Bidding in Bridge

S.Sundar

May 4, 2010

In this notes, a bidding method is explained which is used by me. I am an average bridge
player and I decided to put down the method in a written format so that it helps me. No
originality is claimed. There are hundreds of books which explain the bidding in more detail.
With this little warning let us proceed.

1 Hand valuation
To get a picture of how good our hand is we use Goren’s method of hand valuation. In this
method, one assigns numerical values to the honor cards called the high card points. Here is
the assignment.

A −→ 4 pts
K −→ 3 pts
Q −→ 2 pts
J −→ 1 pt

Count the total number of high card points (HCP). Now we count points for the length of each
suit. Add 1 pt for every card after the fifth card in a suit. So if you have five cards in a suit,
add 1 point for it. If you have six cards, add 2 points for it and so on. High cards points plus
the long suit points give the total number of points. Remember the following equation.

Total points = HCP + long suit points

Consider the following hands for example.

♠ AQ109
This hand contains 10 pts in high cards alone.
♥ K8432
Add 1 pt for the heart suit.
♦ J10
Thus this hand contains 11 pts in total.
♣ 42

♠ A5
♥ AQ10654
This is a 16(14+2) point hand.
♦ 9
♣ KJ87
Distributional points: Some people use distributional points in evaluating their hand.
In this method, one assigns 1 pt for a doubleton, 2 for a singleton and 3 for a void. Instead of

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adding HCP with long suit points, they value their hand by adding the distributional points.
Both are more or less the same. Since length in one suit will imply shortness in another. In
Hand evaluation either count distributional points or long suit points but not both. We stick
with long suit points. We will revisit distributional points while raising the partner’s suit in
the bidding. But we are still far off from that.
Bridge players with experience have come to the conclusion that to produce game needs 26
pts in the combined hands. For slam one needs 33 and for grandslam one needs 37 pts. Just
keep this mind to understand the bidding method.

2 Opening bids
2.1 Opening 1 of a suit
The player who opens the bidding is called the opener and his partner is called the responder.
The opponents are called defensive bidders and their bidding is called defensive bidding. For
the first few chapters, we assume that the defensive bidders don’t bid at all. An auction where
only one team bids is called constructive and when both teams compete in the bidding such
an auction is called competetive. In this article, we will discuss only the constructive bidding.
To open the bidding at all one should contain atleast 13 pts. Otherwise PASS is the correct
call. To open the bidding in 1 of a suit, the requirements are as follows

• The hand should contain 13-21 pts.

• A biddable suit.

• A guaranteed rebid after a response in a new suit by the responder.

On certain hands one may pass with 13 pts. But any hand with atleast 14 pts should be
opened. Thus a pass implies that the hand has less than 14 pts.
Now what is a biddable suit ? Any five carded suit or a six carded suit or more is biddable.
Also a four card suit is biddable. But it should be headed by two honors. A biddable four
carded suit should contain atleast two of A,K,Q,J in the majors and two of A,K,Q,J,10 in the
minors. In short, a four card biddable suit should have honors.
If the responder makes a response in one of a suit then the opener cannot pass. Such a
response is called a forcing response. So opener should have convenient rebid to make the
bidding going. We will discuss this in great detail when we discuss rebids by openers.
So suppose that you get a hand which satisfies the requirements of opening in 1 of a suit.
But what should one bid ? Bid the longest suit first. Bid a six carded suit before a five carded
one and a five carded suit before a four carded one and so on. It is because one wants to have
as many trumps as possible. If you have two five carded suit, open the higher ranking one.
There is one exception to this rule. If both the suits are black suits i.e. clubs and spades, bid
the clubs first. The reason for this rule is as follows:

• Suppose that you have diamonds and hearts as your two five carded suit. If you bid 1♦
and partner bids 1♠. Now you show your second suit by bidding 2♥ then for the partner
to give preference to ♦ he has to go to the 3 level. On the other hand if you bid hearts
and diamonds in that order then partner can give preference at the 2 level itself.

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 • In the case of black suits there is enough room to keep the bidding at the low level itself.
If you bid spades and clubs in that order then partner can pass 2♣ if he likes it or has to
bid 2♠ to give preference. On the other hand, if you bid 1♣ and 1♠, partner can bid 2♣
or can pass your 1♠ bid if he has a poor hand. Neverthless the bidding has been kept
low.

Suppose you have no five carded or six carded suit. Then bid your four carded suit if you
can bid notrumps later. Now suppose that you have two biddable four carded suits. Then you
should bid the suits according to following rules.

• With touching suits, bid the higher ranking one.

• With nontouching suits, bid the lower ranking one.

If the four carded suits are hearts and spades for instance, bid spades first and hearts next. If
the suits are spades and diamonds, bid diamonds first and then spades. The reason for this
principle is that responder can give preference to your first suit at the low level itself. It is
similar to bidding the higher ranking suit if you have two five carded suits.
With three four carded suits, bid the higher one first if the suits are touching. Otherwise
bid the suit which is just below the singleton.
Let us look at some examples of opening in 1 of a suit.

♠ AQ109
♥ K8432
Pass is the correct call with only 11 points.
♦ J10
♣ 42

♠ A5
♥ AQ10654
Bid 1♥.
♦ 9
♣ KJ87

♠ AQJ6
♥ 7
Bid 1♦, the suit just below the singleton.
♦ KQ98
♣ K1043

♠ QJ106
♥ 75
Bid 1♦, the lowest of the nontouching suits.
♦ AK83
♣ K104

♠ 54
♥ KQJ10
Bid 1♥, the highest of the touching suits.
♦ AKJ9
♣ A94

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 ♠ A××
♥ J10××
Pass is the appropriate call.
♦ A××
♣ A××

2.2 Opening in notrumps

First a few definitions. A balanced hand is a hand with no void, no singleton and atmost 1
doubleton. In otherwords, the pattern should be 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or 5-3-3-2. All other hands are
called unbalanced or distributional. Balanced hands are suitable for notrump play. To open in
1NT, the requirements are

• A balanced hand,

• 16-18 pts in high cards alone,

• atleast a stopper in three suits.

A stopper in a suit is card which makes it unlikely for the opponents to run with that suit.
So Ace in a suit is a sure stopper and so is KQ or QJ10. But a partial stopper is enough to
open in 1NT. So K×, Q×× are partial stoppers. The one notrump bid is a very descriptive
bid i.e. it accurately shows the picture of the hand to the responder. The opener should stick
to the point range 16-18. 1NT should not be opened with 15 pts and also on 19 pts. If you
keep opening 1NT with 20 pts as well as 14 pts with a balanced hand, the responder will not
know your pt range. Thus always stick to the 16-18 pt hand. Let us look at the following hands.

♠ AKQ10
♥ K84
Open 1NT with a balanced hand and 16 pts.
♦ KJ10
♣ 42

♠ AQ
♥ AQ10654
This hand also contains 16 pts but unbalanced. Bid 1♥.
♦ 9
♣ KJ87

♠ AKQJ6
♥ KQJ
Bid 1♠ as the minors are unprotected.
♦ 98
♣ 1043

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 ♠ QJ106
♥ 75
This hand is too weak for 1NT opening. Bid 1♦.
♦ AK83
♣ K104

♠ A4
♥ KQJ10
Bid 1♥ as it is too strong for 1NT opening.
♦ AKJ9
♣ Q94
Higher level NT openings are similar. To open in 2NT the requirements are

• A balanced hand,

• 22-24 pts in high cards alone,

• Stoppers in all suits.

To open in 3NT you need 25-27 pts. The following hands are suitable for 2NT and 3NT opening.

♠ AQ5
♥ AKQ109
Open 2NT with a balanced hand and 24 pts.
♦ A43
♣ AJ

♠ AQJ
♥ AKQ10
This hand contains 26 pts and balanced. Bid 3N T .
♦ KQ75
♣ KQ
What to do with strong unbalanced hands ? We use an artificial 2♣ opening to show such
hands. To open 2♣, the hand should satisfy either of the following requirements.

• An unbalanced hand with more than 22 pts,

• Or a hand which is capable of producing game within a trick i.e. capable of taking 9
tricks.

Responder cannot pass this 2♣ opening and this bid is forcing. The 2♣ opening says nothing
about the club suit. This bid is used to gaurd against missing a game. For example, suppose
you hold the following hand.
♠ KQJ10987
♥ AK
♦6
♣ 43
If you open the above hand with 1♠ partner having nothing might pass. But the hand on its
one can produce 9 tricks. So the correct opening bid on this hand is 2♣. The 2♣ opening bid
is the correct one for the following hand too as it contains 23 pts in high cards alone.

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 ♠ 5
♥ AKQJ
♦ AQJ
♣ KQJ93

3 Responses
In this section, we discuss the responses that the responder can make to various opening bids.

3.1 Responding to 1 of a suit

If the opener opens in 1 of a suit the only thing that the responder knows is that he has atleast
13pts and four cards in that suit bid. Opener might as well have 20 pts. So even if the respnder
has just 6 pts, the combined hands will produce game as there are 26 pts required for game.
So Responder should make some kind of response holding 6 pts. With less than 6 pts, he can
pass. Also remember that if the response is in 1 of a suit then the opener should bid again.
Also any bid promises atleast 4 cards in the suit preferably with an honor. Let us first list the
various responses that the responder can make after a opening bid of 1 in a suit. The various
reponses are

1. The one-over one response,

2. The two-over one response,

3. 1NT response ,

4. Raising partner’s suit- single raise, double raise, game raise.

5. Jump shift responses.

The one-over one response: This is the most common type of response that is made. One
over one response means a bid at the one-level in a suit higher ranking than the suit bid. So
1♥ over 1♦ is a one-over one response. This bid is forcing and the opener should not pass.
The requirements for making this one-over one response are

1. The hand should contain atleast 6pts and can have a maximum of 18pts.

2. The suit should have atleast 4 cards with an honor. Atleast a queen is desired or J10××.

Thus this response is wide ranging and is similar to the opening bid of 1 in a suit. The responder
might have a bare minimum of 6 pts or might have a whopping 18pts.

The two-over one response: The two over one response is a bid made at the two level in
a suit lower ranking than the suit bid by the opener. For example a bid pf 2♣ over 1♥ is a
two over response. The hand should contain atleast 10 pts to go to the two level. Without a
minimum of 10pts a two level response should not be made. This again is forcing.

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The 1NT response: So what to do with hands in the 6-9 pt range for which a one-over
one response can’t be made ? Bid 1NT. This is non-forcing. Opener can pass. The 1NT bid
is a limit bid and also a denial bid. Suppose the bidding has been 1♥ Pass 1NT. What one
infers from this ? The responder does not have 10pts. Also he can’t make a 1♠ response thus
denying holding 4 spades.