Monday, September 13

Sorry it's been a while since I updated these - I'll try to keep up with it a little more consistently.

Today we discussed very broadly what is a forcing bid and what is not, in the context of 2 over 1.

The best thing to remember is that if partner's (usually responder's) bid has not shown an UPPER LIMIT, you as opener must bid again no matter how much you hate your hand.

So, a few example situations:

1C - 1H = 6+ points, 4+ hearts; Opener must bid again!

1H - 1S = 6+ points, 4+ spades; Opener must bid again!

1D - 1N = 6-9 points, no 4c Major; Opener can pass.

There are a few special exceptions where a bid has an upper limit but is still forcing.

Ex:  1H - 1NT* (Forcing) = 6-11 or so points, Opener must bid again!

We'll do more talking about 2 over 1 - keep thinking about questions!

:)

Monday, July 19

DEFENSIVE SIGNALS - We've talked about them before, but it's a topic that can always bear repeating. 

The most important thing to remember about any kind of signalling system is that it won't work if you're not PAYING ATTENTION.  Both you and partner have to be careful in what cards you play and watchful for what cards partner plays.

There are 3 main signals you can give:  COUNT, ATTITUDE, and SUIT PREFERENCE.  We'll concentrate on Count and Attitude.

In STANDARD COUNT signalling, we show an EVEN number of cards in a suit by playing the highest card we can spare first, then a lower one.  We show an ODD number by playing our spots from the bottom up.

In STANDARD ATTITUDE signalling, we play a HIGH card to tell partner we like that suit.

{Note:  UPSIDE-DOWN signalling just flips those - even count is shown by playing spots from the bottom up and encouraging attitude is shown with small cards.}

We generally give COUNT when the declarer leads a suit and ATTITUDE when WE lead a suit (or discard.)

:)

Thursday, July 15

Tonight we talked about a very useful adjunct to 2/1: 4th Suit Forcing.  This bid basically fills in the gaps for your Game Forcing hands when a 2/1 bid was not appropriate at your first call.  It's also relatively easy to recognize and remember (especially with the aid of bidding boxes) as it will show up as the fourth color on the table.

Basically, 4SF comes into play when Opener bids a suit, Responder bids a new suit, and Opener bids yet a thrid suit.  Responder's bid of the 4th suit is now ARTIFICIAL and GAME FORCING (and therefore ALERTABLE.)  It doesn't promise anything about the length of Responder's first suit, it just promises GF values.

EX:  1D - 1S - 2C - 2H*  (says nothing about Hearts, just GF)

Opener should continue to bid his hand naturally, including showing Responder if he has 3-card support.  Responder can bid that 4th suit again on his next bid if he did actually have it.

{Note:  It is possible to play 4th Suit Forcing for only one round, but that's not nearly as useful along with 2/1.}

There does occur a special case when the auction proceeds:  1C - 1D - 1H - 1S*.  I'm going to suggest that becuase Responder with a hand that isn't worth a second bid would have told Opener about his spades rather than his diamonds, this bid is also artificial and GF.  The auction 1C - 1D - 1H - 2S shows 5(+) Diamonds and 4 Spades and Invitational values.

:)

Thursday, July 8

Wow it's been a while since I got to teach you guys - I've missed you all!

So tonight we discussed NEW MINOR FORCING, a very useful tool for finding Major suit fits.  NMF, for short, most basically applies when Opener bids 1 of a minor, Responder shows 1 of a Major, and Opener rebids 1NT.  Now 2 of the OTHER (NEW) MINOR from the Responder does a few things:

1.  Promises 10+ points.

2.  Promises 5 cards in your Major.

3.  Asks Opener to tell you more about his holdings in the Majors.

Notice I didn't say anything about the minor you just bid - this is an artificial bid.  Now, there are versions of NMF that don't promise 10+ points or a 5-card suit, but this is the basic version. 

Opener's priorities for answering your NMF question are:

1.  Show 3-card support for your Major.

2.  Show 4 cards in the other Major.

3.  Bid 2NT without either.  (This is why you need to have at least 10 points to bid NMF - you don't want partner to try to play 2NT with fewer than 22 points AND no fit.)

And that's it.  NMF is alertable, since it's an artificial bid, and since partner must bid again, you as Responder with a game-forcing hand will get your chance to show that on your next bid.  This is also another convention where the actual bidding cards on the table will help you out - look at what minor partner opened and bid the other one!  (Likewise, as Opener, if partner bids the minor you didn't open, little bells should go off in your head that this might mean something special.)

:)

Thursday, April 29 and Monday, May 3

OVERCALLS

We discussed SIMPLE OVERCALLS - that is, bidding a new suit that is not a jump after the opponents have opened.

Simple overcalls show 7(or 8 or whatever you and your partner agree to) to 17 points and are usually made for one (or several) of three reasons:

1.  I think this is actually our hand even though the opponents opened.  Here's my suit.

2.  If you wind up on lead partner, please lead this suit.

3.  I just want to get in their way.  (More common for JUMP OVERCALLS, similar to preempts.)

Simple overcalls at the 1-level could indeed be on as few as 7 points, but should consider vulnerability.  Simple overcalls at the two level should be much closer to actual opening strength hands.

In general, partner should respond to your overcall as though you actually have an opening hand.  However, partner should be very careful jumping around.  If partner has a LIMIT RAISE or better, he should show it by CUEBIDDING the opponents' suit.

ex:  (1D) - 1H - (1S) - 2D = I have Heart support for you and AT LEAST Limit Raise values (10-11 or + pts)

If you have a hand that's too big to make a simple overcall, then you X first and then bid your suit.  Partner will initially think this is a takeout double, but you'll prove otherwise when you bid another suit.

:)