3NT = Solid Major ================= Based on Victor Silverstone's article in Bridge Magazine. Seven solid, min AKQ10xxx, no more than a queen outside. Responder can locate a shortage (and whether singleton or void), an eight-card suit or a working queen. Guidelines: * Responder provides four tricks and consequently an 8-card suit is enough for a slam. * Opener prioritises queens because these enhance the trick count. * Responder holds an option to declare. The original immediate responses are as good as any: 4C - no ambition OR slam try opposite short major 4D - slam try opposite short diamond 4H - slam try opposite short club We bid 'naturally', that is a bid side-suit shows a queen, the useful-shortage shows a void. These principles apply: 1) 5NT is 8-no-void (therefore no grand) queens irrelevant but NT allows responder to declare 2) Other bids above 5M show 8-plus-void and either name a queen or the void (no Q) 3) With a 7-card suit, bid queens before indicating voids. Thus showing a void denies a queen. 4) Showing 'nothing extra' (useful shortage but only 7-major, no Q, no void): a) In slam auctions after 4D/H, 4NT is 'nothing extra' b) In slam auctions after 4C, opener has already named the major and 5M is 'nothing extra' c) After 3NT - 4C; 4H - 4S; 4NT = void (no Q), 5m = Q, 5H = 'nothing extra' This is very close to Silverstone's original mechanism and Victor's examples are almost unchanged. (1) is different to the printed article. The only change to an example (#3) is that the response to 5NT asking "do you have a void" a 'yes' should be 6NT when the trump suit is unclaimed. In the scheme above, only (4c), in the 'squashed' auction due to the rank of suits, do bids not 'mean what they sound like', that is bid-queens and bid-shortage = void at appropriate level with no-trumps = bad news in context. We still use Victor's other ideas: A) 5NT after a 7-plus-Q response to ask for a void B) Immediate 4NT asks without regard to shortage (5m = 7Q, 5M = 7-no, 5OM = 7Q, 5NT = 8-no, 6m = 8Q, 6H = 8-OMQ). This forces to a small slam when opener has 7 hearts and SQ but not to a grand when he has 8. C) Immediate 5NT is a 7-try, asking for four top-honours or an 8-card suit (6C = no, 6NT = yes). D) Immediate jumps (5S, 6m, 6H) are 7-tries looking to find a jack or an 8-card suit (cheapest = no, 6NT = yes). And my addition: E) 5M is a 7-try asking for a void without risking wrong-siding a small slam, e.g. AKQJx xx Kxx AKx (worse with minors reversed). 5NT = no, bid suits locate void. Lastly: F) We have no meaning for immediate 5-minor or 5H when opener has spades. Note this drops any explicit mention of NGF and these's no coding. It's effectively a re-explaining of the printed article with some consistency improvements.