Bart

This concept was devised and developed by Mr. Leslie C. Bart. The original Bart conventional method was devised to distinguish between a 5-card or 6-card Heart suit after a forcing 1NT response. The concept of the Bart convention is an artificial forcing 2D bid used in the following sequence.

According to the partnership agreement, the following bidding sequence shows various shapes, many of which include a 5-card Heart suit. If this is the partnership agreement, then the opener will make this assumption. The opener will then bid 2H with only a doubleton.

1S Pass 1NT Pass
2C* Pass 2D** Pass
?

* Natural. (Note: In some agreements the rebid by the opener is to bid the better second suit even though it may be only of 3-card length.)

*The Bart convention is triggered by an artificial forcing 2D rebid by the responder.

Responses are:

The Five Hand Patterns.

The five hand patterns are based on the described guidelines as presented above. All continuances are also based on these parameters. The following hand patterns illustrate the employment of the Bart conventional method following the forcing 2 Diamonds rebid by the responder.

1. The responder holds a 5-card Heart suit and a 2-card Spade suit and approximately 8-10 points. The responder plans to pass after any rebid by the opener. The options of the opener are also shown in the following example.

S105 HKJ974 DQ105 CJ84

1S Pass 1NT Pass
2C Pass 2D Pass
?

If opener rebids 2H/S - Pass

2. The responder holds a doubleton Spade honor with 9-11 high card points. The responder will correct a rebid by the opener of 2H to 2S, pass a rebid of 2S, or raise a 2NT rebid to 3NT. The options of the opener are also shown in the example.

SK6 HAJ84 D1097 CQ854

1S Pass 1NT Pass
2C Pass 2D Pass

If opener rebids:

2H - bid 2S
2S - Pass
2NT - bid 3NT

3. The responder holds a game invitational hand with a good to excellent Diamond suit. The responder, over any rebid by the opener, will bid 3D to clarify.

S74 HQ95 DAKJ986 C93

1S Pass 1NT Pass
2C Pass 2D Pass

If opener rebids 2H, bid 3D

4. The responder promises a good 4-card or 5-card Club suit raise and approximately 10-11 points. The responder, over any rebid by the opener, will bid 3C. The options of the opener are also shown in the example.

S9 HAJ5 DJ862 CKQ1095

1S Pass 1NT Pass
2C Pass 2D Pass

If opener rebids 2H, bid 3C

5. The responder, over any rebid by the opener, will rebid 2NT with a 4-card Club suit support and approximately 10-11 points. The options of the opener are also shown in the example.

S87 HAQ6 DQ984 CK1093

1S Pass 1NT Pass
2C Pass 2D Pass

If opener rebids:

2H - bid 2NT
2S - bid 2NT
2NT - bid 3NT

Immediate bids of 2S or 3C by responder are similar but weaker.

Many professional bridge players have different opinions about the Bart conventional approach for such holdings. Below is a portion of the interview conducted by bridgematters.com with Mr. Chip Martel. The excerpt is directly quoted from this interview.

Chip Martel: I think Bart is useful, since 2 conveniently shows 5 or 6 hearts, or a good club raise, or a constructive hand with a doubleton spade. That’s a pretty large gain compared to the long diamond hand that a 2 bid would normally show. There is a downside. Playing standard and holding 1-4-5-3, an awkward shape, you can rebid 2 hoping that partner, with 5-3-1-4, will then bid 2. Playing Bart with these shapes, you are sort of locked into passing. That means on some hands you can end up playing in a 3-3 club fit instead of a 5-3 diamond fit. (End quoted text.)