Norman four notrump
Encyclopedia
Norman four notrump is a slam bidding convention in the partnership card game
contract bridge
designed to help the partnership choose among the five-, six-, and seven-levels for the final contract. Norman four notrump is an alternative to the Blackwood convention
family.
Used when the contract level can be better determined by knowing the numbers of aces and kings that are "missing" in the partnership's two hands, the convention is initiated by a bid of 4NT to ask that partner provide information about his ace and king holdings. The response is coded to enable inference about the precise numbers of aces and kings in the replying hand.
The Norman scale, where an ace counts as one control and a king as half a control, is the basis of the following responses to the 4NT asking bid:
Norman 4NT was a component of the Vienna System developed in the 1930s and the sixth edition of The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge of 2001 noted that it "once was popular in England, where it is credited to Norman de Villiers Hart and Sir Norman Bennet."
Some later conventions show aces and kings in one hand by one bid, using the same or comparable scale, such as Blue Team
replies to opening 1 and similar responses to opening 2, strong and artificial. The San Francisco convention
gave kings one-third the weight of aces, for greater accuracy at the cost of using more bidding space.
As slam bidding conventions
at or near the 4NT level, Norman and San Francisco have been superseded by the Blackwood convention
and its variants, which show at once only the number of aces or keycards, and show kings subsequently if at all.
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
contract bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
designed to help the partnership choose among the five-, six-, and seven-levels for the final contract. Norman four notrump is an alternative to the Blackwood convention
Blackwood convention
In the partnership card game contract bridge, the Blackwood convention is a popular bidding convention that was developed by Easley Blackwood. It is used to explore the partnership's possession of aces, kings and in some variants, the queen of trumps, to judge more precisely whether slam is likely...
family.
Used when the contract level can be better determined by knowing the numbers of aces and kings that are "missing" in the partnership's two hands, the convention is initiated by a bid of 4NT to ask that partner provide information about his ace and king holdings. The response is coded to enable inference about the precise numbers of aces and kings in the replying hand.
The Norman scale, where an ace counts as one control and a king as half a control, is the basis of the following responses to the 4NT asking bid:
- 5: 0 to 1 controls indicating either (a) no aces or kings, or (b) one king or (c) one ace
- 5: 1½ controls indicating either (a) one ace and one king or (b) three kings
- 5: 2 controls indicating either (a) two aces or (b) one ace and two kings or (c) four kings
- 5: 2½ controls indicating either (a) one ace and three kings or (b) two aces and a king
- 5NT : 3 controls indicating (a) one ace and four kings or (b) two aces and two kings or (c) three aces
- 6: 3½ controls indicating either (a) two aces and three kings or (b) three aces and one king
- etcetera
Norman 4NT was a component of the Vienna System developed in the 1930s and the sixth edition of The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge of 2001 noted that it "once was popular in England, where it is credited to Norman de Villiers Hart and Sir Norman Bennet."
Some later conventions show aces and kings in one hand by one bid, using the same or comparable scale, such as Blue Team
Blue team (bridge)
The Blue Team represented Italy in international contract bridge tournaments, winning sixteen world titles from 1957 through 1975. From 1964 to 1969 and during a 1972 comeback, the team comprised three regular pairs: Walter Avarelli–Giorgio Belladonna, Pietro Forquet–Benito Garozzo, and Massimo...
replies to opening 1 and similar responses to opening 2, strong and artificial. The San Francisco convention
San Francisco convention
In the partnership card game contract bridge, the San Francisco convention is a slam bidding convention, or a special usage by partnership agreement in order to help choose among the five, six, and seven levels for the final contract. One partner bids 4NT to ask, and the other replies, in code,...
gave kings one-third the weight of aces, for greater accuracy at the cost of using more bidding space.
As slam bidding conventions
Slam-seeking conventions
Slam-seeking conventions are codified artificial bids used in the card game contract bridge. Bidding and making a small slam or grand slam yields high bonuses ranging from 500 to 1500 points. However, the risk is also high as failure to fulfill the slam contract also means failure to score the...
at or near the 4NT level, Norman and San Francisco have been superseded by the Blackwood convention
Blackwood convention
In the partnership card game contract bridge, the Blackwood convention is a popular bidding convention that was developed by Easley Blackwood. It is used to explore the partnership's possession of aces, kings and in some variants, the queen of trumps, to judge more precisely whether slam is likely...
and its variants, which show at once only the number of aces or keycards, and show kings subsequently if at all.