BridgeHands

New Minor Forcing (and Two Way New Minor Forcing) - After opener rebids 1 Notrump (or 2 Notrump), New Minor Forcing operates similar to Stayman.  New Minor Forcing allows the 11+ point responder to explore a game fit by discovering the length of opener's major suit holdings and specific strength.  The bid says nothing about the new minor, the bid is strictly conventional (alertable), both artificial and forcing.

The idea behind New Minor Forcing is that opener's 1 Notrump rebid shows a balanced hand with values beneath 1 Notrump opening values (or above 1 Notrump opening values for those who open a weak or mini Notrump).  Subsequent New Minor Forcing is used to locate a major 4-4 or 5-3 major suit fit.

Opener's 1 Notrump bid typically shows 12-14 points (or a bad 15), where the responder often has 11-12 points.  After responder's New Minor Force, opener is captain signaling  a negative or one of several positive responses to find game (although responder may already have game values seeking the best fit or even initiating a slam try).  The responder normally holds 5 cards in the bid major or at least 4 cards in the opposite major (Hearts). 

Many variations are possible playing New Minor Forcing (see below) including whether responder's follow-up bids are forcing or invitational.
 

1D - 1S; 1N - 2C	1C - 1H; 1N - 2D
1D - 1S; 2N - 3C	1C - 1S; 2N - 3D
Some play New Minor Forcing on over major suits, too:
1H - 1S; 1N - 2C	1H - 1S; 1N - 2D

The New Minor Forcing bid asks opener to show major support and strength.  With 4 in the opposite major, responder first bids the new suit, belatedly showing 3 card support of responder's major if necessary.  Playing a 4-4 major fit often takes more overall tricks by promoting responder's 5 card side-suit.  Opener's prioritized rebids are:
 

1.	Minimum	2 level of the other major with 4 cards in suit
2.		2 level of responder's major with 3 cards support
3.	Maximum	3 level of the other major with 4 cards in suit
4.		3 level of responder's major with 3 cards support
5.	Minimum	2 Notrump
6.	Maximum	3 Notrump

Examples of New Minor Forcing:
 

Bidding	Meaning
1C - 1S; 1N - 2D; 2H//3H	Responder queries NMF with 4 Hearts or 5 Spades or both: With a minimum 12-13 point hand and 4 Hearts, opener rebids 2H. With a good 14-15 points and 4 Hearts, opener rebids 3H.
1C - 1S; 1N - 2D; 2S/3S	Responder queries NMF with 4 Hearts or 5 Spades or both: With a minimum 12-13 point hand and 3 Spades, opener rebids 2S. With a good 14-15 points and 3 Spades, opener rebids 3S.
1C - 1S; 1N - 2D; 2N/3N	Responder queries NMF with 4 Hearts or 5 Spades or both: Opener has does not have 4 Hearts or 3 Spades.  With a minimum 12-13 point hand, Opener bids 2N - Opener's only available bid to show minimum values.  However, responder maintains captaincy and may continue forcing bids.
1D - 1S; 1N- 2C; 2H - 2S;	Responder's 2S is "checkback", asking opener to belatedly show 3 card Spade support if applicable (responder's first obligation was to show 4 card support of the other major).
1D - 1S; 1N - 2C; 2D	Partnership agreements vary when opener bids 2D, however Opener typically has a highly unbalanced hand (5-4-3-1, 5-5-2-1) or a hand clearly without a stopper in one suit.
1H - 1S; 1N - 2C;	Many play "New" Minor Forcing applies even after major suit bids.
1H - 1S; 1N - 2D; 3D	Assuming New Minor Forcing is "on", opener may raise responder's minor with 4 card support and an unbalanced hand and less than 3 card support for responder's major suit.
1C - 1S; 1N - 2D; 2H - 3S;	A jump bid as responder's third bid is game forcing, promising a very good 5 card or reasonable 6 card suit.
1D - 1S; 1N - 2S;	Signoff, responder has a two-suited (black) hand
1C - 1H/S; 1N - 3D; 1D - 1H/S; 1N - 3C;	Most play responder's jump minor rebid as natural, showing a two-suited hand with weak values (6-11 points); responder has 4+ cards in the bid major and 5+ in minor.  This method allows responder to signoff (since a two-level bid would be New Minor Forcing). However, the legacy treatment (Bill Root, "Modern Bridge Conventions", pg 66) consider these sequences game forcing.
1m - 1H/S; 1N - 2om; any - 3om	Some partners play responder's minor suit rebid ("om" = other minor) shows a two-suited invitational hand.  Other advanced partners prefer to play rebidding a new minor is artificial and slam invitational.

 

Two Way New Minor Forcing

An popular alternative to simplify some of the confusion is the Two Way New Minor Forcing structure.  This treatment always uses 2C to show an invitational game with 2D to show game forcing values.  Thus, bidding 2D allows partnerships to bid naturally and use other system treatments ("slow shows - fast denies", cue bidding controls, etc).

Areas requiring partnership agreement:

Examples of Two Way New Minor Forcing:
 

Bidding	Meaning
1C/D - 1S; 1N - 2C;	Responder queries 2C as invitational Two Way NMF with 4 Hearts or 5 Spades or both. Regardless of opener's initial minor suit bid, responder's 2C bid is artificial and only 1 round forcing.
1C/D - 1S; 1N - 2D;	Responder queries 2D as game forcing Two Way NMF with 4 Hearts or 5 Spades or both. Regardless of opener's initial minor suit bid, responder's 2D bid is artificial and game forcing.

Note: as described above, NMF has several permutations requiring partnership agreement.  Other treatments include Checkback Stayman and the X-Y-Z convention.