The purpose of the Inverted Minors convention is to investigate the possibility of making a 3-NT game. As with all NT game tries, bidders should exclude shortness points when determining a hand’s strength.
An opener’s bid of a minor at the 1 level denies a 5-card major suit. The responder’s first obligation is to bid a 4+ card major suit. Thus, a responder who bids 2 or 3 of the Opener’s minor suit (invoking the Inverted Minors convention) denies having a 4-card major.
Further, the responder promises 5+ cards in the opener’s minor suit with one possible exception. Provided the partnership has agreed a 1♦ opening bid promises a 4+ card diamond suit, responder may have as few as 4 diamonds to bid Inverted Minors. This ensures the partnership has at least an 8 card diamond suit fit.
An overcall from the opener’s Left Hand Opponent (LHO) disables the Inverted Minors convention; i.e., Inverted Minors are off.
Inverted Minors (Standard)
| Bidding Roles | Responder Shows | |||
| Opener | LHO | Responder | RHO | |
| 1-Club | Pass | 2-Clubs | Pass | 11+ Total points |
| 1-Club | Pass | 3-Clubs | Pass | < 11 Total points |
| 1-Diamond | Pass | 2-Diamonds | Pass | 11+ Total points |
| 1-Diamond | Pass | 3-Diamonds | Pass | < 11 Total points |
“Inverted” means responder’s bid at the 2 level is strong while a bid at the 3 level is weak.
The crisscross variant of the Inverted Minors convention provides the partnership with an additional advantage, a game forcing bid.
Inverted Minors (Crisscross)
| Bidding Roles | Responder Shows | |||
| Opener | LHO | Responder | RHO | |
| 1-Club | Pass | 2-Clubs | Pass | Game Forcing |
| 1-Club | Pass | 2-Diamonds | Pass | 11-12 Total points |
| 1-Club | Pass | 3-Clubs | Pass | < 11 Total points |
| 1-Diamond | Pass | 2-Diamonds | Pass | Game Forcing |
| 1-Diamond | Pass | 3-Clubs | Pass | 11-12 Total points |
| 1-Diamond | Pass | 3-Diamonds | Pass | < 11 Total points |
Cue Bids
After responder’s bid, the opener makes a cue bid of:
- 2♥ promising a heart stopper and denying a spade stopper
- 2♠ promising a spade stopper and denying a heart stopper
- 2NT promising a stopper in both major suits
- 3♣/3♦ denying a stopper in both major suits
- 3♥ promising a singleton or void in hearts
- 3♠ promising a singleton or void in spades
- 4♣/4♦ to invoke Minorwood (RKC).
Cue Bids (Advanced)
The opener can use a slow-show sequence of cue bids to show 1st or 2nd round control in both majors and an interest in slam. Having controls is stronger than having stoppers. The following example illustrates a slow-show sequence of cue bids.
Q-bids (Advanced)
| Bid # | Bidder | Explanation | |||
| Opener | LHO | Responder | RHO | ||
| 1 | 1-Club | Pass | 2-Clubs | Pass | Crisscross (Game Forcing) |
| 2 | 2-Hearts | Pass | 3-Diamonds | Pass | Opener has a heart stopper and denies a spade stopper. Responder has a diamond stopper. |
| 3 | 3-Spades | Pass | 3-NT | Pass | * see below |
| 4 | 4-Clubs | Pass | Opener's 4-Clubs over Responder's 3-NT invokes Minorwood RKC. | ||
* To show a stopper in both major suits, opener’s 2nd bid could have been 2-NT. Thus, the sequence of opener’s 2nd and 3rd bids convey an additional meaning. Specifically, opener has 1st or 2nd round control in both majors and slam interest.
Competitive Hands
Although an overcall from LHO disables the Inverted Minor convention, a responder can still complete. The following responder bids still deny a 4 card major, but do allow the partnership to compete for the auction.
Competitive Hand Examples
| Bidding Roles | Responder Shows | |||
| Opener | LHO | Responder | RHO | |
| 1-Club | 1-Spade | 2-Clubs | Pass | 6-9 Total points |
| 1-Club | 1-Spade | 3-Clubs | Pass | 10-12 Total points |
| 1-Club | 1-Spade | 2-Spades | Pass | Q-bid (Game Forcing) |
