- Flannery
Flannery is a bridge convention using an 2Diams opening bid to show a hand of minimal opening bid strength (11-15 high card points) with exactly four spades and five (or sometimes six) hearts. It is invented by American player
William Flannery .This convention was introduced because of the awkwardness of describing such holding, especially with four-card major systems. For example, with the hand BridgeHandInline|KQ82|AJ643|KJ|54, if the bidding starts 1Hearts-1NT (denying four spades), the opener cannot rebid 2Spades, as it would be a
reverse bid showing a stronger hand, 2Hearts shows a six-card suit, and 2 of a minor would show 4 or at least good 3 cards. Thus, the opener cannot safely seek for a 5-3 fit in hearts. Five-card major openers are somewhat better placed, because 1NT denies both 3 hearts and 4 spades, so opener may safely pass. However, this convention is also useful when playing five-card majors in conjunctions withforcing notrump , to prevent opener from having to respond in a nonsuit after 1Hearts – 1 Notrump when not strong enough to reverse.Responses
Responder has only 2NT as the forcing bid, and all other bids are natural. The bidding proceeds as follows:
*Pass, 2Hearts, 2Spades, 3Clubs – to play
*3NT, 4Hearts, 4Spades – to play
*3Hearts, 3Spades – invitational
*2NT – forcing bid. The opener describes his hand more precisely:
**3Clubs, 3Diams – 3 cards in the bid suit (i.e. 4=5=1=3 and 4=5=3=1 distribution)
**3Hearts – 4=5=2=2, 11-13 points
**3Spades – 4=5=2=2, 14-15 points with weak minor-suit doubletons
**3NT – 4=5=2=2, 14-15 points, but good minor-suit doubletons
**4Clubs, 4Diams – 4 cards in the bid suit (i.e. 4=5=0=4 and 4=5=4=0 distribution)
**4Hearts - a 6-card heart suit, for those who play this variantAnti-Flannery
"Anti-Flannery" is a variation used in systems which use canapé approach, where shorter suit is opened first. It is used in some variations of
Blue Club and Lancia systems. With canapé in effect, hands with 4=5 in majors are naturally opened 1Spades with 2Hearts rebid, however, hands with 5 spades and 4 hearts are the ones that present a problem. So, the bid of 2Diams shows 5 spades and 4 hearts. The further development is similar to the basic Flannery.External links
* [http://www.bridgeguys.com/Conventions/Flannery2Diamonds.html BridgeGuys convention description]
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