Splinter Bids
Splinter bids are double-jump shifts used to show good support for partner's suit and a singleton or void in the suit bid. For example: 1S:4C shows 4-card spade support, opening hand strength and a singleton or void in clubs. The point of using a splinter bid in this way is that slam may now be possible with less overall strength than usual, if partner has a good "splinter fit" - 3 or more cards in the splinter suit with no "wasted" honor cards. A good splinter fit would be xxxx or Axxx. A bad splinter fit would be KJxx or Qx. When a good splinter fit exists, Opener can re-value his hand strength by 3 or 4 HCP, and if this gets the partnership in the area of 33 total points, slam should be investigated. Put in a different way, slam can often be made with only 29 or 30 combined points.
Splinter bids can also be made after a minor suit opening. A main benefit here is that you can avoid 3NT with no stoppers in the "splinter" suit. Opener usually rebids NT to show HCP strength in the splinter suit, and is a negative factor for bidding a slam or even game in the minor.
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