Stayman convention

"Stayman" redirects here. For the bridge player who initiated the convention, see Sam Stayman. For the apple cultivar, see Stayman (apple).
Main articles: Contract bridge, Bidding system, Bridge convention, and Glossary of contract bridge terms

Stayman is a bidding convention in the card game contract bridge. It is used by a partnership to find a 4-4 or 5-3 trump fit in a major suit after making a one notrump (1NT) opening bid and it has been adapted for use after a 2NT opening, a 1NT overcall, and many other natural notrump bids.

The convention is named for Sam Stayman, who wrote the first published description in 1945,[1] but its inventors were two other players: the British expert Jack Marx in 1939, who published it only in 1946,[2] and Stayman's regular partner George Rapée in 1944.[3]

  1. ^ "A New Notrump Convention", Samuel Stayman, The Bridge World, June 1945.
  2. ^ "What? Another Convention?", J.C.H. Marx, Contract Bridge Journal, September 1946.
  3. ^ "The Roots of Stayman", Alan Truscott, The New York Times, April 3, 1983.