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Puppet Stayman. By Marc Smith. EBU Grand Master, teacher, and author. The Basics. A balanced hand with 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, or 5-3-3-2 shape should generally open 1NT if the point count falls within your designated range. This means that sometimes you will have a five-card major when you open 1NT.
Typically Stayman is used on hands of 11+ points when responder has a four card major and game might be possible if there is a major suit fit. Stayman can also be used on any hand of zero to 28 points when it would be useful to find out if partner has a 4 card major.
Stayman is a convention used for locating a 4-4 major suit fit after partner opens 1NT. It is one of the oldest and most widely used conventions in the world, since a major suit contract is often preferable to no-trumps.
Puppet Stayman is a convention that can be used to find such a fit. To use Puppet Stayman, responder must have 10+ HCP and at least one 3- or 4-card major. (With a 5-card major responder will transfer into the major suit.) This bid should be alerted as Puppet Stayman and is game-forcing.
Puppet Stayman is a specialized version of regular Stayman that is popularly used in response to a 2NT opening bid. Beginning an auction with 2NT has pluses and minuses.
Simplified Puppet Stayman over 1 Notrump: An alternative treatment is the simplified Puppet Stayman convention, credited to Marty Bergen; responder promises game-going values using this method.
modified version of the convention was born, known as Puppet Stayman. The majority of tournament players use Puppet Stayman opposite 2NT openings, and they use regular Stayman opposite 1NT openings.
