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jackI was always taught the normal responses to a 1-level opening were:
- if you have a fit for partner's suit, raise it to the level you want to play at. [Good partnerships can bid a major first if the bid suit was a minor, and use a conventional bid such as 2NT to show a good fit rather than jumping straight to game.]
- if you have 6+ points, bid your longest suit at the 1 level (if you can)
- if you have 10+ points, bid your longest suit (at the 1 or 2 level)
- if you have 6-9 points and no suit you can bid at the 1 level, bid 1NT (it doesn't matter if your hand isn't balanced)
And I think most people I know play something similar (unless they're playing a completely different system).
The point I'm not sure of is the requirement to have 10 pts to bid at the two level. In other words, the idea that if you don't have 10 pts or a suit biddable at the one level you have to bid 1NT. I've found this very fiddly to explain to beginners, so have mostly dropped it from the early part of my unofficial curriculum.
But I know several reasonably good players who don't think that's a rule, and I'm not sure what the best convention is.
I assumed the logic of "need 10 pts to bid at the 2 level" is that if responder has good shape (better than 9 losers) but <10 pts, the partnership can have <20pts between them and may well have no fit, so if opener has a minimum, he/she can pass to play in 1NT, rather than bidding inexorably to 2-of-a-suit or 2NT. And also that if responder has shown >10 pts, opener can bid more confidently in competition. In other words, 10pts means 10 high card points that are useful in NT and in defence, not just the equivalent in loser count.
But maybe that's not necessary, as long as opener knows that responder may bid at the 2 level with 6 points.
Which is better?
- if you have a fit for partner's suit, raise it to the level you want to play at. [Good partnerships can bid a major first if the bid suit was a minor, and use a conventional bid such as 2NT to show a good fit rather than jumping straight to game.]
- if you have 6+ points, bid your longest suit at the 1 level (if you can)
- if you have 10+ points, bid your longest suit (at the 1 or 2 level)
- if you have 6-9 points and no suit you can bid at the 1 level, bid 1NT (it doesn't matter if your hand isn't balanced)
And I think most people I know play something similar (unless they're playing a completely different system).
The point I'm not sure of is the requirement to have 10 pts to bid at the two level. In other words, the idea that if you don't have 10 pts or a suit biddable at the one level you have to bid 1NT. I've found this very fiddly to explain to beginners, so have mostly dropped it from the early part of my unofficial curriculum.
But I know several reasonably good players who don't think that's a rule, and I'm not sure what the best convention is.
I assumed the logic of "need 10 pts to bid at the 2 level" is that if responder has good shape (better than 9 losers) but <10 pts, the partnership can have <20pts between them and may well have no fit, so if opener has a minimum, he/she can pass to play in 1NT, rather than bidding inexorably to 2-of-a-suit or 2NT. And also that if responder has shown >10 pts, opener can bid more confidently in competition. In other words, 10pts means 10 high card points that are useful in NT and in defence, not just the equivalent in loser count.
But maybe that's not necessary, as long as opener knows that responder may bid at the 2 level with 6 points.
Which is better?
no subject
Date: 2013-07-03 03:50 pm (UTC)The easy way to explain to a beginner why they must bid is: if your side has 24-25-ish points, you're likely to be able to make game, 3NT. You've agreed that with 18-19 points and a balanced hand, partner is to open 1 of a suit and rebid 2NT.
Now: partner opens 1H. You have 6HCP. If you pass, you might leave partner in 1H when 3NT is making.
Alternatively: partner opens 1H. You have 5HCP. You definitely don't have game in NT, so it's OK to pass.
Similar arguments go for opener having a strong unbalanced hand, but they're harder to quantify.
So, given you must bid, suppose partner opens 1H. You have 6HCP and a diamond suit. Why 1NT rather than 2D? What if partner has a minimal opening hand? 2D is forcing for one round, so you have to be strong enough for them to bid 3D. Are you? Er… no. Hence you hedge your bets: a bid that doesn't force in case partner is weak, but keeps the bidding open in case they're strong.
Wouldn't most beginners see the logic if shown two or three sample deals that exemplified the different ways such things might go?
Personally, I try to balance gut feel, HCP, quick tricks, stops and losing trick count when evaluating a hand. The more sure I am we'll play in a suit contract (either we've already found a fit or I have a distribution that makes it very likely we're going to) the more I'll lean towards LTC, but I'll lean towards HCP when NT seems plausible from honours, stops if I think we can make a distributional 3NT, quick tricks if headed for slam, grey areas in between.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-03 09:55 pm (UTC)Yeah, I think that's the simple effective explanation now you say it again.
Do you agree with 10 pts for the 2 level? I assumed so, but I think a couple of times I bid a bad 3NT because you responded at the 2 level with very good shape but < 10 pts, and I assumed we had enough for 3N. I thought that was a message that I was wrong about this rule, but maybe that was just an exception, sorry?
no subject
Date: 2013-07-04 01:38 pm (UTC)However, there is also the principle of slow approach. If, say, you bid 1H and I bid 2D, I'd take 3NT as a fairly firm "oh, well, if you're not supporting hearts but have diamonds, I reckon we've got game in NT even though I don't have a balanced hand", but 2NT as "I have 15-19 HCP and a balanced hand — your move". Every hand that opens one of a suit inherently must have a subsequent available, whether that be a second suit, rebid of the original suit or no-trumps; if you open, I respond and you don't like my bid, I would expect you to make that bid.
So yes, in general, my 2-level response shows 10HCP. But, 1NT with a long suit appeals even less and we're not playing weak jump shifts, so … (-8
It's possible to have a lot of more nuanced and explicit bids available. I'm perfectly happy to have a conversation about what Matt's got me playing now, even if we did go down in 3NT when 4M would have been cold last night. Whoops.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-03 04:00 pm (UTC)If they have a balanced hand without support for responder's suit, their only options are:
Lies about distribution can obviously get you into a world of pain, so should be used very sparingly. If opener wants to pass, the question arises: what is the strongest hand partner could have? Or, equivalently, what should partner bid if they don't want me to pass? New suit forcing for one round is a simple and effective principle; can you think of an attractive alternative?
So opener wants to rebid NT. Now: at what level? Working out whether game and/or slam is on has suddenly become a lot less precise.
Again, similar considerations apply in suits, they're just harder to reason about.