Staveley Wriggle after 1NT is doubled

Why Play a "Wriggle"?

Standard bidding methods (which apply by default if you have no explicit agreement) are that if your partner's 1NT opening bid is doubled then all bids by you are natural. In other words, there is no Stayman, transfers or any other convention. If you bid 2♣, for example, you are telling your partner that you want to play in clubs and he should pass your bid.

That is all very well if you have a 5-card suit. But if you have two or three 4-card suits you have no alternative but to pass, even though the chances of finding a 4-4 fit or a playable 4-3 fit are much better than 50%. If you can find a satisfactory trump fit, two good things can happen. Firstly, you will make more tricks and, even though you are playing for 8 tricks rather than 7, you will get a better score (or at least no worse a score). Secondly, the opponents may not be able to double you, since they may have few of your trumps and will feel that you have found too good a fit. They may leave you undoubled, or may rescue you by bidding themselves.

A "wriggle" is a system of escaping from 1NT doubled into one of a choice of 4-card suits. There are many different wriggles available, but the Staveley Wriggle, described here, is one of the best.

The Staveley Wriggle

After a player has opened 1NT and the next player has doubled, all bids by responder are natural except for 2♣. Responder bids 2♣ either with a genuine club suit or with a hand having two 4-card suits other than clubs.

2♣ is at first assumed by opener to be natural, and he must pass on his next turn (whether or not the next player doubles). But if either opponent doubles 2♣ responder has another call. He passes if he was wanting to play in clubs. But if he has two 4-card suits other than clubs he bids as follows:

Rdbl

Shows 4-4 in the red suits.

2♦

Shows 4-4 in diamonds and spades.

2♥

Shows 4-4 in hearts and spades.

Memory guide: When responder bids a suit, he shows the suit bid and spades. When responder redoubles, he shows the two suits other than spades.

After one of these calls by responder, opener simply selects what he expects to be the best trump suit.

What if 2♣ is not doubled?

It may happen that responder has two 4-card suits and yet his bid of 2♣ is not doubled. He will just have to play there! As the undoubled undertricks will be relatively cheap, this is usually not a disaster.

The Advantages of the Staveley Wriggle over Other Wriggles

Other wriggles assign artificial meanings to both a pass and a redouble by responder. This has serious drawbacks.

A natural redouble by responder (showing that his side has more than half of the high card values) is a very valuable call to be able to make. It scores a game if the contract succeeds, which is likely when the opponents' values are all in one hand, and it puts his side in a position to penalise the opponents if they should run to a suit.

A natural pass by responder is simply a means of telling opener that 1NT doubled is probably the best place to play - and it very often is if both hands are flat.

The Staveley Wriggle is also very easy to remember, which is important for something that will not happen all that frequently.

The only drawback is that you cannot use this wriggle with two 4-card suits that include clubs.

Author: Chris Burton
Gravesend Bridge Club