12
votes
Accepted
Can opponents ask for "alerts" in bridge?
Law 20 of The Laws of Duplicate Bridge deals with review and explanation of calls. Quoting partially:
F. Explanation of Calls
During the auction and before the final pass, any
player may request, ...
- 5,231
10
votes
Why open 1NT with a 6 card minor?
Holding AKx Kx QJxxxx Kx, it is unsatisfying and misleading to open 1D and rebid 3D. Most of your values are outside of diamonds and in fact you have decent stopping positions in all other suits. ...
- 5,231
10
votes
Why is there a "no man's land" between 1NT 15-17 and 2NT 20-21?
Because the level of 3NT is too high to be supported by opener's values with only 20-21 HCP. Even 2NT is challenging if partner shows up with a bust opposite 20-21.
The appropriate way to show an 18-...
- 11.3k
9
votes
Opening bidder steals my bid
There are several common situations with different handlings:
Opener to your right bids your best suit and you have 12+ points:
Pass and hope partner can make a balancing double, which you can then ...
- 11.3k
9
votes
Was this a reasonable redouble?
2c seems clear.
This redouble doesn't offer good matchpoint odds. +180 and +380 rate to both score well, but -200 will often be much worse than -100. The reason is that -200 will lose to any part-...
- 962
9
votes
Would you pass this 13 high card point hand?
13 hcp with two aces? I’d open that 10/10 times regardless of distribution. 4 diamonds I’m still fine bidding a 1D then; it’s even a more useful bid than the nondescript 1C.
I’m not surprised some ...
- 3,863
8
votes
Accepted
Does a bid of 'Double' make you the declarer?
Your understanding is correct: South would be the declarer, playing a contract of two spades doubled. Doubles (and redoubles) never change who is declarer, just the scores for making or failing to ...
- 8,988
8
votes
Accepted
Why are Bridge's bid meanings public?
Note, the agreed meanings of bids must be agreed in advance, they may not be changed on the fly. In serious duplicate play, players have a written description of their agreements available to the ...
- 1,199
8
votes
Premptive bid with too much strength in Bridge
Whatever the result of playing 3D was stands. Bidding incorrectly is not (usually) a violation of the laws of contract bridge.
- 5,231
8
votes
Has Marty Bergen's hand evaluation system been validated experimentally?
Has Marty Bergen's hand evaluation system been validated experimentally?
Yes - but not (as far as I know) with a Monte Carlo simulation. Experts have long known (and I mean long known - since before ...
- 11.3k
8
votes
Are there times when "doubling" will not help the opponents make the hand?
Other than the pedantic answer (any time Declarer can't possibly make), there are plenty of times that it doesn't have the impact you're suggesting.
First off, there are a lot of ways you can end up ...
- 3,863
7
votes
Accepted
Should I alert a conventional 'Pass'
From the English Bridge Union Blue Book (Rules and Ethics):
Unless it is announceable (
see 4
D
, 4
E, 4
F
and 4
G
), a pass
or bid must be alerted if
it
:
(a)
is not ...
- 2,598
7
votes
Does the "Rule of 15" suggest that you should pass with 13 points (and short spades) in fourth seat?
Rule of 13 trumps Rule of 15.
If you have 13 points you open.
If you read the first few sentences of the article you linked, it says clearly you only apply that when you have 9-12 points.
- 4,301
7
votes
Jacoby transfer bid after responder bids
tl;dr 2H
I think you need to understand the concept of Captaincy.
During the process of bidding, it is not always the case where both players are trying to exchange information on an even ground. ...
- 293
7
votes
Accepted
Bridge Scoring and sacrifice optimization against slam bids?
In duplicate bridge, 6 spades making 6 is 980 not vulnerable, and 7 clubs doubled down 8 not vulnerable (5 tricks made out of 13 contracted) is -2000. With nobody vulnerable, you'd have to make 9 ...
- 5,231
7
votes
Flexibility in Opening two in third seat with 8 points and seven card suit?
You are, within certain constraints designed to prevent wholly destructive bidding systems, allowed to make any call that is:
any of a sufficient bid; a valid Double or Redouble; or Pass; and
not ...
- 11.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Should I "take out" a double, using a two card suit?
With xxx xx Jxxx Jxxx, the decision between 1S and 2C is very close. Any move that makes spades less attractive (eg holding only a doubleton) or clubs more attractive (eg a 5-card suit) breaks the &...
- 5,231
6
votes
Accepted
Bidding a high point Bridge hand
Typically, with any strong hand (something like 17+) you should begin with a takeout double (if it's available — see below). In this case, your hand is even stronger than that, so you should ...
- 5,231
6
votes
Bridge Responding to 1NT with 0 HCP?
Pass. 1NT undoubled when opponents likely have the values for game is unlikely to be bad. If your left hand opponent doubles and it passes around to you you can bid 2C.
- 5,231
6
votes
Accepted
What system is this expert using?
Stewart's recommendation is reasonable in any standard system, whether 1NT is forcing or not.
Unless your partner's hand was very unusually distributed, it sounds like your partner was at fault for ...
- 245
6
votes
Why open 1NT with a 6 card minor?
To expand on the answer by ruds, the scoring also plays into the decision.
Where as it requires 10 tricks in a Major suit to make game, and 11 in a Minor, it takes only 9 tricks to contract for game ...
- 11.3k
6
votes
Why are Bridge's bid meanings public?
Making it all public seems to detract from the strategic depth of the
game.
Experience have shown this not to be the case.
Besides, at that point, why even bother with bidding systems?
Because ...
- 231
6
votes
Did I "really" have too many points for the following bid?
I'd rather bid 1d there, not 2d. I think it's as likely you have game as they do; unlikely in either case, really. But you're discounting your partner having, first seat, something like ten points ...
- 3,863
6
votes
Accepted
Was I right to bid something other than one club with the following hand?
It's not even particularly close - just open 1C.
In 4th seat the overriding consideration is the ability to make a plus score, and the use of Pierson Points to make that evaluation is widely regarded ...
- 11.3k
6
votes
Should I "take out" a double, using a two card suit?
I would not be inclined to bid 1S with any of the hands mentioned, nor in most circumstances with a 2-card spade suit. With a minimum hand responding 1S on a three card suit might be better than 2C on ...
- 1,199
6
votes
Am I allowed to open at the "one" level with hand like AKQxxxx xx xx xx?
The ACBL Convention Charts are a list of allowed agreements in the ACBL (but not necessarily other organizations). You would need to determine which convention chart was being used by the particular ...
- 3,863
6
votes
Am I allowed to open at the "one" level with hand like AKQxxxx xx xx xx?
If you're playing on the Basic Chart (0-"750 or lower" limit game) then you have to be careful. Otherwise you're fine. If you're thinking about opening much lighter than standard in the ...
- 2,538
6
votes
Was this a reasonable redouble?
So the auction was:
S
W
N
E
1c
X
XX
p
p
1d
p
p
2c
p
p
X
?
So at this point you know a lot about where things are.
S: 12 points, 2-2-3-6
W: 12 points, 4-4-4-1 or 4-4-5-0
N: 10 points, 4-4-4-1 ...
- 3,863
6
votes
Accepted
Why don't the meanings of specific bids need to be considered when giving advice?
There's a very old quote by one of my teachers: "Don't let mycroft near the novices." And it's true. Because my answer to most questions about bidding is "it depends"(*).
It ...
- 2,538
5
votes
In bridge, does it make sense to "tighten" or 'loosen" up on bidding depending on vulnerability?
For opening suit bids no, emphatically not. The reason is simple mathematics in that when you open (in 1st or 2nd seat) you have no idea whether your side is looking at part score, game, or slam; and ...
- 11.3k
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