
  • 2NT, giving the strong partner the option of continuing to game or playing a partial game, in either no trump or the transferred suit
  • three of the transferred suit, promising a six-card suit
• Game strength hands
  • New suit, showing 5-4 or 5-5 and game forcing
  • 3NT, allowing opener a choice of 3NT or four of the major
  • four in the transferred suit, to play promising a six-card suit

Non-standard but common subsequent bids

Since a 2 response is no longer required for a weak take-out into spades, it is often used in other ways:

• In SAYC
  Standard American
  Standard American is a common bidding system for the game of bridge in the United States, also widely used in the rest of the world. This system, or a slight variant, is learned first by most beginners in the U.S. and may be referred to as 'Goren'; a dominant version used in on-line computer...
  
  , the 2 response is used to sign off in either minor at the 3-level. It forces opener to bid 3:
  • 1NT - 2 - 3 - Pass with a weak hand with at least six clubs.
  • 1NT - 2 - 3 - 3 with a weak hand with at least six diamonds.
• Simple use of the 2 response is to split the traditional 2NT response in a precise HCP way e.g. for Acol
  Acol
  Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is named after the Acol Bridge Club, previously located on Acol Road in London NW6, where the system started to evolve...
  
   (1NT = 12-14 HCP):
  • 1NT - 2 = I have a balanced hand and exactly 11 HCP
  • 1NT - 2NT = I have a balanced hand and exactly 12 HCP
• This has been further refined to include the use of the 2 bid as a means of transferring into a minor suit, thus for Acol:
  • 1NT - 2 (I may have 11 HCP or I may have a long minor suit) - opener rebids:
    • 2NT with a weak hand (i.e. 12 HCP) - partner then choses between passing or bidding a minor suit.
    • 3 with a strong hand (14 HCP) - partner then choses between 3NT, passing or bidding diamonds.
• An alternative method of minor suit transfers is to use 2 as a transfer to clubs and 3 as a transfer to diamonds.

Modern additions to transfer procedures

Although part of the early writings on transfers in the 1950s, "bouncing" and "breaking" have only become widespread in the UK since the 1990s. As promulgated by Paul Mendelson

Paul Mendelson

Paul Mendelson is a television, film and radio scriptwriter.- Early life and career :He studied Law at Cambridge University, where he gained a first class honours degree, after attending Newcastle Royal Grammar School, Glasgow High School and Harrow County Grammar...

, they are:

• Bouncing (also known as Bypassing). Following the standard initiation of a transfer sequence (e.g. 1NT - 2 - ?).
  • Opener rebids 3 with a maximum point count (14 with Acol) and 4-card support for hearts.
  • With all other hands, opener rebids 2.
• Breaking. Following the same initial sequence of 1NT - 2 - ?:
  • Opener rebids three of an unexpected suit (3) to show maximum points (14 with Acol) and a poor doubleton (xx) in the bid suit (e.g. diamonds)

With these two devices (bouncing and breaking) it is possible to discover games that would otherwise be missed at very little risk.

Using transfers in other NT situations

Transfers work well following other NT bids. A common usage follows an opening bid of 2NT where a weak take-out into three of a major becomes a possibility whereas with traditional methods such a bid would be forcing.

Transfers following a double

Following a double (i.e. partner opens 1NT and intervening opponent doubles), there are two options in fairly common use:

• Transfers and Stayman become inoperative, i.e. all 2-level bids are for take-out. This has the advantage of simplicity but the disadvantage that the stronger hand becomes dummy with a resultant offering of information to opponents.
• All 2-level bids become transfers according to this scheme (known as "exit transfers" in some quarters):
  • redouble transfers to 2.
  • 2 transfers to 2.
  • 2 transfers to 2.
  • 2 transfers to 2.
  • 2 (Acol - I have 11 HCP) transfers to NT at the appropriate level.
  • 2NT (Acol - I have 12 HCP)

(Note: some partnerships use a "forcing pass" by the partner of the 1NT opener. The 1NT opener is then obliged to redouble. The partner of the 1NT opener may then pass the redouble with a good hand and 1NT redoubled is judged to be makeable, or with a poor hand initiate bidding 4-card suits up-the-line until at least at 4-3 suit fit is found).

Transfers following an intervening bid

Standard bidding in most systems is that all responses following a natural suit overcall are themselves natural bids ("double" may be used for take-out). An alternative is that such responses, including "double", act as transfers. For example, following a 1NT opening and a 2 overcall:

• double ... transfer to hearts
• 2 ... transfer to spades
• 2 ... transfer to clubs