Bridge the Gap to Better Bidding

Jerry Drennan, Jack Wynns

Description

Mastering the basics of bidding presented in this book will expand your bidding skills and minimize your partnership errors and misunderstandings. Watch your scores improve.
This book is intended for intermediate and advanced players and is designed along the lines of a convention card. Each subject (No Trump, Majors, Weak Two Bids, etc.) gets its own chapter. Within each chapter each topic gets a page of text along with examples and a quiz. Most intermediate players have a working, but incomplete, knowledge of the various topics. This book will fill in the blanks, add new ideas to your bidding arsenal and significantly improve your bidding skills.

Sujets

• Card Games
• Activities
• Bidding
• Card
• Games
• Game
• Bridge

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 26 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781665566834
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Bridge the Gap to Better Bidding
 
 
 
Jack Wynns and Jerry Drennan
 
 

 
 
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
© 2022 Jack Wynns and Jerry Drennan. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 08/17/2022
 
ISBN: 978-1-6655-6682-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-6683-4 (e)
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
A bridge convention, by any other name, would be just as confusing.
Christine B. Tatum, et al.
Introduction
This book is not for the beginner or the expert. It is written primarily for aspiring intermediate and advanced players who wish to expand and improve their bidding. Much of what is presented here can be considered standard: Five card majors, 15-17 HCP No Trump openers, Weak Two Bids, etc. However, bridge players are a remarkably inventive lot and there is a bewildering array of options for many of the topics covered in this book. For example, there are more than a dozen conventions for competing over an opponent’s one no trump opening bid. We present the methods that we prefer. We invite the reader to look at alternatives and choose those methods that best suit his or her skill level and style. Also consider what your regular partners play.
A word of caution about complexity: There is no topic or convention that can’t be expanded to the nth degree and made nearly incomprehensible to most players. Some of the material we present here is a bit advanced and intermediate players may choose to stick with the more simplified version until they want the fine points.
Two-Over-One Game Force has become the predominate system in use today. Most of your prospective partners will be playing it and that is what we have used in this book.
Each major subject gets a chapter. Within the chapters, each topic gets a page of discussion, a page of examples, and a quiz. The book is also useful as a reference work. If you have heard of the Quantitative Slam Try or the Obligatory Double but aren’t sure what they are, the index will get you there.
Finally, the book is not intended to be comprehensive. Each chapter can easily be expanded into a book and in most cases already has been. You can expand your knowledge with books at a more detailed level but the material presented here will make you and partner accurate bidders in the vast majority of hands you will encounter at the table.
Contents
Part I: Your Side Opens the Bidding
Chapter 1 Two-Over-One Game Force
Chapter 2 Opening One of a Major
Chapter 3 Opening One of a Minor
Chapter 4 Conventions for Opening Suit Bids
Chapter 5 One No Trump
Chapter 6 Two No Trump and Three No Trump
Chapter 7 Weak Two Bids
Chapter 8 Higher Level Preempts
Chapter 9 Strong Two Club
Chapter 10 Slam Bidding
Part II: The Opponents Open the Bidding
Chapter 11 Competing Against a One No Trump Opener
Chapter 12 Takeout Doubles
Chapter 13 Overcalls
Chapter 14 Two Suited Overcalls
Chapter 15 Balancing
Appendices
1
Two-Over-One Game Force

Table of Contents
Introduction
One No Trump Forcing – Opener’s Rebid
One No Trump Forcing – Responder’s Rebid
Two-Over-One Game Force – Opener’s Rebid
Two-Over-One Game Force – Responder’s Rebid
Two-Over-One Game Force - Except...
Two-Over-One Game Force
Introduction
In standard bidding, a new suit at the two level by responder simply requires ten or more points and a decent suit. However, this method has largely been replaced by Two-Over-One Game Force (2/1 GF) where a two level response in a suit lower ranking than opener’s shows the equivalent of an opening bid or better and is forcing to game.
The advantage of 2/1 Game Force is that it allows the partners to exchange information at a low level without fear that a bid below game will be passed out. This is useful when the partnership is searching for the right game contract. It is especially useful for getting to difficult slams. The primary disadvantage is that responder’s invitational hands can be a bit more challenging to bid.
Note: 2/1 Game Force commits the partnership to 3NT or four of a suit, usually a major. If both partners are minimum with a minor suit fit and a known unstopped suit, it is possible to play in four of the minor, though this is relatively rare.
Exceptions: In some instances a suit bid at the two level is not 2/1 Game Force.
- A jump bid to the two level is not 2/1 GF, it is preemptive.
- If responder is a passed hand a two level bid just shows 10-12 points.
- After an opponent’s overcall a two level bid shows 10 or more points.
1NT Forcing: 2/1 GF works fine when responder has 13 or more points; however, it raises the question of what to do when responder has less than a game going hand. If opener’s suit is a minor this is usually not a problem. Responder has two or three suits they can bid at the one level, in addition to no trump. It is when opener bids a major that responder has virtually no room to bid. The solution is to make the 1NT response a one round force. 1NT Forcing, over a major suit opener, is an essential component of 2/1 GF. However, 1NT is not forcing over interference and is not forcing by a passed hand.
Fast Arrival: Fast arrival is a useful convention to remember in game forcing auctions. When either partner knows a major suit fit has been found, a jump to game shows a hand with no extra values. With extra strength the correct response is to raise the suit at the cheapest level. For example, if you have bid 2/1 GF with three card support for opener’s major but a hand worth only 13 points, your next bid should be a jump to game to show a minimum 2/1 GF. If your hand were worth a good 15+ points or had controls, you would just raise the major at your second turn. Almost all bidding systems use this principle. This does not apply to minor suits or no trump! Do not jump to 3NT in a game forcing auction!
One No Trump Forcing – Opener’s Rebid
Playing Two-Over-One Game Force, if opener bids a major, responder has virtually no room to bid with less than a game forcing hand. If opener bid hearts and responder has 4+ spades they can bid 1S. With six spades and a weak hand (a bad 5 HCP or less) they can make a weak jump shift to 2S. With almost any other hand responder must bid one no trump forcing. This is a waiting bid and says little about responder’s hand other than that it has about 6-12 HCP and almost any distribution.
1NT not forcing: There are two situations where 1NT is not forcing. First, if there is an intervening bid by the opponents, 1NT by responder shows a balanced 6-10 HCP with a stop in the opponent’s suit. Second, if responder is a passed hand, 1NT is not forcing. Opener can pass with a balanced minimum but should bid again with 14 or more points or with an unbalanced hand.
Over 1NT Forcing, opener bids as follows:
Five card major: As a rule, do not rebid your five card major. Always bid a lower ranking four card suit if you have one. If you don’t (i.e., 5-3-3-2 shape) bid your longer minor. If your minors are 3-3 bid clubs to give responder room to describe her hand. If you bid hearts as a second suit you promise four cards, but if you bid a minor you only promise three, although you could have four or five. Finally, if you are precisely 4-5-2-2 and not strong enough to reverse into spades, bid clubs. This is the only hand where you can rebid 2C with only two.
Six card major:
- With a minimum opener, rebid your six card major.
- With a better hand, but not strong enough to jump, bid a side suit, even a three card minor. When you next rebid your major you show this hand.
- With an invitational hand, jump in your major.
Strong hands:
- With a self-sufficient suit (6+ cards with no more than one loser) and eight tricks, jump to four of the major. This is a hand just short of opening a strong 2C.
- With a balanced hand, 17-18 HCP, and stops in all suits, bid 2NT. With the same hand and 19 HCP, jump to 3NT. (With 20 HCP you would have opened 2NT.)
- Reverse from hearts to spades. (See pp. 132-139)
- Make a strong jump shift. Forcing to game. (See p. 144)
Examples: 1NT Forcing – Opener’s Rebid
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
KJx
AKxx
AJTxxx
KQJxx
Axx
KQTxx
AQJxx
KJxxx
Kx
Ax
AKJxxx
AJxx
Qxx
Qx
xx
Kxx
x
Kx
xx
xx