Lesson 7 - Other Opening Bids

As we saw in lesson 3, a player usually requires 12 or more points to open the bidding in a game of bridge.  In lesson 6 we saw that a player holding 12-14 points AND a balanced hand should open the bidding with a bid of 1NT (1 No Trumps).

What should your opening bid be if you hold more than 14 points and/or your hand is not a balanced one?

Here is a simple to follow chart to help you decide on your opening bid.

	12-14 points	15-19 points	20-22 points
Balanced hand	1 NT	1 of a suit	2 NT
Unbalanced hand	1 of a suit	1 of a suit

Which suit should you bid?

1. Open with your longest suit, if you have one suit that is longer than the rest.


2. Open the higher ranking of two equal length suits. (Remember the ranking order is spades then hearts then diamonds, with clubs being the lowest ranking suit.)


• UNLESS you have EXACTLY four hearts and four spades, in which case open with a bid of 1 heart.


3. If you have 4441 shape (four cards in three of the suits and just one card in the fourth suit) :


• If the singleton is in a red suit, open with the suit below the singleton,


• open 1 diamond if you have 4441 shape with a heart singleton


• open 1 club if the singleton is a diamond


• If the singleton is in a black suit open with the middle of the two touching suits


• open 1 diamond if you have a spade singleton


• open 1 heart if you have a club singleton

If your hand has a more distinctive shape, you might want to use the rule of 20 to help you decide on your opening bid.  See lesson 8.

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Lesson 8 - The Rule of 20

As we have seen in previous lessons a player should usually hold at least 12 points if they are going to open the bidding.  As with all good rules there are, of course, exceptions.  There are two Rules that can be used if you have fewer than 12 points.  The Rule of 20 and the Rule of 15.  The Rule of 15 is used in one situation only and we will look at that in the next lesson - lesson 9.

The Rule of 20 is used if your hand is "shapely" - ie very unbalanced.

How and When to Use The Rule of 20

If you have a relatively good hand that has fewer than 12 points you might feel it is suitable for opening the bidding.  How do you decide?  This is when you use the Rule of 20.  Take the total of your high card points and add that to the length of your longest two suits.  If the total comes to 20+ then your hand satisfies the Rule of 20.  You can open the bidding if you want to (note - you can pass if you would prefer to).

Take a look at some Sample Hands

Sample 1

(spades) A  J 9 3
(hearts)  9 6 2
(diamonds) A Q 10 9 7
(clubs) 6

This hand has 11 HCPs and the two longest suits have 5 and 4 cards.  If you add these together you get a total of 20, so this hand would be suitable for opening the bidding.

Sample 2

(s) 10 6
(h) K Q 8 3 2
(d) A J 9 5 4
(c) 8

This hand has only 10 points and the two longest suits both have 5 cards.  Adding these together again gives us a total of 20, so this hand would also be suitable for opening the bidding if you wanted to.

Sample 3

(s) Q J 8
(h) 6 5
(d) A 8 2
(c) K J 9 6 3

This hand has 11 points.  If you add that to the length of the longest two suits (5 and 3) the total comes to just 19.  This hand doesn't satisfy the Rule of 20 and so isn't suitable for opening.

Notice that hand 3 is a balanced hand.  The Rule of 20 works for unbalanced hands.

The rule of 20 is one of the many lessons, tutorials and activities that you can practice if you join No Fear Bridge for your 2 weeks' trial membership.  Click Here to join right now.

Lesson 9 - The Rule of 15

Imagine you are the fourth player in the opening round of a game of bridge and your hand contains 11 High Card Points.  The other three players have all passed.

What does this tell us?

A suit of cards contains 40 HCPs.  If the previous three players have passed then we know that none of them holds 12 or more points.  We have 11 points so we know that the other players between hold a total of 29 points.  The points are fairly evenly distributed as we know that no-one has 12+ points.

Should we open the bidding with our 11 card hand?

Imagine that this is our hand

Spades: J 8, Hearts: K J 7 3, Diamonds: A Q 9 4 2,   Clubs: 7 6

If we decide to bid, the chances are that the game would be played in the contract chosen by us and partner.  But there is the possibility that the opposing partnership could overcall us.  If there is the possibility of that, it would be better for us to pass and for a new hand to be dealt.

How can we decide if the opposing partnership might overcall us?  The key to making the decision is working out who holds the spades. This is the specific situation for using the Rule of 15 - use it if you are the fourth player in the opening round of bidding and no-one else has bid.

Using The Rule of 15

Do we have enough spades to open the bidding with a bid of 1 spade?  To find out we add the number of HCPs in our hand to the number of spades in our hand.  If the total comes to 15+ then our hand satisfies the Rule of 15 and we can open the bidding without fear of being overcalled at the one level.

Here are some sample hands to illustrate the rule:

Sample 1

The hand above - could we have used it to open the bidding?

Spades: J 8, Hearts: K J 7 3, Diamonds: A Q 9 4 2,   Clubs: 7 6

This hand contains 11 HCPs , but only has 2 spades.  The total is just 13 points.  If we open with this hand we would open in diamonds and there is the possibility that the opponents could overcall us at the one level in hearts or spades.  We should pass and let a new hand be dealt.

Sample 2

Spades: A Q 9 4 2, Hearts: 7 6, Diamonds: K J 7 3, Clubs: J 8

This hand is similar to the hand in sample 1, except that the cards are held in different suits.  As with sample 1, the hand contains 11 HCPs.  The big difference here is that we hold 5 spades.  Adding this to the number of HCPs gives us a total of 16.  The hands satisfies the rule of 15 and we can open with a bid of 1 spade.  There is no opportunity for the opponents to overcall us at the 1 level.

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Lesson 10 - Responding To A Bid Of 1NT

Your partner has opened the bidding with a bid of 1NT.

Each bid in a game of bridge aims to tell your partner something about your hand.

What does your partner's opening bid tell you about their hand?

It tells you that they have 12-14 points and a balanced hand and that they don't have a 5 card major.

Now you have to decide on your responding bid, which aims to tell partner something about your hand

Responding to Partner's Opening Bid of 1NT

The first thing to decide is whether or not you have enough points between you to make game in No Trumps.  Game in No Trumps means a bid of 3NT. If you bid for and make  your game, you receive a bonus of 300 points.  (See lesson 12 on scoring)

To bid for game you need to know that you hold at least 25 points between you.  If you don't have enough points, then you need to keep the bidding low.

Responding to a bid of 1NT with a balanced hand.

If you also hold a balanced hand, then bid according to the number of points in your hand, as follows:

With 0 - 10 points Pass.  The maximum number of points your partner holds is 14, so you don't have the required 25 points between you.

With 11-12Bid 2NT.  This is an invitational bid, telling your partner to rebid if they hold 14 points.  Between you, you hold the necessary 25 points to bid for game.

With 13-18
Bid 3NT.  This is known as a "Sign Off" bid and tells your partner not to bid again.  Between you hold at least 25 points and so can bid straight for game.
You don't have enough points to bid for a slam - you can read more about slam bidding here.

Responding to a bid 1NT with an unbalanced hand (Or  a balanced hand with a five
card suit)

When your longest suit is a major suit:

With 0 - 10 points AND a 5+ major suit
Bid 2 of the major suit. (2 hearts or 2 spades)

You know that you don't have enough points for game, but with a 5 card major it is better to play the game in a suit contract.  This is a sign off bid and your partner shouldn't bid again.

With 11 - 18 points AND a 5 card major

Bid 3 of the major suit.  This is a "forcing" bid asking your partner to bid for game.  If they hold 3 or 4 cards in your suit they should bid 4 of the suit.  If they hold only 2 cards in the suit they should bid 3 NT

With 11 - 18 points AND a 6+ card major

You can bid directly for game.  You know you have an 8 card fit (partner cannot have fewer than 2 cards in any suit if they have made a bid of 1NT).  Bid 4 hearts of 4 spades.  This is also a sign off bid.  There is no need for your partner to bid again.

When your longest suit is a minor suit:

With 0 - 10 points AND a 5+ minor suit

• If the suit is diamonds - bid 2 diamonds


• If the suit is clubs - PASS (2clubs is a special bid [Stayman] and has a different meaning) This tells your partner you have a weak hand and they should pass

With 11 - 12 points AND a 5+ card minor

Bid 2NT.  This is an invitational bid.  It tells your partner to bid for game (3NT) if they hold 14 points.  Otherwise they should pass.

With 13 - 18 points AND a 5+ card minor

Bid 3NT.  You know you have enough points for game and it is better to play in No Trumps if your longest suit is a minor.

You can learn more and practice responding to an opening bid of 1NT if you join No Fear Bridge.  Take your two weeks' trial membership right now - just click here.

Lesson 11 - Responding To An Opening Bid Of One Of A Suit

This is just a summary of the responses to a 1 of a suit bid.  This is a large topic and one which you should study by taking your trial membership at No Fear Bridge.  Just Click Here Now to join for two weeks at no cost.

There are four basic types of bid you can make if your partner opened with a bid of 1 of a suit.  You can:

• Support partner's suit


• Bid a new suit


• Make a No Trumps bid


• Pass

You need to decide which of these bids you should make.

0 - 5 Points

You have a weak hand and partner has fewer than 20 points.  Between you do not have enough points for "game" - 25 points.

You PASS.

6+ Points

• Partner opened with a major suit bid:
  
  
  
  • Support if you have 4+ cards in the suit (even if you have more or better cards in another suit)
    
    
    
    • 6 - 9 points, bid at the 2 level
    
    
    • 10 - 12 points, bid at the 3 level, 1
    
    
    • 3 - 15 points bid for game at the 4 level (partner has at least 12 points, so you have at lest 25 points between you)
  
  
  • Fewer than 4 cards in partner's suit
    
    
    
    • Bid a new suit at the 1 level, if you can
    
    
    • If you can't support or bid at the 1 level:
      
      
      
      •  6 - 9 points, bid 1NT.  This doesn't mean that you have a balanced hand, just that you don't have enough points to bid at the 2 level.
      
      
      • 10 + points, bid a new suit at the 2 level

Bidding a NEW Suit is a forcing bid, your partner must bid again.

Pass is a sign off bid - your partner must not bid again

Raising partner's suit or bidding in NT are limit bids and partner can bid again if they want to.

Lesson 12 - Bridge Scoring

Scoring is the heart of the game of bridge and learning how it works will make understanding the bidding much easier.  I know it did when I first started learning to play.

Knowing how the scoring works helps you to understand why it is better to play in No Trumps or a major trump and it helps you understand why sometimes it can be advantageous to bid to the 5, 6 or maybe even 7 level when you could stop bidding at a lower level and be certain of achieving your contract.

Bidding Basics.

• The first 6 tricks don't count towards your score.  So a contract for 1 of a suit (or 1NT) actually means that you believe you can make 7 tricks (6 uncounted tricks plus 1 bid).  Likewise a contract at the 3 level means you believe you can make 9 tricks.

• We've talked about achieving "game" in some of the lessons.  A “game” contract is one that scores a minimum of 100 points if it isachieved.  If you achieve (or exceed) a game contract you score a 300 point bonus - which is why it is advantageous to bid for a game contract IF you have enough points.  (If you fail to achieve the contract points are given to your opponents - so you shouldn't bid for a game contract unless you believe you can make the contract.)

• If you don't have enough points for a game contract you can bid for a lower contract - this is a "part score contract".  You receive a 50 point bonus if you achieve the contract.

• If you bid a part score but actually make enough tricks for game you will ONLY get the part score bonus as that is what you bid for.

• If you fail to make the contract you bid for, your opponents score 50 points for each trick you failed by.  So, if you bid 3 of a suit (bid to make 9 tricks) and only make 7 tricks your opponents score 50 points for each of the two tricks you failed to make (100 points in total)

Basic Scoring Table

	Points scored per trick	No. of tricks needed to make “game”(6 + no. of tricks bid)	Minimum contract needed for game	High Card Points needed for “game”
clubs and diamonds	20	11	5 clubs or diamonds	27
hearts and spaces	30	10	4 hearts of spades	25
No Trumps	40 for FIRST trick 30 for subsequent tricks	9	3 NT	25

From this table you can see why it is advantageous to bid for game in NT or a major suit, if you can, as fewer tricks are needed to achieve the "game" bonus.

Doubling 

If you are part of the opposing partnership and you don't think the opener or their partner can make the contract they are bidding for you can “double”.  The advantage of doubling is that, if you are right and the opponents fail to achieve the contract your partnership will score double the points for each trick the opponents go down by.  However, if the opponents do achieve the contract they will  score double for each trick they make.  They will also score an extra bonus of 50 points for achieving the contract.

Once you've doubled, the opponents have the option of "redoubling" if they believe they are certain to make the contract.  This means that your opponents will score 4 times the points for each trick they make if they achieve the contract, plus a 100 point extra bonus.

Vulnerability

Vulnerability adds extra interest to the game.  One or both sides become vulnerable.  The vulnerability rotates around the table and changes from neither side vulnerable t0 E-W vulnerable to N-S vulnerable to both side vulnerable.

• If your side is vulnerable and you fail to make a contract then your opponents score DOUBLE the number of points for each trick you fail by.


• If your side is vulnerable and bid for and achieve game, then your game bonus is increased to 500 points.

There is no increase  in the part score bonus which remains at 50 points.

Slam Bidding

There are two types of slams.

• A small slam, which means you bid for and win 12 tricks


• A grand slam which means you bid for an win all 13 tricks).

You only score an additional bonus for these if you bid to make them.

If you bid for fewer tricks, but actually achieve 12 or 13, you will only score the normal game bonus, not the additional slam bonus.

If you bid for and achieve a small slam you will score an additional 500 point bonus (or 750 if vulnerable)

If you bid for and achieve a grand slam you will score an additional 1000 point bonus (or 1500 if vulnerable)

Both of these are in addition to the regular game bonus.

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