NB: I assume we're talking about Duplicate? The considerations in Rubber are very different.
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.
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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.