Ghestem

the bridge player
In the game of bridge, Ghestem is a conventional overcall structure, using 2NT, 3, and the (non jump) cuebid over an opposing opening at the one level to denote two suited hands in two of the remaining three suits. This convention was devised by the French bridge and checkers player Pierre Ghestem. When playing Ghestem, after an opposing one level opening, the three overcalls mentioned denote the three possible two suited hands in the suits excluding the opened suit:

2NT : shows the two lowest ranking unbid suits

3 : shows the two highest ranking unbid suits

Cuebid : shows the top and bottom ranking unbid suits

The requirement for a Ghestem overcall is a two suited hand with at least five cards in each suit and opening values. Point counts vary, but it is commonly agreed that a Ghestem bid is constructive and should be made on hands that hold the prospect of winning the auction. If made on very weak hands, there is the danger that if the opponents win the auction they will also have been warned about the distribution of the Ghestem bidder's hand. Given that the Ghestem overcalls are forcing, many partnerships apply no upper limit to the high card strength. Many partnerships also use a much lower minimum strength requirement, or a "weak or strong" pattern.

The advantage of Ghestem is that a single bid uniquely specifies the two suits of the overcaller. The primary disadvantage is the loss of the natural 3 jump overcall; furthermore, the artificial 3 bid may be prone to partnership misunderstandings. Also, by using 3 over an opposing minor opening to denote the two majors, the major suits cannot be introduced at the two level whereas alternative methods such as the Michaels cuebid can. This second disadvantage can be overcome by changing the order of the two suits shown by each bid; methods include RCO, inverted Ghestem (Questem) and Specific Michaels (SpoDo), although the similar and quite popular CRO fails to achieve this.