Suction convention

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This article concerns contract bridge and uses terminology associated with the game. See Contract bridge glossary for an explanation of unfamiliar words or phrases.

Suction is a bridge convention used for intervention over an opponent's 1NT opening.

When suction is agreed, a suit overcall of a 1NT opening is conventional and denies the suit actually bid. It shows either (1) a one-suiter in the next higher ranking suit or (2) a two suiter in the other two suits.

If responder passes, advancer is required to bid the next higher ranking suit. If overcaller has the one-suited hand, he passes. Otherwise, he bids yet the next higher suit, showing that suit plus the remaining, unbid suit. Advancer then takes a preference by passing or bidding the remaining suit.

To summarize:

2♣ shows either diamonds or both majors
2♦ shows either hearts or both black suits
2♥ shows either spades or both minors
2♠ shows either clubs or both red suits

The two-suiters corresponding to the four suit bids are touching pairs one suit further up the line (perhaps better thought of this way ~ "both majors" requires memorising .. they happen to be the touching pair the lower of which is one up the line from diamonds).

There are also two "non-touching" pairs, namely C & H, and D & S. The first can be thought of as the "junior" pair and shown by "Double"; the second is the senior and can be shown by 2NT. This requires the penalty double to be forgone; if unwilling to forgo, then 2NT must show both, requiring identification.

[edit] Use as pre-empts

Suction bids can be used as pre-empts, giving a way of opening many weak hand types cheaply. Responder bids the next suit up with a weak or non-descript hand, and makes any other bid to force for one round. These mean forgoing the artificial 2C opening, so work best in a strong club context. This has the advantage that one can use the same structure for weak 2 openings, a defence to 1NT and (at the 1-level, with a "Double" replacing 2C) a defence to a strong 1C opening.

[edit] Restricted use

Suction is not permitted in events governed by the ACBL General convention chart, except as a defense to artificial opening bids (such as precision, strong 2c openings, flannery, etc.).