Suction convention 5631402 223864561 2008-07-06T06:02:27Z Insanephantom 1093478 /* Restricted use */ . {{bridgenote}} '''Suction''' is a [[contract bridge|bridge]] [[convention (bridge)|convention]] used for intervention over an opponent's 1NT opening. When suction is agreed, a suit overcall of a 1NT opening is conventional and ''denies'' the suit actually bid. It shows ''either'' (1) a one-suiter in the next higher ranking suit or (2) a [[two suiter]] in the other two suits. If responder passes, advancer is required to bid the next higher ranking suit. If overcaller has the one-suited hand, he passes. Otherwise, he bids yet the next higher suit, showing that suit plus the remaining, unbid suit. Advancer then takes a preference by passing or bidding the remaining suit. To summarize: *2&clubs; shows either diamonds or both majors *2<span style="color:red">&diams;</span> shows either hearts or both black suits *2<span style="color:red">&hearts;</span> shows either spades or both minors *2&spades; shows either clubs or both red suits The two-suiters corresponding to the four suit bids are touching pairs one suit further up the line (perhaps better thought of this way ~ "both majors" requires memorising .. they happen to be the touching pair the lower of which is one up the line from diamonds). There are also two "non-touching" pairs, namely C & H, and D & S. The first can be thought of as the "junior" pair and shown by "Double"; the second is the senior and can be shown by 2NT. This requires the penalty double to be forgone; if unwilling to forgo, then 2NT must show both, requiring identification. ==Use as pre-empts== Suction bids can be used as pre-empts, giving a way of opening many weak hand types cheaply. Responder bids the next suit up with a weak or non-descript hand, and makes any other bid to force for one round. These mean forgoing the artificial 2{{Cs}} opening, so work best in a strong club context. This has the advantage that one can use the same structure for weak 2 openings, a defence to 1NT and (at the 1-level, with a "Double" replacing 2{{Cs}}) a defence to a strong 1C opening. ==Restricted use== Suction is not permitted in events governed by the [[American Contract Bridge League|ACBL]] General convention chart, except as a defense to artificial opening bids (such as [[Precision club|Precision]], [[Strong two clubs|strong 2{{Cs}}]] openings, [[Flannery]], etc.). ==See also== *[[List of defenses to 1NT]] {{bridge-game-stub}} [[Category:Bridge conventions]]