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Tutorials
Here
is the recent hand-out on Competitive Bidding. The bidding system assumes you
are playing Standard English (Acol) with a weak no trump (12-14 hcp) and 4-card
majors: Competitive Auctions
Opponents open the bidding. Here is a summary of ways to compete and
the meaning that partner will place upon these various actions:
Suit
overcall at 1-level
e.g. 1©
- 1ª. Any suit overcall promises (in principle)
a good 5-card suit. To pass the suit quality test you should ideally have two
of the top three cards in the suit or three of the top five. You do not necessarily
need lots of high card points in the hand as a whole. Vulnerability should be
taken into account. Non-vulnerable you could have as few as 8hcp provided the
suit is good. The upper limit of a simple overcall is about 16hcp
Example
1: ªA Q 9 7 6 ©
6 5 2 ¨ K 9 2 §
10 3 2 Not enough points to open but a sound non-vulnerable overcall.
Suit overcall at 2-level
e.g. 1©
- 2¨. To overcall at the 2-level
you need either extra length (six card suit) or extra high card points. Especially
at teams or rubber bridge the opponents will try and double unsound overcalls
for penalty.
Example 2: ªA
3 © 6 5 2 ¨
A K 6 4 2 § Q 10 3. 13hcp so bidding at the 2-level
is fine with this hand. Had opponent passed you would have opened with this hand
(with 1NT). Without say the ªA an overall would
be unsound without a sixth diamond.
No Trump Overcall
e.g 1© - 1NT. In the direct position
this shows a ‘strong no-trump’ type hand of 15-17hcp with a good ‘stop’
in opener’s suit.
Example 3: ª
A J 3 © K Q 4 ¨
Q 10 9 4 § K J 5
Double
For Take Out
e.g. 1©
- Dble. An immediate double of a opening suit bid is always for ‘take-out’
ie a request to partner to bid a new suit. A take-out double shows opening hand
values (i.e 12+ hcp), shortage in the suit bid by opponents and support for the
other suits (one of which partner is at your request going to bid). Partner will
expect you to have four cards in an unbid major suit.
Example 4:
ª A 10 6 3 ©
5 3 ¨ Q 10 9 3 §
A K 10 With 5 cards in any unbid major prefer to bid it – see above.
A take-out double has no upper limit of strength and may be the first move on
a really big hand.
Jump Overcall
e.g.
1© - 2ª.
A ‘single jump overcall’ promises a good six-card suit. In standard
bidding (i.e. failing a specifically discussed alternative agreement) the strength
is about that of a sound opening hand, 11-16hcp.
Example 5:
ªA Q 10 7 6 5
© 3 ¨ A J 3 §
K 8 7
Pre-Emptive Overcall
e.g. 1©
- 3ª. A ‘double jump overcall’ is pre-emptive
and shows the sort of hand that would have opened the bidding with a pre-emptive
3-bid.
Example 6: ªA J 10
8 6 5 2 © 3 ¨
K 2 § J 10 7
Jump
in No Trumps
e.g. 1©
- 2NT. A jump in no trumps of this type is not needed in its natural sense in
the direct position, as a balanced hand (18+hcp) too strong to bid 1NT will normally
start with a Take-Out Double. Instead this bid is allocated to a hand at least
5-5 in the minors (or if a minor suit has been bid, the lowest two unbid suits).
The range may vary widely but partner of the 2NT bidder should initially proceed
on the basis that the bid is weak. The bid is often called ’the Unusual No
Trump’.
Example 7: ª10
3 © 3 ¨K
Q 8 7 6 § A 10 7 5 4 However if the auction
goes 1ª - pass - pass and it’s your turn
to bid in the ‘pass-out’ seat, the Unusual No Trump is not need and
a 2NT bid here shows a normal notrump hand with 19-21hcp and a ‘stopper’
in the suit the opponents bid. Example 7a: ªA
J 3 © K Q 3 ¨K
Q 8 7 2 § A 10
A
Bid in the Opponent's Suit
e.g. 1©
- 2© . In traditional bridge a
direct ‘cue-bid’ of the opponent’s suit showed a hand strong enough
to drive to game and with first-round control (ace or void) in partner's suit.
On grounds of frequency this bid is not efficient so the requirement to control
opponent’s suit has been relaxed.
However opportunities for the bid
are still infrequent so in duplicate bridge it has been increasingly displaced
by the so-called Michaels cue-bid. Using this convention the bid shows a two-suited
hand of at least 5-5 in the majors (if a minor suit has been bid) or, if a major
suit has been opened, 5 cards in the other major and 5 cards in an (unspecified)
minor. Example 8: ªA J 10
4 2 © 2
¨10 3 § A 9 7 5 2 Pass
All hands not suitable for any of the above should be passed. Mostly this is automatic
as you will be too weak to bid. But you should also pass with a balanced weak
no trump type hand or with a hand with particular strength in opponent's suit.
Pass a 1© opening bid with either
of these: Example 9: ªA J
10 © Q 8 7 4 ¨
K 10 3 § A 8 5 Example
10: ª2 ©
A Q J 10 9 2 ¨ 10 3 §
A 9 7 2 © Ned Paul 2004 - This material is published
for the personal use of bona fide bridge students. If you are a briidge teacher
and wish to use this material, please telephone Ned Paul on 07944 768643. | 
