Scramble Stayman

Partner opens 1NT (15 to 17). Your hand has less than invitational strength, lacks a long biddable suit, has a shape along the lines of 4-3-4-2 or 2-4-5-2 or 3-4-1-5. They tell you to pass these holdings, even though in passing you will leave many fine major-suit fits on the table. Scramble Stayman argues that you should hunt down those fits. Two times out of three, the contracts you scramble to will matchpoint better than 1NT, and they will gain an average of about 1 IMP per hand.

Scramble Stayman explains (1) which kinds of hands qualify to scramble, (2) the scramble technique to use (it begins with 2C, and overlays standard Stayman) and (3) how the various scramble contracts score compared to 1NT, measured over thousands of hands. It features a 100-board ‘match’ between one player staying in 1NT, and another scrambling to a (usually) better contract, which the scrambler decisively wins.

Doug Bennion is the creator of the Barbara Seagram software, Practice Your Notrump Bidding and Practice Your Slam Bidding, published by Masterpoint Press. He wrote and published Bridge Buff, a popular early bridge-playing program, and Visual Deal, a popular early deal generator. He is also the author of several Bridge World articles.