[Shugart23]

Assume you bid 1NT in the balancing seat after 1x -Pass -Pass -!NT , then Pass - and now it's your partners turn to bid. Is XYZ playable by him, assuming you are balanced and 12-15 ?

[mike777]

Never heard of anyone playing XYZ over partnership balancing No trump.

Perhaps I misread your post.

[mikeh]

Shugart23, on 2025-June-01, 14:44, said:

Assume you bid 1NT in the balancing seat after 1x -Pass -Pass -!NT , then Pass - and now it's your partners turn to bid. Is XYZ playable by him, assuming you are balanced and 12-15 ?

I can’t imagine wanting to play xyz here.

What is common is 2C as range ask stayman….promises invitational values with no 5+ major.

Responses:

2D min, no major
2H min, 4H may have 4S
2S min, not 4H
2N max,has at least one major.
3N max no major

[Shugart23]

mike777, on 2025-June-01, 14:51, said:

Never heard of anyone playing XYZ over partnership balancing No trump.

Perhaps I misread your post.

I have never heard of anyone doing it either. Probably for good reason but the thought crossed my mind

[akwoo]

aka 2-way Stayman, because in this context, that's what it amounts to.

People play it over 10-12 1N openings and the like all the time.

It certainly seems playable over a balancing 1N overcall, at least provided your balancing overcall range is narrow enough...

[Tramticket]

mikeh, on 2025-June-01, 15:10, said:

What is common is 2C as range ask stayman….promises invitational values with no 5+ major.

Responses:

2D min, no major
2H min, 4H may have 4S
2S min, not 4H
2N max,has at least one major.
3N max no major

Other response structures are possible. To cope with our wider range (11-16 HCPs), balancing 1NT, we use:
2D - Any minimum (11-12), partner can re-ask if still interested.
2H - mid range (13-14), four-card hearts (may have four spades)
2S - mid range (13-14), four-card spades (not four hearts)
2NT - mid range (13-14), no four-card majors
Responses at three level - upper range (15-16), showing any four-card major, as above.

[Huibertus]

XYZ is designed to explore games and slams and to be able to sign off in 2♦ (I guess it was designed to work in combination with the Walsh system responses to 1♣ openings). You'd sure have to amend it responding to NT overcalls as YOU haven't bid X and partner hasn't bid Y yet, so it'd become the Z convention. But sure it can be done.

Responding to 1NT overcalls with 2♣ Stayman variations is perfectly fine.

An Alternative I've used and always liked is;

Any 2 level bid below the suit of the opening = natural sign off;
Any 2 level bid from the opening suit up to and including 2♥ = transfer
2♠ = game forcing Stayman.

You could continue with transfers from 2NT or add minor suit ask to it.

This approach would give you all the XYZ benefits and is easy to remember.

I don't believe in inviting after NT overcalls, given declarer knows where almost all the opponents high cards are just bid game more easily.