Scramble Stayman

Don’t Settle for 1NT

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. It might be this hand:

♠K 7 6 5 ♥J 10 2 ♦3 ♣Q 9 6 4 2

They tell you to pass that holding, even though in passing you will leave many fine major-suit fits on the table. This book argues 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 one IMP per hand.

Scramble Stayman examines (1) which types of hands qualify to scramble, (2) the scramble technique to use (beginning with 2 ♣, and overlaying standard Stayman) and (3) how the various scramble contracts score compared to 1NT, measured over thousands of hands. The book features a 100-board ‘match’ between one player staying in 1NT, and another scrambling to a (usually) better contract, which the scrambler decisively wins.