A Good Game of Modern Bridge

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2 You, too, can play A Good Game of Modern Bridge (for Standard American players) Bidding methods come and go, but the ones that work stay. The popular style of bidding today is quite a bit removed from that of the 1960s, 1970s and even the 1980s. While high card values are still very important, today there is far more emphasis on shape. That affects your decision whether to open or not and your choice of rebid. In general bidding is far more competitive than it was thirty years ago. This is so whether it is pre-empting, overcalling or doubling for takeout. In this book you will find the methods and conventional bids which reflect current standards. The first half will enable the club player to glide comfortably into modern practice. The second half contains more sophisticated approaches suitable for the advanced player and perhaps even for the expert. Adopt those that suit you. Ron Klinger is a leading international bridge teacher and has represented Australia in many world championships from 1976 to He has written over sixty books, some of which have been translated into Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, French, Hebrew and Icelandic. He has developed many new bridge ideas and in this book explains and illustrates the methods which have become current practice among many leading players.

3 Published by and available from Modern Bridge Publications P.O. Box 140, Northbridge NSW 1560, Australia BID AGAINST THE MASTERS by Keith McNeil Other bridge materials by Ron Klinger BRIDGE BASICS THE MODERN LOSING TRICK COUNT BRIDGE FOR CHILDREN THE POWER SYSTEM BRIDGE MADE EASY CUE BIDDING TO SLAMS GUIDE TO BETTER BRIDGE GUIDE TO BETTER DUPLICATE GUIDE TO BETTER CARD PLAY* (*Winner of 1991 American Bridge Teachers' Bridge Book of the Year Award) PRACTICAL SLAM BIDDING THE BRIDGE PLAYER WHO LAUGHED BID BETTER, MUCH BETTER FIVE-CARD MAJOR STAYMAN Flipper on The Acol System BRIDGE ON DVD: Opening Leads 1, Opening Leads 2, Signals & Discards, Responder's Strategy, Improve Your Hand Valuation, Tips on Bidding, Defensive Play, Bidding Over Pre-empts, Competitive Bidding Part 1, Competitive Bidding Part 2, Card Combinations for Declarer, Advanced Bidding Technique Pamphlets on Opening Leads, Doubles, Multi-Twos, Negative Doubles, Benjamin Twos, Transfers over 1NT, Competitive Bidding, 10 Great Conventions, 12 More Great Conventions, Cue Bidding to Slams, Roman Key Card Blackwood Word Games created by Ron Klinger WORDLE Board and Card Games

4 You, too, can play A Good Game of Modern Bridge (for Standard American players) Ron Klinger SYDNEY MODERN BRIDGE PUBLICATIONS P.O. Box 140, Northbridge NSW 1560, AUSTRALIA Telephone (02) ron@ronklingerbridge.com

5 Acknowledgement I am indebted to my various bridge partners for the frequent discussions on the methods in this book and using them with me to see how they operate and how they can be improved, and to my wife Suzie, whose scrutiny and proof-reading is invaluable in eliminating the errors that I have missed. Copyright Ron Klinger 2014 All rights reserved. Reproduction of contents without written permission of the publisher is prohibited except for reasonable excerpts for the purpose of reviews. National Library of Australia card number and ISBN Typeset in Australia by Modern Bridge Publications, 60 Kameruka Road, Northbridge NSW 2063, Australia Telephone within Australia (02) , Telephone from overseas (612) ron@ronklingerbridge.com Printed in Australia by McPhersons Print Group

6 Contents Introduction PART 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 PART 2 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Bidding Style Opening without balanced shape Opening with a balanced hand 3rd-seat and 4th-seat openings Pre-emptive openings The Losing Trick Count Opening 1NT with a 5-card major Be prepared to make light opening bids Responding light to a suit opening bid For Club Players Opening the bidding Responding to a 1-suit opening Development of suit auctions Bidding after a 1NT opening Bidding after a 2NT opening Bidding after a Gambling 3NT Bidding after the 26 opening The weak two openings After partner s pre-empt Slam bidding

7 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Part 3 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Part 4 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Competitive Bidding Opening leads and signals Congress, State, County, Regional Players Opening the bidding Responding to a 1-suit opening Development of suit auctions Bidding after a 1NT opening Bidding after a 2NT opening 3NT opening for specific aces Bidding after the 26 opening Multi-two openings After partner s pre-empt Slam Bidding Competitive bidding For ambitious players, enthusiastic experts Opening the bidding Responding to a 1-suit opening Opener s rebids Responder s rebids Bidding by a passed hand The 1NT opening The 2NT opening The 26 opening

8 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Appendix 5 The 2&, 2% and 28 openings Bidding after partner s pre-empt The 3NT opening Competitive bidding Defensive bidding Slam bidding Leads and signals The point count 1-Major : 2& and 1-Major : 26 1M : 2NT a different approach Minor considerations Some example deals Brief index for Part 4 5-card major Stayman 180ff 5NT Grand Slam Ask 248 After 1X : 1Y, 2NT After a reverse 162 Bergen Raises 148 Cue-bidding Exclusion Key Card Blackwood 245, 247 Jacoby 2NT 148 Leaping Michaels 192, 223 Roman Key Card Blackwood 240, 246 Splinters 148, 164 Splinters after a 1NT opening Stopper asks 166 Transfer responses 146, 150 ff X / Y / Z

9 Introduction There will always be new ideas on bidding, but which ones are worthwhile? The methods in this book have proven themselves at top level and are accepted by many leading players. There are four parts. Chapters 1-8 should apply regardless of your standard and the level at which you are competing. Part 2 is mainly for club players, who do not want to be overloaded with system structure and conventions, but are keen to do well at the local club. Part 3 is for those who aspire to higher attainments, those who want to win at bridge congresses, state or county championships or regional tournaments. Part 4 is for those who have no limits on their ambitions in the bridge world. These are the players who want to be #1 in each and every tournament in which they compete. The material in Part 4 is definitely advanced, but it is not beyond you. You just need to have enthusiasm and a partner who is as keen as you are to progress and win on a regular basis. You do not need to stick to just one part of this book. You can construct your own system. Choose one approach from Part 2, another from Part 3 and others from Part 4 if you wish. If you already have a system you like, you can add parts to it from this book. Whichever you and partner decide to adopt, you can amalgamate the methods to produce an efficient bidding system. Part of me hopes you and your partner(s) make it through Part 4. Another part is concerned that this will lead to a sharp increase in your skill and will make you a threat if we meet as opponents at the bridge table. Accordingly there is a caveat on the material. If you sit down at my table or I come to your table, nothing you have learned from this book may be used against me. Happy bridging. Ron Klinger, 2014

10 PART 1: BIDDING STYLE Chapter 1: Opening without balanced shape In first and second seat When I first learnt to play, one opened all hands with 14+ HCP and almost all hands with 13 HCP. Hands of 12 HCP needed some positive feature to justify opening. How times have changed! These days you need a good reason not to open a hand with 12 HCP and many hands with fewer high card points are opened routinely. One of the architects of the modern predilection for lighter openings is Marty Bergen with his Rule of 20: Add your HCP to the number of cards in your two long suits. If the total is 20 or more, you have a one-opening in first or second seat. While the Rule of 20 will work for most hands, it does omit one important factor when choosing an opening bid: the defensive potential. A suit opening of one should include some defence, normally at least 1½ to 2 tricks. The Rule of 22 uses the Rule of 20 as a basis but adds defensive winners as an extra factor: The Rule of 22: Add (1) Your high card points to (2) The number of cards in your two longest suits and (3) The number of quick tricks you hold Quick tricks are those that you are likely to win whether your side is declaring or defending. They are the tricks you figure to win in the first two rounds of a suit. Thus, suits headed by A-K = 2 quick tricks, A-Q = 1½, A = 1, K-Q = 1 and K = ½ (but nothing if the king is singleton).

11 10 A Good Game of Modern Bridge Rule of 22: After adding your HCP (strength), two long suits (shape) and quick tricks (defence), if the total comes to 22 or more you have a sound opening of one in first or second seat. (There are other considerations in third or fourth seat and these will be considered later.) Each of these hands would be worth a 1% opening in first or second seat: % A Q & A J % A Q & K J % K Q & A HCP + 9 cards in two long suits + 2½ quick tricks = 22½ HCP + 10 cards in two long suits + 2 quick tricks = HCP + 11 cards in two long suits + 2 quick tricks = 22. Have you noticed a common feature in these examples? In each case the high cards are in the long suits. That is an important ingredient when opening with light high card values. When you have honours in short suits, you should make some adjustments to downgrade the hand. For a singleton ace, king, queen or jack, deduct a point. For any honour in a doubleton suit, downgrade by half a point. Thus, take a point off for K-Q doubleton, Q-J doubleton, and so on. As a result, these hands should not be opened with a one-bid: % A & A J Q % A & J K Q 3. 8 A K % Q & Deduct 1 point for the bare queen leaves 21 opening points. 2. Deduct 1 point for K-Q doubleton leaves 21 opening points. 3. Deduct 1 point for A-K bare leaves 21 opening points.

12 Opening without balanced shape 11 Why do we count points? To measure tricks. How many points equal one trick? There are 40 HCP in the pack and there are 13 tricks. That means each trick is worth a tiny bit more than 3 points. In consequence it pays you to upgrade hands when the tricks obviously exceed the high card values for that combination. This will often occur when you have honour cards in combination. Suppose you hold A-K-Q-J. You count 10 HCP, but this is clearly four tricks. Therefore add at least one point for such a holding. Similarly, K-Q-J-10 is 6 HCP, but it is worth three tricks. Upgrade. An easy guide to cater for such holdings: Add half a point for a suit which contains three honours, a full point for four honours in the one suit and two points for all five honours. Another factor which can bring in extra tricks is length in a suit. Suppose you holds A-K-Q-J-2. You have 10 HCP, but this suit has four sure tricks and most of the time five. You have already added one point for the four honours. It is certainly worth adding another point for the 5-card suit. The stronger the suit, the more likely it is that the length in the suit will produce an additional trick. When responding to a 1NT opening, make sure you add one point for the fifth card in a suit, two for the sixth and three for the seventh. Even this is a conservative approach. How does this translate into practice? 8 K Q % & You have only 5 HCP, but counting extra points for the fifth, sixth and seventh cards ( ) gives you an extra six points. Insist on 48. It would be far too timid to sign off in 28 and even inviting game via 1NT : 2%, 28 : 38 does not do this hand justice. Note again that your limited high cards are in your long suit.

13 12 A Good Game of Modern Bridge Suits that include the ten are worth an upgrade, particularly when the suit contains higher honours as well. (a) Dummy: You: A J 5 (b) Dummy: You: A J 10 In (a) you have about a 25% chance of two tricks. With (b) this has risen to 75%. It is sensible to add a point for (b). (a) Dummy: Q 6 3 You: A 5 4 (b) Dummy: Q 6 3 You: A 10 4 With (a) you have a 50% chance for two tricks. With (b) the odds are 75% and this climbs to 100% if either opponent leads the suit. Consider A-10-x as a plus value. Just as the ten can be valuable, a suit including 10-9 can also add extra playing strength. (a) Dummy: Q 6 3 You: A J 4 2 (b) Dummy: Q 10 9 You: A J 4 2 With (a) you have two sure tricks. For three tricks you will need a 3-3 break or the king singleton or doubleton onside. With (b) the presence of the ten guarantees three tricks and with the nine as well, you have a 50% chance for four tricks. There is no chance for four tricks with (a). Even when the ten is not held, the presence of other intermediate holdings such as the 9-8 can be very useful. (a) Dummy: K You: A 7 (b) Dummy: K You: A 5 With (a) you can make four tricks only if the suit splits 3-3. With (b) you make four tricks on a 3-3 break and also if either opponent holds Q-J, Q-10 or J-10 doubleton.

14 Opening without balanced shape 13 Upgrading for wilder shape The more freakish the hand pattern, the greater the playing strength. With nine cards in your two longest suits, upgrade the hand by half a point for a singleton ( has more playing strength than ) and by one point for a void ( is better than ). With ten or eleven cards in two suits, you are bound to have a singleton or a void, so no upgrade for a singleton, but add half a point for a void ( is better than , is better than ). Downgrading for flat shape The pattern has poor playing strength. There is only one suit which can provide a length trick, compared with the better , which has two such suits. The has no ruffing power, so beware if you are heading for a suit contract. It is sensible to downgrade this pattern. General opening strategy Using HCP + two long suits + quick tricks to calculate your opening points and upgrading or downgrading as suggested above, your approach can be categorised thus: 22+ opening points: Your opening is sound ½ opening points: Your opening is aggressive. 20½ or fewer opening points: Your opening is wild. At favourable vulnerability only, shade these above slightly: 21½+ opening points: Your opening is sound. 20½ 21 opening points: Your opening is aggressive. 20 or fewer opening points: Your opening is wild.

15 14 A Good Game of Modern Bridge Aces Aces are particularly valuable in trump contracts. With a hand that is not balanced, be prepared to upgrade hands with more than the normal expectation of aces. Add a point for three or four aces in an unbalanced hand. Jacks Jacks are not worth their full one point in an unbalanced hand. Deduct a point for three or four jacks in a hand that is not balanced. Exercise Which of these hands are worth an opening bid of one in first or second seat? 1. 8 K J 5 3 % K J & Q J 6 J A K % J 4 & Q 6 J A Q J 10 % A & A J % 2 & A Q % & A K J % K Q & K J Q J 1. Pass. 12 HCP + 9 (length) + 1 quick trick (QT) = 22, but deduct 1 for Q-J bare, 1 for four jacks and ½ for J-x = 19½. 2. Open. 11 HCP + 8 (length) + 2½ QT = 21½, but add 1 for four honours in one suit = 22½. Definitely worth opening. 3. Open. 10 HCP + 10 length + 2 QT =22. In addition you have three honours in one suit and excess shape (void). 4. Pass. 11 HCP + 10 (length) + 2 QT = 23, but 1 (bare Q), ½ for J-x, and no tens. Prefer to open with a weak two. 5. Open. 9 HCP + 11 (length) + 2 QT + ½ (A-J-10) = 22½. 6. Pass. 12 HCP + 9 length + 1½ quick tricks = 22½, but 1 for K-Q bare and 1 for Q-J bare = 20½. Definitely pass.

16 Part 4 FOR AMBITIOUS PLAYERS AND ENTHUSIASTIC EXPERTS Chapter 32: Opening the bidding Five-card majors and 1NT (can have a 5-major). After a 1-suit opening, these principles apply to opener s rebid: 1. Without support for responder s suit, opener always rebids 1NT with a minimum balanced hand (12-14 HCP) and does not bid a 4-card suit below 1NT. This means that opener s 1NT rebid does not deny a suit that could have been bid at the 1-level. 2. Without support for responder s suit, opener always rebids 2NT with a strong balanced hand (18-20 HCP) and does not bid a 4-card suit instead. This means that opener s 2NT rebid does not deny a suit that could have been bid at the 1-level or 2-level. 3. If opener rebids in a suit at the 1-level, this promises a hand that is not balanced. It will not have a or a pattern. See pages for examples. Bidding longest suit first and higher-ranking suit with a 5-5 or 6-6 pattern and applying the above principles it follows that 16 : 1&, 1% will have 4 hearts and longer clubs OR it can be a pattern OR possibly 5 hearts and 6+ clubs. However, 16 : 1&, 18 will have 4 spades and longer clubs (or 5 spades 6+ clubs). With , open 1&. The expectation for 16 : 1%, 18 is 4 spades and 5+ clubs. It will not be (open 1&), but could be a 5-6+ pattern. 1& : 1%, 18 will usually contain four spades and longer diamonds, but it could be a pattern. It might also be 5 spades and 6+ diamonds, since longer suit comes first.

17 Part 4: Opening the bidding 145 With no 5-major, open the longer minor. With 4 spades-4 hearts-3 diamonds-2 clubs, open 1&. With 4-4 in the minors or 3-3 in the minors, open 16 (note the change when 4-4). Some prefer to open 16 with any and any , even with 4 diamonds and 2 clubs. There are two objectives: (1) A 1& opening will then have 5 diamonds or be a pattern. That is useful for competitive auctions. (2) Opening 16 allows transfer responses (see Chapter 33) and these are very popular. Disadvantages to opening 16 with a doubleton include: (1) Raising clubs becomes a more awkward choice when opener might have only two clubs. (2) It is harder to compete in diamonds after a 16 opening when opener could have four diamonds and two clubs. (3) The opening lead becomes tougher if the opponents win the contract after a 16 opening by your side. Partner might have a genuine club suit or merely a doubleton. Partner could have four diamonds. If you wish to adopt that approach, by all means do so if you feel the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. For more about a useful style for opening the bidding, see Chapters 1-7, particularly Chapter 7 on light opening bids. Other opening bids 26 = very strong, game-force or 23+ balanced; 2& = very weak two in hearts or in spades, 4-7 points 2% / 28 = strong weak two, 8-11 points. Some play the 2& opening as 5-8 points and 2% / 28 as For pre-empts, see Chapter 4. Most top players prefer to use the Rule of 3 for pre-empts whether vulnerable or not. The 3NT opening: Specific Ace Ask. You can find one version in Chapter 26, page 111. Another version allowing greater frequency for the bid is in Chapter 42.

5-Card Major Bidding Flipper

5-Card Major Bidding Flipper ADVANTAGES OF 5-CARD MAJORS 1. You do not need to rebid your major suit to indicate a 5-card holding. If you open 1 or 1 and partner does not raise, you do not feel the compulsion