CONFI 
		      -------

CONFI stands for CONtrols FIt.  It was devised by Dr. 
George Rosenkranz to bid slams with two balanced hands.  
(reference: Bridge World Magazine, January 1975).  A 
balanced hand is defined as either 4333, 4432, 5332
or even 5422 shape. 

There are 12 controls in a deck.  An ace equals two,
a king equals one.  To search for a slam, the two 
balanced hands must have at least 10 controls between
them.  The expected minimum number of controls for 
balanced hands are given below:

     HCP      Controls           HCP      Controls
     0-6      0                  19-20    5
     7-9      0                  21-22    6
     10-12    1                  23-24    7
     13-14    2                  25-26    8
     15-16    3                  27-28    9
     17-18    4                  29-30    10

CONFI works as follows:   
1. After opener or responder makes a limited NT bid, 
   the cheapest "meaningless" bid starts CONFI.

2. The first duty of the NT bidder is to tell the 
   partnership how many controls she has.  This is 
   done in steps.  
    1st step  =  minimum number of controls (or less)
    2nd step  =  one more than minimum
    3rd step  =  two more than minimum
    etc
   NOTE that with two or less controls than expected
   opener _should_ demote her hand to the lower range.

3a. If opener does not show a minimum, and there are
   enough controls (10+) for slam, responder bids
   a biddable suit (at least four to the A, K, Q) up-
   the-line.  With support, opener raises.  Without,
   support, opener bids a biddable suit if she has 
   one, else bids NT.  

   If responder does not have a biddable suit, or 
   there are not enough controls for slam, he bids NT.

   NOTE that if opener or responder later bids a 
   suit that they have bypassed, this shows that the
   suit was unbiddable the first time (poor quality,
   or rarely, a three carder). 

   Also, rebidding a suit shows a five carder. 

3b. If opener shows a minimum, responder can bid the
   cheapest NT (or pass if opener's response was in 
   NT) to stop the slam try, if there are not enough
   controls for slam.  

3c. If opener shows a minimum, responder can bid a 
   biddable suit (at least four to A, K or Q) up the
   line.  With less than the minimum number of 
   controls, opener bids NT again to warn responder.
   With more than a minimum number of controls, 
   opener bids as in (3a).  NOTE that a NT rebid by
   opener can show either less than a minimum number
   of controls or no biddable suits.

4. Examples.  Assuming that 2NT opening equals a 
   balanced 21-22, and over 2NT the responses are 
   3C Stayman; 3D, 3H, 4D and 4H transfers; 3NT to 
   play; and 4C Gerber.  This leaves 3S as the CONFI. 

   Assume that after the sequence 2C-2D; 2NT (23-24)
   or 3NT (25-27) also have the same structures. 

   (the hands are given from left to right as spades,
   hearts, diamonds, and clubs).
    
   Opener  AKJx/ QJxx/ KJ/ AQJ
   Respon. xxx/ xx/ AQxx/ Kxxx

       Opener    Responder
       2NT       3S (1)     (1) optimistic CONFI
       3NT (2)   pass (3)   (2) minimum number of
                                 controls 6 (or 5)
                            (3) no longer optimistic

  
   Opener  AKJx/ Kxxx/ KJ/ AQJ
   Respon  xxx/ xx/ AQxx/ Kxxx 

       Opener    Responder
       2NT       3S (1)     (1) still optimistic CONFI
       4C (2)    4D (3)     (2) 2nd step = 7 controls
       4H (3)    5C (4)     (3) showing a biddable suit
                                 up-the-line
                            (4) showing another biddable
                                 suit, but denying four
                                 hearts and spades (could
                                 have 5 diamonds).
       5NT (5)   6NT (6)    (5) no other biddable suit--
                                 since responder denied 
                                 spades
                            (6) must be the place to play
       pass (7)             (7) okay


   Opener  AQx/ AQJx/ KQx/ Kxx
   Respon  Jx/ xx/ Jxxx/ AQJTx
      
       Opener    Responder
       2NT       3S
       3NT (1)   pass (2)   (1) minimum, 5 or 6
                            (2) easy pass


  Opener  AKx/ AKxx/ Kxx/ Kxx                
  Respon  Jx/ xx/ Jxxx/ AQJTx 

       Opener    Responder
       2NT (1)   3S         (1) with 2 extra controls, it's
                                 best to upgrade the hand 
                                 from 19-20 to 21-22
       4D (2)    5C (3)     (2) 3rd step = 8 controls
                            (3) only biddable suit
       5H (3)   6NT (4)     (4) to play.  NOTE that the 
                                 semi-solid club suit makes
                                 NT more attractive than 6C 


  Opener  AKxx/ AKx/ KQTx/ Kx 
  Respon  Qxx/ xxx/ Jxxx/ AQx 
 
       Opener    Responder
       2NT       3S
       4D (1)    4NT (2)    (1) 3rd step = 8 controls
                            (2) no biddable suit
       5D (3)    6D (4)     (3) first biddable suit
                            (4) support
       pass

   NOTE that 6NT depends on a 3-3 spade break, whereas
   6D is cold. 
       

   Opener  KQJx/ AK/ AQx/ KQJx
   Respon  xxxx/ Qxx/ Kxx/ xxx

       Opener    Responder
       2C        2D
       2NT (1)   3NT (2)     (1) only 7 controls, demoted 
                                  to balanced 23-24
                             (2) best not to do Stayman
 				  with such a balanced hand


   Opener  KQxx/ AK/ AQx/ AKxx 
   Respon  Jxxx/ xxx/ KJxx/ xx

       Opener    Responder
       2C        2D
       3NT (1)   4S (2)      (1) balanced 25-27
			     (2) CONFI
       5C (3)    5D (4)      (3) 2nd step = 9 controls
                             (4) first biddable suit
       5S (4)    6S (5)      (5) to play