Lesson 2 Notes

Wei-Hwa Huang, whuang@google.com

Contents

  • Why bridge bidding is weird
  • Recap on bridge scoring
  • Hand Evaluation
  • Hand Shapes
  • The Importance of a Trump Fit
  • Stoppers
  • The Right Questions to Ask
  • Diversion: Competitive Bidding
  • Types of Bids
  • Opening Bids
  • Responding to a 1-level opening
  • Once a fit is found
  • Stayman
  • Yellow Card Conventions

    Why Bidding is weird and hard to learn

    ... because it's all about getting the best score, and bridge scoring is weird.

    Myth: Bid the highest contract you can make.

    Bridge scoring (recap)

     1♣ 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 1NT -- cheapest bids

 2♣ 2♦ 2♥ 2♠ 2NT
            +---+
 3♣ 3♦ 3♥ 3♠|3NT|
      +-----+---+
 4♣ 4♦|4♥ 4♠|4NT
+-----+-----+
|5♣ 5♦|5♥ 5♠ 5NT
+-----+
 6♣ 6♦ 6♥ 6♠ 6NT -- small slams

 7♣ 7♦ 7♥ 7♠ 7NT -- large slams
    3NT, 4&spades, 4&hearts, 5&diamonds, 5&clubs are all game contracts -- a big 300/500 point bonus is given for making these contracts.

    6- and 7-level contracts give a "slam bonus"

    There is no scoring advantage to any of the other contracts!

    Therefore, game bids are (almost) always "sign-offs" -- and almost nothing else is.

    Hand Evaluation

  • It's useful to have a numerical evaluation of the hand.

    What wins tricks?

    Example: 
         ♠ xxx
     ♥ x
     ♦ KQxxx
     ♣ KQxx
♠ xxx        ♠ xx
♥ QJTx       ♥ xxxxx
♦ JTxx       ♦ Ax
♣ xx         ♣ AJTx
     ♠ AKQxx
     ♥ AKx
     ♦ xx
     ♣ xxx

    High Card Points (HCP)

  • A: 4 points
  • K: 3 points
  • Q: 2 points
  • J: 1 point

    Distribution Points

  • Experts don't count these! Why?
  • Three ways:
  • Be wary of distribution points before a fit is found.

    Numbers to remember

  • HCP in the deck: 40
  • HCPs per trick: 3
  • HCPs needed to make 3NT (9 tricks): "good" 25+
  • Points needed to make 4♠♥ (10 tricks) : 26
  • Points needed to make 5♣♦ (11 tricks) : 29
  • Points needed to make small slam (12 tricks) : 33
  • Points needed to make grand slam (13 tricks) : 37 Moral: games in 5♣♦ are rarely useful!

    Hand Shapes

    Trump Fit

    7-card fit example: 
         AKQJx
xxxx       xx
     xx
    8-card fit example: 
         AKQJx
xxx        xx
     xxx
    Moral: 8-card fits are comfortable; 7-card fits aren't!

    Stoppers

    When playing NT, it's important to make sure opponents don't run away with a suit.

    Guaranteed Stoppers

      A
  KQ
  QJT
  JT98

    Likely Stoppers

      Kxx
  QJx
  Jxxx
  any five-card suit

    Half Stoppers

      Kx
  Qxx
  any four-card suit
    Rule of thumb: if someone bids a suit, they probably have a stopper!

    The Right Questions

    Primary Questions: Secondary Questions: (E and F are outside the scope of this lesson.)

    Game contract pre-requisites

    ABCD
    3NT-Yes-Yes
    4♥♠YesYes--
    5♣♦NoYesYes-

    Table by points/fit

    Fit? Fit in ♥♠ Fit in ♣♦ No fit
    Points? Stoppers? No Yes Yes No
    less than 26 partial in the fit suit partial in a 7-card fit, or in NT
    26 to 28 4♥♠ "Ick!" 3NT "Ick!"
    29 to 32 5♣♦ not possible
    "Ick!": Gamble in 3NT, or settle for a partial.

    "The Curse of 2NT"

    Diversion: Competitive Bidding

    In competitive bidding, fit is the only thing that matters! (Kinda)

    Rule of thumb: subtract 6 from your fit, and bid to that level. Adjust based on opponents' fit and vulnerability. (If you don't know their fit, assume 8.)

    Your Fit / Their Fit 7 8 9 10 11
    7 (vul)pass1-level1-level2-level2-level
    7 (n-vul)1-level1-level2-level2-level3-level
    8 (vul)1-level2-level2-level3-level3-level
    8 (n-vul)2-level2-level3-level3-level4-level
    9 (vul)2-level3-level3-level4-level4-level
    9 (n-vul)3-level3-level4-level4-level5-level
    10 (vul)3-level4-level4-level5-level5-level
    10 (n-vul)4-level4-level5-level5-level6-level
    11 (vul)4-level5-level5-level6-level6-level
    11 (n-vul)5-level5-level6-level6-level7-level

    Bid Types

    Usually you'll know one of three things:
  • We definitely don't have game.
  • We might have game.
  • We definitely have game.

    The eight types of bids

  • Opening: "Partner, I've got a better than average hand and I think our side is more likely to make game than the opponents. I've got a wide range of possible hands, so unless you've got nothing you should probably say something."
  • Opening limited: "Partner, I've got a very specific sort of hand and this bid describes it. Unless you need more details, I don't expect to bid again."
  • Sign-off: "Partner, I expect you to pass this bid. This is probably the best contract for us."
  • Nonforcing: "Partner, I've said all I can. Pass unless you really feel that you have something more to say."
  • Invitational: "Partner, I think we're close to game -- we're at most one trick short. If you're at the high-end of your range, go for it; otherwise, don't bother."
  • Forcing for one round: "Partner, I need more information from you, so please don't pass. Game is definitely a potential."
  • Game-forcing: "Partner, we definitely have game, but slam is also possible. Don't pass until we're at least at a game, and let's use this bidding room to see if we have enough for slam."
  • Pre-emptive: "Partner, I don't expect to make this bid, but I suspect our opponents have a game. I have a one-suited hand and intend to take up their bidding space so they can't find their game. If you have support for my suit, please get in their way further."
  • Penalty Double: "Partner, I think the opponents have bid too high and are going to go down no matter what contract they'll end up in. Let's get some extra points."

    Rules of thumb for which bids are which

  • Opening: 1-level opening bids, takeout double (doubling before partner has bid anything), 2&clubs opening.
  • Opening limited: NT opening bids, 2♦♥♠ openings ("weak twos").
  • Sign-off: Game-level bids.
  • Nonforcing: Rebid of own suit, rebid of partner's suit, rebid of 1NT.
  • Invitational: Jump-raise of partner's suit, 2NT, 3-level bids in a suit where a fit is found.
  • Forcing for one round: Bid of a new suit; bid of an opponent's suit ("cue bid"), negative double (doubling an opponent's 1 or 2-level bid when partner has already bid).
  • Game-forcing: Jump in a new suit (in a non-competitive auction).
  • Pre-emptive: "weak twos", opening bids of 3 or 4 in any suit, jump bids in any competitive auction.
  • Penalty Double: Doubling NT, doubling any non-pre-empt of 3 or higher.

    Opening bids

    Strategy for Opener: balanced hands

    Strategy for Opener: single-suited hand

    Strategy for Opener: two-suited hands

    What's a "reverse"?

    A reverse is when you bids a nonjump new suit that is higher than the first suit you bid. Examples: 
     1♣  1♠
 2♦

     1♣  1NT
 2♦

     1♠  2♥
 3♦
    The diamond bids are reverses. You can think of it this way: "My partner had a chance to bid diamonds but he didn't. But I'm going to show my diamonds anyway. To be bold enough to do this, I need to have a good hand."

    This is not a reverse: 

     1♦  1♥
 1♠
    Partner didn't jump over spades, so that's not a reverse.

    Strategy for Opener: three-suited hands

    Note that three-suited hands are often difficult to bid; that's why experts sometimes use special conventions to handle them.

    Responding to a 1-level opening

    General approach:

    Once a suit fit is found

    Here's what these bids tend to mean:

    Your first convention: Stayman

    Stayman is an artificial response of 2♣ to a 1NT opening. It is "artificial" because it says nothing about clubs. Instead, it is an attempt to search for a 4-4 major suit fit. Opener's responses are: There are two ways to use Stayman, the "garbage" way and the normal way.

    To use the "garbage" way, you should have < 8 points (i.e., no chance for game), and at least 4 cards in spades, hearts, and diamonds. You plan to pass any response opener gives, which guarantees you'll play in an 8-card fit at the 2-level.

    To use the normal way, you should have 8+ points (i.e., invitational range) and at least one 4-card major. If opener shows your major, great, otherwise, invite or go to 3NT as needed.

    Other Conventions on the Yellow Card