SPECIAL DOUBLES After Overcall Penalty Negative thru 3 Spades Responsive thru Support Dbl. / ReDbl. thru 2 Spades* I don t know what s Special about these doubles, other than they aren t for Penalty. (Actually, if you make penalty doubles at low levels, you must write it in on the top line. I ve never seen anyone write anything there.) Negative Doubles are, of course, Competitive Bidding 101. It s a bid in competition by responder 3 rd or 4 th seat passed or not - that shows some HCP and any unbid suit, especially unbid majors. It also shows an inability to bid an unbid suit because of insufficient length. [1-1 - Dbl...] This Negative Double shows exactly 4 Hearts and some Diamonds. With 5+ Hearts, she would bid 2 Hearts forcing if not a passed hand. But a newer and valuable competitive Double is what s called a Support Double or Support Redouble. Its purpose is to tell responder that you the opener have exactly 3-card support for his major suit response. [1 - P - 1-1 Dbl* ] This Support Double by opener (alerted by responder) says Partner, I hold exactly 3 Hearts for you. Had 4 th seat doubled the 1 bid for takeout, then opener would have Redoubled, meaning the same thing: 3 Hearts with you, partner.. With 4 Hearts, opener would raise directly, of course, and with 2 or fewer, he would pass or make some other bid. Decades ago, and, for a few players even nowdays, opener will raise responder s major with just 3 trumps, in competition or not. Nowdays, I play and teach that a raise of responder s major promises 4-card support. Period. In competition or not. An 8-card fit is the bedrock of all competitive bidding, and Support Doubles and Redoubles make this possible in competition without raising the level of the auction.. Bob McConnell, 2017 1
SIMPLE OVERCALL 1 level 8 to 15 HCP Often 4 cards very light style Responses New Suit: Forcing NFConst NF Jump Raise: Forcing Inv. Weak A Cue Bid Limit Raise is the only Forcing Response Note that Simple here means at the one-level. Nothing about 2-level overcalls. 2- level overcalls are opening hand strength hands, whether as a suit bid or Takeout Double. [1-2 ] or [1 - Dbl ] Direct raises of the overcaller s suit by 4 th seat (the advancer) are weak no matter how high they are [1-1 - P - 3 ] 4 Heart cards and??? HCP. Obviously, with 3 or more trumps, advancer will raise regardless of her strength or another suit. The key partnership agreement comes up when advancer changes suits. If she bids another suit, is that Forcing, Not Forcing or NFConst? NFConst means Not Forcing Constructive. It shows a good suit with appropriate HCP. For decades, I played it as Forcing, as did most players, but I have now moved to NFConst as a more sophisticated partnership understanding. Part of that is the handwritten note: A Cue Bid Limit Raise is the Only Forcing Response. [1-1 - P - 2 ]. This cue bid shows a Limit Raise+ strength hand (9+ HCP) and at least 3-card trump support. (Not alerted almost no cue bids are alerted.) Overcaller can now decide how high the bidding should go: including just a 2-level rebid, showing a minimum strength overcall. So, with weak raises or Cue Bid Limit Raises to show support, the NFConst option says, Partner I have a decent suit of my own, but nothing in your suit worth mentioning. Overcaller can then Pass (it s not forcing, remember) or raise advancer s suit; bid Notrump, rebid his 6+card overcall suit, etc. Bob McConnell, 2017 2
JUMP OVERCALL Strong Intermediate Weak A Jump Overcall to 3 Clubs* is Tops and Tops Tops and Tops means a jump overcall to 3 Clubs shows the top two unbid suits in approximately a 5 5 configuration. (Alerted) Tops and Tops is the other half of Tops and Bottoms see the DIRECT CUEBID section. [1-3 * ] Hearts and Diamonds. Tops and Tops [1-2 ] Hearts and Clubs Tops and Bottoms. [1-3 * ] or [1-3 * ] Both Majors. Otherwise, Jump Overcalls are all weak: [1-2 ] or [1-3 ] A good/decent 6+ card suit with HCP according to the Vulnerability and position at the table. Bob McConnell, 2017 3
OPENING PREEMPTS 3 / 4 bids Sound Light Very Light Unfav. Equal Favorable Unfav. means Red vs White vulnerability. Equal means the same vulnerability. Favorable means White vs Red vulnerability. Weak Twos: A decent to good 6-Card card suit, 6 to 10 HCP. A new suit response by partner is Not Forcing and is Alertable. [2 - P 3 * ] Pass. Partner is the Captain, not the weak two bidder. A 2NT response by partner asks: Do you have an outside Ace or King? If so, bid it. [2 - P 2NT* - P 3 - P 3NT?] Yep: a Diamond entry. If not, rebid your suit [2 - P 2NT* - P - 3 ] Nope. A raise by partner is NOT an invitation: it s advancing the preempt : [2 - P - 3 ] To raise you to Game, partner should have 2+ trumps and 2 Aces and a King minimum. Not just HCP: Quick Tricks to cover your quick losers. 3-level Preempts: A decent to good 7-Card suit, 6 to 10 HCP. With only 6 cards outstanding, your partner can have 2 or even 3 of them and no opponent can have your length, so all your little trumps are sure tricks. 4-level Preempts: A decent to good 8 Card suit, 6 to 10 HCP. 7-level Preempt: all 13 cards in one suit. 10 HCP 3 rd seat preempts No Rules on HCP or length, because 4 th seat is the powerhouse and your partner and 2 nd seat have passed. So, No Rules, especially White vs. Red. 4 th seat preempt? Makes no sense? Intermediate strength (10 12 HCP) 6-card suit in Spades: open at the 2 level. Or, my choice: Play Drury in 4 th seat, but in Spades only. Bob McConnell, 2017 4
DIRECT CUEBID OVER: Minor Major Artif. Bids Natural Strong TO Michaels Tops and Bottoms Our direct cue bid of a natural 1-level suit opening shows the Top and Bottom unbid suits: [1-2...] shows 5 5 in Hearts and Clubs. A jump to 3 Clubs over any natural 1-level suit opening shows Tops and Tops i.e., the top two unbid suits: [1-3 *...] shows 5 5 in Hearts and Diamonds. (* = Alert) [1-3...] shows 5 5 in Hearts and Spades. (See the Jump Overcall section.) Michaels is the more commonly used direct cue bid convention, but like Hamilton, it must go thru the 2NT response to tell advancer what the Minor suit is in a cue bid of a major auction. [1-2 - P 2NT* ] Showing Spades and??? Tops & Bottoms is direct and unambiguous. Either convention user can simply bid the higher suit on the 1 st round and the lower on the next round to show suit combinations that can t be shown in one direct bid. Bob McConnell, 2017 5
NOTRUMP OVERCALLS Direct: 15 to 18 HCP Systems on Balancing: 11 to 14 HCP Jump to 2NT: Two lower unbid suits Virtually everyone plays Notrump Overcalls this way; my exception is I play them as 15 to 18 not 17. They do NOT have to be announced in any position they are overcalls, not opening NT bids. Systems On means my partner 4 th seat responds exactly as if I had opened 1NT: transfers, stolen bid doubles, etc. [1-1NT - P - 2 ] 2 is Stayman. A 2NT bid, jump or not, is a convention showing, in my style, the two lower unbid suits. Some play it always shows the minors: a partnership choice. The notion of a Balancing 1NT overcall, i.e., in 4 th seat, is a never-used convention to many players, even though it s always written on their card; including mine. It means a suit opener has been passed around to you in 4 th seat and you don t have a natural suit of your own to bid, or a proper Takeout Double showing any unbid majors, etc. [1 P P???] And, I f you don t have the 15 18 HCP for a Notrump Overcall as in the Direct seat, what can you bid? Thus, the notion of a Balancing Notrump overcall, weaker than a Direct one. Why? When responder 3 rd seat - couldn t even answer opener s 1 Club bid, where are all the points in this deck? Your partner was blocked! Maybe she was all set to open 1 Club herself, with 5 Clubs and 14 HCP, but the dealer beat her to it. Ever been in that situation? To get past this blockage, the 11 to 14 1NT Overcall is allowed. (Not alerted and a partnership agreement as to HCP range). It s about an average one-of-a-suit opening strength, but denies a 5-card major or the ability to make a proper Takeout Double for all unbid majors, but just can t be passed out. Interesting, but rarely bid at the table! Bob McConnell, 2017 6
DEFENSE at NOTRUMP Hamilton / Cappelletti is Standard, but we re going to learn Transfers Over Notrump: TONT. All TONT bids are alerted. Vs. Direct Passout 2 Transfer to Diamonds Same 2 Transfer to Hearts Same 2 Transfer to Spades Same 2 Transfer to Clubs Same Double Majors Same 2NT Minors Same 3 Rounded suits ( & ) Same 3 Pointed Suits ( & ) Same Why TONT instead of Hamilton? TONT focuses on one long (6-cards+) suit, as opposed to Hamilton s focus on two 5-card suits. But statistically, a 6-card suit occurs 3 times as often as two 5-card suits. Although Hamilton can be used to show a single 6+ card suit, it must go thru several artificial steps, allowing the opponents to get into and interfere with the auction. TONT gets it done now: [ 1NT - 2 # (transfer) ] But, even better, the TONT hand with the long suit will be the dummy, but she shows opponents what they already know: her long suit. Using Hamilton, it s the other way around: the long-suited hand is the declarer, her shape is known, and opponents see the wrong hand as the dummy: often a real declarer disadvantage. TONT can easily show both majors (with a double) and both minors with a standard 2NT overcall. Giving up the Equal Hand double is a small loss, as everyone has escape sequences nowdays, so 1NT Doubled is rarely played. And, having shown an Equal Hand, the whereabouts of virtually every missing high card is known. Finally, and optionally, TONT can show both pointed or both rounded suits at the 3-level. Its not every 2-suit combination, but it s the important ones, and in a cleaner, direct arrangement with the correct hand as dummy in single-suited hands. Bob McConnell, 2017 7
OVER OPP S T/O DOUBLE New Suit Forcing: 1 level 2 level Jump Shift: Weak Redouble* - a 3 trump Limit Raise 2NT* over Majors Jordan - a 4 trump Limit Raise A Takeout Double shows an opening hand and support for any unbid suits, especially unbid majors. New suits bid by an unpassed hand are Forcing 1 round when bid at either the 1-level or 2-level. Jump shifts are always VERY weak 4 HCP max. [1 - Dbl - 2 ] [1 - Dbl -???]. Direct raises in this auction are weak: to 2 Spades, 3 Spades or even 4 Spades. They show fit with 3, 4 or 5 trumps, but less than invitational HCP. A Jordan 2NT* response shows a good fit and invitational strength specifically a 4-card Spade fit and 9 to 11 dummy points. This is an important card the 9 th trump as you know when a declarer. [1 - Dbl 2NT* ] 4 Heart cards, invitational HCP. That leaves Redouble available to also show a Limit Raise, but with just 3 trumps. This subtlety in knowing how many trumps are jointly held is a good reason to use Jordan and Redouble in this style. [1 - Dbl Red* ] 3 Heart cards, invitational HCP. We don t use Jordan 2NT over doubles of an opening minor, because we use Inverted minors and any minor opening can be as short as 3 pieces, unlike our 5-card+ major openings. Bob McConnell, 2017 8
VS Opening Preempts Double is Takeout thru 4 Hearts. 4NT is takeout for the Minors. Lebensohl 2NT* Over double of a Weak 2 opening. A transfer to 3 clubs. Examples: [2 - Dbl P - 4 ] Natural after a Spade-showing Takeout Double. [2 - Dbl P 2NT* ] A Lebensohl transfer to 3 Clubs. 4 th hand is weak and has no Spade fit with doubler. Alerted by doubler. [2 - Dbl P 2 ] Also weak, but with a 2-level Spade fit with doubler. [2 - Dbl P 3 ] Invitational strength with a Spade fit with doubler. This Lebensohl Convention (there are 3 or 4 of them) is very useful when dealing with opponent s Weak Two preempts. Frequently 2 nd seat (partner) will make a Takeout Double to get into the auction, but 4 th seat (advancer) may have a weak or minimum hand, and/or no fit in the other major(s). She might have a lengthy but weak suit, and must play in that suit at the lowest possible level. Lebensohl does all of that easily: Advancer bids 2NT (alerted by doubler) which then forces the doubler to bid 3 Clubs. Advancer can pass 3 Clubs or bid 3 Diamonds but in either case, it s a Stop the Auction bid. Conversely, if she doesn t bid 2NT, but can bid at the 2-level, that is also a weak, Stop the Auction bid but she has a fit with opener at the 2-level. With 10+ HCP, she can bid at the 3-level or can bid game with an opener and a fit. Bob McConnell, 2017 9