Monday, October 10, 2005
Conventions make the system?
A lot of players when building a new partnership work on a list of conventions that they want to play, and think that's it. This is very wrong, let's look at an example from last week's BBO Forum's Bridge Poll Online.
With only opponents vulnerable, LHO opens 1♦, partner overcalls 3♠ and RHO passes and you have:
♠874 ♥AKT9 ♦K3 ♣A843
What do you bid? The answer is not a simple "I pass" or "I bid 4♠. The answer has to be found in the question: What does partner normally have for a 3♠ bid. It is no use raising to 4 if to make 4 you require a hand that partner would've bid 4♠ on himself! Style discussion will bring so much more than any convention you might agree on.
In the actual poll I voted for 4♠, but with my junior partner I would have passed. And it would have been right to pass, as he would have bid 4♠ himself if it were making.
With only opponents vulnerable, LHO opens 1♦, partner overcalls 3♠ and RHO passes and you have:
♠874 ♥AKT9 ♦K3 ♣A843
What do you bid? The answer is not a simple "I pass" or "I bid 4♠. The answer has to be found in the question: What does partner normally have for a 3♠ bid. It is no use raising to 4 if to make 4 you require a hand that partner would've bid 4♠ on himself! Style discussion will bring so much more than any convention you might agree on.
In the actual poll I voted for 4♠, but with my junior partner I would have passed. And it would have been right to pass, as he would have bid 4♠ himself if it were making.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
2-suited overcalls
Almost every experienced pair plays 2-suited overcalls, but there are zillions of variations on how these are played. This is hidden behind convention names like Michael's, Ghestem, Unusual, etc. This article is about how I think they should be played.
Myth 1: 2♦ for the majors after 1 minor. Many pairs play that after 1♣ from RHO, 2♣ is natural and 2♦ shows both majors. Please don't do this. 1♣, even if it promises just 2 cards, is usually natural with 4+cards. If it isn't, it's natural and what will happen is this: Responder will bid another suit and opener rebids NT. NOW you can bid your natural 2♣! Or if the suit is raised you may consider bidding 3♣ now.
Use a direct bid of 2♣ to show the 2-suited hands and keep 2♦ natural. Again, ♦ are an unneccessary victim of conventions.
Myth 2: It is okay to overcall a 2-suiter on any strength. In principle yes, but consider you have a 5-loser hand and the auction goes:
1♥ 2♥ Pass 2♠
Pass
If you have a decent hand you might not know what to do. If you have a hand where you don't know what to do at this point, don't bid the 2-suiter!
My tip is: bid the 2-suiter either on weak hands (preemptive) or on very strong hands, but NOT on the intermediate hands.
On how to play the 2-suiters: There are 2 styles, both with advantages and disadvantages.
1) Non-specific 2-suiters. This is very easy: 2NT shows the two lowest unbid suit, 2 of the opponent's suit shows the highest unbid suit and another (i.e. the other 2 possibilities)
2) Specific 2-suiters: In this style, 3♣ (or 3♦ after 1♦) also shows a 2-suiter, giving you 3 bids for 3 2-suiters. This has advantages in that both suits are directly known, but disadvantage that you are at the 3-level on more hands, and you shouldn't forget this convention!
Basically it works like this:
2NT still shows the two lowest unbid
3♣ shows the two highest unbid (3♦ for the majors after 1♦)
2 in opponent's suit shows the highest and lowest unbid
A third style is one where you play like 1) but the cue bid of a minor shows specifically the majors. I don't like this style as much since then you cannot show ♠ + other minor, and it will be hard to get the great shape across later on.
It is up to you which you like most. For me it is the first style.
Myth 1: 2♦ for the majors after 1 minor. Many pairs play that after 1♣ from RHO, 2♣ is natural and 2♦ shows both majors. Please don't do this. 1♣, even if it promises just 2 cards, is usually natural with 4+cards. If it isn't, it's natural and what will happen is this: Responder will bid another suit and opener rebids NT. NOW you can bid your natural 2♣! Or if the suit is raised you may consider bidding 3♣ now.
Use a direct bid of 2♣ to show the 2-suited hands and keep 2♦ natural. Again, ♦ are an unneccessary victim of conventions.
Myth 2: It is okay to overcall a 2-suiter on any strength. In principle yes, but consider you have a 5-loser hand and the auction goes:
1♥ 2♥ Pass 2♠
Pass
If you have a decent hand you might not know what to do. If you have a hand where you don't know what to do at this point, don't bid the 2-suiter!
My tip is: bid the 2-suiter either on weak hands (preemptive) or on very strong hands, but NOT on the intermediate hands.
On how to play the 2-suiters: There are 2 styles, both with advantages and disadvantages.
1) Non-specific 2-suiters. This is very easy: 2NT shows the two lowest unbid suit, 2 of the opponent's suit shows the highest unbid suit and another (i.e. the other 2 possibilities)
2) Specific 2-suiters: In this style, 3♣ (or 3♦ after 1♦) also shows a 2-suiter, giving you 3 bids for 3 2-suiters. This has advantages in that both suits are directly known, but disadvantage that you are at the 3-level on more hands, and you shouldn't forget this convention!
Basically it works like this:
2NT still shows the two lowest unbid
3♣ shows the two highest unbid (3♦ for the majors after 1♦)
2 in opponent's suit shows the highest and lowest unbid
A third style is one where you play like 1) but the cue bid of a minor shows specifically the majors. I don't like this style as much since then you cannot show ♠ + other minor, and it will be hard to get the great shape across later on.
It is up to you which you like most. For me it is the first style.
