Cambridge University Bridge Club Beginners Lessons 2011 Lesson 3. 1 of a Suit openings, with Limit Responses Jonathan Cairns, jmc200@cam.ac.uk Introduction Last week, we learnt about opening 1NT, and responding to it. Today we will extend this theory to opening suits at the 1-level. The responses to this will be split over two lessons and I will focus today on auctions where one hand is limited early on. After these two lessons, you will be able to bid the majority of hands that you are dealt. Quick reminder from last week. Throughout the auction we need to decide: What denomination is best for us? (do we have an 8 card fit?) Do we have the strength for Game? (25 HCP for 3NT, 4H or 4S; 27 HCP for 5C, 5D) When Game is found, the priorities should be: 1. Play in Game in a major suit (4H/4S) with an 8 card fit 2. Play Game in NT (3NT) 3. Play Game in a minor suit Opening 1 of a Suit In Acol, a 1 of a suit opening is made on a hand that has: 12 to 22 HCP 1 at least 4 cards in the suit opened can promise a rebid if responder bids a different suit (covered next week) is neither 12 to 14 balanced (open 1NT) 2 * nor 20-22 balanced (open 2NT; covered later) Unlike the 1NT opening, this bid encompasses many possible hand strengths and shapes. As such it is an unlimited bid (not a limit) bid, so both partners remain equal in the 1 11 HCP with a good 5 card suit or 10 HCP with a good 6 card suit is usually OK. It might be worth discussing this with your partner! 2 However, when faced with a balanced hand with a "good" 5 card major (e.g. at least 2 of the top 3 honours), many people will open with that suit instead of 1NT.
auction until one partner limits his/her hand (neither assumes control and there are no active and passive roles). The less information given to partner when opening 1 of a suit instead of 1NT is one reason why you should always open 1NT if you fulfil the requirements for the bid. Bidding is generally easier when one hand is limited. Which suit to open? The criteria to follow are: 1. Open your longest suit. Trump length is more important that high cards. So open T6432 over AKQJ. High cards are valuable in both side suits and trumps, but length is more important in trumps. It also makes rebidding easier. 2. With equal length suits open the higher ranking suit. The exception to this is that with 4-4 in hearts and spades, open 1H. Opening a major over a minor increases your chance of finding a major suit fit. This also helps when rebidding. 3 3. With a 4-4-4-1 distribution, open the suit below the singleton, except with a singleton club, when you should open 1H. So, with AKQ, QJT, 964532, Q open 1. Q643, A5, KQT4, AKJ open 1. AKQT, JT64, T3, KJ7 open 1. A542, 3, KQ64, KQ32 open 1 (4-4-4-1, suit below the singleton) AKQ98, Q642, 32, 43 open 1. You only hold 11 HCP, but the spade suit is good enough to justify an opening. Responses to 1 of a suit openings There are 2 types of limit response to a 1 of a suit opening: Limit raise (bidding opener s suit at a higher level) with 4 or more card support. (together, you have at least 8 cards in that suit) Respond in NT showing a balanced hand, no 4 card support and no 4-card major. (Next week, we will add an unlimited option: Bid a new suit.) Limit Raises If you have 4 card support for partner, you can raise his/her suit. If partner opened 1 /1, you usually want to do this so that you can look for game in that major (4 /4 ). If partner opened 1 /1, then you may want to delay showing support so you can look for a major game first - we'll look at this more next week. 3 Some people also open 1C when 5-5 in clubs and spades, depending on hand strength. I would advise against this for now. This is something to discuss when you have an established partnership.
Adjusted Point Count When you have found a fit with partner, then trump length and distribution become important. Short suits in one hand can be used to ruff losers in the other. You should adjust your HCP count with distributional values. This process is known as hand re-evaluation and should be considered after every bid as more information is gained as to how your hands combine together. This is a guide intended for people new to the game (I don t like to apply this too rigidly) so use it with care: Add 1 distributional point (dp) for each card over 4 you hold in the trump suit. Add 5 dp for each useful void (a void in one of partner's long suits is not useful!) Add 3 dp for each singleton Add 1 dp for each doubleton However, certain holdings devalue your hand. Only add half these values for a second short suit unless you hold 5 trumps. Balanced hands don t play too well in suit contracts, and singleton Kings, (for example) lose their value. Therefore: Subtract 1 HCP for any insufficiently guarded honour cards (K, Q, J, K, KQ, Qx, QJ, Qx, Jxx, etc) since they no longer have as much chance of taking a trick. Subtract 1 HCP for a 4-3-3-3 shape since this offers no ruffing value Don't worry if the prospect of remembering all of these point values is a little daunting. As you play more, this sort of adjustment becomes second nature. The exact point values are not as important as knowing what the good or bad features of a hand are, when considered in conjunction with your partner's. Once you have your adjusted point count you can make limit raises based on the target of 25 points for Game. Remember that these are all limit bids, so they place opener in control of the auction. This is illustrated for a 1 opening, but the same applies to the other suits. After 1 when you hold 4+ card support: 0 to 5 Pass. Game is unlikely. This applies irrespective of shape / trump support. 6 to 9 2. This is game discouraging. Opener should pass with 12-16 HCP (game unlikely), invite game (bid 3 ) with 17-18 (you should accept with 8-9) or bid Game directly (4 ) with 19+. 10 to 12 3. Game invitational raise. Opener accepts with 15+ (by bidding 4H) Opener may explore slam with long trump suit and distributional values.
13 to 15 4. You have game values (minimum 25) but slam values are unlikely unless opener has a very distributional hand. Over 15 Investigate Slam e.g. bid another suit, or use Blackwood/Splinter - do not bid game directly. Notice how we can invite, as we did last week. Opener should also re-evaluate his/her hand, based on distribution and trump length in excess of that promised (4 cards), when making decisions. Remember that responder has made a limit bid, so you are in control. Opener can bid a new suit after a limit raise response. A useful guide is that bidding a new suit at the 3 level is almost always game-forcing. This is often used after a minor suit limit raise, in order to look for a major fit. Without support in the new suit, responder will just rebid the original suit. After responder makes a limit raise to 2 or 3, opener may choose to bid 2NT or 3NT instead of 3 or 4 respectively. This is done on a 4-3-3-3 hand with little ruffing value and suggests that the contract might be best played in NT. Responder should choose the best denomination (NT will usually be best if 4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2 with a weak trump suit, otherwise bid hearts at the appropriate level). When limit raising minor suit openings this should be used much more often, since 3NT will often play better (and even more often score better) than 5 /. Judgement is required in this situation! Responding in No Trumps A no trump response to a 1 of a suit opening is made on a hand that: is balanced has no 4 card support for partner has no 4 card major that you can bid at the one level. Partner may have opened a 5 card minor and still hold a 4 card major (or opened 1H with 4 spades). You can now judge the level to use based on HCP alone: 6 to 9 1NT. ("The Garbage Bid"). Game discouraging. Opener can invite (2NT) on 17-18 (accept on 8-9) or bid/force Game on 19. 10 to 12 2NT. Game invitational, Opener accepts on 15+ HCP by bidding Game. 13 to 15 3NT. Game is on, and Slam is unlikely. Opener's Rebid Opener is now in control, as partner has made a limit bid. Partner is balanced, so has at least 2 card support for the original suit. For example, over 1-1NT: With 12-16 HCP, pass, or signoff in 2 (with at least 5 hearts).
Bid a lower ranking suit at the 2 level (2 / ) with 12-16 HCP (Game denying with a 2 suited hand). You should have at least 5 cards in the original suit, and 4 in the new suit. This asks responder to give preference to either the second suit (by passing) or hearts (by bidding 2H) depending on which he/she thinks will play better. With equal length in opener s 2 suits, always give preference to the one bid first - that suit is likely to be longer. Bid a higher ranking suit at the 2 level (2 ) - this is known as reversing, and shows 17+ HCP, a strong 2-suited hand (at least 5-4 in the suits bid) and is forcing for one round. If responder is minimum (6-7), they bid 3 of the preferred suit (or 2NT) and opener passes (17-18) or bid Game (19+). If responder is maximum, he bids the appropriate Game. 2NT 17-18, game invite. Partner accepts with 3NT with 2 card H suit, 3H with 3 card H suit (Game forcing). 3 is Game forcing, with a 5 card Heart suit and 19 HCP. Responder will bid 3N or 4H as appropriate 4 is to play, with 19 HCP and a 6 card suit. After 1H-2NT (10-12, invitational) With 12-14 HCP, pass, or sign off in 3 if you have 6 Hearts. 3S/4C/4D are Slam tries with a maximum opening (17-19) two suited hand. 3NT to play (15+ HCP) 4H to play (15+ or distributional equivalent, 6 cards) After 1H-3NT, you may pass to play in 3NT (with 4 or 5 card heart suit), or correct to 4H with at least 6 cards.
Declarer Play - The Finesse As a reminder: when declaring, the first thing that you should do when dummy comes down is to make a plan. You'll need to count the top tricks you have (i.e. a suit headed by an A is worth 1 top trick, by AK is worth 2 top tricks, etc...) If you don't have enough top tricks to make your contract, then you'll need to get some more from somewhere. One technique you may be able to employ is the finesse - let's look at how this works: Suppose you are South, playing in no-trumps, with your spade suit as given in the diagram. If you play A, then Q, then whoever has the K will play it on top of the Q. As a result, you will only score one trick in the suit. This seems like a waste of the Q - can we do better? AQ?? 32 Let's pretend you are psychic and know that West has the K. Play the 3. If West plays the K, beat it with the A. Now play ("cash") the winning Q. If West does not play the K, then play the Q ("finesse the Q"). East cannot beat the Q, so it wins. Now cash the A. In both cases, you win two tricks! Of course, this strategy would not have worked if East had the K - you would play to the Q, and East would simply beat it with the K, leaving you with one trick. But this was no worse than playing A then Q! As such, even if you don't know who has the K, you can try to finesse the Q anyway. 50% of the time, the K will be with West (the K will be "onside") and you will score an extra trick. The other 50% of the time, the K will be with East ("offside") and you won't get your extra trick. Think about the following situations. Can we score an extra trick with a finesse? AQ2 A32 K2 A32 (2 tricks) (3 tricks) (1 trick) (2 tricks) 543 QJT 43 Q54 We may be able to finesse against more than one card at a time. In the situation on the right, we can try leading the 4, hoping that West has the K OR the J. AQT 2 If we are lucky, and West has both of those cards (probability: 25%), we will win three tricks! Beat West's card as cheaply as possible, get back into hand with the A, then repeat. 432 A
If West has precisely one of those cards (probability: 50%), then we will usually get two tricks. East will get one of the tricks with either the K or J. If East has both K and J, no finesse works and we only win one trick. (sniff) More examples: KJ2 AKT QJ32 A32 (2 tricks) (3 tricks) (2 trick) (2 tricks) 543 432 654 KJ54 Sometimes, we can choose who to finesse against. The situation on the right is a 2-way finesse for 3 tricks. AJ2 If we think West has the Q, then we cash the K (playing the 2), then lead the 3 towards the AJ. If West plays the Q, take it with A, else finesse KT3 the J. If we think East has the Q, then we cash the A (playing the 3), then lead the 2 towards the KT. If East plays the Q, take it with K, else finesse the T. Key Points from Lesson 3 Limit Raises of a 1 of a suit opening build on the responses to the 1NT opening and the same bidding theory applies. When players have limited their hands accurately, placing the contract is a relatively simple process. The power of distribution has been shown in the hand examples in lesson 1 and we have seen now how that can be accounted for in the bidding process when both players re-evaluate their hands based on knowledge of their partners hands. Hand re-evaluation in the light of information gained is a crucial skill to any bridge player. Next week we will look at bidding sequences where more than one suit has been mentioned in the auction. You should now be able to play bridge amongst yourselves away from the lessons, using the theories that have been established so far (even if we have not covered all possible responses to 1 of a suit, you should think about how these other bids are used. Points to take away from this are: Requirements for opening 1 of a suit Which suit to open Re-evaluating your hand in light of knowledge of a fit More examples of invitational, forcing and signoff bids Limit vs. Unlimited bids The Finesse written by Rob Richardson, 2004; updated by Jonathan Cairns, 2011
Bidding Summary Point values should be adjusted for distribution when a fit is found. 1H is illustrative opening. 2H is a single raise (so substitute 2S if 1S is opened). C/D are lower ranking suits and S shows higher ranking suits. Abbreviations: cs = card suit, F = forcing, G = Game, bal = balanced, M = major, m = minor, sup = card support, Sl = slam, inv = invitational to, dep = depending on, F1 = forcing for one round Opener Responder Opener rebid Responder rebid 1NT 12-14, bal Pass 0-10, no 5cs - 2C/D/H/S 0-10, 5+cs - 2NT 11-12, invg Pass 12-13 - 3NT 14, no 5cM - 3H/S 14, 5cs, FG 3N no 3 sup or 3 low cards 4H/S 3+ sup 3C/D/H/S 13-18, 5cs, FG 3NT no 3 sup - 4H/S 3+ sup - (5C/D 3+ good sup) - 3NT 13-18, no 5cs - 4H/S 13-18, 6+cs - (5C/D 13-18, 6+cs) - 4NT 19-20 invsl Pass 12-13 6NT 14 Higher bids in NT: Rare, but 6/7 to play, 5NT F to 6NT, invite to 7NT 1H 12-22, 4cs, Pass 0-5, any shape - or 11 HCP with good 5cs 2H 6-9, 4cs Pass 12-16 - or 10 HCP with good 6 cs 3H 17-18, invites G Pass 6-7 4H 8-9 after any suit raise bid of a 2NT 17-18, 4-3-3-3, invg Pass/3H reject inv, 6-7 new suit is natural (4cs) 3NT/4H accept, 8-9 invg if raised suit can be 4H 19+ - rebid below Game 3NT 19+, 4-3-3-3 Pass/4H dep. distribution FG if raised suit cannot be 3H 10-12, 4cs Pass 12-14 - rebid below Game 3NT 15+, 4-3-3-3 Pass/4H dep. distribution 4H 15+ - Other bids natural slam try 4H 13-15, 4cs Any but pass = slam try 1NT 6-9 bal no 4cM Pass 12-16, 4cs - that can be bid at l level 2H 12-16, 5+ cs - 2C/D 12-16, 2 suited Pass/2H preference 2S 17+, 4cs, F1, invg 2NT/3H/3S 6-7 3NT/4H/4S 8-9 2NT 17-18, invg Pass 6-7 3N 8-9 3H 17-18, 6cs, invg Pass 6-7 4H 8-9 3C/D as 2S above 3NT/4H 19+, to play - 2NT 10-12, no 4cM Pass/3H signoff 12-14 - that can be bid at l level 3NT/4H to play, 15+ 3C/D 12-14, 2 suited, invg see above Pass/3H signoff 3NT/4H/5C/D to play 3S 15+, 2 suited, FG 3NT/4H/4S to play 3NT 13-15, no 4cM Pass to play - that can be bid at l level 4H to play, 6cs - 4C/D 2 suited, FG 4H/5C/D to play