Suction is a bridge convention used for intervention over an opponent's 1NT opening.
When suction is agreed, a suit overcall of a 1NT opening is conventional and denies the suit actually bid. It shows either (1) a one-suiter in the next higher ranking suit or (2) a two suiter in the other two suits.
If responder passes, advancer is required to bid the next higher ranking suit. If overcaller has the one-suited hand, he passes. Otherwise, he bids yet the next higher suit, showing that suit plus the remaining, unbid suit. Advancer then takes a preference by passing or bidding the remaining suit.
To summarize:
- 2♣ shows either diamonds or both majors
- 2♦ shows either hearts or both black suits
- 2♥ shows either spades or both minors
- 2♠ shows either clubs or both red suits
The two-suiters corresponding to the four suit bids are touching pairs one suit further up the line (perhaps better thought of this way ~ "both majors" requires memorising .. they happen to be the touching pair the lower of which is one up the line from diamonds).
There are also two "non-touching" pairs, namely C & H, and D & S. The first can be thought of as the "junior" pair and shown by "Double"; the second is the senior and can be shown by 2NT. This requires the penalty double to be forgone; if unwilling to forgo, then 2NT must show both, requiring identification.
Use as pre-empts
Suction bids can be used as pre-empts, giving a way of opening many weak hand types cheaply. Responder bids the next suit up with a weak or non-descript hand, and makes any other bid to force for one round. These mean forgoing the artificial 2♣ opening, so work best in a strong club context. This has the advantage that one can use the same structure for weak 2 openings, a defence to 1NT and (at the 1-level, with a "Double" replacing 2♣) a defence to a strong 1C opening.
Restricted use
Suction is not permitted in events governed by the ACBL General convention chart, except as a defense to artificial opening bids (such as Precision, strong 2♣ openings, Flannery, etc.).
See also
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