- 1 -
INTERMEDIATE
BRIDGE
LESSON
1
OPENING
NO TRUMP BIDDING!
Requirements: (Things to consider)
a.
Count only high card points (do not count distribution)
b.
Must have an evenly balanced hand; i.e., no voids, no singletons, and not more
than one
doubleton. Examples: 4‑3‑3‑3, 4‑4‑3‑2,
5-3-3-2
c.
If the distribution is 5‑3‑3‑2, the 5-card suit must not be a
Major suit (Hearts or Spades)
d.
The entire system is based upon 26 HCP's = Game, 33 HCP's = Small Slam,
and 37 HCP's = Grand Slam
Point count: (High Card Points Only)
a. 0-10 HCP’s - Pass
b. 11-14 HCP’s
- Bid one of a Minor and rebid
1NT
c. 15-17 HCP’s
- Bid 1NT
d. 18-20 HCP’s
- Open one of a minor and jump
to 2NT with 18 or 19 HCP’s --- 3NT with 20 HCP’s
e. 21-22 HCP’s
- Bid 2NT
f. 23-24 HCP’s - Open “2C” and rebid
2NT
g. 25-27 HCP’s
- Open “2C” and jump to 3NT on
your rebid
Special Circumstances: -
GAMBLING 3NT - A gambling pre-emptive game try.
a.
Requirement
- a >7-card self‑sufficient
(AKQXXXX) Minor suit (Clubs or
Diamonds)
b.
Response
by partner - If partner has stoppers in both Majors and two (2) quick
tricks or better, he
(she) passes. Alternatively partner
bids 4C and opener either passes or corrects to 4D (his/her preferred 7-card
Minor) in order to escape the doomed 3NT contract.
Responses to Opening 1
No Trump: (Only
HCP’s count)
a.
0-
8 HCP’s - Pass
b.
9-10 HCP’s
- Bid 2NT (Invites opener to
game - Opening 1NT bidder passes with a
minimum of
15 HCP’s and goes to 3NT with a maximum of 16-17 HCP’s)
c.
11-15 HCP’s -
Bid 3NT
d.
16-17 HCP’s -
Bid 4NT (Invites opener to 6NT - Opening 1NT bidder passes with a
minimum of
15 HCP’s and goes to 6NT with a maximum of 16-17 HCP’s)
Note: - 4NT in this scenario
is not the Blackwood Convention asking for Aces; rather it is a
quantitative bid seeking
Slam. If partner desires to ask for
Aces, the Gerber (“4C”)
Convention must be
used.
e.
18-19 HCP’s -
Bid 6NT
f.
20-21 HCP’s -
Bid 5NT (Invites partner to Small or Grand Slam - Opening 1NT bidder
bids
6NT with a
minimum of 15 HCP’s and bids 7NT with a maximum of
16-17 HCP’s)
g.
22-23 HCP’s -
Bid 7NT
********************
- 2 -
INTERMEDIATE
BRIDGE
LESSON
2
OPENING
BIDS WITH UNBALANCED HANDS
Considerations: - These hands are unbalanced;
i.e., they contain at least one or more voids, one or more
Singletons,
and/or more than one doubleton. Note
that in this instance, since a
No Trump
contract is not being considered, distributional points do count; i.e.,
2
Points for a
singleton, 1 Point for a doubleton, and 3 Points for a void. Remember, if, and
when, a Golden
Fit is found, a Singleton advances to a worth of 3 Points, a Doubleton
remains at a
value of 1 Point, and a Void advances to a worth of 5 Points.
General Bidding Ranges:
a.
0-12 HCP’s
Points - Pass (Exception: if
the Rule of 20 is satisfied, one may and probably
should open a 10-12 HCP
hand in the first or second position)
b.
13
HCP’s Points - Must open
1 of a suit with either a good 5-card Major or else a preferred
Minor (Note: In this instance Rule of 20 will always be satisfied)
c. 14-15 HCP’s
Points - Must open 1 of a suit and rebid any of the following:
(1)
Rebid
1 No Trump
(2)
Rebid
one’s own suit evidencing a 6-card Major or a 5-card Minor
(3)
Raise
partner one level in his/her responding suit
(4)
Pass
only if responding partner
has made a limited bid of either 2 of opener’s suit or 1 NT
(5)
Pass
if opponent to opener’s right (RHO) has made an intervening overcall, said
bid affording opener’s responder another opportunity to bid if he/she so
chooses
e.
16-18
Points - Open 1 of a suit and rebid:
(1)
Jump
in opener’s suit if holding 6 or more cards in opener’s suit
(2)
Jump
in partner’s suit if support for partner is present
(3)
Present
a reverse bid (Ex: 1H 2D)
or (Ex: 1S 2H)
2S 3C
f.
19
Points or More - Open 1 of a suit and Jump Shift into a second suit
g.
21
Points (With a 7-card suit)
23 Points (With a 6-card suit) = Open “2C”
(These are Minimum Requirements)
25 Points (With a 5-card suit)
If opener has more than one good long suit to show,
it is usually beneficial to open one of a suit and jump-shift into the second
suit as opposed to opening “2C” which, in effect, cuts out one-level of bidding
space for the opening team. Also note:
the “2C” artificial, strong, opening is also forcing, and
can never be passed by
responder, no matter how weak he/she may be, even with 0-7 HCP’s a response of
“2D” (Negative) must be given.
- 3 -
INTERMEDIATE
BRIDGE
LESSON
3
PRE-EMPTIVE
BIDDING
Definition: -
Any Opening suit bid at the 2 Diamond level or beyond. (NOTE: 2 Clubs is
reserved for
a strong, artificial, and forcing bid.)
Purpose: -
To preclude or, at the very least, inhibit the opponents from finding
their presumed suit
fit, as well as their
ability to find the proper level of play; a partial score, game or slam.
Restriction: -
Usually denies having four or more cards in either Major suit if the pre‑empt
is in a
Minor suit, or four
cards in the other Major suit if the pre‑empt is in a Major suit.
Requirements:
- Several prerequisites must be met in ordeer for the hand to qualify for a
valid pre-empt.
1. The
Vulnerability - Usually signifies an anticipated going down two tricks if one
is vulnerable, or three tricks if one is not vulnerable. (To be later further
qualified as in the Rule of 2-3-4)
2. Requires
an understanding of the scoring process in that one does not desire to give up
more points under a sacrificing scenario than the opponents would normally have
gleaned had they, unobstructed, gotten to their rightful contract, be it in a
partial, game or slam contract.
3. At
the two (2) Level - Evidences:
a. At least a six (6)
card suit
b.
Usually a suit quality evidencing at least two of the top three honors if
the
partnership understanding is that
pre-emptive bids are "sound" as opposed to "light".