Remember, together with your partner’s hand, you need
roughly 25 points for game, 30 points for slam, 32+ for NT slam
With 22-23 invite to game ie 2NT or 3 of a suit. Where
the card says ?NT calculate the minimum combined total points between yours and
your partner’s hands and bid NT’s accordingly
The
aim of the bidding is to find the best contract between the two hands – yours
and your partners’.
Ideally
you want to play in a suit contract where your partnership has at least 8 cards
in the suit. 7 cards is OK – A good fit would be 5-3, 4-4, 6-2.
An OK fit would be 5-2, 6-1, 4-3.
|
Opening
Bid |
Length |
Points |
Responses |
|
|
Pts |
|
|||
|
1C |
2+ |
12+ |
6+ 6+ 6-9 10-12 13+ |
1C |
|
1D
|
4+ |
12+ |
6+ 10+ 6-9 6-9 10-12 13+ |
1D
|
|
1H / 1S |
5+ |
12+ |
6-9 10-12 13+ 10+ 10+ 6+ |
1H / 1S |
|
1NT |
2+ |
15-17 |
8+ |
1NT |
|
2C |
0 |
18+ or
23+ |
0-8 8+ |
2C |
|
2D/2H/2S |
6 |
6-10 |
13+ <13 |
2D/2H/2S |
|
2NT |
2+ |
21-22 |
5+ 0+ |
2NT |
|
3C/D/H/S |
7 |
< 10 |
13+ |
3C/D/H/S |
|
4C/D/H/S |
8 |
<14 |
|
4C/D/H/S |
OPENER'S
REBID If partner’s response was forcing, you must rebid if opps haven’t bid
over your partner.
Bidding
a suit and then repeating that suit normally shows extra length in that suit.
You
can support your partner with 4+ cards in their suit if your partner has bid up
to 2D
You
can support your partner with 3 cards if response was 2 of a major (partner must
have 5+ cards and at least 10 points to bid an unbid major at the 2-level).
Respond
in NT if there is no fit (The
level of NT depending on the minimum known combined point count, see above).
Remember
that as opener you must give your partner a chance to bid again unless he has
already passed or he has bid NT or supported your suit.
Following
on with a new suit normally shows at least 5 cards in the first suit and 4
cards in the second suit.
Following
on with a suit of a higher rank than the first suit bid shows at least 16
points EXCEPT when both suits are bid at the one level.
Blackwood convention
During
the auction, a bid of 4NT asks partner to
tell how
many aces he or she holds. Responses are:- 5C = 0 or 4 Aces
5D = 1 Ace
5H = 2 Aces
5S = 3 Aces
With 8+ Points over 1NT or 5+ Points over 2NT and at
least one 4 card major
Bid 2C/3C
If Partner has 4H+ he should bid Hearts at the lowest
available level
If partner has 4+spades and doesn’t have 4+Hearts, he
should bid Spades at the lowest available level
Otherwise partner should bid Diamonds at the lowest
available level.
Overcalls
at the 1 level must have at least 5 cards in the suit bid and:- 8+ Points if not Vulnerable
10+ Points
if Vulnerable
Overcall
1NT with 15-17 points, balanced hand and cover in the opponents bid suit.
Double
with 12+ points Double (X) over opponents suit up to and including 3S is for take-out:-
Asks partner to bid his or her
best suit, with preference for the majors you MUST be prepared to stand
whatever your partner bids. If there has been no intervening bid by opponents,
partner MUST bid unless he wants to convert the double to penalties. To bid
over an intervening bid, responder must have a good hand.
If
doubler changes suit, it shows 8 playing tricks in the new suit.
Card Playing
Signals
On
your Lead:-
Lead
top of a sequence or internal sequence eg Q from QJ85 and AQJ5.
Lead
4th highest from a good suit.
Lead
2nd top from suit without an honour card (10 is an honour card).
Lead
hi-lo from a doubleton.
Following
suit to your partner’s lead:-
A
high card says I like the suit,
A
low card says I don't like it.
Play
hi-lo with a small doubleton
Play
middle-up-down with 3 small