Sharpen your system

Bidding on weak hands is dangerous, isn’t it, particularly when your side is vulnerable? Yes, preempters do sometimes get caught for a big penalty, but rarely, and the upside of taking so much bidding space out of the auction can…

When you are not playing transfers, what would you make of this auction: 1♠-Dble-2♦? What sort of hand would you expect responder to hold? Is 2♦ non-forcing, forcing for one round, or game-forcing (as it would be without the double)? Which…

Most partnerships, even casual ones, play transfers over No-Trump openings. The primary advantage of using transfers is that doing so allows you to describe many more hand types than you can using natural methods. The concept of transfer bids is…

Conventional uses for “Double” have proliferated enormously in recent times. Some thirty years ago, all doubles were for penalties. Then along came the lead-directing double, closely followed by the negative double and the responsive double. Nowadays, virtually all doubles, particularly…

Last month, we compared the value of hands with Aces to hands with comparable high-card values without Aces. It is generally acknowledged that hands with Aces tend to play better in a suit contract, whilst those with lesser honours are…

Every poker player loves to pick up Aces, aka American Airlines or Weapons of Mass Destruction. You should also get that warm, fuzzy feeling when your bridge hand contains aces. Start by considering these two hands… HAND A♠ Q7642 ♥ Q62♦ KQ7♣ K7 HAND B♠ A7642 ♥ 962♦ A73♣ A7…

Last month, we looked at the basic structure for responding to your partner’s one-level takeout double. In this continuation of that topic, we will consider two more situations that may arise after the same start to the auction. So far,…

Experience from the classroom has taught me that many students struggle to evaluate their hand when responding to their partners takeout double. First, a word about takeout doubles at the one-level. Life is much easier for responder if your partnership…

Over the past couple of months, we have been discussing the importance of evaluating apparently weak hands when partner has bid strongly. What often happens is that partners compensated for each other – by overbidding on strong hands because partner…

Last month, we saw the importance of evaluating apparently weak hands when partner has opened with a strong bid such as 2♣. Similar situations can also occur in competitive auctions. How often have you heard the comment, “I couldn’t bid…

The auction will often cause your hand to become stronger or weaker than a mere count of the high cards suggests. This month, we look at a situation that many inexperienced players find difficult – bidding bad hands. How often…

Last month, we considered what sort of hand partner needs to come in with an overcall after the opponents have opened with a weak two bid. What we discovered is that he needs a considerably better hand to bid 2♠ over…