Lesson 2 Summary Notes

1. Terminologies 1. Opener: The player who rst makes an opening bid. 2. Responder: The partner of the opener 3. Support: A bid to show that you have sucient cards for your partner to establish a t 4. Invite: Inquiring if partner has enough values for game 5. Sign-o: Placing the nal contract after obtaining information from bidding 6. Game force: A bid to show that you have sucient values for a game. 7. Limit: A bid that restricts the range of points of your hand 2. Responding to level 1 opening bids Our aim: 1) Combined 25 points 2) 8 card t in the major

Table of ranges Responer Range 0-5 6-9 10-11 12+ 3. First Response Priorities: 1. Support (for 1 Major): With support for partners suit (8 cards combined), bid to level 2 to show 6-9 points, bid to level 3 to show 10-11 points, bid to level 4 to show 12+ points. 2. New Suit: Without support, bid a new suit to show 4+ cards in the suit. Requires 6+ points to bid at level 1 and 10+ points to bid at level 2 (note: even with 10+ points, one should bid at level 1 and not jump to level 2) 3. Limit bid: Make a no trump bid to show your point range. 1NT to show 6-10 points, 2NT to show 11-12 points, 3NT to show 13-16 points.
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Opener Name Weak Range 12-15 16-17 18-21 22+ Name Minimum Invitational Game Force Open 2C

Constructive Invitation Game Force

Example scheme: 1H 1S: 4+ spades, 6+ points 1NT: 6-10 points, unable to support or bid 1S 2C: 4+ clubs, 10+ points 2D: 4+ diamonds, 10+ points 2H: 6-9 points, 3+ hearts 2NT: 11-12 points 3H: 10-11 points, 3+ hearts 3NT: 13-16 points 4H: 12+ points, 3+ hearts Additional notes 1. Prefer introducing major suits rst. E.g After 1C, if you have 4 card spades and 5 card diamonds, bid the spades rst. 2. With two 4 card suits, bid the lower suit rst. E.g. After 1C. if you have 4 card hearts and 4 card spades, bid the hearts rst. 3. With two 5 card suits, bid the higher suit rst. E.g. After 1C, if you have 5 card hearts and 5 card spades, bid the spades rst. 4. We usually dont support minor suit and bid the appropriate NT bid. When we support the minor, we use the inverted minor scheme: a. 1C - 2C shows 5 card support, 10+ points and no 4 card major b. 1C - 3C shows 5 card support, 3-6 points 5. Usually when we have game forcing hand and support, we dont bid straight to level 4. We bid a new suit rst and then support the original major. This allows for slam exploration. The above scheme is an old scheme (in the 1950s) and we will be teaching an improved scheme in our club training. 4. Continuations: Priorities: 1) Support (for major suit). Support to level 2 with minimum, level 3 with invitational values and level 4 with game forcing value 2) Introduce something new: This can be a new suit or extra length. To show extra length, rebid same suit at level 2 to show minimum, level 3 with invitational values and level 4 with game forcing values. A suit rebid should promise at least 6 cards in the suit (except for minor rebids at level 2). Refer to case study 3(a). 3) Limit bid: For opener, 1NT shows 12-14 points, 2NT shows 18-19 points 4) Sign-o: Either pass or bid the appropriate nal contract. Can pass if partner is limited and has already bid the best contract.

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5. Case Studies 1. Immediate support E.g. After a 1H opening bid, you have support for partners suit. 2H shows 6-9 points with 3+ cards hearts support, 3H shows 10-11 points with 4+ cards support. After a 1H - 2H sequence, opener can bid 3H to check if partner has 6-7 points or 8-9 points. 2. Support after partner shows a new suit E.g. After 1H - 1S, 2S shows 12-15 points, 3S shows 16-17 points, 4S shows 18+ points. After a 1H - 1S - 2S sequence, responder can rebid 3S to check if opener is 12-13 points or 14-15 points.

Introduce

Support

3. No support after partner shows a new suit There are three possible actions. a. Introduce extra length: Made when you have extra length. Bid level 2 with minimum, level 3 with invitational values and level 4 with game forcing values. Example 1: After 1H - 1S, 2H shows 6+ card hearts, 12-15 points, 3H shows 6+ card hearts, 16-17 points, 4H shows 6+ card hearts, 18+ points. Example 2: After 1C - 1S, 2C shows 5+ card clubs, 12-15 points, 3C shows 6+ card clubs, 16-17 points. b. Limit bid: Without anything else to show, bid an appropriate number of NT. E.g. After 1C - 1S, 1NT shows 12-14 points, 2NT shows 18-19 points. Both shows a balanced hand.

Sign-o

c. Introduce a new suit: Bid a new 4 card suit. Bid at the cheapest level to show 12-17 points, jump a level to show 18+ points. Refer to common mistakes on the next page for when not introduce a new suit. Example 1: After 1C - 1H, 1S shows 4 spades with 12-17 points, 2S shows 4 spades with 18+ points Example 2: After 1H - 1S, 2C shows 4 clubs with 12-17 points, 3C shows 4 clubs with 18+ points 4. Immediate limit bid E.g. After 1H opening, you have no support and no new suit to introduce. Bid 1NT to show 6-10 points, 2NT to show 11-12 points, 3NT to show 13-16 points. After 1H - 1NT sequence, opener can bid 2NT to invite to 3NT.
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6. Common Mistakes 1. When not to introduce a new suit Consider the sequence 1C - 1S. Since responder failed to bid 1H, he is unlikely to hold 4 hearts. As such, it is pointless to introduce your hearts unless you wish to convey additional information. As sequence whereby the opener/responder rebids a suit that is at a higher rank and higher level than the rst bid is called a reverse. The following sequences are reverses: 1C - 1S - 2H (hearts > clubs), 1C - 1H - 2D The following sequences are not reverses: 1C - 1H - 1S, 1D - 1H - 2C A reverse shows 5 cards in the rst bid suit and 4 cards in the newly introduced suit. It also shows 16+ points. Hence, the sequence 1C - 1S - 2H would imply 5 clubs, 4 hearts and 16+ points. 2. Introducing new suit at level 2 require 10+ points Consider this hand: S A98 H 75 D 93 C KJT632 Partner opens 1H. You do not have a hand that is strong enough to bid 2C as you have 8 points only. In this case, you simple make a limit bid of 1NT. The limit bid by responder does not promise a balanced hand. 3. 2NT by responder is not used to sign-o Consider this hand: S A9842 H 763 D 72 C KJ2 The bidding goes 1D - 1S - 2C. Some people might consider bidding 2NT to sign-o because there is no t in diamonds and clubs. However, 2NT must show 11-12 points (invitational values). With this, just show a preference by bidding 2D (partner usually has 5 diamonds).

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