Inverted Baron

Too often, good minor-suit slams are missed after a 1NT opening. Popular conventions such as Stayman and Jacoby Transfers focus on the majors, and methods like Minor Suit Stayman and four-suit transfers fail when responder does not have the required specific hand type. Such methods may also require an artificial meaning for the 2NT response, which many experts find undesirable.

What I like instead is my own variation of the Baron convention, where a 2 response to 1NT guarantees at least mild slam interest and also interest in finding a four-card suit fit. Responder tends to have one or both minors, or a major-minor two-suiter with exactly four cards in the major, or a three-suiter.

With a minimum, opener must rebid 2NT, otherwise must bid some suit at the three-level. Regardless of opener's rebid, the idea is to show four-card suits up-the-line, looking for a fit.

Now here's the "inverted" part: ALL THREE-LEVEL SUIT BIDS BOTH BY OPENER AND RESPONDER ARE ARTIFICIAL AND SHOW THE SUIT TWO LEVELS AWAY FROM THE BID SUIT. That is, 3 shows hearts, 3 shows spades, 3 shows clubs, and 3 shows diamonds. The reason for this is simple -- we want to find major-suit fits before minor-suit fits. After a Baron 2, this rule applies ALWAYS at the three-level and ONLY at the three-level.

Here are some bidding samples:

1NT	2
3		Maximum opening, 4 spades, denies 4 hearts
1NT	2
3	3	4+ diamonds, denies spade support or clubs
4		Cue-bid, diamond support plus A or K of clubs
1NT	2
2NT	3	(opener is minimum; responder has spades and not hearts)
3	4NT	RKC for diamonds

That's it in a nutshell. As companion treatments, I use a direct 3 or 3 response to 1NT as weak, and bid Stayman first and then three of a minor as nonforcing but invitational to 3NT.