# Stayman convention
The Stayman convention is a bidding convention in contract bridge in which an artificial 2♣ response to a natural 1NT opening asks the opener to reveal any four-card major suit, with the purpose of finding a 4-4 major-suit fit.[1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman) It was developed in 1945 and is one of the two most widely used conventions in the world, the other being Blackwood; both are taught to beginners at the very start.[1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| The bid | 2♣ over a natural 1NT opening, artificial, asking "Do you have a four-card major?"[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf) |
| Opener's answers | 2♦ = no four-card major; 2♥ = four hearts, possibly four spades; 2♠ = four spades, no four hearts[1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman) |
| Origin | First described by Samuel M. Stayman (1909-1993) in *The Bridge World* in 1945, but invented by his partner George Rapee[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf) |
| Responder's requirements | 8+ high-card points, at least one four-card major, and a short suit (not 4-3-3-3 shape)[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf) |
| Over 2NT | 3♣ is Stayman after a 2NT opening (20-21 or 20-22 balanced), with the same three answers at the three level[3](https://bridgearena.net/blog/stayman-convention) |
| Weak-hand use | Garbage Stayman covers weak hands that are 4-4 or better in the majors[4](https://pfdubois.github.io/BridgeBidding/NoTrump.html) |
| Alerting | In ACBL-sponsored events, no Alert is required for 2♣ over 1NT or 3♣ over 2NT requesting a four-card major[5](https://www.acblunit390.org/Simon/alert.htm) |
## Purpose
A 4-4 major fit usually takes one more trick than notrump, because the short trump hand can ruff, so it is worth a round of bidding to find out whether one exists.[6](https://bridgesense.org/learn/stayman) Major-suit games also score better than 3NT.[7](https://bridge.com/en/learn/bridge-basics/rules/bridge-basics/) The convention is used with both invitational and game-forcing hands, and helps choose the right contract with a five-card major and invitational values as well.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf)
## The basic auction
After 1NT, responder bids 2♣ and opener must answer at the lowest level; passing is not an option.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf)
- **2♦** denies a four-card major. It promises nothing about diamonds, and responder may pass opener's two-level response without interest in game, so Stayman does not necessarily commit the partnership to a contract of at least 2NT.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf) • [14](https://masterpointpress.com/uploads/files/products/samples/82/9781554940301_25ConventionsYouShouldKnow-SAMPLE.pdf)
- **2♥** shows four hearts and may also show four spades.[1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman)
- **2♠** shows four spades and denies four hearts.[1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman)
Two main ways of treating the 2♥ and 2♠ responses exist, and both work provided both partners know which is in use; in the original version, 2♠ was preferred when opener held 4-4 in the majors.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf) • [1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman)
**When opener holds both majors**, he should begin by bidding hearts. If responder then denies hearts, opener can always bid spades later: over 1NT-2♣-2♥-2NT, a 3♠ rebid shows 15-16 HCP and four spades, and 4♠ shows 16-17 HCP and four spades.[8](https://pi.math.cornell.edu/~belk/stayman.htm)
## Responder's continuations
**If a 4-4 major fit is found**, responder either invites or bids game. Over a heart response, 3♥ shows 8 or 9 points and four hearts (inviting game), and 4♥ shows 10+ points and four hearts.[8](https://pi.math.cornell.edu/~belk/stayman.htm)
**If no fit is found**, responder escapes back to notrump: 2NT over a 2♦ or wrong-major response shows 8 or 9 HCP and invites game, and 3NT shows 10+ HCP.[8](https://pi.math.cornell.edu/~belk/stayman.htm) When the responder bids notrump again after a major-suit response, this shows a holding of four cards in the other major.[9](https://gambiter.com/bridge/Stayman_convention.html)
**Slam-zone hands** use the same routes. A 4NT bid immediately after a response to Stayman is a quantitative raise, not Blackwood; the ace-asking [Gerber convention](https://www.edgepedia.org/gerber-convention) (4♣) still applies after Stayman, so a sequence such as 1NT-2♣-2♥-4♣ is still Gerber.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf)
## Weak hands and garbage Stayman
Responder normally needs at least invitational values (8+ HCP), but there are exceptions.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf) Garbage Stayman refers to bidding weak hands that are 4-4 or better in the majors, intending to pass whatever response comes back; if opener bids 2♦, responder can safely pass because a 1NT opener must have at least two diamonds.[4](https://pfdubois.github.io/BridgeBidding/NoTrump.html) • [2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf) A weak hand with long clubs can also bid Stayman and then rebid 3♣ as a signoff, which opener must pass; assigning the conventional meaning to 2♣ has cost the natural use of the bid for a weak hand with clubs.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf)
In the original version of Stayman, a 2NT rebid by opener was allowed, showing a maximum hand of 18 points; this usage was dropped in order to use Stayman with weak hands short in clubs.[1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman)
## Super-accepts and extensions
For a maximum hand with a good fit, partnerships may use extended responses called super-accepts: 2NT showing five diamonds and a major, 3♣ showing five clubs and a major, 3♦ showing both majors and a maximum, and 3♥ or 3♠ showing five of that major and a maximum, each with defined continuations.[1](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman)
## Place in the system and variants
Stayman is one half of the standard structure over 1NT; the other half is Jacoby transfers, which handle the five-card majors that Stayman cannot.[6](https://bridgesense.org/learn/stayman) A direct 2♥ or 2♠ response over 1NT shows five or more of the major but is a "drop dead" bid, so Stayman is the tool for hands with a five-card major and invitational values.[2](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf)
The same convention works one level up: after a 2NT opening (20-21 balanced), 3♣ is Stayman with the same three answers at the three level.[3](https://bridgearena.net/blog/stayman-convention) Over a 1NT overcall (15-17), Stayman still applies, and because the overcaller is about three points stronger than an opener, responder can use it on about three points fewer, around eight.[10](https://learntoplaybridgeonline.co.uk/lessons/the-stayman-convention/)
Refinements include Puppet Stayman, which distinguishes hands with three-card support, and Smolen, used in the Stayman auction 1NT-2♣-2♦ to show game-forcing hands with five-four shape in the majors.[11](https://web2.acbl.org/documentlibrary/rulings/Alerts-for-Puppet-Stayman.pdf) • [12](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/STDA.pdf) Advanced partnerships may add slam-try treatments such as Reverse Baze after Stayman.[13](https://loebbridge.com/index.php/bridge-articles/stayman)
## Common mistakes
Four errors recur in practice: bidding Stayman with no four-card major, which hands the opponents two rounds of information for nothing; reading the 2♦ response as a diamond suit and raising it; forgetting that opener's 2♥ says nothing about spades, so a responder with four spades and invitational values should still bid 2♠; and bidding Stayman when 3NT is the whole answer, as with a 4-3-3-3 shape, where the fit found is often worth no more than notrump and the auction tells the defense which suits to attack.[6](https://bridgesense.org/learn/stayman)
## References
1. [Stayman, Contract Bridge Fandom](https://bridge.fandom.com/wiki/Stayman)
2. [Barbara Seagram and Marc Smith (1999). 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know, Chapter 1: Stayman, Master Point Press](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/25-Bridge-Conventions-You-Should-Know.pdf)
3. [The Stayman Convention Explained, BridgeArena](https://bridgearena.net/blog/stayman-convention)
4. [8. Notrump Openings, Bridge Bidding](https://pfdubois.github.io/BridgeBidding/NoTrump.html)
5. [Alerting: Bridge Article, ACBL Unit 390](https://www.acblunit390.org/Simon/alert.htm)
6. [Stayman Convention in Bridge, BridgeSense](https://bridgesense.org/learn/stayman)
7. [Common Conventions: Standard Bidding Systems, Bridge.com](https://bridge.com/en/learn/bridge-basics/rules/bridge-basics/)
8. [Stayman, Cornell Mathematics (Belk)](https://pi.math.cornell.edu/~belk/stayman.htm)
9. [Stayman convention, Gambiter](https://gambiter.com/bridge/Stayman_convention.html)
10. [Stayman Convention Video Lesson: Bridge Step 2](https://learntoplaybridgeonline.co.uk/lessons/the-stayman-convention/)
11. [Alerts for Puppet Stayman, ACBL](https://web2.acbl.org/documentlibrary/rulings/Alerts-for-Puppet-Stayman.pdf)
12. [Standard American System Notes](https://bridge-tips.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/STDA.pdf)
13. [Stayman, Loeb Bridge](https://loebbridge.com/index.php/bridge-articles/stayman)
14. [masterpointpress.com](https://masterpointpress.com/uploads/files/products/samples/82/9781554940301_25ConventionsYouShouldKnow-SAMPLE.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Board, card, and puzzle games › Card games › Contract bridge › Bridge bidding, conventions, and play › Bridge conventions*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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