In the

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions o ...

", a splinter bid is a convention whereby a double jump response in a side-suit indicates excellent support (at least four cards), a singleton or void in that side-suit (but preferably not the ace or king), and at least game-going strength. Some partnerships agree that the maximum strength can be only that necessary to reach a game contract; stronger holdings with major suit support instead might temporize with a

Jacoby 2NT Jacoby 2NT (Swedish: ''Stenberg 2NT'') is a bridge convention in which a bid of 2NT over partner's opening bid of one heart (1) or one spade (1) shows a hand with both * opening strength or better - normally at least 12 HCP or a hand meeting the " ...

bid. The idea was developed independently in 1963 by David Cliff, the first to write about it, and

Dorothy Hayden Truscott Dorothy Hayden Truscott (November 3, 1925 – July 4, 2006) was an American bridge player, winner of four world championships and the top-ranked woman for many years. In the late 1960s, she authored two books on the game and later co-authored two ...

; it grew out of two earlier bidding tools, the

Fragment bid Developed by Monroe Ingberman, a fragment bid is a bidding convention used in the card game contract bridge. It is an unusual jump rebid, usually a double jump, by either the opener or the responder which shows a fit with partner's suit and shorta ...

and the Void-Showing bid.

Examples

For example, a four clubs (4) response to a one heart (1) opening establishes hearts as trump suit and indicates a singleton or void in clubs. Different bidding systems may specify different strengths for responder's hand, e.g. 10-12 high card points (HCP), 10-14 or 11-15, for a splinter. With a strong hand, a responder and opener may be able to make slam on sheer strength, so splinters by responder are best restricted to hands containing a fairly narrow HCP range and a void or a small singleton in the splintered suit. A singleton honor is frowned upon. Although they consume bidding space, splinter bids are very descriptive as they help partner to reevaluate his/her hand: soft honors (a

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

) in the splinter suit lose value, while honors in the other three suits gain value. In some positions if a simple bid of the suit would be forcing then a single jump can be a splinter. For example, in a system where 1–2; 2 is a forcing sequence, 1–2; 3 may be used as a splinter. (However, this approach would require a specific agreement in advance—many players use this sequence to denote a strong two-suiter.) Some partnerships use certain single jumps as "mini-splinters" that promise less strength, allowing partner to choose between part-score and game rather than between game and slam. The short suit in a splinter hand is preferably a small singleton, though it can occasionally be a singleton honor or a void. The idea is that partner can easily tell if he has wasted values in the splinter suit; for example, Axxx is ideal whereas KJ9x is almost worthless. Opener can also make a splinter bid to agree responder's suit if he is strong enough to be able to force to game if responder was minimum for his bid; see example 2 below. Typically, opener would have 15-18 points for this sequence. The four diamond bids in the following bidding sequences (with East-West passing throughout) are generally agreed to be splinter bids establishing spades as the trump suit: A splinter may occur at the three level. In the following auction, South is showing acceptance of hearts and a singleton in spades.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Splinter Bid Bridge conventions

Examples

Further reading

References