Ace from Ace-King Asking Bids Astro Attitude Leads Bart Bergen Raises Better Minor Big Club Systems Blackwood Canap=E9 Cappelletti Check-Back Stayman Choice-of-Games Cuebid Cole Colorful Cuebid Competitive Doubles Constructive Raises Crash Criss-Cross Cuebids Dead Seat 2C or 2D DOPI Double Keycard Double Negative Drury Fast Arrival (+ Slow Arrival) Fit-Showing Jumps Five-Card Majors Flannery 2D Flip-Flop Forcing 1 NT Forcing Passes Four-Card Majors Four-Notrump D.I. Four-Suit Transfers Fourteen Thirty Fourth-Suit Forcing "Front of Card" Gambling 3 NT Gerber Grand Slam Force - 5NT Help-Suit Game Tries Inverted Minors Jack Denies, Ten Implies Jacoby Transfers Jacoby 2 NT Jordan Jump Cuebids K-S System Keycard Blackwood Kickback KISS Kokish Relay Landy Last Train Cuebids Lavinthal Discards Law of Total Tricks Lead-Directing Raises Lebensohl Lightner Double Limit Jump Raises Mathe Over Strong Club Maximal Overcall Doubles Michaels Cuebid Mini-Splinters Minor-Suit Stayman Mixed Raises Multi-2D Namyats Negative Doubles Negative Free Bids Negative Slam Doubles New Minor Forcing Odd-Even Discards Ogust Pre-Acceptance Precision System Puppet Stayman Relays Responsive Doubles Restricted Choice Reverses Roman Jumps Roman 2D Rosenkranz Doubles Roth Defense to 1NT Roth 4C Response to Preempts Roth-Stone Rusinow Leads Sandwich Notrump Secondary Jumps Serious 3 NT Short 1D Opening Slow Shows (Direct Denies) Smith Echo Smolen Snap Dragon Soloway Jump Shifts Specific Kings Splinters Stayman Step Responses Suction Suit Preference Super Gerber Support Doubles + Redoubles Takeout Doubles Ten or Nine =3D 0 or 2 Texas Transfers Third from Even, Low from Odd Trap Pass Trump Echo Truscott Over Strong Club Two Clubs After Takeout Doubles Two Diamonds Negative Two Diamonds Positive Two Diamonds Waiting "Two-Over-One" Unusual Notrump Unusual Over Unusual Upper-Two Cuebid Upside-Down Count + Attitude Walsh Weak Jump Overcalls Weak Jump Shifts Weak Notrumps Weak Two-Bids Wolff Sign-Off
Ace from Ace-King
On opening lead:
from A-K-x lead the ace; from K-Q-x lead the king.
Exceptions-Lead the king from ace-king when:
Asking Bids
These are used primarily after four-level preempts, especially when vulnerable.
Opener Responder 4 H 5 C5C is an asking bid. Opener is asked if he has two losers in clubs. If so, he returns to 5H. If he has second-round control of clubs (singleton or the king), he bids a slam. If he has first-round control (ace or void), he cuebids 6C.
Astro
Opponent You 1 NT ?
Defense
Double of 2C or 2D = 3D interest in a penalty
Bidding two of the promised major = 3D Stayman for the other major
Attitude Leads
Usually played only against notrump contracts, but may be used against
suits, this lead system is simple:
The lower the card led, the stronger the suit.
Note: The lead does not reveal any particular length.
Bart
This idea has grown among expert partnerships and is now played somewhat as
follows:
Opener Responder 1 S 1 NT (forcing) 2 C 2 D2D shows various hands. For now opener treats it as a five-card heart suit and bids accordingly (sometimes rebidding 2H on doubletons). If responder next bids:
Over 2C, responder's direct bid of 2H shows six hearts, and a direct raise to 3C shows five clubs with only 7-9 points.
Bergen Raises These are specialized raises of opener's major-suit opening bid. After partner opens 1H or 1S and the next hand passes, you bid:
Note: 3C and 3D are totally artificial.
Defense
Doubles of 3C or 3D are usually lead-directing bids, but may be the start
of a two-suiter (when you hold that minor plus the unbid major).
Double of a raise is, as usual, takeout.
If responder bids 3C or 3D and you (in fourth position) have a strong hand with shortness in the opener's major, you can pass, wait for the opponents to return to their major, then double for takeout.
Alternatively, you may bid the opener's major, which is a cuebid, showing a strong 5-5 hand, five cards in the unbid major and five cards in the unbid minor.
Better Minor
Most players today use five-card majors, which forces them to open a minor
frequently on three-card suits. There are four precise shapes that would
force a 3-card opening:
The correct way to bid is to open 1C with three clubs, which means that your 1D opening will be three cards only on one precise shape, 4-4-3-2. Many players, however, open their better minor with 3-3 in the minors (unsound in our opinion). So if you are trying to count out a bridge hand while on defense, and your opponent began with a 1D opening, you should ask if he plays Better Minor.
Note: In third and fourth position, many players open a four-card major rather than a three-card minor unless they have a full 13 or 14 points.
Defense
Do nothing unusual. Double is still takeout.
If you have an overcall in the minor suit that was opened, you must wait until your second turn to show it.
If you are in fourth position, however, you can overcall opener's minor immediately as a natural bid.
Big Club Systems
1C opening bid = 3D 16+ points with any distribution
Any other opening bid = 3D less than 16+ points
The 1C opener often holds a balanced hand with a point range higher than his 1 NT opening-bid range.
Opener Responder 1 C ?Responder usually bids 1D with a weak hand, otherwise responds naturally or in some variation of artificial steps to show controls.
Defenses
The objective over 1C is to take away bidding space so that they won't
reach the correct contract. You should bid or preempt aggressively if you
are not vulnerable.
A simple defense is to overcall naturally, including 2C. The overcall of 1 NT, however, should be a two-suiter. Some play that it shows the majors, some the minors, some any two suits!
Double of 1C or any artificial response = 3D lead-directing in that suit. [See also Crash, Mathe and Truscott.]
Keep in mind that when an opponent opens the bidding in a suit, he has a minimum hand. Check how many diamonds are promised when 1D is opened. [See Short 1D.]
Blackwood
One of the most famous conventions in bridge is Blackwood, asking for aces
with a bid of 4 NT. The normal responses are:
After responder shows his aces, 5 NT by the Blackwood bidder asks for the number of kings, with analogous responses at the six-level.
The Blackwood bidder has two other tools available over the initial response:
If the last bid was some number of notrump, 4 NT is not Blackwood. It is a quantitative bid, inviting slam if the other hand has the upper range of points.
For example:
Opener Responder 1 NT 4 NT (quantitative)Note: There are many other forms of Blackwood. The most popular is Keycard Blackwood.
Defense
It is difficult to interfere with Blackwood because it is at such a high
level. Even if you can bid a suit at the five-level, your opponents may be
prepared by employing DOPI (or a similar convention).
Double of Blackwood = 3D "Partner, please lead the highest ranking unbid suit."
Canape
In some systems (usually Big-Club Systems), the opening bid can be made in
the shorter of two suits.
Defense
Pass when you have the suit that was opened. If you pass an opening bid and
later bid their suit, it is not a cuebid - it is natural.
Cappelletti
Opponent You 1 NT ?
West North East South 1 NT 2 C pass ?Over 2C, South must bid 2D, unless he has a very long suit of his own and wants to show it (he can even pass 2C with, for example, 7 clubs and a weak hand). After 2D, the Cappelletti bidder will pass with diamonds or bid his long suit.
Defense
If your partner opens 1 NT, and next hand overcalls 2C, you can use double
for Stayman. In fact, you may wish to play that your entire system is
operative. If, for example, you play transfers over 1NT, the bids of 2D and
2H would still be transfers.
Check-Back Stayman
Opener Responder 1 minor 1 major 1 NT 2C = 3D forcing; checkback
2C asks opener to bid a four-card major or show three-card support for responder's bid suit. If opener has neither, he bids 2D.
Check-back can also be used to describe an invitational hand. For example, if you have six spades, you respond 1S, and over 1 NT, you bid 2S with a weak hand but go through 2C (then rebid 2S) with an invitational hand. If you have five spades and four hearts: With a weak hand, respond 1S and over 1 NT rebid 2H; with an invitational hand rebid 2C. (Al Roth suggests you play these bids in reverse; that is, a new suit forcing and 2C as the start of a get-out.)
Another variation is to use 2C as a game-invitational Check-Back while 2D is a game-forcing check-back. [See also New Minor Forcing.]
You can use 2C as checkback after partner opens 1H and you respond 1S. He rebids 1NT. Now 2C is Check-Back.
Some players use 2C checkback even after the auction starts 1C-1D-1NT. In their partnerships the 1NT rebid may include a four-card major (especially on 4-3-3-3 patterns).
Defense
Double of 2C =3D lead-director for clubs
Choice-of-Games Cuebid
These are cuebids that say nothing about slam. They merely ask for a choice
of trump suits at the game level. They occur when a preempt has taken
bidding space away from your side and there is no room left under the game
level for you to support partner. For example, suppose West holds: S Kx
H AQxxxx D xxx C Ax. The bidding goes:
West North East South 1 H 3 D 3 S pass 4 D4D is a Choice-of-Games Cuebid. Rather than guessing if East has six spades or a doubleton heart, West asks East to choose a trump suit.
Defense
Remain silent. Don't double the cuebid. Hope that your expert opponents
become confused.
Cole
This convention by Bill Cole and Lynn Deas was designed to show some
awkward hand patterns and strengths. Opener rebids 2C after a 1C or 1D
opening and a major-suit response. This is forcing and may include various
hands. The most common helpful sequence is:
Opener Responder 1 C 1 S 2 C (Cole) 2 D (tell me) 2 S (three spades)Opener has shown exactly 3-card support for spades, whereas a direct raise would have been 4-card support. Had opener rebid 2H it would have meant 3-card spade support with 15-17 points. A rebid of 3S would be 4-card support but not quite enough strength to jump immediately.
ColorFul Cuebid
This is a form of Michael's cuebid. It shows at least 5-5 in two suits of
the same color:
West North 1 S 2 S = 3D the reds 1 H 2 H = 3D the blacksDefense
Competitive Doubles
There are many variations. The most popular is the balancing double of the
third suit.
West North East South 1 C pass 1 H 2 D pass pass doubleDouble says nothing about diamonds. It says that East has at least 9 points, nothing to bid and wants to compete.
Constructive Raises
Opener Responder 1 S 2 SThe raise of a major suit is normally played as 6-10 points. Constructive raises show 8-10 points.
Defense
Be careful about balancing, especially when vulnerable.
Crash
This is a complicated system of defense to Big Club Systems. CRASH stands
for "Color, Rank And Shape."
Assume your right-hand opponent opens one club, strong and artificial. You can show two-suited hands (at least 9 cards in the two suits) as follows.
Crash can be used also after a 1D response to the strong club or after a 1NT opening.
West North East South 1C pass 1D ?
After RHO opens 1NT, Crash overcalls are:
The partner of the Crash bidder should plan for the worst. A good general rule is: Bid the longer suit in the category (color, rank or shape) with the smaller combined length. Partner must correct if you pick the wrong category.
Criss-Cross
This is a jump to the other minor to show a game force in opener's minor.
If you play limit raises, Criss-Cross provides a forcing raise. It says
nothing about the other minor.
Opener Responder 1 C 2 D =3D 13+ with clubs Opener Responder 1 D 3 C =3D 13+, diamonds
Cuebids
Cuebids show an ace, void, king, or singleton, as a slam try. Presumably
the partnership knows what the trump suit is.
Opener Responder 1 S 2 H 3 H 4 C =3D a cuebidDefense
Opener Responder 1 S 2 D 3 D 3 H =3D telling cuebid 1 S 2 H 3 C 3 D =3D asking cuebid(See also Choice-of-Games Cuebid and Last-Train Cuebid).