The original concept was devised by Mr. Douglas Drury in order to more narrowly define the Major suit opening by by partner through rebids. This method was almost mandatory since the regular bridge partner of Mr. Douglas Drury, a famous bridge personality by the name of Mr. Eric Murray was also famous for opening very light in third seat. The concept was mandatory in its invention in order to determine whether the opening was weak or a normal opening bid.
The origins of the variations of the Drury conventional response methods remain unknown. As with the original concept these variations employ also only two bids to discover whether or not the holding of the opener is weak, sub-minimal, or a full opening. Mr. Marty Bergen is perhaps the only bridge personality to loan his name to his concept called Bergen Drury.
Proposed Premises of the Concept
The following example auctions illustrate the employment for the method known as Two-Way Drury and the subsequent method known as Two-Way Reverse Drury. One main difference between the two variations on the Drury fundamental concept is that the two inquiry bids are for some partnerships reversed, but for other partnerships the Principle of Fast Arrival is applied.
Note: as the variations of the Drury concept are just that, variations, the bridge student should examine the provided online information as bridge authors seldom address this concept. The partnership ultimately decides the parameters of any conventional method and its mutual employment, which can differ from the mutual agreement of another partnership claiming to employ the same conventional method.
Two Way Drury
The term Two-Way Drury is the official designation, but most players, however, refer to this method as Bergen Drury. See: Bergen Drury. Source: The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, 7th Edition, page 269, included in the definition of Bergen Drury.
Important Change in the Drury Concept
Note that the original concept has been changed to communicate only the length of support held by the responder for partner's Major suit opening plus the number of held values. This first response does not inquire about whether the holding of partner in third seat is weak, moderate, or a full opening bid. The response only communicates information about the holding of the responder, who is a passed hand. Instead of asking, the responder is showing.
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| Pass |
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Pass |
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Pass |
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1  /  |
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| Pass |
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2  |
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Promises a 3-card Heart / Spade support and 10-12 points. |
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| Pass |
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Pass |
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Pass |
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1 / |
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2  |
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Promises a 4-card Heart / Spade support and 10-12 points. |
Two-Way Reverse Drury
Note: The Two-Way Reverse Drury conventional method requires certain defined explanations by the partnership since the conventional method has truly never been specified by any author, leading bridge personality, or by any of the sponsoring organizations. The partnership must agree in advance before employment of the features of the concept, the principles of the concept, and the continuations of the mutually agreed concept as there can be differences in the fundamental approach depending on the country such as Canada versus the United States, and sometimes even by a portion of a country such as the West Coast as opposed to the East Coast of the United States.
According to the originator of Bergen Drury Mr. Marty Bergen published the attached .pdf file explaining the employment of the Drury convention. An excerpt is re-printed here: "Two-Way Drury is merely a fancy name for a convention, that allows a pair to avoid annoying mis-guesses. The benefits of using it to clarify passed-hand auctions are important enough to appeal to any partnership, Mr. Marty Bergen has thus far not addressed the Two-Way Reverse Drury conventional method. This information has also only been preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file format for future reference.
Two Schools of Thought
The originator(s) of the Two-Way Reverse Drury, or Two-Way Reverse Bergen Drury, remains unknown. Also, there are different definitions of this particular concept, meaning that there has never been any fundamental parameters firmly established, and nothing has been set in stone. Online sources will differ in explanations, definitions, and interpretations.
Note: One explanation for the differences in the definitions for Two-Way Reverse Drury may lie in the fact obtained from players sharing experiences on bridgewinners.com. Discussions about the employment differ greatly, and the conclusion is that there is certainly no one way to employ this particular conventional method since many players have found that there is a marked geographical difference in how the Drury conventional method is employed when traveling within ACBL-land. One explained example is that in some states, for example, the definition is that 2 Clubs always promises 4-card support. However, in other regions of the United States the response of 2 Clubs promises exactly 3-card support. Geographical boundaries, however, have neither been studied nor defined.
Note: as the original concept of showing instead of asking originated with Mr. Marty Bergen. the act of reversing the meaning of the two bids was almost inevitable. Again, note that the original concept has been changed to communicate only the length of support held by the responder for partner's Major suit opening plus the number of held values. This first response does not inquire about whether the holding of partner in third seat is weak, moderate, or a full opening bid. The response only communicates information about the holding of the responder, who is a passed hand. Instead of asking, the responder is showing.
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| Pass |
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Pass |
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Pass |
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1 / |
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| Pass |
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2 |
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Promises a 4-card Heart / Spade support and 10-12 points. |
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| Pass |
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Pass |
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1 / |
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Promises a 3-card Heart / Spade support and 10-12 points. Source |
There are several online websites, which support the concept of 2 Clubs showing at least a 4-card support, 2 Diamonds showing exactly 3-card support, and both bids showing 10-12 points for partner's bid Major suit. Several links can be found below. Any published material has thus far not been discovered, and, therefore, if any reader does know of such published material, then any contribution would be greatly appreciated.
Note: One notable difference in the interpretation of this particular conventional method, which has never been explained and never truly examined, is the fact that the Principles of Fast Arrival / Slow Arrival play an important role in defining the parameters, namely fast denies, slow shows.
| Fast Arrival: |
A style of bidding under which the fewer bids used to reach a contract, usually said of game contracts, the weaker the bidder's hand. |
| Slow Arrival: |
A style of bidding that uses a jump to a contract, to which the previous bidding has already forced the partnership, to show a specific holding. |
Differing Online Sources
| Rich Waugh - BridgeAce: |
This information has also only been preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file format for future reference. |
| Karen Walker: The Drury Convention: |
This information has also only been preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file format for future reference. |
Other online websites, managed by bridge professionals, support the concept of 2 Clubs showing exactly a 3-card support, 2 Diamonds showing exactly 4-card support, and both bids showing 10-12 points for partner's bid Major suit. Several links are listed below:
The conclusion is that the individual player and/or partnership is free to discuss this conventional method, and thereafter employ the features of the conventional method as mutually agreed.
Continuances
All continuances to both variations are generally according to the original concept as devised by Mr. Douglas Drury, which follows. If the opener has a sub-minimal holding, then the bidding sequence continues as follows:
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Pass |
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Pass |
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Per agreement as described above. |
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Pass |
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Shows a sub-minimal holding and requests partner to take it slow. |
Note: If the opener has a stronger holding and the intended rebid by the opener would have been 2 Diamonds, then the opener can jump to 3 Diamonds, especially if the holding is particularly distributional. Otherwise, it is suggested that the opener temporize with a 2 Diamonds denial rebid and rebid Diamonds naturally, later in the auction. A third option is to rebid 2 No Trump.
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| Pass |
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Pass |
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Pass |
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Per agreement as described above. |
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Pass |
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Promises a holding, that is particularly distributional. |
Note: Other recommended lists, suggested bids, or itemized continuations depending on the mutually agreed approach are also available online.
With this distribution and amount of values Mr. Douglas Drury devised the Forcing 2 Club Response bid to show exactly this distribution of 3-card support and amount of values ranging from 10-12 points. This bid by the responder is forcing and must be alerted.
The opener looks at his holding once again, and if the opener decides that game is not possible, the auction can stop on the two level. If the opener has extra values, then opener will attempt, or simply bid game.
If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.