BIDDING TIPS - KEEPING YOUR FOCUS.
A. A WORD ABOUT "FORCING" BIDS.
Regardless of who is making a bid (ie,
openers or contenders), the question is always "IS IT FORCING IF
INTERVENING
OPPONENT PASSES ?".
Of course if the opponent intervenes,
then it is not forcing.
Here are the rules:
1.
If playing PROTECTIVE 1C RESPONSES,
OPENER'S 1C bid is forcing unless
responder has a bust hand with 5+ clubs.
RESPONDER'S 1D bid is forcing, because it is artifiicial.
(Refer to SAFE HARBOR BIDDING)
2.
OPENER'S 2C opening bid is forcing, because it is artifical.
RESPONDER'S STEP RESPONSE, CONTROL RESPONSE, or 2D
WAITING is forcing, because it is artificial.
3.
If playing 2D STRONG BALANCED, then OPENER'S 2D opening is forcing,
because it is artificial.
Responder may PASS with 5+ diamonds
& weak hand.
RESPONDER'S 2H response to 2D opening is forcing,
because it is artifiicial.
4.
OPENER'S 4NT opening may be
forcing, because if it's agreed to be 5-5 in the minors.
5.
CUE BIDS IN OPPONENT'S TARGETED
SUITS are forcing, because they are artificial & usually indicate no values
in the opponent's suit.
6.
RESPONDER'S NEGATIVE DOUBLES are forcing.
7.
RESPONDER'S 2C DRURY RESPONSES
(to 3rd seat opening of a major at the 1-level) are forcing, because
Drury is
artificial.
8. RESPONDER'S 2C/3C STAYMAN and
4-WAY TRANSFER BIDS are forcing,
because they are artificial.
9.
RESPONDER'S SMOLEN BID is forcing, because it is a transfer to the other
major.
10.
4C, 4D, 4NT ACE ASKING BIDS are forcing, INCLUDING 5-LEVEL BIDS IN SAME
SUIT ASKING FOR KINGS.
11.
An UNPASSED RESPONDER'S CHANGE OF SUIT WITHOUT JUMPING is forcing.
However, if responder has
previously passed, then a new suit by responder is NOT FORCING.
12.
If playing INVERTED MINORS, an UNPASSED RESPONDER'S 2C (over opener's 1C
opening) is forcing, unless
responder previously passed.
(refer to INVERTED MINORS)
13.
The CONTENDER'S TAKE-OUT DOUBLE below 2NT is forcing.
14.
The CONTENDER'S MICHAELS CUE BID IN OPPONENT'S SUIT is forcing, because
it is artificial.
15.
The CONTENDER'S UNUSUAL 2 NO TRUMP BID is forcing, because it is
artificial.
16.
The CONTENDER'S 1NT TOP & BOTTOM OVERCALL is forcing, because it is artificial.
17. Any CONTENDER or RESPONDENT CUE BID IN OPPONENT'S SUIT is forcing.
18.
Any agreed upon artificial bid/convention that is agreed upon is more
than likely forcing.
19. BERGEN MAJOR SUIT RAISES.
20.
NEW MINOR FORCING.
21 JACOBY 2NT RESPONSE
22. SPLINTER RESPONSES
23.
Opener JUMP SHIFTS if not playing COMPRESSED SYSTEM.
24. 4TH SUIT FORCING.
25. HELP SUIT GAME TRY
26. 1NT if playing 2-over-1.
27.
RESPONDENT'S BID IN PARTIAL COMPETITION may be forcing.
BUT IN FULL COMPETITION,
RESPONDENT'S BID IS NOT FORCING.
B. GENERAL
GUIDELINES
1.
WHO IS IN CHARGE?
The CAPTAIN is the one who has
the first knowledge regarding the combined strength & is the one to place
the bid
& ask for aces. He is made
captain by virtue of his partner giving a bid that limits his hand to
within a 3 point range.
The first one to bid
NO-TRUMP at the 1, 2, or 3 level by either partner is a limited
bid & makes the other partner captain.
If opener opens in no-trump, then
he is not captain, but the responder is captain.
If opener opens in a suit, then he
is not captain UNLESS RESPONDER'S FIRST BID IS IN NO-TRUMP OR A RAISE
OF OPENER'S SUIT (EXLUDING A 2C RAISE).
Once you have limited your
hand, do not bid again unless forced or
invited by the captain.
2. Count high card points, even if they
are singleton honors.
3. STAY HONEST.
Don’t distort your points or
shape & don’t cloak you bids for fear of giving opponents information.
With 5 clubs & 4 diamonds, do
not open 1D. Open 1C instead.
4.
ENJOY THE TRIP.
If you have the tickets, enjoy the
trip. Dont rush to judgement. In other words, if you have the points, then take
your time in
arriving at a contract, unless you
fear a sacrafice bid from the opponents. The more you & your partner can
exhange info,
the better. Dont pre-empt your partner's bidding. Yet at
the same time, if you find an immediate fit with partner,
then try
not to tip your hand's weakness
off to the opponents by showing outside strength unless it is necessary in seeking out a
no-trump contract.
5.
Do everything you can to forestall
passing up a 3NT contract.Do not take up bidding room unnecessarily.
6.
Deferred vs Immediate Bids.
There are some standards in the opening system that call for an immediate confirmation of partner's bid. One of these
conventions is the INVERTED MINOR RESPONSE. Another is the principle of FAST ARRIVAL wherein one partner will
immediately support the other partner's major if he has suffcient support. However, in these two cases, it may not always
be in the best interest of the partnership to make such immediate bids, because they may overshoot a better suit in
jumping to the conclusion. Therefore, in some cases I will DEFER the expected immediate response
for the purpose of double checking (ie, CHECKING BACK) the rest of the fit.
DEFERRED/CHECK-BACK bids may defer the immediate raise of an
otherwise compatible suit for the purpose of
assuring there is not a better
fit. An example would be where opener has 3C-1D-5H-4S & responder has
1C-4D-3H-5S.
Opener bids 1H, but responder does not support immediately,
instead making a check-back bid,
because they may have a better fit in spades. The same might be true if the
bidding to
a 1NT opening goes 1NT -> 2C
-> 2H -> 2S, where responder has
a 5-card spade suit even though he has
a 4-card heart
suit. If opener has four spades as
well, they could be better off in spades. The DEFERRED HEART RAISE is to allow
for a
check-back for spade fit.
Example: 1C -> 1H -> 1S. Even
though opener has 4 hearts, responder may
have 5 spades if
playing UNTHROTTLED SHELTERED COMPANION responses.
The question of which is the
better fit a 4-4 or a 5-4 is an ongoing debate.
I must emphasize that you are
better off in the 4-4 fit
"IF" you have all your tops, because you must have first round
trump
control & be able to pull
trumps
before opponents can trump in on your 5-4 suit. Take for example the
following partner holdings.
Clubs Diamonds Hearts
Spades
Partner #1 has A2 A2 AKQJT AKQJ
Partner #2 has xx xxx xxxx xxxx
This hand will normally make a
small slam in spades. Not true if hearts are trump.
But much more work needs to be
done to provide assurance of having all of your high cards in a 4-4 fit, before
choosing it
over a 5-4 fit. Here's a possible
solution to the dilemma. Let's suppose you have found that you have a 4-4 fit
in one suit &
a 5-4 fit in another suit. The
question is do you have your tops in the 4-4 fit? Perhaps it might be possible
to employ the 4th
SUIT FORCING principle to
communicate the presence or absenceof high cards in the 4-card suit. But this
is only
conjecture at this point.
7
All jumps shifts by responder/respondent should be weak, unless
responding to a take-out double.
8.
DON'T DUPLICATE EFFORT.
How important is it that you BOTH
tell each other your points? IT'S
NOT! Once one of you have made a limited bid,
thereby describing your point
range to within a 3 point spread, there is no need for the other partner to
come back &
describe his point range. Somebody has to be first to evaluate meshed
values & take charge of final
contract destination.
Usually, it is NOT the partner who
first limits their hand who takes charge as boss.
As responder to opener's 1-level
suit opening, realize he needs a second bid to limit his hand, so don't
pre-empt him from
doing so. And as responder,
realize that your partner has the keys to the car, but you have the gas peddle.
If you are
unpassed, then everytime you show
a suit, you are forcing another round
of bidding.
9.
THRESHOLD BIDS.
If you think about it, there is
something unique about transcending from one bid level to the next higher bid
level.
The no-trump bid represents a kind of "THRESHOLD" to be
broken. Therefore, I came up with the concept of
"THRESHOLD BIDS", wherein
if a bidder makes a bid in a new suit beyond the next threshold, then he must
have
more points to do so.
a. If responder shows a new suit
above the 1NT THRESHOLD or FORCES OPENER TO BID AT THE 2-LEVEL, then he
must have 10+ points.
b. If opener shows a new suit
above the 2NT THRESHOLD after opening 1 in a suit, then he must have 16-18
points.
c. Contender should not simple overcall with less than 10 points.
If contender has 16 or more
points, then he should DOUBLE.
10. What's the BEST TRUMP SUIT?
If in a trump suit, you generally want to be
in the suit where you have the greatest number of cards between you & your
partner for the purposes of BAD SPLIT CONTROL. And for the purposes of bad split control,
it is better to have at least
as many of the trump in one hand
as there are out in the opponent's
combined hands. That being said, there are other
considerations that play against
this idea, such as TRANSPORTATION & the
possible benefits of an EVENLY MATCH
TRUMP SUIT (ie, the 4-4 fit or 5-5
fit). Take for example one hand being RADICALLY 2-SUITED 8-5 , with
his partner having 2-5,
yielding an 8-2 fit & a 5-5 fit. Which is the better trump suit, the
8-2 or the 5-5? The issue of bad
split control is not relevant with either, because both have at least as
many trump in one hand as the opponent's have
in total. Therefore, it is better
to be in the 5-5 fit to obtain better
transportation & to reap the potential rewards
of OFFSET-CROSS-TRUMPING. Now
from the above hand take away 1 card from each partner's 5-card suit &
remove
the 2-card support for the 8-card
suit, resulting in an 8-0 vs 4-4 match-up. Now which is the better suit to be
trump, the
8-0 fit or the 4-4 fit? Clearly
the 8-0 fit maintains bad split control, but the 4-4 fit does not with the
opponents having 5
cards between them all of which
could be in one hand. On the other hand, the 4-4 fit offers possible
transportation &
good split benefits. So how
do we choose?
The answer is as follows.
If there is TOTAL HIGH CARD CONTROL
of the 4-4 fit, then there is little chance of
the opponents trumping in on the
8-card suit, thus making it better
to be in the 4-4 fit. But in the absence of high card control, it is better to
be in the 8-card
suit. The same holds true in
determining which is better between a 4-4 fit or a 5-4 fit, with the
4-4 fit being better if you
have the top 3 high cards
between you. Otherwise, you are better in the 5-4 fit.
When considering
the 4-4 fit, the TRICK IS TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY IN THE BIDDING WHETHER YOU
HAVE
TOTAL HIGH CARD CONTROL &
unfortunately there is usually not enough bidding room to do this .
11.
THROTTLED SUITS.
In bidding, you tend to show an
absence of 4+ cards & throttle any suit you skip over. In other words, if your skip a
suit, then you have "BEAT IT
DOWN" or "THROTTLED" it.
There are exceptions, particularly
in the bidding sequence after a 1C
opening.
12.
Bidding Up-The-Line.
With the use of the 1D PROTECTIVE bidding
over a 1C opening, bidding up-the-line at the 1-level is replaced by
POSITIVE MAJOR RESPONSES and SAFE HARBOR bidding. Therefore, bidding up- the-line at the
1-level starts with
the 1H (not 1D) response over a 1C
or 1D opening. At higher levels, the
concept of bidding up-the-line still holds true.
13. The only forcing bids opener has at
his disposal are: 2C opening, 2D opening, & ace asking bids.
Upon partner agreement, opener
jump shifts may be forcing. But opener simply showing a new suit is not
forcing.
14.
Unless your partner has already passed,
do not open with a preempt if
you have four or more cards in a major.
Remember that SPADES is the BOSS SUIT. It is not so critical to
preempt in spades, but that does not mean
don't do it. In responding to
preemptive openings, count QUICK TRICKS, not points.
15.
The only seat that should open the bidding with a weaker than normal
hand is the third position. Pierson points arising
from 4+ spades may be used to
upgrade the point count. There is little
point to 4th seat opening light,
unless there are
some unusual circumstances. Responder
must realize partner may be opening light in 3rd seat, so he should deduct
1 point from his hand in
responding, unless playing DRURY.
16. If you have opened 1NT or 2NT, then
do not bid again unless partner forces you to do so or invites you to game.
17. Try to play your partner's hand as well as your own &
imagine the best suit to be in.
18.
A 2H bid over partner;s 1S opening promises 5 hearts with 10+ points.
19.
If you have not allowed your partner to first limit his hand, then there
is no such thing as a close-out bid.
20. In the face of a misfit, don’t rescue the bid by
introducing a new suit unless it's self-sufficient of 7+ cards,
otherwise
"pass", bid in no-trump or bid in one of partner's suits..
21. Do not go to sleep with a bad hand & leave partner stuck
in an artificial bid or his 2nd bid suit unless you have more
cards in that suit as opposed
to his first bid suit.
At game level suit contracts,
attempt to assure that you have a minimum of 8 trump between you.
At less than game
level suit contracts, attempt to assure that you have a minimum of 7
trump between you.
When faced with a choice between
a 4-3 fit & a 5-2 fit, go for the 5-2 fit.
22.
Dont bid your opponent's suit unless you dont have it.
23.
If your partner has another bid, then a "PASS" can be the better part of valor.
24.
If your partner has bid 3NT, then you better have a darn good reason for
bidding again. An exception would be where
your partner is relying upon you
having a good quality suit of your own, where you hold AK or AQ. If you dont
have a
good quality suit, then you are justified in pulling the 3NT bid.
25. The
One & Three Let it Be
principal for defensive bidding. When to compete & when not to compete.
If opponents are at 1 level only,
one of them may have not kept bidding opened. Don’t open the door for them.
If opponents are at 3 level, they
might have game but chickened out. Don’t force them to game.
If opponents are at 2 level, try to force them to 3 level
.
ONE & THREE, LET IT BE.
BUT IT WILL NEVER DO TO LET THEM HAVE IT FOR TWO. Don’t give your opponent's an
opportunity to find game, but force them to the highest partial
possible.
26.
A good policy is for all DOUBLES of contracts below 2NT to be for
TAKE-OUT.
Doubles of 2NT and above can be
COOPERATIVE.
27 If the opponent's have made a bid that you
don’t think they can make, but they appear to have an alternate choice, then
do not double for penalties.
28 If your partner has doubled the
opponent's low level bid (,ie not game)
in a suit contract, then you better not pass unless
you know you can
set them.
29
If your partner doubles the opponent's game contract for penalties, the
weaker you hand is, the more incentive there is
for you to bid. If you have GOOD REASON (and I mean GOOD), then you can pull
partner's double. But be ready to
run from your partner if you are wrong.
30. If the opponent's have
doubled your contract and you think you can make it, then do not redouble,
because they might
think twice and pull the bid.Instead, use the
REDOUBLE to communicate with partner. A low level redouble
typically tells partner you have 10+ points but no
fit for his suit. A high level redouble can be used as an
SOS REDOUBLE which tells
partner to bid another suit, because you have no support for the last suit he
bid.
31. VULNERABILITY & SACRIFICES.
There are times when you can
deprive the opponents of points (in score)
by bidding over them even though you know you
wont make your contract. The trick
is to know whether or not the opponents would make their contract if you
let them have the final bid. If you determine that they will make their contract & that you wont loose as
many points
by going down in your own
contract, then it is reasonable to make a sacrifice bid. The basic idea is to allow the opponents
the points they would have
received in bonuses, but deny them the points they would have received had they gotten &
made their contract.
In considering a sacrafice, WAIT
UNTIL THE OPPONENTS GET TO THEIR GAME BID BEFORE
CHIMING IN. Do not unnecessarily
force them into game by repeated bidding.
To make an objective determination, you must know the
consequences of the relative vulnerabilities.
A "Favorable"
vulnerability is the opponents are vulnerable & you are not.
An " Equal" vulnerability is you are both vulnerable, or
you are both not vulnerable.
An "Unfavorable"
vulnerability is you are vulnerable & they are not.
You must also know what
bonuses they will get if they're permitted the contract.
A Game Contract is worth
not vul 300 pts + BLS
vul 500 pts + BLS
.
A Baby Slam Contract is
worth
not vul
300 + 500 + BLS
vul 500 + 750 + BLS
A Grand Slam Contract is
worth
not Vul
300 + 1000 + BLS
vul 500 + 1500 + BLS
, where BLS = Bid Level Score,ie, the portion
of the total score
attributed to taking the number of tricks specified in the final
contract.
Finally, you must know what your
penalties will be & assuming they will double your sacrafice bid.
The formulas are typically:
if not vulnerable , then
UnderTrick Penalty = # of
undertricks x 200 - 100.
If vulnerable, then
undertrick penalty = # of undertricks
X 300 -
100.
Base on this information,
The guidelines for making a
sacrifice bid when the opponents have bid game are:
-When vulnerability is
unfavorable, you can go down 1 as opposed to letting them make a game.
-When vulnerability is
equal, you can go down 2 as opposed to letting them make game.
-When vulnerability is
favorable, you can go down 3 as opposed to letting them make game.
The guidelines for making a
sacrifice bid when the opponents have bid small slam are:
-When vulnerability is
unfavorable, you can go down 3.
-When vulnerability is
equal, you can go down 4.
-When vulnerability is
favorable, you can go down 5.
The guidelines for making a
sacrifice bid when the opponents have bid grand slam are:
-When vulnerability is
unfavorable, you can go down 4.
-When vulnerability is
equal, you can go down 7.
-When vulnerability is
favorable, you can go down 8.
C. SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF
With respect to both existing system
versions, I found there were misconceptions, holes, inefficiencies & more
that need to be
weeded out. Having given Max Hardy's
2-Over-1 responses a fair & lengthy try, I've concluded that it is
uneconomical &
sacrifices/contorts too much for what it
purports to gain, producing a lot of excess clutter/baggage. As a result, I
have tried to
de-emphasize several ideas expressed in
2-Over-1, as well as correct some inefficient practices in the original
classical
system. Some of these unproductive
concepts/practices are:
1. The use of opener jump
shifts to show up to 21 points. Instead, I have put them in the 16-18 point range, thereby reducing
the likelihood of under-bidding a
16-18 point hand such as one containing
5 hearts & 4 clubs.
2. The rigid requirements for a
take-out double, especially of 1-level bids where it is cheaper to
compete.
3. Some of the more recent
conventions that have cropped up for the purpose of identifying 5-3 fits in the majors, such as
New Minor Forcing.While it is all
well & good to be in a 4-level major contract having a 5-3 fit in trump,
many times you will
do better to be in no- trump with
such a hand.
4. The premise that clear communications
gives the opponents information. Who would you rather keep in the dark, your
partner or the opponents?
5.
The idea that the
strong hand must always be the declarer & hidden from view. There are times
when the weak hand will
have say a king-x in the opponent's
suit & is in a better position to absorb the opening lead.
6. The premise that a REVERSE bid is
always strong, particularly when it is in reply to a forcing response.
After opening 1D, a 2H opener second
bid after a 2C responder forcing bid is
cheaper than a 2NT bid.
7. The use of 1NT Forcing
responses over a major opening which can force the bidding beyond the
partnership's means.
8. The use of artificial bids that
accomplish little if anything other than taking up bidding room while giving up
flexibility, such as
Bergen Raises.
9. The use of control count in
responding to 2C openings where aces are worth 2 & kings are worth 1. There
could be a
benefit to responding withcontrols, but
why clutter your mind with evaluation systems having varying point count
assignments? A simpler
replacement is to deduct jacks
& stand-alone queens from your regular Goren High Card
Count & adjust your responses
accordingly.
10. The counting & inclusion of
"key control cards" in
responding to ace asking bids, such as
in Roman Key Card, where a
king is worth an ace.
Such inclusion makes it far more
difficult to decide whether one should go on to the 6-level. Here's an example. You have
two aces & ask partnerfor
"key cards". He responds with one key cards. Is it an ace or a
king. Duhh.
11. The opener starting with a suit bid
at the 1-level & then jumping to 2NT to show a balanced hand of 18-19
points.
I call this a "SLIVER
BID".
With such a convention, it is
impossible to transfer opener so he can be assured of playing the hand.
12. The idea that the 4th bid seat must
bid over a 1st seat opening that has been passed, because he is suppose to
protect
2nd seat's hand. It is far better
that the contender sitting behind the opener make every effort to bid, since he
is less at
risk.
13. The idea that responder must bid 2NT
over opener's 1-level bid in a suit to show a strong hand & force opener to
bid &/or
the idea that all responder (not respondent) jump shifts are
forcing. Many older players who haven't played recently will
employ this very costly bidding
practice, not knowing that opener may have the keys to the car, but he has the
gas peddle
with unpassed new suit forcing.