Bridge: opening hands
Jan. 22nd, 2013 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackI did this a little before, but I thought I'd try to set down a little of the system I usually end up playing, which is a strange hybrid of what-CU-bridge-club-plays and what-ex-ncipher-people-play, leaning one way or the other depending on who I'm playing with.
Not as a definitive guide, but at least, as an attempt at introspection at what I do do.
Targets
Evaluate your hand with high card points and loser count. For a 3NT game, you need approx. 25 high card points between you and your partner. For a 4H/4S game, you need to have a trump fit, and then 14 losers max between the two hands.
For a 5C/5D game, you need 13 losers max, which is quite hard to find -- in practice you often need to be even stronger than that to avoid losing three tricks. Because I play a lot of duplicate bridge, I almost never actually try to bid a minor suit game unless (a) 3NT is definitely a bad idea and (b) we clearly only have 13 or 12 losers. However, it's a bad habit to never look for minor suit games, if it's the right contract, ignore me and bid it.
When to open
In order to make as many games as possible, it's normal to open the bidding when you have half of the requirements (<=7 losers or >=12 points), and know that if you would open the bidding but partner already did, you should have game between you.
I find it quite useful to evaluate my hand in terms of high card points AND losers, and say "this hand has <=7 losers and is good if my long suit fits with partner (8+ cards) and we make it trumps, but has fewer than 12 points, so is likely to be a lot weaker in no trumps, or in defence" or "if partner bids NT, they probably have more losers than I'm expecting so I can't rely on them having 7 losers in order to bid a slam".
What to open: No trumps
A balanced hand is 4333, 4432, or (if you feel like it) 5332. That is, no suit with none or one card in, and no more than one suit with two cards in.
There is a strong convention that when, and only when, you have a balanced hand, you should open NT or open a suit and rebid NT, with fairly strictly defined high-card-point ranges.
Most people I know in the UK play a weak NT, ie. with 12-14 points open 1NT, and with 15-17 points, open a four-card suit and rebid NT at the lowest level if partner bids. And with 18-19 pts, open, and if partner responds then JUMP a level to rebid NT.
If you have >=20pts you can't afford to open 1NT because partner might have 5 points and pass, when you'd actually have enough to make 3NT. The convention is to open 2NT, and partner will pass (with <4 points), or bid 3NT, 4H or 4S.
With Liv, I play a strong NT, ie. with 15-17 points, open 1NT, and with 12-14 points, open a suit and rebid NT. Except I often forget.
If the opponents open and you have a balanced hand and 12-14 points, it's not worth bidding. It's a wrench because whenever you have 12 points, you still hope partner will have 12+ points and you'll be able to bid 3NT. But (a) that's quite unlikely, because the opponent who opened probably has 12+ points, so it'll only happen if partner has almost all of the remaining high cards. And (b), even if partner does have 12+ points, it's a bad game for you because all the points are in one opponent's hand, and it's a bad situation for the opponents, because they're already bidding at the one or two level, but you will probably make a majority of the tricks. (It's worth learning how to bid and how to double in that situation, but not a matter of urgency)
What to open: Trumps
If you don't have a balanced hand, and have 7 or fewer losers, think about a suit game.
In order to make game in a trump contract, you normally need to have 8 or more trumps between you. Therefore, by convention, you ONLY bid suits where you have four or more cards.
Open by bidding your longest suit. Even if you have AKQJ in spades and 65432 in clubs, bid clubs. If you have multiple suits with least four cards in, bid the suit at the lowest level you can. (Eg. if you open and have clubs and spades, bid clubs and see if partner bids spades. If partner opened with 1D, and you have hearts and clubs, bid 1H, not 2C.)
Conversely, if you have two or more five card suits, open by bidding the higher one, then rebid the lower one if you can. This shows that the first one was longer.
I'm not sure that's always right, but it's a fairly simple set of rules and is what I'm used to.
Continuing to bid with suits
If you open and partner has fewer than 6 points, they'll usually pass because there's no way you'll have enough strength for game even if you had 19pts, and most of the time you'll have fewer than 20 pts between you, so stopping bidding as low as possible is better. (Sometimes you might not even make seven tricks to win a one-level contract, but if so, the penalty is often smaller than the points opponents could have made had they bid a contract themselves, so don't worry about a bad one-level contract, just make seven tricks if you can.)
If they bid, the first priority is finding a fit, preferably in a major suit. If partner bids a major suit and you have four, you don't normally want to bid anything else, just bid that suit at a higher level. In fact, assume partner has 7 losers, and if you have 7 losers as well, immediately bid 4H or 4S. If you have 8 losers, bid 3H/3S. If you have 9 or fewer losers, bid 2H/2S. If they had fewer than 7 losers, they'll bid again. (If they opened and you have 5 losers, you can bid 6H/6S!)
If they open a minor suit and you four cards in that and also in a major suit, it's worth bidding the major suit first, in case they have four cards in that too but bid the lower-ranked suit first. If not, you can always bid the minor suit again later.
Don't rebid a suit you already bid unless you have an additional card in it (ie. at least 5, and at least 6 if you bid it for a third time). Partner may then know that you have a fit even if they only have three cards.
If you don't find a fit, it doesn't matter how shiny your hand looked before, it was only shiny because you'd get lots of tricks if partner has a fit for it. If you have a nice five card suit and partner has a singleton, it doesn't help. Stop bidding higher while you can. If you don't have a fit, either or both of you can bid no trumps: if you have the requisite strength, you can often bid 3NT. If not, you may have to stay in a two-or-three level contract. If so, so be it.
Overcalling
If opponents bid, the rules for bidding yourself are similar to those above except:
* To bid notrumps you need 16+ and a high card in the suit they bid (else you're likely to lose lots of tricks in that suit)
* To bid a suit, you need at least five in that suit, including at least one or two honours (since very likely opponents will win the auction and partner will lead the suit you bid).
Not as a definitive guide, but at least, as an attempt at introspection at what I do do.
Targets
Evaluate your hand with high card points and loser count. For a 3NT game, you need approx. 25 high card points between you and your partner. For a 4H/4S game, you need to have a trump fit, and then 14 losers max between the two hands.
For a 5C/5D game, you need 13 losers max, which is quite hard to find -- in practice you often need to be even stronger than that to avoid losing three tricks. Because I play a lot of duplicate bridge, I almost never actually try to bid a minor suit game unless (a) 3NT is definitely a bad idea and (b) we clearly only have 13 or 12 losers. However, it's a bad habit to never look for minor suit games, if it's the right contract, ignore me and bid it.
When to open
In order to make as many games as possible, it's normal to open the bidding when you have half of the requirements (<=7 losers or >=12 points), and know that if you would open the bidding but partner already did, you should have game between you.
I find it quite useful to evaluate my hand in terms of high card points AND losers, and say "this hand has <=7 losers and is good if my long suit fits with partner (8+ cards) and we make it trumps, but has fewer than 12 points, so is likely to be a lot weaker in no trumps, or in defence" or "if partner bids NT, they probably have more losers than I'm expecting so I can't rely on them having 7 losers in order to bid a slam".
What to open: No trumps
A balanced hand is 4333, 4432, or (if you feel like it) 5332. That is, no suit with none or one card in, and no more than one suit with two cards in.
There is a strong convention that when, and only when, you have a balanced hand, you should open NT or open a suit and rebid NT, with fairly strictly defined high-card-point ranges.
Most people I know in the UK play a weak NT, ie. with 12-14 points open 1NT, and with 15-17 points, open a four-card suit and rebid NT at the lowest level if partner bids. And with 18-19 pts, open, and if partner responds then JUMP a level to rebid NT.
If you have >=20pts you can't afford to open 1NT because partner might have 5 points and pass, when you'd actually have enough to make 3NT. The convention is to open 2NT, and partner will pass (with <4 points), or bid 3NT, 4H or 4S.
With Liv, I play a strong NT, ie. with 15-17 points, open 1NT, and with 12-14 points, open a suit and rebid NT. Except I often forget.
If the opponents open and you have a balanced hand and 12-14 points, it's not worth bidding. It's a wrench because whenever you have 12 points, you still hope partner will have 12+ points and you'll be able to bid 3NT. But (a) that's quite unlikely, because the opponent who opened probably has 12+ points, so it'll only happen if partner has almost all of the remaining high cards. And (b), even if partner does have 12+ points, it's a bad game for you because all the points are in one opponent's hand, and it's a bad situation for the opponents, because they're already bidding at the one or two level, but you will probably make a majority of the tricks. (It's worth learning how to bid and how to double in that situation, but not a matter of urgency)
What to open: Trumps
If you don't have a balanced hand, and have 7 or fewer losers, think about a suit game.
In order to make game in a trump contract, you normally need to have 8 or more trumps between you. Therefore, by convention, you ONLY bid suits where you have four or more cards.
Open by bidding your longest suit. Even if you have AKQJ in spades and 65432 in clubs, bid clubs. If you have multiple suits with least four cards in, bid the suit at the lowest level you can. (Eg. if you open and have clubs and spades, bid clubs and see if partner bids spades. If partner opened with 1D, and you have hearts and clubs, bid 1H, not 2C.)
Conversely, if you have two or more five card suits, open by bidding the higher one, then rebid the lower one if you can. This shows that the first one was longer.
I'm not sure that's always right, but it's a fairly simple set of rules and is what I'm used to.
Continuing to bid with suits
If you open and partner has fewer than 6 points, they'll usually pass because there's no way you'll have enough strength for game even if you had 19pts, and most of the time you'll have fewer than 20 pts between you, so stopping bidding as low as possible is better. (Sometimes you might not even make seven tricks to win a one-level contract, but if so, the penalty is often smaller than the points opponents could have made had they bid a contract themselves, so don't worry about a bad one-level contract, just make seven tricks if you can.)
If they bid, the first priority is finding a fit, preferably in a major suit. If partner bids a major suit and you have four, you don't normally want to bid anything else, just bid that suit at a higher level. In fact, assume partner has 7 losers, and if you have 7 losers as well, immediately bid 4H or 4S. If you have 8 losers, bid 3H/3S. If you have 9 or fewer losers, bid 2H/2S. If they had fewer than 7 losers, they'll bid again. (If they opened and you have 5 losers, you can bid 6H/6S!)
If they open a minor suit and you four cards in that and also in a major suit, it's worth bidding the major suit first, in case they have four cards in that too but bid the lower-ranked suit first. If not, you can always bid the minor suit again later.
Don't rebid a suit you already bid unless you have an additional card in it (ie. at least 5, and at least 6 if you bid it for a third time). Partner may then know that you have a fit even if they only have three cards.
If you don't find a fit, it doesn't matter how shiny your hand looked before, it was only shiny because you'd get lots of tricks if partner has a fit for it. If you have a nice five card suit and partner has a singleton, it doesn't help. Stop bidding higher while you can. If you don't have a fit, either or both of you can bid no trumps: if you have the requisite strength, you can often bid 3NT. If not, you may have to stay in a two-or-three level contract. If so, so be it.
Overcalling
If opponents bid, the rules for bidding yourself are similar to those above except:
* To bid notrumps you need 16+ and a high card in the suit they bid (else you're likely to lose lots of tricks in that suit)
* To bid a suit, you need at least five in that suit, including at least one or two honours (since very likely opponents will win the auction and partner will lead the suit you bid).
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 01:08 am (UTC)The really big point is that I play introducing a new suit into the bidding is forcing for one round — partner must respond. This makes it possible for someone with a strong hand to hunt for a fit with low-level bids before showing their strength, without risking getting passed by partner. Conversely, you need 1LT fewer to introduce a new suit than to re-bid an existing one.
The second point is that most people, after 1x-2y will bid 2NT for 15-19HCP rather than jumping to 3NT for 18-19HCP, which is both stretch and leaves little space for further conversation.
Thirdly, a 1NT response to an opening bid of a suit at the 1 level tends to be reserved for "I've got 9 losers and no suit I can bid at the 1 level".
I don't see why you're wary of minor game, if that's where the bidding leads. If there's a major or NT game to be made, the bidding will find it; if there isn't, and if the LTC looks good, why not bid the minor game?
As a more sophisticated adaptation, I've recently started using five-card spades openings: 1S means five spades, 1H or 1D means a four-card holding and 1C means either a four-card club holding or precisely a 4333 distribution and >14 HCP. This seems to give a little more precision while conserving a bit of bidding space.
Finally, it's pretty important to have takeout doubles available as an option when overcalling.
Once upon a time, a certain amount of Bridge got played on Thursday evenings. Maybe we should try to resurrect that? (-8
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 09:57 am (UTC)I mostly didn't have time to include it in the post.
New-suit-forcing I should have included, but I forgot, I'd always tell everyone to automatically play that.
A couple of things, stayman, preempts, etc, I'd play automatically think it's very good for people to know, simply because everyone will automatically expect them.
2C and Blackwood I'd say you need to know, but are taught to beginners way too soon. Beginners are taught "bid 2C with a good hand" and do so too readily, rather than waiting until they can recognise "I have hand where if partner has an A or a K we have game and I don't want them to pass", and then giving them the solution to that problem.
There's a few other things I'd understand, but wouldn't push on a beginner. 2NT fit-showing medium-strong response to a major suit I'd expect to play with people from UBC, but not people from the Carlton.
I think 5-card spade is a good idea, although in fact, you barely have to agree it, if people bid sequentially the only time it isn't is when someone has a strong NT with a 4333 hand with 4 spades (I think?).
A more complicated stayman convention and a more complicated form of blackwood are useful when they come up, but come up quite rarely, so if I had a regular partner I'd agree something for that slot, but with a casual partner I won't bother and assume we're playing the simple versions.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:22 am (UTC)1S takes up a lot of bidding space, so it's good that it gives a lot of information.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 10:07 am (UTC)Yes, I'd naturally play takeout doubles, but not with a beginner. Beginners always seem intimidated by the whole idea, I think possibly because people try and give a much too complicated set of rules for when doubles are penalties and when takeout.
In fact, beginners mostly never want to double for penalties anyway, so it'd be much simpler to say that double always means "I have something to show, please bid something", and introduce the idea of deciding under what circumstances its actually penalties later.
I'd also understand a cue bid to mean "I have something, probably the other major" and a jump in NT to mean "I have the lower suits".
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:43 am (UTC)I'd also say, try to have at least 4 cards in at least one unbid major, since partner will often take you for that even if the bid doesn't technically promise that?
I guess it also depends what you'd understand by a cue-bid or an unusual no-trump: if those need to be at least 5-4, a double must cover everything else.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 10:22 am (UTC)Oh yes, I'd agree with that. But I've spent a lot of time drumming in to people that (in general) when they have the prerequisites for game they should concentrate on bidding it, except that when partner opens 1C and you have an opening hand with 4C, your first thought should be "I wonder if we can make 3NT/4H/4S" not "ooh, I hope we can make game in clubs".
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:17 am (UTC)Generally, you want to approach a good contract slowly, and a part-score rapidly. Not least because if you have game or better, your opponents are unlikely to be interfering whereas for a part-score you'll have competition.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:32 am (UTC)If you actually recognise that you have a game contract, the benefit of bidding slowly is that you'll find the right game, or that when you have game you'll be able to sense whether you might have slam. But if you bid slowly always because you don't recognise whether you have game or not, it'll look superficially similar, but not actually help you.
So I'd prefer to teach beginners to place the contract in approximately the right place first, and only when they have that, refine it to know when to go slowly.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:57 am (UTC)Now that I am older and wiser, I see that as the moral equivalent of trying to have your parents teach you to drive a car. (-8
I think the right discipline, and a discipline with hindsight it's probably good to learn early, is always to think about what your bid tells partner and what partner's bid tells you, viewing each bid in context.
Then, each time you bid, you say more if there is more you can usefully say, or sign off in the best bid according to available information. Or pass, if partner's already signed off and you have something important enough to say that you feel it's worth keeping going.
In practice, the bidding is going to go one of two ways: either your side has game in which case you'll have plenty to say, or you don't in which case opponents will be fighting you for the part score and you can more easily pass without foreclosing on partner. It's very rare that you'll be compelled to say something when you want to remain silent.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:08 am (UTC)I was looking to arrange some casual bridge at some time, though I don't know what'll happen. Thursday isn't always the best time as I get split between socialising and playing, but I'd normally be up for playing a bit if I'm there.
We do seem to be fairly compatible. Would you like to go to the city or university club some time?
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:32 am (UTC)I'm playing at the city club with Matt this evening. (-8
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 01:00 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, since he was going to be directing as well as partnering me, the event might not happen. /-8
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 07:17 pm (UTC)In terms of clubs, I can't remember which one is on which night, but I'd be happy to go along if there's an evening we're free and see how it goes.
The university club is also having an event before the annual dinner on Sat 23rd of Feb. I'd planned to bring Rachel but I don't think she's going to make it, I don't know if you'd be interested?
no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 09:04 pm (UTC)Saturday 23rd also currently looks free. With my diet annual dinners aren't very interesting, but playing some bridge could be cool. Especially if we've already tried partnering to find out how badly wrong it goes. (-8
no subject
Date: 2013-01-30 10:00 am (UTC)Rachel's definitely not coming on the 23rd so if you wanted to come then it'd be good. We could practice some time next week -- is the city club on weds the most convenient?
no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 10:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-23 11:18 am (UTC)