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WHA? *     =     WHat now Again?

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"WhA?" is simple convention, that may be used by both players, on their second turn o bidding after a minor suit opening bid. The convention is used to show a strong hand and a fit in the minor suit called bij his partner in his last turn.
"Wha? " may be applied also after a major suit opening and a response in a minor suit, as this response denies the major suit fit. Here the strong opener might like to show his strength as well as the fit.
So, the conditions for application are:

• The auction must have been opened with the conventional 1§ or 1¨.
  • The opponents did not make disturbing overcalls, (overcalls which raise the level of the bidding of your partnership).
  • The Sohl convention has not been applied.
  • The convention can be applied only after two situations
    • The responder does a 2-level bid in a minor suit on his first turn.
    • The opener rebids a minor suit on 2-level on his second turn.
  • The minor suit caller's partner must be strong and he also must detect a fit in that minor suit. He is the one to do the "WhA?"-call after this observation.
• The auction must have been opened with 1© or 1ª.
  • The opponents did not make disturbing overcalls, (overcalls which raise the level of the bidding of your partnership).
  • The Sohl convention may have been applied sometimes.
  • The convention can be applied only after two situations
    • The responder does a 2-level bid in a minor suit, denying a fit in the opening suit, on his first turn.
    • The opener rebids a minor suit on 2-level after a Sohl response which shows an 11-14 opning with also a 3+card in the minor suit called.
  • The minor suit caller's partner must be strong and he also must detect a fit in that minor suit. He is the player to do the "WhA?"-call after this observation.

The minor suit caller's partner then does a "WhA?"-call, i.e. a jump in the wrong minor suit (i.e. the minor suit not called by his partner the last time, this bid never can be real).
If e.g. clubs are candidates for trumps, then 3¨ is the "WhA?"-call. If diamonds is the trump suit then 4§ is the "WhA?"-call.

The reaction to "WhA?" is the cheapest control bid. The exchange of controls proceeds until the game has been reached. Only the initiator is allowed to decide proceeding the control bidding beyond this level.

Remark:
This convention was inspired by the man from gas station in our street who always started a conversation in local dialect. When it wasn't raining he used to begin with "t bleef maor dreug, wha?"(tranl. it stays dry all the time, isn't it?) This was funny in three ways. Firstly in official dutch "wha?" as "isn't it?" does not exist in formal dutch, we, dutch people, simply end the sentence. Secondly to guys, like me, who did not speak the dialect, it was funny to discern again that every questioning sentence, and many other sentences too, were ended by a spoken question mark. The most funny was the absolute predictability of the conversation.
I hope that what happens after applying the WHA?-convention also is predictable and that the partner of the WHA?-caller will understand that he must call his cheapest control, wha?.

If you want to see examples of bridgames, in which the matter, treated above, is practiced, you should click on examples and choose for the appropriate convention or for any other typical call.