New Minor Forcing is a very useful convention when your partner opens in a Minor and you hold a Five-Card Major or 2 Four card Majors and 11+ PTS. The auction would go something like this: 1C and you bid 1H, and then your partner bids 1NT on his re-bid -- when you bid 2D it is totally artificial and checkbacks to see if partner has 4 of the other major or 3 of your major. With 4 of the other major he bids it, and then you bid your hand. If he has 3 of your major he will show it on his next bid. This allows you to find a major suit fit.

A bid of 2NT denies support and suggest a notrump contract. There are hands where a re-bid by opener of 2NT is not appropriate and he must further describe his hand. A bid of the other major shows 4 Cards, a Raise of his Original Suit or the a Raise of the "new minor" (although artificial by the responder) would be Natural suggesting a flaw in his hand for NT. (Note: If you are holding a weak hand with 5/4 in the Majors a 2 Level bid of one of your majors is a signoff. If you jump to 3H or 3S or bid another suit your are showing game interest.

Hand 1

Partner	A92 QT7 AJ87 K52

	KQ876 AJ98 QT3 8

North	East	South	West
1D	Pass	1S	Pass
1nt	Pass	2C*	Pass
2S	Pass	4S	Pass

North opens the bidding 1D. South bids 1S.
This partnership has agreed to play New Minor Forcing.

South bids 2C* (New Minor Forcing) asking his partner if he has 3-card support for his major or 4 of the other major. North responds 2S showing 3-card support and South confidently bids game.

Hand 2

Partner KQ
QJT7
AJ84
JT2

AJ976
AK53
Q5
98

North

East

South

West

1D

Pass

1S

Pass

1nt

Pass

2C*

Pass

2H

Pass

4H

Pass

North opens the bidding 1D. South bids 1S.

This partnership has agreed to play New Minor Forcing.

South bids an artificial 2C* (New Minor Forcing) asking his partner if he has 3-card support for "his" major. North responds 2H showing a 4-card Heart Suit. Having found a major suit fit, South confidently bids game.

References BridgeGuys Home Page BridgeHands Website Northern Colorado Bridge Site Quiz on New Minor Forcing