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BR 7.3 - Some General Principles
To the Absolute Beginner
The following part of this lesson deals with some general principles that underly good standard bidding. As a beginner you may perhaps find some of this confusing and too difficult to grap at first. Do not worry! All beginners feel this way. It is only after you play for a while and become more familiar with the game that the finer points of the bidding proces start to fall into place and make sense.
The best way to make progress is to play as much as you can, and in any free moments deal yourself hands and practise bidding. You can do this with a Partner or on your own.
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I. The Skip-over Principle
The practice of bidding 4 card suits up the line means that when either player skips over a suit, he denies having 4 cards in that suit.
For example (all bids by the Opener are shown in bold) :
- 1♣ - 1♥ ------------- Responder has no 4 card Diamond suit*
- 1♣ - 1♠ -------------- Responder has no 4 card Diamond suit and no 4 card Heart suit
- 1♦ - 1NT ----------- Responder has no 4 card major suit
- 1♣ - 1♦ - 1♠ ------- Opener has no 4 card Heart suit
- 1♦ - 1♥ - 1NT ----- Opener has no 4 card major suit (he would bid 2♥ with 4 Hearts)
(* = some responders skip their 4 card Diamond suit when they hold a 4 card major suit)
But be aware : With a 5+ card suit as well as a 4 card suit you must bid your longest suit first. With 5 Spades and 4 Hearts for example you must bid Spades first. Be aware that Partner will in this case assume that you have no 4 card Heart suit. Bid therefore Hearts at your next turn. He will then recognise your 5-4 card distribution, as with 4-4 in the majors you would have bid them up the line.
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II. Major suit Trump fits
Most (8 card) trump fits either consist of each player having 4 cards in the trump suit (a 4-4 split), or of one player having 5 while the other has 3 cards in the trump suit (a 5-3 split).
In a Bidding system using 5 card major Opening bids (as in this course) life is made very easy for the Responder.
- When Opener opens with 1♥ or with 1♠ - Responder knows there is a trump fit when he holds only 3 cards in that suit (for a 5-3 fit).
- When Opener opens with a minor suit and bids 1♥ or 1♠ at his next turn - Responder knows he must have 4 cards in the major suit for a 4-4 trump fit.
For the Opener the choice is not that clear. Any new suit bid by the Responder promises only 4 cards in that suit.
Opener can therefore only raise Responder's suit with 4 card support. With only 3 cards in that suit he should wait until Responder rebids his suit (showing now at least one card more in the suit), or raise Responder's suit at his next turn (showing 3 card support and hoping Responder has a 5 card suit anyway).
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III. Balanced hand Openings
Here is the full range of Opening bids with a balanced hand.
- 13-15 pts = Open 1 in a suit (usually a minor) and bid 1NT at your next turn.
- 16-18 pts = Open 1NT
- 19-20 pts = Open 1 in a suit (usually a minor) and bid 3NT at your next turn.
- 21-22 pts = Open 2NT
- 23+ pts = Open 2♣ (see Lesson 16)
With 13-15 or 19-20 pts you still can explore the possibility of a major suit trump fit by bidding your 4 card suits (if you have any) up the line before bidding NT.
For example : if Responder bids a major suit in which you have 4 card support : single raise that major with 13-15 pts, and raise to Game with 19-20 pts (rather than bidding NT).
In Example 13 you have a balanced hand with 20 points and open the bidding with 1♦.
- If your Partner responds with 1♠ or 2♣, or raises your opening bid to 2♦ ---- you reply : 3NT.
- If your Partner responds with 1♥ ---- you reply : 4♥.
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IV. Responses with 11-12 points
With 11-12 pts you can not immediately respond with a raise of Partner's suit when you have trump support (or with a NT bid when you are balanced).
In these cases always bid a new suit first and raise Opener's suit on your next turn to bid.
In rare instances you may not have a 4 card suit to bid. In such case bid a 3 card minor suit at the 2 level. (Partner will be unlikely to raise that suit unless he has 5 card support.)
For example with :
♠ A 10 4 2
♥ 9 5 4
♦ A 9 8 ♣ K 6 3
- after an Opening of 1♠ : respond with 2♣,
- plan to raise Opener's Spades when it is your next turn to bid.
(See also