Package 1 answers

How to read the "answers"

1. Its not a "bible".  In bridge, there are always exceptions - especially exceptions that one may forget to explain. 

2. For bidding, it represents my take on agreements. You may read others that differ in practice, or you may disagree with me - that is fine. What matters is that you and your partner have the same understanding - it cannot be over emphasized that bridge is a team sport.

3. If someone tells you there's a "rule", question them why. See also #1 and #2.

Bridgemaster. Please do A-29 and D-17

A-29 (pic below)

Key point: The trick is to anticipate the danger.  It costs nothing to try to draw all but one trump, then test the waters for a 4-1 split in clubs. If there is a 4-1 split in clubs, and the remaining trump card is in the singleton hand, you are screwed anyway. 

Contract is 6S. The lead is JH. When the cards come down, you see that dummy has no honors at all. You have 1 loser in hearts, and a possible 2 losers in clubs. You can't avoid the heart loser, so you should try to avoid both club losers.

Situation : If clubs are split 3-2, you have no problem - you just clear trumps and then clear clubs. If the clubs are split 4-1, then you will have to get rid of one loser by ruffing - but that seems impossible without drawing trumps. There is a way to try to maximize your chances - assuming spades are split 3-2. if spades are split 4-1, you better pray clubs are split evenly.

First you draw 2 rounds of spades (if spades split 4-1, then you need to switch to assuming clubs are split evenly!). That leaves only one trump left. You then draw 2 rounds of clubs to "test waters"

• if clubs are split 3-2, your 2 rounds of club draw are successful. You can then draw the remaining trump with no problem. Your clubs are all good.

• if clubs are split 4-1, then on your second draw of clubs, one side will either discard or trump. There is only one trump left, so this trumping can only happen on the side that has one club and 3 spades. 

Your strategy may still fail if you are unlucky to encounter an opponent hand with one club and 3 spades, but you will have maximized your chances.

D-17 (pic below)

Keypoint :  This deal is deceptively simple to make especially on hindsight. However, it is entirely possible that your contract fails or succeeds on what you do in the first trick of the deal! This happens more frequently than you think. So when opponent makes a lead, stop and think about what the lead means, what the distribution of cards in opponents might be, count your losers and so on.

West leads QS. The contract is 2H, and you can only afford to lose 5 tricks at most.

West has tried to overcall 1S, so it likely has 5 spades - 6 seems unlikely - in any case, if he has 6, then you have no way to rescue yourself. You assume 5. That implies East has 1 spade only. You count possible losers - 1 in hearts, 2 in diamonds, 1 in clubs. You may have up to 2 losers in spades ( through ruffing) if you are not careful. That's a total of 6 possible losers.

You can't avoid the heart, diamonds and club losers, so your only choice is to limit opponents to 1 spade loser. 

The critical action is to take the QS with the AS. That leaves the KS in your hand as a guard. You play hearts to flush out the AH, and West leads spades again, which East trumps. But East cannot now return a trick to West - you have the stops in all other suits. You then draw the remaining trumps and your KS is good.

Answer to Q1

You are going to get slightly different answers depending on who you consult. What's important is that you and your partner are consistent and agree on it. I am going to recommend the following:

1 level overcall : 8-16HCP (or a "bad" 17).  Overcalling with 8-9HCP is aggressive (see below)

2 level overcall : 10-16HCP (or a "bad" 17). Overcalling with 10-11 HCP is aggressive (see below).

What's a "bad 17" ? probably a semi-balanced hand with naked honors.

This guideline needs to be leavened with practical advice. 

Aggressive overcalls

A 1 level overcall between 8-9HCP is an aggressive overcall. A 2 level overcall of 10-11 HCP is an aggressive overcall. You can't be aggressive all the time. When can you be aggressive? Ideally, you should have most or all of the below factors.

• You have an Ace in the suit. your partner will lead to you.

• You are non-vul (less risky).

• You have a very good shape (something like 5-4 or better in 2 suits or a very long suit with short side suits). You are likely to want to play in trumps, if you can, a good shape is helpful.

• Your partner is a passed hand. Your opponents are more likely to have a good contract, and your partner is less likely to be more adventurous with your overcall and overbid.

If you don't have the ability to be aggressive consider an operating range of 10-16 and 12-16 instead. When your partner responds to your overcall, that is the point range he should assume (+ any DP points he has if there's a fit and a trump contract is being considered).

if the opponents buy the contract in the end, keep in mind that its a high priority to lead to partner's bidded suit.

Answer to Q2

In most normal agreements, a cheapest level new suit bid after an overcall by partner is basically "another overcall" - you are sort of making the overcall yourself, ignoring partner. In other words, you have around minimum overcall strength or slightly over (if you had more, you would be thinking of inviting to game see 3S). You should only probably do this if you only have 0-1 card support for partner's suit. With 2 cd support for partner, consider just passing (a 7 cd fit is playable at 2 level).

In other words, the 2S bid means "Partner i have 0-1 clubs, 5+ spades and around 9-11 or so points" (the range can vary, but you get the idea).

Then how do you signal if you have a long suit and a good opening hand? you jump.

So the 3S is saying "Partner, I have a good opening hand, 5+ spades". Since overcaller promises 10+HCP, the 3S bid (opening hand) is an invite to game in spades.

What if you have good stops in hearts? With around 12-14HCP, he can consider a 2NT bid to invite his partner.

Answer to Q3

2D promises heart support and 10+ points. For the overcaller,  instead of responding in points terms, I like to restate it as : 

• 2H says "I was overcalling with a bare minimum. I don't want to go further"

• 3H says "I have a bit more. If you have a bit more than 10 pts, please bid game"

• 4H says "I have enough for game if I assume you have 10 pts".

It's not all points. N is to the left of W. East is likely to be weak if N has some strength (since S already promises 10+ and East has passed). N needs to consider what suit combinations it has to trap cards coming down from West. 

But if you were to use points (including DP), it might be:

• 2H : 9-12

• 3H : 13-14

• 4H : 15+ pts 

answer to Q4

Yes, same as with the raise to 3 when partner opens the bidding and opponents interfere. 3S shows <=7pts and 4 cd support even though partner promises only overcall strength. If you are around 7-10 pts instead, consider a 2S bid (there's no real need to sacrifice yourself when you have some strength). With 10+, a cuebid raise (2H).

answer to Q5

3C - "i'm at a absolute min and or no stops. I want to stop". You should probably pass unless you have extras.

2NT - "I have stops in hearts and can invite (probably 13-14HCP or so). With a bit more, and perhaps stops yourself, you can bid 3NT.

4C - "I have no stops in hearts. I am inviting you to 5C". He probably has a very shapely hand about a max of 17-18 pts (including distribution points). This is actually not very likely but it exists. If he had a very shapely hand, EW would probably be competiting as they'd be short in your suit.

Answer to Q6

This answer is meant to make you think, instead of providing an "answer".

Yes, indeed South could bid 2H as a cuebid promising club support and 10+.

But look at his hearts. Is it likely that his partner has any stops in Hs? fairly unlikely - East has 5 and South has 4. If so, there's a high chance that partner would just rebid 3C and the bidding would stop. There is little hope of playing in NT and even 2NT made (150 pts) can score higher than 3C made (110 pts). 

There is a chance that the 9 club card fit may yield many tricks in NT and you are the one with a stop. Partner promises 10+ HCP (12+ if non aggressive). There is some chance of playing in 2NT or even 3NT. 

I'm not saying you should bid 2NT to invite, but the possibility to take that risk exists. The spade doubleton you have might be covered by partner and/or the first lead might be in hearts. what if instead of Q932 in clubs, you had K932 instead ?

Probably a 2NT bid with that hand above is a bit risky. 

But what about this (12HCP)? if you have KQ clubs, then partner is likely to have AC (if he doesn't - knock his head  for overcalling without good honors 8-)). Then you have a likely 5 tricks in clubs alone, and partner can have at most 5HCP in clubs so his remaining HCP is distributed likely in spades and diamonds.

S64

HKJ32

DKT2

CKQ32

Q7. In a weak 2 opener, in 1st and 2nd seat, you are advised to open with 5-10HCP, 6 cards, no side 4 card major, top 2 of 3 honors or 3 of 5 honors. Please make a guess as to why this advice is given, or research this if you can find it on the internet.

hint for qn 7. Your partner has not yet made a bid when you are considering opening in 1st and 2nd seat.

Answer to Q7

Short answer: You do this to allow your partner (who hasn't bid yet) to assess if a game is possible or not.

Longer Answer : 

Weak 2 opener in 1st and 2nd seat is likely to have most of strength in the long suit (roughly 5-7HCP), but may have a A or K in a side suit for a total that is near 9-10HCP. Also, I find it a useful approximation to assume that  partner has 2 cds in each of the side suits for "visualising" the trick taking potential.

With around 15+HCP (sometimes 14), I can initiate a 2NT to ask if partner has a side suit A or K (this is called a "feature ask"). If partner rebids his suit, it means he is not interested in game. If partner bids a side suit, it means he has a A or K in that suit. You can use it to visualise if you have game.

In other words, opener has 5-10. By responding positively to a feature ask, he probably has 8-10HCP and interest in game. You can try for game with 15+HCP (but sometimes a good 14) and can use the side suit he indicated to help in evaluating the contract to try for.

Bidding to game is out of scope of this answer. We'll cover it in due course.

Side note: some people have in their agreement that a 4 cd major side suit is denied, and some don't. I recommend this, especially if you are at the higher range 8-10HCP. The reason is your partner might have an opening hand, and you can support him to a major suit contract in that 4 cd suit. If you bid weak at the beginning, you could miss game.

An example of evaluating for game.

Your partner opened 2S in first seat. You have 14HCP (a bit less than the guideline, but this is for illustration purpose and makes it more challenging 8-)).

1. You know your partner has 2 of 3 or 3 of 5 in spades. Since you have AJ, what's left is KQT. That makes it likely there are no losers in spades.

2. If you assume partner has 2 cards in each side suit (I know.... 2x3+6=12 only 8-)), you can count a possible 2 losers in H, 0.5 loser in D, and possibly 2 losers in C (depending on where opponent A is). That's 4.5 losers. If I can cut down by one known loser, I might have a shot at game.

3. You bid 2NT (Feature ask). 

4. Partner will bid (A) 3S or (B) a side suit e.g. 3C, 3D, or 3H.

5. If (A), you let it go - partner probably has a minimum. You have a total of 9 spades anyway and might make based on LOTT.

6. If (B), 

   1. if 3C, that implies your partner has the AC and is near max. You may want to bid 4S. (your club suit will be your weak point. H suit is probably lost).

   2. If 3D, that implies your partner has the KD and is near max. You could potentially clear trumps and run the diamonds to discard at least one loser. But opponents might run H and/or C first. Game is probably not very likely. You may want to rebid 3S (or 4S if you need the win badly haha).

   3. if 3H, your partner is near max, but might have the K only. Not very good odds combined with your club suit. Rebid 3S.

Note that you might not need a AJ in spade suit to assume no losers in spades. This is a bit of overkill since you have 9 trumps between you. Just a K or KJ or KT or A might be enough (you must have confidence partner bid with top 2 of 3 or 3 of 5). The remaining honor points will go into your side suits.