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I posted the following to the RGB bridge bulletin board:
From: Jim Loy <jimloy@mcn.net>
Subject:
RELAYS - My attempts to define the word "relay"
Date:
30 Apr 1996 20:51:58 GMT
Organization: Montana Communications
Network
What is a relay? I would like to try to figure out a definition for the word "relay" by considering the various conflicting uses that we see for that word. Here are a few attributes that seem to describe a relay:
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Cheapest available bid If partner has just bid 4H, then 4S is the cheapest bid.
Artificial bid Conveys no information about the suit bid.
It may convey some information, usually about hand-strength.
Asking bid Asks for information from partner.
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Now let's expand our definition, by looking at some popular relays.
Stayman: Stayman is a relay, as it fits all the above criteria. See the addendum, below.
Lebensohl: But, people have broadened the definition of a relay. The Lebensohl 3C bid is also called a relay:
W N E S
1NT 2H 2NT pass
3C pass 3D pass
pass pass
2NT was Lebensohl, forcing West to bid 3C so that East can sign off in his suit (3D). West's 3C is called a relay. It is the cheapest bid. It is artificial. But, it is not an asking bid. To distinguish this kind of relay from our normal relay, we could call such a relay a "non-asking relay." Instead, I prefer to call it a "forced relay", as it is a bid that you are forced to make. A forced relay is not a particularly interesting kind of relay. The response to a Jacoby Transfer is a similar forced relay.
Are there any relays that are not forced, and also not asking bids? It is certainly possible. But such a bid would have no meaning. It does not convey information. It does not ask for information. It is not made in response to partner's bid. It just fills space. We can call such a relay, a "meaningless relay" if we ever see one. Does that perhaps sound like a "waiting bid?" Well a waiting bid is made in the hopes of gaining more information from partner. It is, in fact, a kind of asking bid. The question is, "Please tell me more." And partner goes on to clarify his points or distribution.
Negative responses: How about the negative 2D response to a strong 2C (or a negative 1D response to 1C)? It's not an asking bid. But it fits the other two criteria (cheapest and artificial). It could be one of those marginal relays, like Lebensohl 3C. But, this time it is essentially the response to an asking bid. In relay sequences, you will see plenty of bids like that (a relay followed by a step-1 response). It works best (it's a little clearer) if we don't call that kind of bid a relay. It's just the cheapest response (or step-1 response).
New minor forcing: Sometimes the cheapest possible bid is unavailable for a relay, because it has some natural meaning. In that case, we may use the next bid as a relay. Let's look at new minor forcing:
W E
1D 1S
1NT 2C
East's 2C is a normal relay, much like Stayman. It fits all three of the criteria, that I listed above (cheapest, artificial, asking). What it asks may be a little more vague, depending on the partnership agreement. Let's say that it asks for "more information."
Well, this is also new minor forcing:
W E
1C 1S
1NT 2D
Since 2C would be a natural raise, 2D now becomes the relay. It's not much of a stretch to call this a relay, even though it's not the cheapest possible bid.
This is a fairly important principle in relay bidding: We may have to skip a natural bid in order to relay. This will come up again and again in relay bidding. So, instead of being the "cheapest possible bid," a relay is defined as the "cheapest available bid." That's the way I defined it, at the beginning of this article.
Blackwood: We are sometimes told that Blackwood 4NT is a relay. But it is very seldom the cheapest possible bid. Can we call the following a relay?
W E
1H 4NT
I suppose all of the cheaper bids were taken up with natural bids, or other artificial bids. So, I'll almost concede that 4NT is a relay, almost. But, if we do, then the word "relay" merely becomes synonymous with the expression "asking bid" or even "artificial bid." I don't like to call Blackwood a relay. A relay is usually an asking bid. And the main way we can tell that it's a relay, and not some other asking bid, is that it is the cheapest available bid (possibly skipping a natural bid).
Well, we've stretched the definition, as far as "cheapest" and "asking" goes. Can a bid be a relay, and not be artificial? Believe it or not, it can. In relay literature, we sometimes see something like this (found in Groetheim's Relepresisjon):
W E
1D 1H*
* Natural, or game-forcing relay
Here, West bids as if 1H were a relay. And later, East may show, in some manner (by not continuing to relay), that 1H was natural, instead. I'll call such a relay a "multiple-meaning relay." The relayer will clear up the ambiguity with later bids.
So, my basic definition remains largely what it was at the top of the article. But, that definition is not absolute. Popular usage allows the word "relay" to include bids which do not quite fit the exact definition.
Addendum: The above posting received a response that Stayman is not a relay, because it is not part of a relay sequence. Defining "relay" as part of a relay sequence, and then defining "relay sequence" in terms of relays (or cheapest or artificial bids) is circular (but valid, as it certainly has meaning), and slightly confusing. Besides, most authors of relay systems call Stayman a relay. And so, Stayman is a relay, but some people say that it is not.