Conventions in depth
A defence to the opponents’ 1NT in which 2♣ shows both majors and 2♦ shows one long major.
A penalty double of a strong 1NT is useful when you hold a comparable hand, but such hands are rare. Far more often you would like to compete on distribution, and the opponents’ strong notrump leaves little room to do so. Multi-Landy, like Cappelletti, gives the cheap overcalls artificial meanings so that almost every shapely hand has a way in. It is a popular alternative to Cappelletti, and the two occupy the same slot: a partnership plays one or the other, not both.
Because most of the overcalls pin down the shape, partner can usually place the contract immediately.
| RHO | You | LHO | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1NT | 2♦ | Pass | 2♥ |
| Pass | 2♠ | Pass | Pass |
| Pass |
Your 2♦ shows one long major. Partner cannot tell which, so bids 2♥: “pass if that is your suit, otherwise correct.” Holding spades, you correct to 2♠, and partner, with nothing extra, passes.
The two methods cover the same ground by different routes. Cappelletti shows both majors with 2♦ and a one-suiter with 2♣; Multi-Landy shows both majors one step cheaper with 2♣ and handles a single long major through the Multi 2♦. Neither is clearly better: it is a matter of partnership taste. What matters is that both partners know which one is in force.
The 2♣ both-majors overcall is Alvin Landy’s original idea; pairing it with a Multi 2♦ is the modern refinement that gives the method its name. A related method, Woolsey, keeps the same overcalls but gives the double a two-suited meaning instead. BidMaestro plays the Landy-plus-Multi form described here.
