Relay bid
Encyclopedia
In contract bridge
, relay is a term for a conventional bid that usually has little or no descriptive meaning but asks partner to describe some feature of his hand. A relay is often the cheapest bid available but need not be. Stayman and Blackwood
are common examples of relay bids.
The rationale for introducing relay bids emerged from the idea that it is not always cost-effective (i.e. the best use of bidding space) for both partners to describe their hands. Instead, only one partner can make the cheapest bids available (relays) while the other describes his hand. This is especially useful when the asker has a balanced or very strong hand.
Relay bidding system
s are for the most part based on relay bids: in most sequences (especially forcing ones), one partner just relays while the other describes his hand in a highly codified manner. While relay systems offer a higher level of exchanged information
than natural systems, they also have the drawbacks that they are complicated to memorize and often exclude the players' judgment, particular in regard to honor location, which can be crucial on occasion.
There is often confusion between puppet bids and relays. A puppet bid requests partner to make the cheapest bid regardless of his hand. A relay bid requests partner to make a descriptive bid in response. The descriptive response can be natural (as in Stayman) or coded (as in Blackwood). A "marionette" bid is similar to a puppet bid except that it allows responses other than the cheapest bid with certain uncommon hand types. Thus technically it's a relay but with the cheapest bid expected most of the time.
See the Glossary of contract bridge terms for more definitions.
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
, relay is a term for a conventional bid that usually has little or no descriptive meaning but asks partner to describe some feature of his hand. A relay is often the cheapest bid available but need not be. Stayman and Blackwood
Blackwood
-Botany:* African Blackwood , decorative timber tree native to seasonally dry regions of Africa* Australian Blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon, native to eastern Australia...
are common examples of relay bids.
The rationale for introducing relay bids emerged from the idea that it is not always cost-effective (i.e. the best use of bidding space) for both partners to describe their hands. Instead, only one partner can make the cheapest bids available (relays) while the other describes his hand. This is especially useful when the asker has a balanced or very strong hand.
Relay bidding system
Bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of agreements and understandings assigned to calls and sequences of calls used by a partnership, and includes a full description of the meaning of each treatment and convention...
s are for the most part based on relay bids: in most sequences (especially forcing ones), one partner just relays while the other describes his hand in a highly codified manner. While relay systems offer a higher level of exchanged information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
than natural systems, they also have the drawbacks that they are complicated to memorize and often exclude the players' judgment, particular in regard to honor location, which can be crucial on occasion.
There is often confusion between puppet bids and relays. A puppet bid requests partner to make the cheapest bid regardless of his hand. A relay bid requests partner to make a descriptive bid in response. The descriptive response can be natural (as in Stayman) or coded (as in Blackwood). A "marionette" bid is similar to a puppet bid except that it allows responses other than the cheapest bid with certain uncommon hand types. Thus technically it's a relay but with the cheapest bid expected most of the time.
See the Glossary of contract bridge terms for more definitions.