Inverted Minors

Overview

The case for Inverted Minors is fairly well understood.

Any time opponents open 1-minor which is raised to 3-minor, we know we're probably onto a winner if they're not using Inverted Minors - it means opener is guessing as to where to go next. Quite often the result of the guess will be 3NT, which may be right and may be wrong. Andrew Kambites summarises the arguments in this English Bridge article.

Points To Observe

• if opponents intervene with either an overcall or a double, inverted minors are off the menu
• if our opening bid is 1♣, which may be a 3-card suit, responder needs at least five clubs to raise to 3♣
• the sequence 1♣ - Pass -1NT almost always shows a hand which is 6-9 with 3-3-3-4 distribution. The same might apply if diamonds is opener's suit where responder has 3-3-4-3 distribution
• where responder raises opener's minor suit to either the two or three level, this denies a 4-card major, so a rebid by opener of a major suit is showing a stop rather than length.