Seattle Social Bridge Cheat Sheet version 4.0 (02/22/2010)

This info was taken as faithfully as possible from ACBL Bridge Series books except when experience players argued strongly against something due to common local practice. These guidelines should be useful to both beginning and intermediate players. Conventions mentioned in glossary have been used by this group.

Contract = Partnership must take 6 tricks + what was bid

Game contracts. If successful, these contracts award extra bonus points. Two “partial games” can combine for game bonus but not slam.

  • Major (most desirable): 4 Spades or 4 Hearts25 combined points 10 tricks
  • Minor (least desirable): 5 Diamonds or 5 Clubs29 combined points11 tricks
  • No Trump3 NT25 combined points9 tricks
  • Small slam 6 x33 combined points12 tricks
  • Grand slam7 x36 combined points13 tricks

Hand Evaluation (high card points + distribution points)

  • High Card Points (HCP)

Ace 4 points

King3 points

Queen 2 points

Jack 1 point

  • Distribution Points (use LSP initially, then switch to SSP once partnership agrees on a suit, if applicable, otherwise stick with LSP). Beginners will be fine toignore SSP altogether. Add EITHER SSP or LSP, but not both, to HCP for total hand evaluation. SSP are usually a little stronger, reflecting greater confidence in having an agreed-upon suit.
  • Long-suitpoints (LSP) = 1 point per card per suit having more than 4. DO NOT count these whenopening NT; DO count these when respondingin NT.

5 cards1 point

6 cards2 points

7 cards3 points

etc…

  • Short-suit points (SSP) = you can’t use these points until partnership agrees on a suit. Even then, the suit must be trumpable, meaning (a) the short suit must not be the trump suit (b) you must have trump to cover each short suit (c) you must not be bidding no-trump. Remember to go back to using LSP if the partnership switches to something that invalidates the SSP.

Declarer points:

  • Voidadd 3 points
  • Singletonadd 2 points
  • Doubletonadd 1 point

-or –

Dummy points:

  • Voidadd 5 points
  • Singletonadd 3 points
  • Doubleton add 1 point

Glossary (assume we play all conventions mentioned):

  • A “flat hand” has the distribution of4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or 5-3-3-2 and is a candidate notrump hand when the partnership hasstoppers in all suits.
  • “Opener” is the first person to bid. He must have 13-21 points to open unless he is clearly bidding pre-emptively.
  • “Responder” responds to partner’s opening bid. She must have 6-9 points for a MINIMAL response.
  • “Overcall” means the opponents bid first, so the opener’s bid is an “overcall” over the opposing bid. An overcall of a suit always shows 5 of the suit. Hand evaluation should be adjusted for overcall bids, but beginners are fine to ignore this.
  • “Declarer” is the person who opened the suit that the partnership won the contract in.
  • “Sign-off bid” - responder concludes contract, either by shutting off bidding by showing minimal points or by making a definitive game bid - either way ending the discussion
  • “Invitational bid” - responder asks opener either for more info or, if she has extra points, to move contract to game
  • “Forcing bid” – Certain bids require partner response. Examples include responses to many bidding conventions: Stayman, Jacoby Transfers, Blackwood, opening any new suits unless the hand was previously passed and jump-shifting. But if opponent bidsbefore partner does, his bid renders your bid no longer forcing.
  • “Jump-shift” is where you bid a new suit at a higher level than necessary. Conventionally this shows 19 points but ACBL says17+ with caveats: (a) you are responding to 1major with a jump shift into NTor (b) you have already shown partner you have less than 17, in which case a jump-shift simply tells partner you have “more” than your previous bid. How much more depends on the context. If you initially had a chance to open but passed, then later you take a jump-shift, it probably means you have 12 points. Or if previously you responded to partner’s opening bid with a minimal response, a later jump-shift raises your point count from 6-9 to 10-11.
  • “Short minor convention” - opener has a flat hand, no 5-card major and can’t open notrump – bid longest 1 minor

“Stayman convention” -- used in response to opener’s 1NT opening to find a 4-4 fit in a major suit. With 8+ points and one or two 4-card major suits, responder bids 2 clubs, which signals opener to bid his best 4-card major suit at the two-level. If opener has no 4-card major then he bids 2D. Both the 2C and 2D bids are artificial, they say nothing about the bidders club or diamond suits.

“Jacoby transfers convention”– used in response to opener’s notrump with a 5-card or longer major suit. The idea here is to keep the points hidden in declarer’s hand rather than visible on the board. If responder has a heart suit he bids 2 diamonds; if a spade suit he bids 2 hearts, allowing opener to declare the desired major with a forced 2-bid. Responder can either pass the major suit so opener can play the part-score, or keep bidding to explore a game.

  • “Weak 2s convention” – preemptive. Opener has 6-9 points and 6 of anything but clubs – open 2 of the suit. Along with this convention, 2-clubs bid is a cue-bid for a strong hand.
  • “Blackwoodconvention” -- Partnership has agreed on a suit and wishes to investigate slam. Bid 4NT. Responder bids his aces as follows: 5 clubs means 0 or 4 aces, 5 diamonds : 1 ace, 5 hearts: 2 aces, 5 spades : 3 aces.

The next bid places the contract at appropriate level. For example, at 6 (small slam) you can only lose 1 trick, so you should have at least 3 aces between you. At 7 (grand slam) you should probably have all 4 aces. *

  • “Gerber convention” -- Like Blackwood but typically used when the agreed upon contract is NT. Bid 4C to ask for Aces. Responder: 4 diamonds means 0 or 4 aces, 4 hearts: 1 ace, 4 spaces: 2 aces, 4 NT: 3 aces. After response it is thenpossible to bid 5C to ask for kings. This convention keeps bidding at lower level than Blackwood and permits more discussion before deciding on slam, which is especially helpful with NT.
  • “Michael’s cue bid convention” – arguably the least common convention mentioned here, but becoming more widespread. Simplest use is as overcall bid whereby partner has not bid, opponents have bid 1-minor,you have 6-11 HCP and 2 major suits. Also, you are not supposed to use this unless opponents are vulnerable and you are not. You overcall 2 of opponents minor to cue partner to select preferred major. Mildy pre-emptive.
  • “Double” –two types
  • “Penalty double” is a true double. It’s where the defense declares its disbelief in Declarer’s ability to make the contract. If opponents are correct, declarer goes down double points.
  • “Takeout double”. ”. A common convention where opener doubles opponents early in the bidding. It shows opening strength and length in all the unbid suits and strongly encourages partner to bid one of them.

General bidding Tips:

  • Always try to tell partner something about the size and shape of your hand.
  • Go for the major suit contract first, if possible.
  • Given a choice between a NT and minor suit contract, bid NT withappropriate distribution, even if you have a fit in the minor suit.
  • Show “length before strength” (bid your 6-card suit before your 5-card suit even if the 5-card suit has more high card points)
  • A good “suit fit” in the partnershipis 8 or more trump. This is why you openbidding with5 cards, respondin partner’s suitwith3 and, only after partner has opened, respondin a new suit withat least 4.
  • Never open bidding in a major suit with only 4 cards
  • You may open bidding in a minor suit with only 3 cards because this “short minor convention” is known to be potentially a false minor. It means a flat hand, no biddable major and insufficient points for notrump opening.
  • Using the same math as above, responder MUST have 5 in partner’s minor suit to respond in kind.
  • To encourage a suit contract,a rebid of the same suit you bid last time typically shows you have 1 more than previously showed. So opener who rebids the same major should have 6.1 Responder who supported partner’smajor, which shows 3,should have 4 when he rebids it. Exception: Rebid of 5-minor by opener requires 5 and simply shows he did not bid a short minor.
  • For NT the partnership must have high cardsor “stoppers” in all suits so that opponents can be stopped if they get control. If you do not have all suits covered in NT, opponents will bury you in their runaway suit.
  • It’s the RESPONDER, not opener, who decides the level (1-7) and strain (suit) of the contract

As responder, if you have at least 10 points, it means potential game, so you should attempt to give partner a bid that shows the extra points. . That means, if sensible, you should jump-raise partner’s suit to the 3-level (showing support and 10-11 points) or respond in your new suit at the 2 level rather than support partner’s suit at the 2-level which may discourage partner from bidding further.

  • If responder opens a new suit atany2+ level that is not a game-bid, it is FORCING. Opener must respond. Some modern ACBL’rs play thatresponder opening a new suit even at the one-level is forcing, but that doesn’t seem to be common. (Aaron argues that a 1S over 1H implies only 4 spades so is forcing).
  • 1 NT is one of the most difficult contracts to make because opponents can use their “runaway suit” against you. Therefore, even with 0-7 points you usually want to respond to partner’s 1NT bid and put contract in a suit.
  • You must discuss with other players any conventions you use prior to beginning play.
  • Many of the bidding guidelines below can be applied judiciously at “the next level” of bidding when opponents mess you up or if partner opens extra-strong. For example, if opponents open with a preemptive weak-2 bid, you can use the same bidding rules from the one level, just bumped a level (but note: do NOT counter by opening a new minor suit at the 3-level with only 4 of them). Alsobe careful to avoid getting stuck in an escalated contract with a weak hand. So with minimum opening points and no goodmajor suit, it may be better to pass than push, unless of course it’s the first time you’ve had opening points all night, andyou’re gonna bid no matter what !

1 It is not uncommon to rebid 5-card majors, but you mightget scolded for it.
PLAYING TIPS

Playing Tips for Declarer

  • Count your winners in Suit contracts and your losers in NT contracts. Where do you need to make up tricks by finessing, ruffing or developing long suits?
  • Is there danger of losing transportation to/from the board?
  • Did opponents open? Where is theirstrength? Right or Left of you? If Rightbid spades, you probably want to finesse spades through the board; if Left,from your hand. Since Left can see the board this may be a disadvantage.
  • Draw trump as soon as possible
  • With high cards of a suitsplit between the board and your hand, play the high card from the short sideto maximize tricks
  • Never lead away from the ace

Opening Lead against NT Contract

  • Seriously consider leading a suit your partner bid
  • Lead longest suit where the top 3 cards are an unbroken sequence (K-Q-J)
  • Else lead “4th from your longest and strongest”

Opening Lead Against Suit Contract

  • lead top card in a short suit (hoping to ruff suit later)
  • lead top of sequence of 2 honor card
  • else lead a low card from longest suit (e.g. 4th from longest and strongest)
  • else lead suit your partner bid

Subsequent Lead

  • if defending, return suit that partner led originally or bid
  • if declarer in no trump contract, lead longest combined suit
  • if declarer in suit contract, pull trump

Miscellaneous

  • generally (but not always), second position should lead low
  • generally (but not always), third position should lead high
  • take your losses early when developing tricks based on high cards or length

Useful Probabilities

  • If the number of trump held by opponents is odd, it is most probablethat they will break evenly (so 5 trump out will likely break 2-3); if their trump is even, the probability is they will break unevenly (so 4 trump will probably break 3-1).
  • When guessing location of high card in a suit, it is probable thatthe opponent’sunbid long suit is opposite the bid long suit (becauseit’s improbable one opponent holds2 long suitsespecially with one unbid). The opponent’s high card is probably part of his long suit.

OPENING BIDS(you are the first person to not pass):

Opening bids of 1

(Some people play that with 13 points you “may” open and with 14 you “must” open & ACBL’rs will open with 12).

  • Mimimum hand = 13-15 points
  • Medium-strength hand= 16-18 points
  • Strong hand= 19-21 points
  • 13-21 points and a 5-card major suitBid 1 of the suit
  • 13-21 points and 2 5-card major or minor suitsBid the higher-ranking suit first, the lower-ranking

suit later

  • 13-21 points and a 6+ card major or minor suit

plus a second 5+ card major or minor suitBid the longer suit first, the shorter suit later

  • 13-14 points and a flat hand with at least 3

in a minor suitBid the longer minor suit2

  • 15-21 points, a 5+ card minor suit and no 5-card majorBid 1 of the minor suit
  • 15-17HCP, flat hand3Bid 1 NT even with a 5-card major and even

if one suit is missing stoppers – priority to show points, rebid later if nec.

  • 18-19 HCPOpen 1 of a suit, then jump to 2NT on the rebid

Preemptive (weak) bids *

  • 8-11 points and a 6-card suit that is not clubsBid 2 of the suit
  • 10 points and a 7-card suitBid 3 of the suit
  • 13points and an 8-card suitBid 4 of the suit

Opening bids of 2(super strong, forcing ):

20-21 HCPOpen 2NT. Flat hand but stoppersnot required4

Stayman (3C) and transfers (3D/H) still apply

22-24 HCPOpen 2 clubs, then rebid 2-suit or 2-NT

Stayman and transfers still apply5

25-27 HCPOpen 2 clubs, then rebid 3-suit or 3-NT

Stayman and transfers do not apply5

2 ”Short minor” is one of theoldest and most commonly used bridge conventions

3 DO NOT count any distribution points when opening notrump (you can count LSP whenrespondingin NT).

4 Traditional Goran style required stoppers for 2NT opener, but this is no longer common

5 Opening 2 clubs for strong suit hands is required when weak-2 convention is used

BEFORE RESPONDINGOR REBIDDING

1)Optional: Once partner opens a suit that you intend to support, or after he agrees to your opening suit, you can deduct the LSP from your initial count and replace with SSP (either declarer or dummy).

2)Responder : add partner’s points to yours to decide if you have points for game, partial score or possible slam. If you have enough points for game you must make sure bidding continues until you get there (with forcing or strongly invitational bids or game-signoff bid.) If you suspect you may have enough points for game but are not sure, you want to make invitational bids to let partner know he should bid game if he has extra.

3)Consider the strain (suit). Is there a good major suit fit? If partner bids a major you know she has at least 5. Is there a NT fit? If partner bids NT she has a flat hand, at least 2 of every suit, extra HCP and stoppers in all suits.

4)Decide type of response: sign-off, invitational or forcing

RESPONDING TO PARTNER’S BID OF 1-SUIT

Weak(6-9 points)

No game contract unless partner has quite a bit extra, which you’ll find out if he rebids. Your bid issign-off . Do NOT open a new suit at the 2-level, not even a good major suit.

  • In response to 1-major:
  • With3+ of partner’s suitRaise partner’s suit to 2
  • With < 3 of partner’s hearts

and 4+ spadesBid 1 spade

  • With < 3 of partner’s suit

And no 4+ major suitBid 1NT to show points regardless of distribution

This is called a denial bid because it denies partner’s major.

It does NOT promise a flat hand

  • In response to 1-minor
  • With 4+card majorBid 1-major
  • With 2 5-card suitsBid the higher-ranking suit at the 1-level
  • With 2 4-card suitsBid the lower-ranking suit at the 1-level
  • With 5+card minorBid 1-minor or raise partner’s suit to 2
  • With a balanced handBid1NT

Moderate (10-11 points)

Maybe enough for game. Priority is to communicate point count and find a major or NT fit to investigate game.

  • In response to 1-major
  • With any unbid 4+ card suit

and <3 in partner’s majorBid your suit at 1 or 2 level to show points but do not jump-shift.

  • With 3+ of partner’s major suitJump to 3 in partner’s suit to show points and invite game6

Partner will close deal if he has extra.

  • With a flat hand Bid 2NT. Non-forcing
  • In response to 1-minor
  • With a 4+cardmajor

and 3+ in partner’s minorBid 1-major, regardless of minor support

  • With no 4+card major

and 5+ in partner’s minor suitJump in partner’s suit to 3 (not a jump-shift)

Strong (12+ points)

Definitely enough points for game and possibly slam. Priority is to keep bidding going until you get there. If bidding below level of game, the bid must be forcing. Avoid sign-off game bids if there is possibility for slam.

In response to 1-major or 1-minor

  • With 3+ of partner’s suitDo NOT support partner at any level yet (shows too few points)
  • With 4+ of partner’s suitBid 2NT. An advanced but useful convention.
  • With any unbid 4+ card suitand 12-16 pointsBid longest suitat the 2 levelwithout ajump-shift. Forcing.
  • With any unbid 4+card suit and 17+ pointsJump-shift into the longest possible suit. Forcing slam interest
  • With a flat hand (2 options)
  • ACBL 7: With 13-15 HCPBid 2NT. Forcing.

With 16-18 HCPBid 3NT.Forcing