User:Brian/Bridge/Responding to a weak opening - Revision history

Brian at 06:49, 26 June 2017

2017-06-26T06:49:26Z

Brian: Brian moved page User:Brian/Bridge/Responding to a weak two opening to User:Brian/Bridge/Responding to a weak opening

2017-06-14T07:06:02Z

Brian moved page User:Brian/Bridge/Responding to a weak two opening to User:Brian/Bridge/Responding to a weak opening

Brian at 07:05, 14 June 2017

2017-06-14T07:05:53Z

Brian at 05:34, 14 June 2017

2017-06-14T05:34:42Z

Brian: Created page with "A general rule is that the more unbalanced you and your partner's hands are, the less you can rely on counting points as a method of estimating trick-taking potential. Therefo..."

2017-06-13T08:45:12Z

Created page with "A general rule is that the more unbalanced you and your partner's hands are, the less you can rely on counting points as a method of estimating trick-taking potential. Therefo..."

New page

A general rule is that the more unbalanced you and your partner's hands are, the less you can rely on counting points as a method of estimating trick-taking potential. Therefore, when partner makes a weak preemptive opening, instead of counting points, you should exercise judgement. You have a lot of information about partner's hand now—specifically, that it can probably provide about four tricks in the trump suit and none in the other three suits—and you can use that to determine how to respond, if at all.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 As a general rule, you still want to end up in a major suit game if it has a good chance of making; and if not, you want to end up in 3NT if it has a good chance of making; and if not, you want to consider extending partner's preempt to make it even harder for the opponents to overcall. Observe how the below response charts are ordered according to these priorities.
-==Responses to 2&diams;==
+{|class="wikitable"
-I have support for &diams; with slam interest &rarr; Ask for keycards with [[User:Brian/Bridge/Blackwood|4NT]], bid 5NT Grand Slam Force, or raise to slam directly.
+|+Responding to 2&diams;
+! If... !! then...
-I have a very good hand with an excellent major suit where I think we can make game &rarr; Bid 4M; partner should pass.
+|-
+| I have support for &diams; with slam interest
-I have a strong hand with stoppers in the other three suits and I think we can make 3NT &rarr; Bid 3NT; partner should pass.
+| Ask for keycards with [[User:Brian/Bridge/Blackwood|4NT]], bid 5NT Grand Slam Force, or raise to slam directly.
+|-
-I have a strong hand (15+ HCP) and I need to know more about where partner's strength lies in order to determine whether game is viable &rarr; Bid 2NT, which is one-round forcing.
+| I have a very good hand with an excellent major suit where I think we can make game
 * A 3&diams; response by partner shows a minimum.
 * A 3NT response is to play and shows a non-minimum with solid &diams;.
 * A new suit is one-round forcing; it shows a non-minimum and a feature in that suit&mdash;ideally A(x) or Kx(x) but sometimes Qxx(x). You can now bid game in notrump or (more rarely) an excellent major suit, or sign off by returning to &diams;.
+|-
-I have a good hand with a good suit where I think we might have a better fit &rarr; Bid your suit. A raise by partner shows support, while a return to 3&diams; is a sign-off. '''Be sure you and your partner agree on:'''
+| I have a good hand with a good suit where I think we might have a better fit
 * Whether the new suit bid is forcing. (Non-forcing new suits must be alerted.)
 * What constitutes a "good" enough suit for responder to show, and hence how much opener needs to show "support".
 * Whether a raise shows both support and a non-minimum, or simply support.
-None of the above are true but I have 4+ card support for &diams; &rarr; Raise to 4&diams;; opener must pass.
+{|class="wikitable"
+|+Responding to 2M
-None of the above are true but I have 3 card support for &diams; &rarr; Raise to 3&diams;; opener must pass.
+! If... !! then...
+|-
-Otherwise &rarr; Pass.
+| I have 4+ card support for partner's major
+| Raise to 4M; partner must pass.
-==Responses to 2M==
+|-
-I have support for &diams; with slam interest &rarr; Ask for keycards with [[User:Brian/Bridge/Blackwood|4NT]], bid 5NT Grand Slam Force, or raise to slam directly.
+| I have support for partner's major and enough playing strength to make game likely
+| Raise to 4M; partner must pass.
-I have 4+ card support for partner's major &rarr; Raise to 4M; partner should pass.
-−
-I have support for partner's major and enough playing strength to make game likely &rarr; Raise to 4M; partner should pass.
 * Some players use the ''Rule of 17'', which says that you can raise to game if your HCP plus the number of cards you have in opponent's suit is at least 17. So 15+ HCP with 2-card support or 14+ HCP with 3-card support should be enough.
 Responding to a weak three opening follows the same principles as responding to a weak two opening but with less bidding space available. Generally, you can assume partner's suit will provide at least five tricks as trumps. The 2NT feature asking bid is not available, so possible responses include:
 * With slam interest, asking for keycards with [[User:Brian/Bridge/Blackwood|4NT]], bidding 5NT Grand Slam Force, or raising to slam directly.
@@ Line 52: / Line 72: @@
 * Bidding a new suit&mdash;make sure you and your partner agree on what this means. (For example, is a 4&hearts; response to 3&spades; meant to be forcing, or does it just mean you think the heart game makes?)
-==Responses to a weak four==
+Responding to a weak four opening follows the same general principles as responding to a weak two or three, but the available responses are even more limited. It's also going to be more difficult to judge what response is appropriate. Some partnerships mitigate these difficulties by avoiding opening 4 of a minor, preferring to open at the 3 level instead. Possible responses include:
 Responding to a weak four opening follows the same general principles as responding to a weak two or three, but the available responses are even more limited. It's also going to be more difficult to judge what response is appropriate. Some partnerships mitigate these difficulties by avoiding opening 4 of a minor, preferring to open at the 3 level instead.
-−
 Possible responses include:
 * With slam interest, asking for keycards with [[User:Brian/Bridge/Blackwood|4NT]], bidding 5NT Grand Slam Force, or raising to slam directly
 * Raising partner's suit

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-A general rule is that the more unbalanced you and your partner's hands are, the less you can rely on counting points as a method of estimating trick-taking potential. Therefore, when partner makes a weak preemptive opening, instead of counting points, you should exercise judgement. Usually partner will be able to provide at least four tricks in the trump suit but none in the other three suits. Use this information in conjunction with your own distribution and values to determine how to respond, if at all.
+A general rule is that the more unbalanced you and your partner's hands are, the less you can rely on counting points as a method of estimating trick-taking potential. Therefore, when partner makes a weak preemptive opening, instead of counting points, you should exercise judgement. For a weak two bid, usually partner will be able to provide at least four tricks in the trump suit but none in the other three suits. Use this information in conjunction with your own distribution and values to determine how to respond, if at all.
 As a general rule, you still want to end up in a major suit game if it has a good chance of making; and if not, you want to end up in 3NT if it has a good chance of making; and if not, you want to consider extending partner's preempt to make it even harder for the opponents to overcall. Observe how the below response charts are ordered according to these priorities.
@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 Otherwise &rarr; Pass.
 ==References==
 * http://www.kantarbridge.com/weak_2s.htm
 * https://www.larryco.com/bridge-learning-center/detail/456

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:34, 14 June 2017
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	A general rule is that the more unbalanced you and your partner's hands are, the less you can rely on counting points as a method of estimating trick-taking potential. Therefore, when partner makes a weak preemptive opening, instead of counting points, you should exercise judgement. ~~You have~~ a ~~lot~~ of ~~information about~~ partner's hand ~~now~~&~~mdash~~;~~specifically~~, ~~that~~ it can ~~probably provide about four tricks~~ in the ~~trump~~ suit and ~~none~~ in the other three suits&~~mdash~~;and ~~you can use that~~ to determine ~~how~~ to ~~respond, if at all~~.	+	A general rule is that the more unbalanced you and your partner's hands are, the less you can rely on counting points as a method of estimating trick-taking potential. Therefore, when partner makes a weak preemptive opening, instead of counting points, you should exercise judgement. Usually partner will be able to provide at least four tricks in the trump suit but none in the other three suits. Use this information in conjunction with your own distribution and values to determine how to respond, if at all.
		+
		+	As a general rule, you still want to end up in a major suit game if it has a good chance of making; and if not, you want to end up in 3NT if it has a good chance of making; and if not, you want to consider extending partner's preempt to make it even harder for the opponents to overcall. Observe how the below response charts are ordered according to these priorities.
		+
		+	==Responses to 2&diams;==
		+	I have support for &diams; with slam interest → Ask for keycards with [[User:Brian/Bridge/Blackwood\|4NT]], bid 5NT Grand Slam Force, or raise to slam directly.
		+
		+	I have a very good hand with an excellent major suit where I think we can make game → Bid 4M; partner should pass.
		+
		+	I have a strong hand with stoppers in the other three suits and I think we can make 3NT → Bid 3NT; partner should pass.
		+
		+	I have a strong hand (15+ HCP) and I need to know more about where partner's strength lies in order to determine whether game is viable → Bid 2NT, which is one-round forcing.
		+	* A 3&diams; response by partner shows a minimum.
		+	* A 3NT response is to play and shows a non-minimum with solid &diams;.
		+	* A new suit is one-round forcing; it shows a non-minimum and a feature in that suit—ideally A(x) or Kx(x) but sometimes Qxx(x). You can now bid game in notrump or (more rarely) an excellent major suit, or sign off by returning to &diams;.
		+
		+	I have a good hand with a good suit where I think we might have a better fit → Bid your suit. A raise by partner shows support, while a return to 3&diams; is a sign-off. '''Be sure you and your partner agree on:'''
		+	* Whether the new suit bid is forcing. (Non-forcing new suits must be alerted.)
		+	* What constitutes a "good" enough suit for responder to show, and hence how much opener needs to show "support".
		+	* Whether a raise shows both support and a non-minimum, or simply support.
		+
		+	None of the above are true but I have 4+ card support for &diams; → Raise to 4&diams;; opener must pass.
		+
		+	None of the above are true but I have 3 card support for &diams; → Raise to 3&diams;; opener must pass.
		+
		+	Otherwise → Pass.
		+
		+	==Responses to 2M==
		+	I have support for &diams; with slam interest → Ask for keycards with [[User:Brian/Bridge/Blackwood\|4NT]], bid 5NT Grand Slam Force, or raise to slam directly.
		+
		+	I have 4+ card support for partner's major → Raise to 4M; partner should pass.
		+
		+	I have support for partner's major and enough playing strength to make game likely → Raise to 4M; partner should pass.
		+	* Some players use the ''Rule of 17'', which says that you can raise to game if your HCP plus the number of cards you have in opponent's suit is at least 17. So 15+ HCP with 2-card support or 14+ HCP with 3-card support should be enough.
		+
		+	I have a strong hand with stoppers in the other three suits and I think we can make 3NT → Bid 3NT; partner should pass.
		+
		+	I have a strong hand (15+ HCP) and I need to know more about where partner's strength lies in order to determine whether game is viable → See the forcing 2NT bid described in the previous section. Note that this can be useful either with or without support for partner's major.
		+
		+	I have a good hand with a good side suit where I think we might have a better fit → See notes in the previous section about showing a new suit.
		+
		+	None of the above are true but I have 3 card support for partner's major → Raise to 3M; opener must pass.
		+
		+	Otherwise → Pass.
		+
		+	==References==
		+	* http://www.kantarbridge.com/weak_2s.htm
		+	* https://www.larryco.com/bridge-learning-center/detail/456

← Older revision	Revision as of 07:06, 14 June 2017
(No difference)