Questions #1 to #10 (from Facebook Page A Teacher First ) #1 Question - You are South. West is the dealer. N/S not vulnerable. E/W vulnerable. West passes. North (your partner) passes. East passes. Your hand is shown below. What should you bid after 3 passes? #1 - Your hand shows 12 HCPs plus 2 for length. You could open 1 which is perfectly legitimate. A better choice may be to open 2 with this hand, after 3 passes. If you open 1, the opponents can still bid 1 (at the 1 level), and if either one of them has 5 spades, they will probably overcall your 1 bid, even with few points. If you open 2, the opponents must overcall at the minimum of 2 to get into the bidding or at the 3 level in a minor. With partner having fewer than opening points, it is unlikely (though not impossible) that you will be able to make game (4 ) so 2 may be the best choice to keep the opponents out of the bidding. With 40 pts in the deck and your hand having 12 HCPs, chances are the other points are split quite evenly. Plus, you are not vulnerable and they are, so that is another reason they may be reluctant to overcall higher than your 2 bid. #2 Question Your partner opens 1 Club. This is your hand. What will you bid? #2 - Your hand shows 11 HCPs. In response to your partner's opening bid of 1, your first priority is to bid a 4-card major if you have one. You don't have a 4-card major so can't bid it. Your partner's bid guarantees at least 3 clubs, but no more. Your partner is denying a 5-card major so there is no possibility of an 8-card fit in a major. A responding bid of 1NT denies a 4-card major and gives a range of 6-10 pts, so to show 11-12 HCPs and no 4-card major, bid 2NT. #3 Question - You are South. N/S vulnerable. E/W not vulnerable. Partner (North) opens "2 Spades." Your hand is shown below. If East passes, what should you bid? If East overcalls "3 Diamonds," then what should you bid?
#3 - Your hand shows 14 HCPs and, since you have support (3 or more spades) for your partner's spades, you can also count 4-5 dummy points for the void. Using the "Law of Total Tricks," you have 10 trump together, so that would suggest that you bid as high as 4 with even fewer points than what you have. With 10 trump, a long side suit in hearts and a void, your hand has considerable extra value. Definitely bid 4 whether East bids or not. If you overcalled East's 3 bid with 3, Partner will most likely pass after that, thinking you are just trying to take the contract having 3 spades in your hand, perhaps. East/West are likely flush with diamonds since you have none and, with 6 spades, Partner might not have many diamonds either. If E/W bid as high as 5 (they are not vulnerable so this is quite possible), your hand in combination with your partner's is even worth a 5 bid. #4 Question - You are South. No one vulnerable. You are the dealer. Your hand is shown below. What should you bid? #4 - Your hand shows 10 HCPs plus 2 for length = 12 pts. You should open 1. If you decide to open 2 (weak bid) and your partner has, say, 12-14 pts, s/he may pass and you may have missed a chance to bid to game. Usually, your partner will not respond to or raise your weak opening bid unless s/he has 15+ pts or extra length in the suit bid. Having 6 cards in spades, 3 of the top 3, 10+ HCPs and a singleton, this hand is too strong for a weak 2 opening. However, if you are in 3rd or 4th seat (after 2 or 3 passes including your partner s pass), 2 may be beneficial to keep the opponents out of the bidding. In that case, you must use your judgment. Weak openings are always dicey like a two-edged sword. They can make it difficult for the opponents to find their contract but they can also cause a dilemma for your partner, not knowing how weak you are. #5 Question - You are South. You open 1 Club, Partner responds 1 Heart. What is your rebid?
#5 - Your hand shows 15 HCPs plus 1 for length = 16 pts. You opened 1 and Partner responded 1. You know your partner has at least 4 hearts. You can now count dummy points because you have an 8-card fit in a major and you can support your partner's heart suit. When you count dummy points, you do not count length also. So by reevaluating, you now have 15 HCPs plus 4 pts for the void (some will allocate 5 pts for the void). The simplest bid is a jump to 4 directly. Partner would know that you must have 4 hearts to support and 19+ pts because the response of 1 shows possibly only 6 pts. P could initiate slam with more than minimum points, more than 4 hearts or other factors that gives the hand extra value. (Note: Experienced players might continue the bidding slightly differently, ensuring that the partnership reaches game in hearts at the very minimum.) #6 Question - You are playing South. No one vulnerable. West is the dealer and opens 1 Club. Your partner (North) overcalls 1 Spade. East passes. What should you bid? #6 - Initially, when you picked up your cards and before your partner bid, you would evaluate your hand as having 8 HCPs (no pts for length). Now that P has bid and you know you have a minimum 8-card fit in a major to support P's bid, you should reevaluate your hand. And isn't it nice that you have a singleton in opponent's suit also?! You know which suit the opponents are likely to lead. You also know that you and P have at least 9 spades together the magic 9 trump! Add 2 pts for the singleton (some will suggest 3 pts) and consider 1 pt for the extra trump. Either way, you have a medium responding hand (10-11 pts) so should invite P to game by responding 3. If P has a medium opening hand (16-18 pts), or some extra values (perhaps even more than 5 spades or a second long suit), P should bid 4. Because P overcalled the 1 opening, s/he my have fewer pts than opening, and if that is the case, P will likely pass and leave the contract at 3. Because East passed, West may hesitate to overcall 4 with no support even with a long club suit, but it's possible ( no one is vulnerable and West may decide that it is worth the sacrifice to lose a trick or two, if he has a long suit in clubs). West could also decide to pass, as bidding 4 may force N/S into game and make it. But if bids 4, either N or S will have to decide whether to bid to game or not, even if N's overcall was with a weak hand. Bridge is a complicated game and a battle of wits sometimes! That's why people keep playing it!
#7 Question - You are playing South. All vulnerable. Your partner (North) is the dealer and opens "1 Club." What is your response and possible subsequent rebids? #7 - Your hand shows 13 HCPs plus 1 for length. Your partner has opened so you know that you should be able to reach game in a major (4 or 4 ) or in 3NT. You may not be able to reach game in a minor (5 or 5 ) as you would need 29 pts for that. You must ensure that the bidding continues. A question that might be asked is: "Should you bid your 5-diamond suit or your 4-heart suit first?" With this game, it will not matter too much whether you bid 1 or 2 (both bids are forcing to P for one round), but usually you should show your 4-card heart suit first. Bid 1. -- If P bids 1, bid 2 (if P understands that a change in suit by Responder is forcing; therefore, you will get another bid) or jump to 3 to show your pts and invite to game in 3NT. -- If P bids 1NT, simply jump to 3NT. -- If P bids 2, bid 2 (if P understands that a change in suit by Responder is forcing; therefore, you will get another bid) or jump to 3 to invite to game in 3NT. If he bids 2, your concern about bidding 3NT is: "Do we have a stopper in spades?" -- If P bids 2 (he must have 4 diamonds then), you can count Dummy pts (2-3 extra pts for the singleton), bid 4 to invite to game in diamonds, or be brave and just bid 5. With the 9-card trump fit in diamonds and a singleton club, you can probably make 5. -- If P bids 2, you have found your 8-card fit but you could now bid 3 to show your stoppers in diamonds and to see whether 3NT is a possibility. You may get a better score in a 3NT contract than in a 4 contract, and you must take only 9 tricks to make 3NT as compared to 10 tricks to make 4. P should bid 3NT if he has a stopper in clubs (he could have only 3 small clubs to open 1 so you do not know that he does). With no stopper in clubs, he should bid 3 and then you will take it to game and bid 4. You could also just make it simpler (for beginners) and bid 4 right away. -- If P makes any other bid (e.g. jumps to 2 or 2NT), then you know he has more than a minimum hand and you may want to investigate slam possibilities. Bidding could get more complicated now and it's too difficult to predict exactly where it would go from here.
#8 Question - You open 1NT with this hand and Partner responds, "3 Clubs." What do you bid next? No one is vulnerable. #8 - Your hand shows 17 HCPs. You opened 1NT (balanced hand in the range of 15-17 HCPs). Your partner responded 3. This means P has 10+ pts, 5+ clubs and no 4-card major. Because you have stoppers in all suits, you can safely bid 3NT. You could also bid 5 and, no doubt, make the contract. However, by bidding 3NT having 17 HCPs, you will likely make 1 or 2 overtricks. Since you are not vulnerable, 5 making 11 tricks = 400 pts and 3NT making 9 tricks = 400 pts, making 10 tricks = 430 and making 11 tricks is 460. You should prefer to be in a NT contract with this hand, rather than a suit, especially a minor suit. #9 Question - Your partner opens "2 Hearts." You have this hand. What is your responding bid? Would your response be different if your partner opened "3 Hearts"? #9 - Your hand shows 21 HCPs, plus 1 for length. You definitely should be in game of 4 or 3NT at the very least. It's up to you to take it there. The rule for opening with a weak 2-level bid is that you should have 6 of that suit and 2 of the top 3 cards in that suit. (I do not recommend opening weak with 3 of the top 5 of the suit, but some players will do that. Some will even open with 6 cards in a suit and only one honor card. This is where it is important that you know which of those rules your partner follows and if your partner sometimes breaks the rules. If your partner had 11 HCPs and 2 for length, s/he should have opened 1 strong not 2 weak.) Let's assume that your partner follows the rules very closely and has 2 of the top 3 in hearts and fewer than opening points. That would mean that s/he has the King and Queen (since you have the Ace), which means that there is transportation to the weak hand, so 3NT could be a possibility. The bid I would recommend is 4 to keep it safer. You may make slam depending on how strong that weak bid is. If Partner opened 3, I would be bold and bid 6. There is no point in using Blackwood because your hand has all the Aces. It's highly unlikely that your partner has more than one King and if s/he does, once you initiate Blackwood, you'll likely still end up in 6 minimum anyway.
Some might also bid 6NT. Your hand has stoppers in all suits, but clubs has only one stopper and could be dangerous. (Note: Players who use more complicated bidding conventions would be able to assess the possibility of slam much more precisely.) #10 Question - Here is your hand and you are the dealer. You open "1 Spade." Partner responds "2 Clubs." What is your rebid? #10 - Your hand shows 18 HCPs plus 2 for length. You have two majors, both with 5 cards. Open with the higher-ranking major first when you have two with the same length. You open 1. Partner responds 2. What is your rebid? This gives you a dilemma. If you bid 2, P might pass since you have not jumped a level. However, P must have 10+ pts to respond 2, so he should bid again, either choosing one of your two suits or bidding 2NT to show that he does not have 3 spades or 4 hearts to support your bids. The problem is diamonds. Now that you know the club suit is covered, you would like to be in NT but your Q is not a good stopper in a doubleton. If P rebids 3, then you can safely choose 3NT as your contract. If P rebids 3, then what do you do? You should bid 3 to show your 5-card heart suit. P can then pass, bid 3NT with stoppers in diamonds or 4 if he has 3-card heart support. One will hope that he does not bid 4, but that could be your final contract. You could then try game in 5, but 11 tricks may be difficult to get, since you have just 1 club. Bridge can be a very challenging game! If P has good judgment, he may realize that a final game contract in spades or hearts may be the best option, even with just a 7-card fit. As an exercise, you could lay out your P's hand with 10 HCPs and 5 or more clubs in various combinations and decide how the bidding might go in each case and how many tricks you could take, depending on the final contract.