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OMNIBUS There are various conventional 2NT responses to an opening bid of one in a suit (e.g., Jacoby 2NT) that require responder to bid something else with a normal 13-15 HCP notrump hand. The Omnibus 2NT response retains that valuable standard meaning of 2NT while adding two hand types that are hard to describe in standard bidding: 1) A 16-20 high-card point (HCP) notrump type hand. A 3NT response to a major with 16-18 HCP crowds the bidding too much, and may be useful for showing a different sort of hand (e.g., a game-forcing major suit raise). With 19-20 HCP standard practice is to respond 2NT, then bid 4NT (or a five-card suit) over 3NT. Such hands are included in Omnibus, so the 2NT response is expanded to include notrump hands of 13-20 HCP (maybe a good-looking 12). 2) A balanced hand with four-card or better support for opener that is too strong for a mere game-forcing raise. When partner opens 1H, how do you describe a hand such as S-K983 H-AJ97 D-K32 C-AQ? A jump to 2S is highly questionable--neither the hand nor the suit is good enough for that action. If you respond 1S, partner's two-level rebid leaves you without a clear-cut continuation. The range of the Omnibus suit raise is 16-18 points (count 1 point for a doubleton), too good for a standard forcing raise and too weak for a strong jump response in a new suit (or perhaps lacking a good suit for that purpose). For an Omnibus minor suit raise, responder must have at least five-card support, stoppers in the unbid suits, and no major suit. A similar hand with four-card support is treated as a type 1) hand, not as type 2). Omnibus also enables opener to show a 4-4-4-1 hand opposite a 2NT response. In standard bidding opener has no way of showing a three-suited hand after a 2NT response without going past 3NT, which could be the right contract. Not showing all three suits can result in missing a better contract than 3NT when a 4-4 fit goes undiscovered. Opener's Rebid After an Omnibus 2NT response, opener rebids as follows: 3C - A Stayman-like rebid showing interest in a major suit contract, or a good hand--at least a queen better than a minimum opening. This rebid lets responder show a major (or support for opener's major), and provides maximum bidding space for responder to show a strong hand when opener has extras. 3D - A 4-4-4-1 hand of any strength with a singleton in the expected place: Opening Bid Expected Singleton 1S Clubs 1H Spades 1D Hearts 1C Diamonds If opener has a 4-4-4-1 hand with the singleton in other than the expected place, he bids 3C (to check for a major), not 3D. He won't be able to describe the hand exactly in this case. 3H - a normal 3C rebid, minimum hand, probably unbalanced 3S - a normal 3D rebid, minimum hand, probably unbalanced 3NT - normal notrump raise, minimum hand 4C - Gerber, asking for aces 4NT - Natural, 18-19 HCP Game jumps - A minimum hand with one or two long suits: Opener Responder 1S 2NT 4H/4S - minimum opening bid When the opening bid is 1C, 1D, or 1H, opener can alternatively invite a notrump slam by bidding 4S instead of 4NT. This artificial notrump raise implies that opener's suit needs a good fit to be useful for slam (e.g., his five-card suit is headed by only one of the top three honors). Responder usually signs off at 4NT with a poor fit and only 13-14 HCP. Responder's Rebids 1) Opener has rebid 3C, showing interest in a major suit contract, or a good hand, or both: Opener Responder 1 any 2NT 3C With a 13-15 HCP notrump hand, responder: -- shows an unbid major if he has one; -- shows three-card support for opener's major (Jxx or better); -- bids 3H with both; -- bids 3NT with neither. With a 16-18 HCP notrump hand, responder bids 3D over 3C. Opposite a major opening, responder usually has 4-3-3-3 distribution, but could be 4-4-3-2 with both minor suits and a strong doubleton in opener's major. Opposite a minor opening, responder usually has 4-4-3-2 distribution with both minors (respond 3NT with 4-3-3-3), or 5-3-3-2 with a doubleton in opener's minor and five cards in the other minor. Opener can now bid an invitational 4NT (or 4S) with a balanced 15-16 HCP hand, make some other move toward slam, or bid slam. Rebids of 3H, 3S, or 4C are natural: Opener Responder 1D 2NT 3C 3D - notrump hand, 16-18 HCP 3H/3S/4C - natural The 4C bid may alternatively be used for Gerber. With a 19-20 HCP notrump hand, responder rebids 4NT unless he has a major. If so, he bids three of the major now, to be followed by 4NT on the next round if opener bids 3NT. With an Omnibus raise (16-18 points) for opener's major, responder bids at the four level, showing his range at the same time. When judging the quality of the hand, responder considers the quality of the trump support as well as his overall strength. Number of controls (aces and kings) is also important. If in doubt, downgrade a hand with poorish trump support (e.g., Q432) or few controls. Note the reverse order of quality--the lower the bid, the better the hand: Opener Responder 1S 2NT 3C 4C - excellent hand 4D - good hand 4H - fair hand 4S - minimum hand There is less room when the suit is hearts, so: Opener Responder 1H 2NT 3C 4C - fine hand 4D - middling hand 4H - minimum hand 4NT by either partner is Blackwood. Minor suit Omnibus raises (showing at least five-card support) are similar, except that 4NT by either partner is natural (responder must have all suits stopped): Opener Responder 1C/1D 2NT 3C 4C - excellent hand 4D - good hand 4H - fair hand 4S - minimum hand These artificial four-level raise clarifications apply only after a 3C rebid by opener. There is no point to them if opener has a minimum, since Omnibus raises are limited to 18 points. Opener must rebid 3C with a non-minimum hand, even with a second suit to show. He can show the other suit later if he wants to: Opener Responder 1S 2NT 3C 3NT 4C/4D/4H Opener is showing a second suit in a non-minimum hand. He probably has slam hopes despite responder's known maximum of 15 HCP (Respon- der would have bid 3D or 4NT with a stronger notrump hand). If the side suit is hearts, it will be at least five cards long, since responder has denied holding four hearts. The 4H bid is non-forcing but mildly invitational, since opener would have bid 4H over 2NT with a minimum hand. 2) Opener has rebid 3D, showing a 4-4-4-1 hand with the "normal" singleton. Responder now takes charge. 3) Opener has rebid 3H or 3S with a minimum hand: Opener Responder 1 any 2NT 3H/3S A 3H rebid shows clubs, and a 3S rebid shows diamonds. If the open- ing was in a different suit, these bids imply that the original suit is at least five cards long. -- When the opening was in a major, responder raises the major with three-card or better support, whether holding a notrump hand or a big Omnibus raise: Opener Responder 1H 2NT 3H/3S 4H The 4H bid is ambiguous, in that responder could have an Omnibus raise with four trumps, or any sort of notrump hand with three trumps. Opener won't care what type of hand responder has, because he is going to pass 4H with his announced minimum hand (He must rebid 3C with extra values). With a notrump hand that lacks three-card support for opener's major, responder can rebid 3NT or (fearful of 3NT or in search of a slam) probe further: Opener Responder 1S 2NT 3H 3S - three spades, notrump hand 4S - Omnibus raise 4C - normal club raise 4D/4H - cue bid 4NT - 19-20 HCP notrump hand The 3H rebid shows clubs and a probable lack of interest in notrump. Responder's non-jump suit rebids are ambiguous as to strength, but they all may be made with a normal 2NT type hand. Opener assumes responder has a 13-15 HCP notrump hand, and bids accordingly. With an Omnibus raise, responder (barring a great fit with the second suit) merely puts the hand in the spade game, knowing there is probably no slam in view of opener's minimum hand. If responder has a 16-18 HCP notrump hand with no good fit in either of opener's suits, he will probably sign off in 3NT. In other cases he will just set the contract in a suit, since he knows opener's hand rather closely. With 19-20 HCP he bids 4NT (natural) if he can't see an obvious suit slam. -- When the opening bid was in a minor, opener is either showing both minors or "rebidding" a minor: South West North East 1D Pass 2NT Pass 3H - diamonds and clubs South West North East 1C Pass 2NT Pass 3H - rebiddable clubs Both sequences show a minimum opening, so North now bids an appropriate game (or slam) or raises to the four level (forcing). A four-level raise at this point could be based on a 13-15 HCP notrump hand if responder is nervous about a weakly stopped unbid suit. (Opener's rebid implies a dislike of notrump.) Opener may want to cue bid after this raise, in case responder has a big Omnibus raise and a great fit. 4) Opener has rebid 3NT, showing a minimum balanced hand with no special interest in a major suit contract: Opener Responder 1 any 2NT 3NT Responder can pass with a notrump hand of up to 18 HCP; a raise to 4NT shows 19-20 HCP. With a strong major raise sort of hand, responder will just bid four of opener's major. A four-level new suit bid by responder therefore shows a 5-3-3-2 (doubleton in opener's suit) hand with 19-20 HCP: Opener Responder 1H 2NT 3NT 4C/4D/4S - 19-20 HCP, 5-3-3-2 4NT - 19-20 HCP, no 5-card suit 5) Opener has jumped to game. Responder passes or otherwise sets the contract, remembering that opener has a minimum. A 2NT response by a passed hand is a natural bid showing 11-12 HCP, and of course is not forcing. Advantages of Omnibus -- A 16-18 HCP notrump responding hand can be shown at a low level (3D) when slam is a possibility (i.e., opener rebids 3C). -- The opponents will often be in the dark defending 3NT, not knowing declarer's strength very closely when he could have from 12 to 20 HCP. They may well go to bed with an ace or other win- ner(s). -- Some suit contracts normally played from opener's side may be played from the notrumper's side, making the opening lead come up to his side-suit strength. -- Opener's 4-4-4-1 hands will often get quickly described, and the eventual contract will be an accurate one. -- Extra strong raises will be shown with greater precision. -- The 3NT response can be used for hands other than the 16-18 HCP 4-3-3-3 notrump hands (e.g., as an artificial strong major suit raise with 13-15 points). -- Responder can feel free to bid 2NT with four cards in an unbid major and a notrumpish hand (SAJ3 H-Q874 D-KJ4 C-K108), because opener can easily check (via 3C) for a major suit. If there is no check, the opening lead will often be in that suit. Besides providing a good picture of responder's hand, the 2NT response gets any notrump contract played from the right side (the hand with tenaces). -- Opponents may be inhibited from overcalling when it would pay them to do so, out of fear that the 2NT bidder might have a powerful notrump hand. The complete text of OMNIBUS comprises 11 single-spaced pages. Besides adding more detail to the above text (e.g., responder's actions when opener shows a 4-4-4-1 hand), it includes the follow- ing sections: One-Over-One or 2NT? -- When is 2NT preferable to a one-over-one response? Two quizzes on the use of OMNIBUS OMNIBUS was published in Popular Bridge magazine, June 1978, in The Bulletin of the ACBL, February, 1981, and in the Contract Bridge Forum, February 1982. It is included in Bridge Conventions Com- plete, by Amalya Kearse.