Crawling Stayman

Crawling Stayman is an extension of Garbage Stayman. It is used when the auction begins:

¹ Stayman, asking for a 4-card major
² Denies a 4-card major.

The 2 rebid by responder shows a weak 3-suiter short in diamonds. Some examples of hands suitable for Crawling Stayman:

T987

A984

—

Q9832

Q653

Q432

J832

Opener's Rebids

After hearing a 2 response, opener responds as in regular Stayman:

Rebid	Meaning
2	Denies a 4-card major.
2	4 (or rarely 5) hearts, and may have 4 spades.
2	4 (or rarely 5) spades, and shows fewer than 4 hearts.

Rebid	Meaning
Over 2	Bid 2 to show a weak 3-suited hand. Partner is expected to pass or correct.
Over 2	Pass.
Over 2	Pass.

By playing Crawing Stayman, you lose the ability to play the 1NT-2, 2-2 sequence as natural, showing 5-4 hearts and spades.
Crawling Stayman is so named because the auction "crawls" along as each player takes multiple bids.