Picture this: You’re sitting at the bridge table, holding a hand that’s practically screaming “SLAM!” at you. Your partner opens 1♠, you’ve got four-card spade support, 13+ points, and a singleton somewhere that’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot. What do you do? Well, my dear bridge enthusiasts, you SPLINTER!
A Splinter BID is bridge’s way of saying, “Partner, I’m super excited about your suit, I’ve got the points for slam exploration, but I have this one suit that’s deader than disco.” It’s a conventional bid that shows:
The beauty of the Splinter is that it’s a jump bid that looks completely insane to anyone not in the know. When your partner opens 1♠ and you bid 4♣ with one measly club, your opponents will think you’ve either lost your mind or discovered some revolutionary new bidding system involving interpretive dance. They may well ask so partner better be ready.
(although the benefits of never asking anything always appeal to me. What’s your thoughts?).
Here’s how this magnificent convention works:
After Partner Opens 1♠:
After Partner Opens 1♥:
Notice how we conveniently skip bidding 4 of partner’s major? That’s because we’re not complete lunatics – that bid is reserved for “Partner, I like your suit but let’s just play game and call it a day.”
Now, here’s where things get interesting. What if you have that same exciting hand – 4+ card support, 13+ points, slam interest – but you DON’T have a convenient singleton to splinter with? What if your hand is disappointingly balanced, like a well-adjusted person at a bridge tournament?
Enter the 2NT Forcing Support bid, the Swiss Army knife of bridge conventions. After partner opens 1♥ or 1♠, a 2NT response shows:
It’s like saying, “Partner, I’m interested in slam, I love your suit, but my hand is as boring as a bridge lecture on percentage play.”
1. Information Overload (In a Good Way)
These bids pack more information into one call than a Wikipedia article. Partner immediately knows your point range, support, and distribution (or lack thereof).
2. Slam Exploration Made Easy
Instead of fumbling around with vague raises and hoping for the best, you’ve immediately established that slam is on the table. It’s like GPS for bridge bidding.
3. Opponent Disruption
Nothing confuses the enemy quite like jumping to the four-level with apparent reckless abandon. They’ll spend so much time trying to figure out what you’re doing, they might forget their own system.
4. Partner Knows What to Do
After a Splinter or 2NT support bid, partner can evaluate their hand with laser precision. Wasted values in your short suit? Time to sign off. Perfect hand with no wasted honors? Time to start thinking about grand slams and early retirement.
You hold: ♠AKJ3 ♥Q1087 ♦A ♣9654
Partner opens 1♠. Your hand is practically vibrating with excitement – you’ve got 13 HCP, four-card spade support, and that singleton diamond is like a neon sign pointing toward slam.
Your bid: 4♦ (Splinter)
Partner now knows:
If partner has ♠QT975 ♥AK ♦KQJ ♣AKQ, they’ll see that diamond King is wasted and sign off in 4♠. But if they have ♠QT975 ♥AK ♦32 ♣AKQj, suddenly 6♠ looks very attractive indeed.
You hold: ♠AKJ3 ♥Q108 ♦A97 ♣K65
Same 13 HCP, same four-card spade support, same slam interest, but now you’re as balanced as a gymnast on a beam. No singleton to splinter with, but still too good for a simple raise.
Your bid: 2NT (Forcing support)
This tells partner you’re interested in slam but don’t have any exciting distribution to report. Partner can now use control bidding, Roman Key Card Blackwood, or whatever slam-seeking weapon of choice they prefer.
The Mini-Splinter: Some partnerships play that you can splinter with fewer points (10-12) by making the cheapest splinter bid available. It’s like Splinter Light – all the distribution, half the calories… er, points.
Void-Showing Splinters: Jump to the five-level to show a void instead of a singleton. Because sometimes you need to be EXTRA dramatic about your shortage.
The Splinter Re-Splinter: When partner splinters and you have a different singleton, you can splinter right back. It’s like a bidding conversation where everyone’s shouting about what they DON’T have.
When partner splinters, don’t immediately assume they’ve lost their mind. Instead, ask yourself:
The Splinter convention and 2NT forcing support are like the dynamic duo of bridge conventions – Batman and Robin, peanut butter and jelly, coffee and Monday mornings. They work together to solve the eternal bridge problem: how to show a big hand with support without overshooting or undershooting your target.
Sure, you’ll occasionally splinter into a disaster, or use 2NT support only to discover partner has a minimum opening with no slam interest whatsoever. But when these conventions work – when you smoothly navigate to a cold slam that other pairs miss – you’ll feel like you’ve cracked the bridge code.
So next time you pick up a hand with four-card support and slam dreams, don’t be afraid to splinter or force with 2NT. Your partner will thank you, your opponents will fear you, and your bridge game will never be the same.
Remember: In bridge, as in life, sometimes you need to take a leap of faith. Just make sure you land in the right contract!
Disclaimer: No bridge partnerships were harmed in the making of this blog post, though several may have experienced temporary confusion. Always play conventions that you and your partner understand. When in doubt, keep it simple – there’s no shame in a good old-fashioned limit raise.
Download the .pbn fileWays to Practice this convention
Either download the file and upload to a bridge playing app or website like BBO
Alternatively
Download the BRIJ app on your iOS device and download this file via the web search functionality found under the load button
Select web search
Once downloaded the app will present you with 10 boards to practice the bidding with your partner Back to Home