A MODIFIED MONTREAL RELAY
The One Club Opening Bid


    This bid is the cornerstone of the Montreal Relay bidding system. It is artificial and also Semi-Forcing.  It may be as short as a singleton, much like the Precision bid of 1, but unlike that system it can sometimes be passed.  The point-count is generally 11-17 points, and denies holding a 5-card major.
                    Alert!  My partner's 1 opening bid may be a singleton and is semi-forcing
Semi-Forcing
What does semi-forcing mean?  It means you are allowed to pass with some hands but must respond 1 without those particular hands.  Responder can pass with a weak hand if he has at least four clubs.

These are the key points for responder's bids after opener bids 1
  •    A major suit response must have at least a 5-card suit
  •    A 1 response is artificial and denies both a 5-card major, and as much as 11 points
  •    A 1NT response is 11-15 points (9-11 for a passed partner) and may have one or both 4-card majors
  •    A 2NT response is 16+ points and may have one or both 4-card majors
  •    A 3NT response is 16-18 points, and denies a 4-card major
  •    A double jump response in either major shows 5-5 in hearts and spades
  •    A jump raise of clubs has a 6-card club suit with 8-10 points
  •    A jump response in a new suit, except diamonds, shows a 6-card suit with 8-10 points
  •    A 2 jump response shows at least a 5-card suit and an unbalanced hand with 11+ points
Responder Must Have a 5-Card Suit to Bid a Major
When responder does not have a 5-card major he bids an artificial 1, which must be alerted.  Many times the opener, who usually has the stronger hand, will be then be able to bid a 4-card major.  This means that often the team can play in a 4-4 major suit fit at a low level, sometimes even at the 1-level, with opener as declarer.   (And there's a huge advantage in having the lead come up to the stronger hand.)

A second advantage is that since opener knows that his partner has a 5-card major immediately after his first response, there is no need for the New Minor Force agreement to discover the 5-3 fit.  Instead, you can use the new minor bid to verify that responder has a game-going hand.

Alert
When responder does not have a 5-card major and bids 1, the response is alertable for two reasons - first, of course, is the fact that's it's artifical, and may not be a diamond suit, and second because not only does it deny holding a 5-card major, but could have zero points.  Responder is not obligated to bid a second time.

Example
Here's an example where the Montreal Relay allows declarer to play the 4-4 major suit contracts...
Your partner opens 1 and after you bid 1, denying a 5-card major, he rebids 1, showing a 4-card suit.  You have enough to raise to 2 and the final contract will depend on your partner, but most importantly, your partner will be the declarer.
   K T 9 3
   T 5
   A 8 5 4
   Q 7 3

Since your partner is the declarer, most of the time the stronger of your two hands will be hidden.  That has to be an advantage during the play.  Your partner will also have the opening lead come up to him, rather than through his hand, which is a second advantage.   Sometimes a favorable outcome can depend on little things such as this.


2-Level Suit Responses
A very popular agreement in the US is for responder to jump in a new suit with a weak hand, but hands with fewer than 6 points are infrequent, thank goodness, so we prefer to use the bid to describe a hand that occurs more often - a 6-card suit with 8-10 HCP.  This is the 6-8-10 agreement.  To be consistent we use the jump raise in clubs the same way - a 6-card club suit with 8-10 points. You might be interested in a different method suggested by Dr. Neil Timm, a Montreal Relay contributor on BridgeGuys.com

3-Level Responses
Most of the world has decided to play 3-level responses in a suit as preemptive after partner opens a minor, but we have some changes...

3-Level Major Suit Responses
We have a method that is used by many 2/1 players after an opening bid of 1NT, but we use it after an opening bid of a minor.
  • 3    At least 5-5 in the majors with game forcing values
  • 3    At least 5-5 in the majors with invitational values

3-Level Club Suit Response
Opener will sometimes have either a singleton or a doubleton in clubs, so its not good bridge to use the Inverted Minor agreement where you jump to 3 with a weak hand and a 5-card club suit.  Instead you will get better results with the 6-8-10 agreement - You have a 6-card club suit with 8-10 points.

3-Level Diamond Suit Response
We use the Inverted Minor calls after partner opens 1 - A jump is non-forcing, and a simple raise is a strong hand with an interest in 3NT as the possible final contract.

Notrump Responses - 11-15 and 16+ HCP
The discussion for responding with a notrump bid is on a separate page - a 1NT bid shows 11-15 HCP and both 2NT and 3NT have 16+ HCP.


Bidding After Interference - Transfer Responses
John Jones, a Platinum Life Master, said that an emerging expert level agreement is to use Transfer Responses if there is an intereference overcall... Below is the Montreal Relay version of this.

This agreement is used only if the interference overcall is at the 1-level.  It does not apply to preemptive calls.
    Transfer Responses After an Overcall of 1
        Double         Transfer to the next higher suit    
        New Suit         Transfer to the next higher suit    


Examples
  West      North      East      South   
1      1      Dbl      P     
The double by East is a transfer to spades.


  West      North      East      South   
1      1      1      P     
The spade bid by East is a transfer to clubs.

The obvious gain is that both strong hands and marginal hands can immediately show their long suit.

BOOC
We have an agreement called BOOC, which is Bidding Over One Club... The agreement was developed as a defensive bid after an opponent opens 1, but it can also be used in some situations, such as this, where we open 1.
(See the chapter on BOOC.)   Bidding Over One Club

After a Double
What is the standard meaning of a redouble?  How do you show both majors after a double?  We may not have the best solution, but this is probably better than most agreements.
  • Redouble - It's a transfer to diamonds
  • Bid 1 - Shows both majors, which could be 4-4, 4-5 or 5-5 in shape.

After a 1NT Overcall
The old standard is that if an opponent overcalls with a 1NT call, a double by responder is for penalty.  It doesn't happen often, so there's a better use for the double.  Besides, it can be very dangerous to double a low-level call for penalty!
  • Double - It's a transfer to diamonds
  • Bid 2 - Shows both majors, which could be 4-4, 4-5 or 5-5 in shape.




Opener's Rebids
    Jump to 2NT Rebid - 4441
    A problem hand for any bidding system is the one with 4-4-4-1 pattern and more than 17 points.  There are proposed solutions but they often have unacceptable limitations.  Even so, something is needed.  Here is a method you might consider...  Open 1 and if your partner responds with a 5-card major and you happen to have four more, you have found a great hand.  If your partner's 5-card major is your short suit, your jump to 2NT shows 18+ points and no fit.  Your partner won't need much to bid game.

    If your partner bids 1 in response to your opening bid, denying a 5-card major, he may still have a 4-card major.  Jump to 2NT to tell your partner the size and pattern of your hand.  If your partner has six or more points he should bid a 4-card major since you have at least one of the majors.  Without a 4-card major responder should show his best minor, or raise to 3NT.

    Minor Suit Rebid
    When the opener bids 1 and then rebids 2 over a 1 response, he denies a 4-card major and also denies any ability to rebid 1NT.  Opener should have at least a 5-card club suit with distributional values.

    When the opener bids 1 and then rebids 2 over a 1 response, opener has a reverse with five clubs and four diamonds and about 16-18 points.  He does not have a 4-4-4-1 hand nor 5-5 in the minors.  (The system has other bids to describe those hands.) 

    Jump Shift Rebid
    Some strong two-suited hands are very difficult to describe so let's fall back on an old standard - Open one of them and then jump in the other one.  Generally your first bid suit is the better of the two suits.  If you can suggest a better way, please send me an email.

    Reverse Rebid
    A Reverse is a nonjump bid at the two-level in a new suit that ranks higher than the first bid suit.  From the early days of bridge the point count has been defined as 16-18, but the Montreal Relay system outlined here generally has an upper limit of 17 points, so our Reverse is usually a very good 15 to 17 points.  (Usually a 5-6 Losing Trick Count.)