Five-card majors for offensive purposes. However, if the trump cards break 4-1 or 1-4, then drawing trump will result in no trumps left for offensive purposes. The value of five-card majors can be understood then on two levels: But five-card majors have several drawbacks: Both partners must agree to follow the five-card major bidding treatment on their opening bid. Opener must have at least five cards in hearts or spades to start the bidding with that suit. Responder is expected to show support with three-card support, indicating an eight-card fit. With only four cards in a major suit, the opening bidder is
Canapé (bridge) Canapé (bridge) Canapé is a bridge bidding method in which the second suit bid may be (or must be) longer than or at least as long as the first. The name Canapé refers to a small bite presented before a big meal. Canapé is the invention of Pierre Albarran, a French auction and contract bridge player, theorist, and author. His book on the topic is long out-of-print and hard to find. A French pair, Pierre Jaïs and Roger Trézel, used a canapé system to become one of the strongest pairs in the world during the 1950s and 1960s. They achieved