YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

Contributed by: Mr. Danny Kleinman

The following is a contribution of Mr. Danny Kleinman, who invented this conventional method. This contribution has not been changed or altered in any fashion. Mr. Danny Kleinman is considered to be a master theoretician, a prolific author of bridge publications and also of publications for the game of backgammon.

Following is the contribution of Mr. Danny Kleinman:

In The Secrets of Winning Bridge, an outstanding book, Mr. Jeff Rubens displays four pairs of balanced hands, all with 4-4-3-2 patterns, containing a combined total of 34 high card points between them, to illustrate the limitations of point-count even for notrump bidding. In fact, the East hand is the same in all four pairs:
East
K103
KJ94
AJ
8765

The four West hands contain the same high cards, but different patterns:

West West West West
AQJ
AQ32
KQ
A432
AQJ2
AQ3
KQ
A432
AQJ2
AQ
KQ3
A432
AQJ2
AQ
KQ32
A43

These four pairs of hands produce 10, 11, 12 and 13 tricks respectively in the 6 No Trump contract that figures to be reached with each of them.

Part of the explanation lies in the presence of short honors (e.g. AJ in the East hand and AQJ, AQ and KQ in the various West hands) that expert hand evaluators know to demote. Most of the explanation, however, lies in the duplication of suit lengths. When the short honors are in the same suit (doubleton KQ facing doubleton AJ), 6 No Trump goes down. When AJ faces KQ32 and KJ94 faces AQ, however, 6 No Trump makes with an overtrick.

Yellow Rose is a highly complex system of bids that replaces the direct 6 No Trump raise of a 1 No Trump or 2 No Trump opening and is designed to let responder describe his hand pattern exactly when he has high-card strength enough for 6 No Trump. Then opener may be able to diagnose the duplicated distribution and stop short of slam. Opener may also decide to play a superior suit slam in a 4-4 fit. Yellow Rose is designed not only to ensure that the notrump bidder will become declarer, but also to avoid revealing opener’s own hand pattern to the defenders.

Yellow Rose may be used only if you play Texas Transfers, and adds 4 transfers to 4NT and 5 transfers to 5. It does not interfere with the usual use of a Texas Transfer as a prelude to a key-card ask in responder’s major.

Yellow Rose handles all kinds of responding hands that do not include long suits: pancakes (4-3-3-3), rattlesnakes (4-4-4-1) and two-by-fours (4-4-3-2). Responder should use Yellow Rose only when he can count 34-35 high card points in the combined hands. Here are some uniform principles that simplify responder’s coding and opener’s decoding of Yellow Rose sequences.

(a) Responder never introduces any of his 4-card suits. Instead, with one exception, he bids his shortest suit first.

(b) With a pancake, responder bids the suit below his 4-card suit, then bids 5NT.

(c) With a rattlesnake, responder bids and rebids his singleton suit.

(d) With a two-by four, responder bids his doubleton then his tripleton, but there is one exception. With 4-4-3-2 specifically, responder bids 4 then 4NT.

(e) To transfer to a major and then ask for keys, responder bids 4 - then - 4 NT (Spades) or 4 - then - 4 (Hearts). (This use of 4 to ask for keys when Hearts are agreed is desirable in general, not only after a Texas Transfer.)

Of all the conventions I’ve ever invented, this may be the most clever. It is also the one that you will have the fewest occasions to use, the hardest time mastering and the greatest risk of forgetting. You’ll probably never find a partner willing to learn it; if you do, ship him over to me.

If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.
Claus and Raymond Conventions Bridge Sites
Home Page I Glossary Home Page II