NMF �?New Minor Forcing

Some important points:

1minor �?1Major �?1NT �?2otherminor (alert) = New Minor Forcing, or
1Heart �?1Spade �?1NT �?2minor (alert) = New Minor Forcing

This bid is artificial and initiates NMF. It is game invitational and shows 11+ HCP and 5+ M. It says nothing about the minor. It is only used after a 1N rebid. If responder bids a new minor when opener rebids something other than 1N, it falls under the new-suit-by-responder rule and is not NMF.

Playing NMF gives up the natural 2otherminor bid which otherwise shows a weak 2-suiter.

The question has come up after the auction 1minor 1Spade 1NT 2otherminor and opener holds both 4hearts and 3spades. Which should opener show first: the 4-card heart suit or the 3-card spade support? It is commonly accepted that with both 4-4 and 5-3 major fits, that playing in the 4-4 fit is better. If responder has 5spades and 4hearts and opener has 4hearts and 3spades, then the best contract is hearts. One of the partners must show his/her 4-card heart suit so that hearts can be played. It is logical that opener shows the 4hearts before the 3spades. The reason is simple: If responder shows the 4-card heart suit after opener has shown 3-card spade support and opener does not have both 4hearts and 3spades, the defense will know about declarer’s 4-card heart suit. If opener shows 4hearts before 3spades and responder only has 5spades and not 4hearts, opener will be exposed as dummy after the opening lead and the defense will not be helped as much.

After NMF, opener shows opener’s strength and distribution. Opener shows secondary support and jumps with a max. Note that once opener shows a max, the partnership is committed to game.

After 1C 1S 1N 2D (alert), opener bids:

2H = min, 4h, maybe also 3s
            2S = non-forcing, 5s, denies 4h
            3D = game force, 5s, 5d
            3S = game force, 6s, denies 4h
            3N = game force, 5s, denies 4h
                        4S = opener has both 4h and 3s
            4H = signoff
2S = min, 3s, not 4h
            3H = game force, 5s, 5h
2N = min, 2s, 2/3h
            3D = game force, 5s, 5d
            3H = game force, 5s, 5h
            3S = game force, 6s+
3H = max, 4h, maybe also 3s
            3S = 6+s, denies 4h
            3N = 5s, denies 4h
                        4S = opener has both 4h and 3s
3S = max, 3s, not 4h
3N = max, 2s, 2/3h

Playing NMF, also changes some of the other auctions.

After 1C 1S 1N, Responder bids:

2C and 2S = weak signoff, opener must pass
2H = 5s, 4h+, weak signoff, opener passes or corrects to 2S
2N = 4s, 11-12, game invite
3C = invitational preference
3D* = 6d, 4s, weak signoff (some play this 5s and 5d invitational or 5s and 5d weak signoff)
3H* = 5s, 5h, invitational
3S* = 6s+, invitational
3N = signoff

* These bids are changed because of NMF

Note that responder starts all game forcing auctions with NMF. The jumps are all invitational or weak.