July 2020 - 41

Newer Players

Parrish the Thought
BY ADAM PARRISH

adam@adamparrishbridge.com

adamparrishbridge.com

2♥ bust and the Parrish convention
Responder needs a way to show a
bust hand opposite a 2♣ opener. This
means a hand with no aces or kings,
and usually, at most one queen. Basically, it says, "If you need a trick from
me, I don't think I have it."
The standard way to show a bust is
by bidding an artificial 3♣ if opener
shows a major suit.
♠9 8 7 3 ♥4 3 ♦J 8 7 5 ♣8 4 2
2♣
2♥

2♦
3♣

Instead of this 3♣ second negative, my preference is to let responder
show a bust hand immediately with
a 2♥ response to 2♣, and use a 2NT
response to show hearts. This has the
advantage of setting up an immediate
game force when responder bids 2♦.
That can avoid annoying auctions like
a 3NT rebid showing 25-plus high-card
points; knowing we're in a game force,
opener can bid 2NT with the superstrong hand, taking advantage of our
nice 2NT systems (Stayman, transfers,
etc.), and then bid again once the right
strain is found. For example, he might
raise 3NT to 4NT.
There are flaws to using the 2♥ bust
bid, as there are flaws to everything. It
can wrong-side heart contracts, it gives
the opponents an artificial bid to double for a lead, and it can preempt the
auction. But most importantly, it can
confuse the rest of the auction unless
you have good agreements. Is opener's
next suit bid forcing? Sometimes he
wants it to be - he might have game in
his own hand - but sometimes he has

a minimum 2♣ opening and wants to
stop short of game.
Enter the Parrish convention!
Because sometimes opener wants to
make a forcing bid and sometimes a bid
where he wants to play, we need two
ways to make those bids.
The solution is to use 2♠ as a relay.
A relay is an artificial bid that forces
partner to bid the next step (strain).
In this case, responder will bid 2NT.
It sounds a little like a transfer, but a
relay is different from a transfer in two
ways. 1) After a transfer, partner is not
forced to bid the next suit - partner
can super-accept. This is because 2)
a transfer shows a suit; a relay does not.
What is the point of this relay? It
maximizes space in the auction and
gives opener two ways to make all bids
at the three level by either bidding
them directly or first going through
the 2♠ relay. For example, say opener
wants to bid 3♣. He now has two ways:

2♣
3♣

2♥

2♣
2♠
3♣

2♥
2NT

The direct way (2♣-2♥-3♣) is
forcing to game, the slower way (going
through the relay) is weaker and can be
passed. So if your hand is:
♠8 ♥A K Q ♦A Q 7 ♣A Q J 9 8 3,
you want to sign off in 3♣ opposite a
bust partner, so you would bid 2♠ and
then 3♣. If, instead, you have:
♠A Q ♥A K ♦A K 7 ♣A K Q 8 7 3,
you want to force to game and even
contemplate a slam opposite a near
yarborough, so you bid 3♣ directly,
which is game forcing.
The Parrish convention is a little
complicated, but if you want to use the
2♥ bust, it's really a must-have.
◾

July 2020 Bridge Bulletin

41
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July 2020

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