| 1N opening |
15-17hcp balanced (may have 5cd major), full writeup of 1N responses includes Stayman, transfers, Smolen, handling interference, Garbage Stayman. Nick's Garbarge Stayman notes |
| 2N opening |
20-21hcp balanced (may have 5cd major), full writeup of 2N responses. Use Puppet Stayman to respond. |
| Major openings |
partial writeup of 1 of major responses
Modified Jacoby 2N, Splinters
2-over-1 partial writeup, 2over1 agreement with Nick
Raising with 3-card support (article by Dave Vidaver) |
| Minor openings |
Minor opening / major response scenarios
Minor opening / non-major response scenarios
Inverted minor raise shows 4-cd support, opening hand, denies 4-cd major. [With Scott, I play it this way]
Criss-cross (jump-shift into other minor shows limit-raise) |
| Checkback 2N (aka Spiral) |
Responder inquires about strength of support in 1m-1M-2M sequence. See
Minor opening / major response scenarios
|
| Fourth suit forcing |
Bidding 4th suit - game-forcing, asks partner to describe hand (in priority order):
- Raise partner's suit with 3 cards
- Bid NT if 4th suit stopped
- Raise 4th suit with 4 cards
- Make most natural bid otherwise
EXCEPTION: 1 in this sequence: 1 -1 -1 -1 is NOT forcing.
|
| Reverse Drury |
Over 3rd/4th seat major-suit opener, 2 asks if it's a full opener. Promises
3+ card support w/ 10+ hcp. Opener then responds
| 2 | Full 13+ opener |
| 2suit | Light opener |
| 2 | Special case if Spade opener -- shows good opener w/ 4-cd Heart suit. |
Responder continues as needed. Notes:
1. if responder holds long club suit they bid 2, then 3 over any bid by opener.
2. Drury is OFF over any interference.
|
| Help-suit game try |
When opener's 1-of-major opening is raised to 2, bidding another suit is the help-suit game try. It asks partner if he can "help" in that suit. Maybe you have a half-stopper, or Axxx, or whatever. It's a mechanism like splinters, for finding games (or even slams) with less than the normal 26 (or 32) HCP.
This could be used over a limit raise, if you are slamming?
|
| Responding to 2 opener "waiting" |
2=At least 1 King;
2=bust;
opener shows hand, then bid on. Better to use "control showing" responses.
|
| Responding to 2N by 2 opener |
Puppet Stayman may be ON or may be OFF. !! Discuss with your partner !!
All other NT systems are ON.
|
| Weak 2s |
6-card suit, usually a major. 5-10hcp normal range.
Standard treatment - vulnerable should have 2 of top 3
honors. Experts disagree... |
| Feature ask (over weak 2s) |
Basic method for responder to find out strength of
partner's weak 2 bid. With good hand, opener bids
a "feature" -- usually a short suit, or suit with
an honor. With a lousy hand, opener rebids their suit.
|
| Preempt hand evaluation |
Opener:- count "playing" tricks:
- Every card after 3rd in trump
- Aces, supported Kings (Kx), covered Queens (AQx, KQx)
- Then bid count +2 Vul, or +3 NotVul -- but don't go above a "game" bid in that suit
Responder: subtract 2 (Vul) or 3 (NotVul), then - Add quick tricks:
- A, K, or Q of trump = 1 trick each
- In other suits: AK=2, AQ=1.5, KQ=1, A=1, Kx=0.5
- Singleton, with trump support = 1 trick
- Void, with trump support = 2 trick
- And bid or pass accordingly. Example: Vul, opener has 7 playing tricks -- opens 3; responder has 5 quick tricks -- bids 6
|
| Rule of 2-3-4 | Ely Culbertson's rule on how high to make a preemptive call. Writeup at bridgehands.com |
| Gambling 3N | Long, running minor with outside Ace. Writeup at bridgehands.com |
| Roman KeyCard Blackwood (1430) |
4N asks how many of 5 "controls" -- 4 aces & K of trump:
| 5 | 1 or 4 |
| 5 | 0 or 3 |
|
cheapest non-signoff 5-lvl bid is "queen ask" (iow over 5, 5 is ask)
| 5trump | No Queen, unknown # of Kings |
| 5N | Have Queen, but no Kings |
| 6suit | Have Queen, and King of suit |
|
| 5 | 2 or 5, no queen of trump |
| 5 | 2 or 5, with queen of trump |
|
5N "specific King ask" - guarantees all 5 controls
| 6suit (below trump) | Kings of suit |
| 6trump | No kings below trump |
| 6suit (above trump) | Some partnerships agree that asking for Kings means a strong desire to get to 7.
Thus one can respond with a void ABOVE 6 of trump. |
| | 5N | even number with a useful void somewhere |
| 6x (below trump) | odd number with a void in this suit (iow 6 == void in clubs) |
| 6trump | odd number with a useful void above trump suit (iow, if trump is , 6 == void in ) |
|
| Gerber |
4 over NT opening asks for Aces 4=0 or 4; 4=1; 4=2; 4N=3.
Then, 5 asks for Kings.
Over response to 4, 4 means "bail out at 4N". See 1430 Gerber below if you want to avoid problems when the response is 4N and you can't bail.
|
| DOPI/ROPI | Handle interference over Ace-asking bids:
DOPI over suit interference: (think D0P1) DBL=0, PASS=1, then up the line otherwise
ROPI over DBL interference: (think R0P1) RDBL=0, PASS=1, then up the line otherwise
|
| Grand Slam Force | With a known fit, a jump bid of 5N inquires about partner's top three trump honors. With 2 or more trump controls, responder makes a Grand Slam call in the trump suit. Otherwise, the responder signs off in a Small Slam. |
| Unusual NT |
Jump to 2N over 1-lvl bid 4N over pre-empt. Shows 5-5 in 2 lowest unbid suits; most of hcp should be in these suits.
We also play "Unusual 1N" when bid over opponents' 1-over-1 auaction. Eg. 1 - P - 1 - 1N shows 5-5 in the black suits. |
| Michaels cue bid |
Showing 5-5 distribution; most of hcp should be in these suits
Over a major, shows other major & unspecified minor. 2N asks for minor.
Over a minor, shows BOTH majors.
Normally, hand is weak or strong. With intermediate hand, make an overcall instead.
Advancer makes minimum response with weak hand, otherwise jumps or cuebids.
|
| Cappelletti (Hamilton) |
Common 1N interference bid:
| 2 | Long suit |
| 2 | Both majors (min 4-4) |
| 2 | & a minor |
| 2 | & a minor |
| 2N | Both minors |
| DBL | Penalty |
|
| Responsive double | Response to a takeout
double or overcall, when opponents have bid & raised
their suit.
1M - X - 2M - X is responsive double, scattered values,
4 cards in the other major
and no long suits (because you would bid a 5-cd suit
if you had it!).
When you double over partner's overcall
(e.g., 1H - 1S - 2H - X), you should also be able to tolerate
partner bidding their suit again (IOW, have 2+ cards in
that suit.)
6-8 hcp at 2-level;
9+ hcp at 3-level
NOTE: if opponents have bid & raised a minor, the responsive
double promises 4-4 in the majors.
|
| Interference over 2 |
Control responses are OFF; DBL == bust; PASS == have something; any other bid shows slam interest. |
| Unusual vs. Unusual (method 1) | Mechanism for handling Michaels or Unusual NT interference (most common version I play):
| Cue bid higher suit | 10+ hcp with a fit (iow, limit raise or better) |
|---|
| Cue bid lower suit, IF KNOWN | 10+ hcp, no fit |
|---|
| Raise our suit | Competitive with support |
|---|
| New suit (or new minor if 2nd suit not known) | Invitational with 5cd suit |
|---|
| Double | Values in one of opps. suit & ability to penalize opps. in one or both suits. |
|---|
| Pass |
Several possible hands:
- Good defensive hand, but not sure if we can set them.
- Lousy hand.
- No other bid makes sense.
|
|---|
|
| Support double / redouble | Over interference following 1x - any - 1M - any, double shows 3-cd support.
Ex: 1 - P - 1 - 2 - DBL shows 3-cd spade support.
Support redouble used over takeout-double interference.
Ex: 1 - P - 1 - DBL - RDBL shows 3-cd heart support.
We play no upper limit on this type of double. NOTE: many players set the limit at 2 or 2 |
| Maximal double |
After 1M-2M sequence, over inteference where normal
invites are not available, DBL shows game invite.
Partner bids 3M or 4M depending.
Can leave double in, with stack in their suit.
Examples: 1 - (2) - 2 - (3) - DBL;
1 - (2) - 2 - (3) - DBL
Also used when we are overcalling & opponents bid & raise in a lower suit:
Example: (1) - 1 - (3) - DBL (3 would be merely competitive); |
Four-suit transfers
(used when opponents
double 1N for penalties) |
RDBL is transfer to 2, 2=2, 2=2, 2=2
|
| Jordan | 2N following takeout double of partner's opener, shows good support with 10+ hcp. |