Some of partner's bids are corrective, hoping to end the auction. Other bids are forward-going, hoping to reach game or more.  Here we look at some examples to help us avoid mix-ups with partner in these auctions. 

Evaluating your cards and determining whether to bid on or not is difficult.  Understanding if your hand is generally offensively- or defensively-oriented requires thinking about your hand differently.  Here we look at how to do that. 

Having good agreements is an important part of a partnership.  But understanding your partner's style of play and what their tendencies are is just as important (if not more so).  Here we look at some questions you should ask partner to help you better understand their bidding!

We finish off our discussion of visualizing the opponents' hands with some examples that explore how to play the hand during the auction.

When listening the opponents' auction it is important to visualize both of the opponents' hands in order to defend the hand best.  Here we focus on what Responder's hand looks like and how to make use of that information. 

Thinking about what we know about the Opener's shape and strength helps us better defend the hand.  Here we look at what we need to consider and ask the opponent's in order to understand what their bidding shows. 

This week we begin our month of looking at how to interpret the auction, by discussing listening to the opponents' bidding.

Transfers in competitive auctions are all the rage these days.  This week we look at why they are so useful.

Doubles of artificial bids are very useful to help partner make better opening leads.  Here we look at lead-directing doubles!

This week we focus on the different ways we can make use of a cuebid of the opponent's suit. 

This month we return to discussions of Bidding Philosophy.  We begin by examining the differences in natural auctions (also called specific auctions) and step-based auctions.  In doing so, we try to understand how we communicate with partner and why we have different approaches for different situations. 

Most players are familiar with a Reverse on Opener's rebid.  This week we look at the similar concept called an Internal Reverse which is made on Opener's third bid.

There are two very different approaches to jumps in Forcing Auctions.   We examine the Fast Arrival vs. Picture bids -- what kind of hands are easier to bid with each method?

This week's lesson is on the Optimistic Minimum, a valuable concept in slam and game bidding!

 Photo of Sanya, China site of the 2014 World Championships!

Planning ahead is important in almost every auction.  When we open in 3rd and 4th seat partner has some different tools available to them.  We want to be prepared for how the auction might go.  Making a plan in this specific auction will keep things from getting out of hand.

Just as it is important for the Opener to make a plan before they open the bidding it is also important for the Responder to make a plan before they respond to the Opener.  Thinking ahead about what you want to communicate, what you expect from partner, and how the opponent's might make life difficult can greatly help our constructive bidding.   

This month's focus for the OLS is planning ahead and thinking about "What to Expect."   But before getting to the details of this planning, we want to focus on an equally important topic, that of who is in charge during the auction.  This is the principle of Captaincy!