Balanced hand bidding is relatively easy. We can usually describe our hand to partner by opening 1NT or rebidding 1NT. This lets partner know both our points and our hand type with either our first bid (when we open 1NT, the best situation) or with our second bid (when we rebid 1NT). However, if we have a big balanced hand then we need to have tools for describing our hand as well. These usually involve the use of 2NT – as a rebid, an opening bid, or even a rebid after having opened the bidding 2♣. But this does not solve all our bidding problems when we have these large balanced hands. Let’s look at these auctions in detail, see some of the issues, and then look at a useful gadget called Kokish to help us bid better.
When partner makes a bid, and we choose to bid a suit of our own, this is called a freebid. In most normal situations freebids show values (called positive freebids) and are often forcing 1-round. We’ve all heard the saying -- a new suit is forcing by an unpassed hand. Unfortunately, this is not always true, but it is often our agreement. Let’s look at freebids made by a passed hand and see how the fact that we are passed changes these situations.
One of my favorite sayings is “2NT is a convention, not a contract.” In specific situations, Responder can use 2NT as conventional raise of Opener’s suit. Sometimes we need to choose between several different conventional methods for competitive auctions. Here we look at our options for how to best use 2NT.
One of my favorite sayings is “2NT is a convention, not a contract.” In specific situations, Responder can use 2NT as conventional raise of Opener’s suit. Sometimes we need to choose between several different conventional methods for competitive auctions. Here we look at our options for how to best use 2NT.
When responding to partner’s 1-Major opening bid, Responder tries to apply the Law of Total Tricks (LOTT) – getting to the size of the partnership’s fit as quickly as possible. This is particularly true in competitive auctions but is also useful in constructive auctions. Responder must balance showing the size of their fit with showing their values. This LOTT bidding is especially effective when our side has a 9+card fit. In this case, the auction is likely to become competitive if the opponents have some values as well. Predicting this to happen, we would like to be able to compete to the 3-level with a 9+card fit as quickly as possible, eating up the opponents’ bidding space while showing our values. Bergen Raises are a set of conventional bids Responder can use when responding to a 1-Major opening bid with 4+card support (at least a 9+card fit). Let’s see how this system works.
When declarer is known to hold a minimum opening hand, it is not clear if we should be making an active lead or a passive one. Here we look at how we use the auction and our holdings to shape our decision making process.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 337.
When our RHO opens the bidding with NT, then we do not know much about which of the Opener's suits is best, but we do have a lot of information about the "big picture" of the hand - Opener is balanced and has a good hand. Here we look at how this information helps shape our opening lead choices.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 346.
When our RHO is the declarer in 3NT, we get to select the opening lead. This is likely to be one of the most important decisions we make in the defense. Here we look at our options (active vs. passive) and the information available that helps us make this decision.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 347.
When our RHO is the declarer in 4-Major, we get to select the opening lead. The auction has probably given us a good amount of information about how the play is likely to go. Let's look at how we make use of this information.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 348.
When our RHO is the declarer in 5-minor then there was often a long auction along the way. Leading against this contract is quick different than our traditional opening leads of 4th form your long and strongest. Let's see how.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 349.
When the opponents bid a slam, our opening lead can be a complicated decision. We must think about potential winners (or how the declarer is getting rid of their losers) and make the appropriate type of lead. Let's see how we think about our leads against these slam contracts.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 350
When leading against a partscore there are many considerations - the auction, the final contract, our holdings in the unbid suits, what we expect from declarer, etc. Here we look at how we use this information to help us make good leads in these auctions.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 351.
As the opening bidder, our rebid is one of the most informative bids that we make. This is particularly true when we hold a balanced hand. Here we look at how to best use our rebid to describe our balanced opening hands.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 338.
When we have a large fit, one of our most valuable tools for determining how much to bid is the Law of Total Tricks. The simple version of this bidding guideline is to bid to the size of our fit. This is particularly valuable in helping us know how much to bid in competitive auctions. Get some practice in using this tool to help you evaluate the playing strength of your hand.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 339.
As Opener, when we have a 2-suited hand then we have a lot of information to try and communicate to our partner - Primary suit, secondary suit, relatively shapes, and overall strength. Here we look at how to handle these hands with our second bid. There are some important choices to make early in the auction.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 340.
As Opener, when we have a strong 2-suited hand then we communicate both our shape and strength to partner. We do so by making a strong jump shift or a reverse. Let's see how we use these bidding tools to show our strong 2-suited opening hands.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 341.
As Opener, when we open the bidding with a suit, LHO makes an overcall of a suit, and Responder freely bids a new suit then we are forced to make a rebid. Here we look at our rebid options in detail and discuss what each of these bids show in both shape and strength. Most importantly we discuss which bids are forcing and which can be passed.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 342.
As Opener, when we open the bidding with a suit, LHO makes an overcall of a suit, and Responder uses a negative double, we are forced to make a rebid. Here we look at our rebid options in detail and discuss what each of these bids show in both shape and strength. Most importantly we discuss which bids are forcing and which can be passed.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 343.
As Opener, when we open the bidding with a suit, partner responders, and RHO overcalls, the we have a lot of rebidding options. Here we look at those rebid options and the inference available for what they show.
You (and your partners) can become a member of Robert Todd's Adventures in Bridge (www.advinbridge.com) or sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup . This set of hands accompanies TWiB 344.
When we open the bidding with a suit and partner raises our suit, we have accomplished one of our major goals of the auction - finding a fit. Here we look at how we now use further bids in a variety of different auctions.
You (and your partners) can become a member of Robert Todd's Adventures in Bridge (www.advinbridge.com) or sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 345.
Evaluating our hand is a bit of an art form. There are many things to take into consideration. Before we the auction begins, we only have the information about the board (position and vulnerability) as well as our cards to help us make a decision. We begin with HCP and then make adjustments to our values for location of honors and distribution. Here we look at our considerations and how to calculate our values.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 329.
Before the auction begins, we evaluate our hand with HCP and adjustments (length point upgrades and short honor downgrades). After this, when we hear partner bid, we need to make use of this information to re-evaluate our hand. We upgrade for "fits and fitting honors" and downgrade for "misfits". Let's take a look at some examples of how this can affect our subsequent bidding.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 330.
When the opponents bid, we have extremely valuable additional information that we can use to help us re-evaluating our hand. Location of our honors and types of holdings we have (tenaces in good or bad locations) dramatically affect the playing strength of our hand. Let's look at how we incorporate that information into our bidding.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 331.
Hand Evaluation is something we do all throughout the auction. We start evaluating and keep re-evaluating as we get more information from both partner and the opponents. This means that the value we assign to our hand (number of points) constantly changes during the auction. Let's make sure that we fluidly evaluate our hand and actively make use of the information that becomes available to us.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 332.
When we have a large fit, one of our most valuable tools for determining how much to bid is the Law of Total Tricks. The simple version of this bidding guideline is to bid to the size of our fit. This is particularly valuable in helping us know how much to bid in competitive auctions. Get some practice in using this tool to help you evaluate the playing strength of your hand.
You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 333.
