SAYC summary (Standard American Yellow Card system for bridge)

This is a very concise summary. More info on SAYC: ACBL SAYC System Booklet and ACBL Standard Yellow Card (both in PDF format). See also: Full SAYC convention card by Michel Heger and SAYCBridge.com, for online practice bidding with SAYC.

Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC)
opening	characteristics	response	meaning	continuation
1♣	3+ cards	3 ♣	limit, 10–12, 5+ clubs (preempt over D)
		2NT	13–15, GF
		3NT	16–18
1♦	4+ cards or 4432	as to 1♣, but 4 diamonds suffice for a raise
1♥	5+ cards	1♠	4+ spades, 6+ pts, usu. no ♥ support
		1 NT	6–9; denies 4 spades or 3 hearts	may be passed
		2 ♣/♦	10+, 4+ cards	promises another bid unless passed hand or game bid
		2NT !	Jacoby: raise, 13+	3♣/♦/♠ shortness, 4♥ min, 3NT med, 3♥ max
		3♥	limit, 10–11, 3+ hearts (preempt over D)
		3NT	15–17 hcp, balanced, 2 card support
		4♥	usu. 5+ hearts, shortness, <10 hcp
1♠	5+ cards	as to 1 ♥
1NT	15–17 hcp balanced (may contain a 5-card suit, even a major)
		2♣	non-forcing Stayman, usu. 8+ hcp	2 ♦/♥/♠ (2♥ with both majors); responder’s 3♣/♦ slam interest
		2♦ !	Jacoby transfer to hearts	2 ♥, or 3 ♥ with max.
		2♥ !	Jacoby transfer to spades	2 ♠, or 3 ♠ with max.
		2♠ !	transfer to 3♣	resp. rebid 3 ♦ signoff
		3♣/♦ !	inv. to 3NT with 6+ card suit
		3♥/♠	6+ card suit, slam interest
		4♣	Gerber, asking for aces	4♦ = 0 or 4, 4♥ = 1, etc
		4NT	natural, invites 6NT
2♣	strong artificial, 22+ or playing equiv.	2♦ !	artif., may be waiting	opener’s suit rebid forcing to 3 of his major or 4 of his minor; after 2 NT rebid: Stayman, Jacoby, Gerber
		2♥/♠, 3♣/♦	natural, GF, 5+ cards, 8+ pts
		2NT	balanced, 8 hcp
2♦/♥/♠	6+ (or 5) cards, 5–11 hcp; usually no major side suit	2NT	forcing, game interest	with min. (5–8 p): rebid the suit; with max.: new suit (shows A/K) or 3NT or 4 of minor (shows 4–5 cards with at least Q)
		any raise	to play
		new suit	forcing (if RONF = Raise Only Non-Force agreed)	opener raises major suit with 3 (or doubleton honor); otherwise with minimum (5–8) rebids suit, with maximum new suit or NT
2NT	20–21 hcp balanced, may contain 5-card suit	3♣	Stayman
		3♦/♥ !	Jacoby transfer	3♥/♠
		4♣ !	Gerber
		4NT	inviting to slam in NT
3NT	25–27 hcp balanced	4♣ !	Stayman
3NT	25–27 hcp balanced	4♦/♥ !	Jacoby transfer	4♥/♠
3/4 of suit	pre-empt, rule of 2/3/4

Choosing the opening

open the higher of long (at least 5 cards) suits of equal length
with 4–4 minors, open 1 ♦
notrump openings show a balanced hand but may contain a five-card suit (minor or major)
occasional 4-card major opening in 3^rd seat

Continuation

fourth suit may be artificial (“4th suit forcing”), except in 1♣–1♦–1♥–1♠, which is natural
after opener’s rebid in a suit, a new suit by responder is forcing
after opener’s rebid of 1 NT (e.g., 1♥–1♠–1NT), responder’s simple non-reverse rebid in a new suit (e.g., 2♣/♦) is non-forcing
in that situation, a reverse rebid (e.g. 1♣–1♥–1NT–2♠) or a jump shift into a new suit is game-forcing

Slam conventions

regular Blackwood: 4 NT asks for aces, 5♣ = 0 or 4; 5 ♦ = 1; 5 ♥ = 2; 5 ♠ = 3; then 5 NT asks for kings similarly
Grand Slam Force: jump to 5 NT asks partner to bid grand slam in agreed suit with two of three top honors in it

Effect of interference

usually interference cancels conventions (e.g., after major suit opening and interference, a response of 2 NT is natural, 12–14 hcp, not Jacoby)
double of 1/2/3 NT does not affect conventions
after 1 NT and interfering bid, bid in opponent suit is game-forcing and substitute for Stayman

Defensive bidding

D for takeout over opening partscore, penalty opening game bid
simple overcall 8–16 points; only forcing response is opp. suit
1 NT overcall 15–18 hcp (10–15 when reopening), balanced, preferably a stopper in opp. suit; 2♣ response Stayman, otherwise natural
jump 2 NT is “unusual”, i.e. 5–5 lowest unbid suits
jump overcall in suit preemptive
a bid in opp. suit is
- Michaels when opps have bid one suit only (Michaels: 5–5 in majors and 8+ pts when opening was in a minor, otherwise the other major and a minor and 10+ pts)
- natural when opps have bid 2 suits

Competitive bidding

neg. D up to 2♠
RD 10+ pts
responders jump shift over D is to play
cuebid in right-hand opp. forcing to game
RD of a D of conventional bid is for business
RD is SOS when suit contract of 3 or lower is doubled for penalty
D of conventional bid like Michaels or unusual 2 NT shows 10+ pts

Leads and signals

top of touching honors (even A from AKx)
top of interior sequence
Xxxx(…), i.e. 4^th best (rule of 11) if headed by an honor
xxxx(…), i.e. 2^nd best from 4 or more when no honor
against suit contract: xxx, i.e. lowest from 3 small
against NT contract: xxx, i.e. highest from 3 small
high encourages, low discourages
high–low is even when giving count