Lesson 6 The Competitive Auction

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May Sparks
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Lesson 6 The Competitive Auction The complete picture Two other calls exist as well as Pass, these are Double and Redouble You may only double and opponent You may only redouble if the opponents

1 Lesson 6 The Competitive Auction The complete picture Two other calls exist as well as Pass, these are Double and Redouble You may only double and opponent You may only redouble if the opponents doubled and no bid was made following the double Simply put, double is used to signify that the opposition do not think you will make the contract, whilst redouble is upping the ante by saying that you will If you make your doubled contract, the score you receive is increased, whilst if you do not make it, the score for each under trick is increased Another aspect of the game is vulnerability, this also affects scoring If a partnership are vulnerable, there is a larger score for bidding and making game or higher, but there is the added factor of vulnerable undertricks score -100 rather than non-vulnerable under-tricks of -50 Add into this the option of the opponents doubling the contract, means that when we bid a contract in a contested auction we want to be sure that we are going to make it, or that going off will not be too expensive You are either Vulnerable or Not, however, this also applies to the opponents too, giving a traffic light system to describe the relative vulnerabilities of each side: Green: Opponents vulnerable, we are not White: Neither side vulnerable Amber: Both sides are vulnerable Red: Opponents are non-vulnerable, we are

2 Double Trouble Doubles of low level contracts, especially nowadays are no longer used to signify a hand that will beat the contract Imagine RHO opens 1 what are we going to need to take at least 7 tricks? Quite a rare hand, not really worth catering for Instead we use X to say essentially: any other suit but this one this is known as a takeout double i.e. take us out of spades A takeout double shows an opening hand (12 + ) with at least 4-cards in the unbid major and at least 3-cards in the unbid minor, the classic shape being a 4441 hand (the further away from the classic shape the more values we need to double) - AK84 - QJ93 - J - AJ92 RHO opened 1, we would have an opening bid and the classic 4414 shape for a Takeout double KQJ9 - AJ2 - AJ92 RHO opened 1, we have an opening bid and at least 4 hearts, with tolerance for either minor so we can X for takeout When partner makes a takeout double, it is saying: what s your longest suit? We MUST find a bid even with no points at all This means with about 8 + points, we need to jump in our suit, similar in style to limit raises to show our hand Some examples - T T97 - Q764 LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO passes we MUST bid. Partner has promised at least 4 spades, so we can simply bid 1. - Q75 - T QT83 LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO passes we MUST bid. Partner has shown tolerance for the minors, we bid 2 Lesson 6: The Competitive Auction 52

3 - QJT3 - A85 - T LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO passes we MUST bid so bidding 1 (0-7 points) would not do our hand justice: bid KJ32 - JT7 - J982 LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO passes we MUST bid but we have no suit of our own, however we do have a heart stop: bid 1NT However if RHO bids over partners double the force is gone so now we only bid with a good hand - T T97 - Q764 LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO bids 1. Now we do not need to bid, so we can pass with such a poor hand - T94 - K82 - JT7 - J982 LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO bids 2. Again, we do not want to bid so we can pass - J KT3 - J85 - QJ LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO bids 1NT. We have a reasonable hand with 4-card support, we can bid K32 - KJT - QJ982 LHO opened 1 and partner has doubled for Takeout, RHO bids 1, we have 10 points and a 5-card suit, we can bid 2 Lesson 6: The Competitive Auction 53

4 Making an overcall Double, albeit the most descriptive of action in a competitive auction is not the most common Usually we will want to introduce our own suit by simply bidding it this is known as overcalling There are 3 reasons why we may want to overcall our suit 1. We want the suit led if we defend 2. We want to disrupt the opponents auction 3. The hand may be ours! As a rough guide and overcall shows a good 5-card suit at the 1-level or 6-card suit (or very good 5) at the 2-level with at least 10 points A good way to work out if your suit is up to an overcall is to use the suit quality test (SQT) Add length of suit to number of honours in that suit That number is the number for tricks you can expect to take - AK972 - KT RHO opens 1, the SQT says we can bid 1, this is about a minimum for an overcall as we only have 10 points - Q972 - KQJT3-9 RHO opens 1, the SQT says we can bid 2, but we do not have 10 points, we pass - AKQ7 - J RHO opens 1, the SQT says we can bid 1, but we do not have a 5-card spade suit, we pass - KJ9 - AKQ73 - T3 RHO opens 1, the SQT says we can bid 2, but the lowest level we can bid diamonds at is 1, this is what we bid Lesson 6: The Competitive Auction 54

5 Dealing with overcalls responder When partner has opened a suit and RHO has made an overcall, we mostly continue as if there hasn t been a bid Limit raises still apply To bid a new suit at the 2-level shows at least 10 points and is forcing to 2NT by responder NT bids now show a stop in the suit that has been overcalled: 1NT: 5-9 2NT: 10-11(12) 3NT: (12)13-15 X is still takeout: this promises 4-cards in the unbid major and at least 3- cards in the unbid minor T94 - A983 - AJ43 Partner opens 1, RHO overcalls 1. We do not have an immediate heart fit or a spade stop, but have both minors: X for takeout - KJ AT84 - Q832 Partner opens 1, RHO overcalls 2. We have a diamond stop and points, we can bid 2NT - AKQ7 - J Partner opens 1, RHO overcalls 1, we would have bid 1 if RHO had passed, so we can simply bid 1 now - AQ73 - QT98 - J92-92 Partner opens 1, RHO overcalls 1, we are 4-4 in the majors, so we can X for takeout Lesson 6: The Competitive Auction 55

6 Dealing with overcalls advancer When partner has overcalled, we can essentially bid as if partner had opened An important point to remember is the length that we can raise partner s suit in a limit raise style happily with only 3-card support Bidding NT is natural and shows a stop in the opponents suit Pre-empting What are higher opening suit bids used for? Imagine a hand like: KJT874 - T73-42 How many tricks will this hand take with hearts as trumps? Maybe 5 without anything from partner, without hearts as trumps this hand is useless If partner has nothing then the opponents certainly have game on and we need to jam the auction by taking away valuable bidding space If partner has values, we need to tell them that our hand is only any good to them in hearts This is what we use higher level suit bids to show and is called pre-emption 2 IS NOT A PRE-EMPTIVE BID Pre-empts are made with hands that have fewer than 10 points They are (usually) single-suited hands, with the majority of the points in the suit A standard suit length is 2 fewer than the number of tricks you ll be aiming to make: 6-card suit: 2-level (8 tricks) 7-card suit: 3-level (9 tricks) etc. Partner must announce 2 /2 /2 as Weak Lesson 6: The Competitive Auction 56

7 When can we pre-empt? When 1 st or 2 nd to bid (dealer or RHO has passed) When 3 rd to bid and partner has PASSED we do not pre-empt partner You can pre-empt if the opponents have opened: overcalling at the same level as if you would open e.g. (1 ) 2 DO NOT PRE-EMPT OVER A PRE-EMPT e.g. (2 ) 4 is not weak Dealing with a pre-empt responder Any raise of partner s suit is not forward going we are simply increasing the pressure on the opponents, further pre-emption If we want to consider raising partner to game, we either need a lot of support or a lot of high cards - T2 - AT64 - KJ Partner opens 2, promising a 6-card suit, we have 4-card support, we are therefore safe to bid 4 (10 trumps, 10 tricks) When thinking about support you need enough combined trumps of the level you will play in e.g. 4M will need 10 trumps When thinking about values you assume partner will go 2 off without any help from you, if you can cover those two losers and supply others, you can raise to game with only an 8-card fit A874 - AT73 - A42 Partner open 3, we need 2 quick tricks to cover partner s immediate losses and then another to make the 10 th trick We have 3 aces, this should be enough: bid 4 Lesson 6: The Competitive Auction 57

8 Dealing with a pre-empt defender X is for takeout, just the same, sometimes, partner can pass this with a lot of the pre-emptor s suit and hope to collect a large penalty AJT74 - T73 - A42 LHO opens 3, partner doubles for takeout what should we do? PASS!! Partner has values, we have some too, but we also have lots of trumps Overcalls are natural, but must be a good suit and at least and opening hand These are tough that s the reason people open them so apply pressure and pre-empt when you can! Lesson 6: The Competitive Auction 58

Dear teacher, Bidding. Opener's rebid. The opening 1NT. Game contracts. Opener rebids in notrumps. Distribution points. Overcalls

Dear teacher, Bidding. Opener's rebid. The opening 1NT. Game contracts. Opener rebids in notrumps. Distribution points. Overcalls Dear teacher, Nothing is more important to someone learning bridge than to have a good teacher. A good teacher will introduce the right topics at the right time, simplifying the learning process and making