The bidding system that I use is based on the Kaplan-Sheinwold system. Many players are unfamiliar with this format, so before playing as my partner I suggest reading this page for rudimentary information. This system flows naturally from the opening bid. Use the list conventions below to jump to that section of this page. If you have any questions or comments about the system, feel free to contact me via e-mail by clicking here. Thank you! :-)
Opening Bids / Responses
1NT
One of Major Suits
One of Minor Suits
2NT
Two Clubs
Two of Other Suits
Competitive Bidding
Takeout Doubles
Overcalls
Slam Conventions
Key Card Blackwood
Gerber Convention
Control-Showing Cue Bids
Opening Bids / Responses
1NT (Weak No-Trump)
The opening bid of 1NT, in this system, promises 12-14 points and balanceddistribution. It is not vital to hold stoppers in any number of suits,
but the hand must contain at least 2 Quick Tricks and no more than one
doubleton. Because of the lower point count requirements for the 1NT bid,
it is now possible add specificity to opening one-bids in the minor suits.
Balanced hands containing 15 or more points are opened in a minor suit,
intending to rebid in no-trump at the first opportunity. Examples of hands
that qualify for the 1NT opening:
S - K 6�� H - A 10 5 3�� D - J 9 2 C -� K Q 7 2
S - 10 7 6�� H - Q J 8�� D - A 4 C - A Q 8 6 2
Note that the second hand above is opened 1NT, despite the five-card club suit. It is important to open all 12-14 point hands including five-card minor suits with 1NT; otherwise, the system will bite back.
Responding to 1NT
Responding to the opening bid of 1NT is simple. Because you know partner's strength within one point, it is easy to guide the partnership into the proper contract. With 0-10 points, it is generally best to pass, unless
you have a long suit (not clubs) of five or more cards. With such a suit,
bid it at the two level. The opener is under obligation to pass such a
bid. Note that Jacoby Transfers are not used, as I have found that they
lead to more misunderstandings than anything else.
With 11 or more points, there is a strong possibility of a game. Raise to 2NT with 11-12 points and balanced distribution, to 3NT with 13-18 points and balanced distribution. Opener will accept the invitation to game with a strong opening, but will decline with a minimum opening. Any holding of 19 or more points may lead to a slam contract. Raise to 4NT with 19-20 points and balanced distribution, to 6NT with 21-24 points and balanced distribution, and to 7NT with 25 or more points.
The responder bids three of a five-card or longer major suit with 11-18 points over the weak no-trump. Opener bids 3NT to show a doubleton in the responder's suit, or raise to four of the major with three or more cards in that suit. Generally, responder should stay in no-trump with a five-card minor suit. With a six-card or longer minor suit, in addition to 11 or more points, responder may wish bid it at the three level.
The last strength showing response to an opening bid of 1NT is two clubs. This is the Stayman Convention, and it is used to find 4-4 fits in major suits. In order to make the Stayman inquiry, the responder must hold 11 or more points. Opener immediately bids a four-card major suit, if she has one, in response to the Stayman inquiry. Lacking a four-card major, opener bids two diamonds. If no fit can be found, responder can retreat to no-trump based on the schedule of raises described above. Responder can raise the opener's major to three with 11-12 points, and to four with 13 or more points.
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One of Major Suits
This system takes advantage of the Standard American practice of bidding five-card majors. Only under unusual circumstances should a four-card major be opened, such as a suit containing 100 honors. Opening one of a major suit requires between 11-20 points and 2 Quick Tricks, and should generally have an easy rebid in mind. Acceptable rebids may include a six-card or longer major suit, any lower-ranking four-card suit, or a three-card minor suit in a pinch. The following are examples of typical opening bids of one in a major suit. Given a choice between both major suits, always prefer spades.
S - A J 7 5 4�� H - 6 2�� D - K 7 4� C - A Q 9
S - 10 5�� H - K Q 6 3 2�� D - K 9 C - K Q 10 4
Responding to One of Major Suits
The first priority of the responder is to indicate a fit in the opener's
suit. With 6 or more points, the responder has enough material to generate some sort of response; with less, responder should surely pass. Below is a schedule of raises for the major suit opening, and these responses take precedence over all others. In the cases of the limit raise and the forcing raise, four card support is preferred, but three cards (including an honor) is reasonable in a pinch. Hands with three card support may prefer to bid another suit first, and raise the opener's suit at the next opportunity. This sequence is known as the delayed raise.
In response to the single raise, opener passes with 11-14 points.
With 15-17 points and a singleton or void, opener may make a stab at game by bidding her shortest suit over the raise. This asks responder to assign additional value to honor cards in the unbid suits, and bid game in the major suit if this happens to be the case. Otherwise, responder can sign off in three of the agreed major suit. (Often, this is more beneficial
than making a help-suit game try.)� With a balanced hand, opener may
also want to try 3NT as a possible game contract. Over the single raise,
opener bids 2NT to ask� responder to bid 3NT with 8-9 points or four
of the major suit with genuine values for suit play. With 18-20 points,
opener may bid a game directly over the single raise.
In response to the limit raise, opener passes with 11-12 points. With 13-20 points, opener simply proceeds to game. Only when the opener's hand contains a significant distributional asset should a move in the direction of slam be made.
In response to the forcing raise, opener simply proceeds to game with 11-16 points. With 17 or more points, opener can elicit responder's opinion on slam prospects by making a cue-bid below game level. Responder can sign off in game, or may make additional cue-bids to show interest in slam. Opener may also initiate the Blackwood Convention by bidding 4NT to check on aces.
Unfortunately, the responder often does not hold the neceessary support to provide a raise of the opener's suit. With 6-9 points, responder may bid 1NT in response to an opening bid of one in a major suit. In this system, such a bid is forcing for one round. Opener will bid a second suit of at least three cards (four cards if it is a major suit), or may rebid the original suit if it is particularly strong (viz. six-card length or exceptional five-card length). A simple rebid at the two level is made with 12-17 points, a jump rebid at the three level with 18-20 points. Responder may then show a preference for either suit, return to the opener's major with meager support for it, or show a long suit within the weak hand. When the opening bid is one heart, responder may show a four-card spade suit by bidding one spade, but should generally make the limited response of 1NT with a weak hand. Responder can show a preference for either of the opener's suits, and sign off at a low level.
With 10 or more points, the responder may bid any long suit of five or more cards at the two level. With no support for partner's suit and no five card suit (usually the 4-4-4-1 distribution), a four-card minor suit may be bid. After the two-over-one response, opener may raise the new suit from two to three with strong three card support and minimum opening bid, or bid a third suit to investigate another fit possibility. This is an unlimited response, and is therefore forcing for one round.
If the responder lacks a fit for the opener's major suit, but holds 13 or more points, there is likely to be a game in the hand. However, the responder may be unsure where to turn. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem: a 2NT response to one of a major suit is forcing to game. It promises 13-16 points and an honor in all unbid suits. Opener proceeds to 3NT without a significant distributional asset, but bids a new suit at the three level of four or more cards to show the distrtibution. Over this sequence, responder can decide whether to continue to 3NT despite the rocky distribution or bid a game in either of the opener's suits.
Thus far we have considered only hands from zero to 16 points. In the unlikely event that the responder holds 17 or more points, a jump shift in a new suit will convey this information and hint at slam ambitions.
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One of Minor Suits
In many common bidding systems, the opening bid of one in a minor is a highly ambiguous affair. Because I did not enjoy the unpleasant surprises associated with raising a minor suit when the opener really is making a convenient bid, I have restructured the minor suit opening to minimize these problems. There are three main types of hands that are opened with one in a minor suit:
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The following are examples of each such hand. Each of the hands below has some feature that eliminates it from the 1NT or the major suit opening. Only when you cannot bid 1NT or a major suit is it acceptable to open in a minor suit, as in each of the hands below:
S - A 4�� H - Q 10�� D - K J 9 C - A K 8 7 5 2
S - A J 7 3�� H - 6�� D - A 6 5 2 C - A Q 9 2
S - K 10 5�� H - A J 4 3�� D - K 10 7 C - K Q 8
All three of the above hands are opened one club, and the opener will clarify the holding with a second bid. You may rebid a solid (six-card length or exceptional five-card length) minor suit, as in the first hand above, or any four-card suit at the one level. At the two level, avoid bidding four-card suits unless it is absolutely necessary. When selecting the opening bid of one in a minor, it should be made with a definite rebid in mind for any response from partner. Singletons and voids frequently pose problems in the rebid department. With a singleton spade, open one diamond. This allows for a two-club rebid over the expected one spade response. With singleton in a red suit, open one club. With a singleton club, you can only open one diamond and hope that partner will respond in a major suit. If she does not, you will have to make a creative bid.
Note that minor suit opening tends to show greater values than a 1NT or major suit opening. This extra strength protects the partnership from excessive harm when the minor suit opening is made on a three-card holding.
A 1NT rebid has a special meaning over a minor suit opening: it conveys a balanced hand of 15 to 17 points, the standard no-trump opening. Likewise, the 2NT rebid indicates a balanced hand of 18-20 points. While it may seem hazardous to impose a strict requirement for such a rebid, it is actually not a problem at all. In most standard systems, the rebid is used to show a balanced hand of 12-14 points. However, in this system, such a hand is covered by the 1NT opening. Therefore, there should rarely be significant difficulties with this change.
Responding to One of Minor Suits
Although responding to opening bids in the minor suits can be the stickiest part of any bidding system, the revisions to the minor suit opening increase the accuracy of the auction significantly. Most bids should be automatic, and not really require a great deal of effort.
With 5 or fewer points, responder should probably pass; with more, responder has the material for some sort of bid. Generally speaking, responder should bid any four-card or longer major suit over a minor suit opening, regardless of the responder's point count. Responder can clarify the holding with a rebid. With biddable holdings in both major suits, responder should bid the longer one first; if they are the same length, always prefer hearts in order to give opener the maximum room to rebid. Opener will raise the major suit response with four-card length only, according to this schedule: a single raise with 12-14 points, a double raise with 15-17 points, and a triple raise with 18-20 points. Based on this information, responder can choose to push on to game or slam with sufficient values, or sign off with a weaker hand. If opener lacks support for responder's suit, opener simply makes the original rebid; later, three-card support for the responder's suit can be shown. If responder does not hold a biddable major suit, responder may bid one diamond over a one club opening with a four-card or longer holding.
In this system, raises of minor suits work differently than in standard practice. Specifically, they are known as inverted minor-suit raises, and are made only when a major-suit bid is not available. With five or more cards in the opener's minor and a weak hand (6-9 points), responder raises the minor suit opening to three. With four or more cards in the opener's minor and a decent hand (10-12 points), responder raises the minor suit opening to two. With 13 or more points, it is preferable to make the game-forcing 2NT bid with balanced distribution. Note that the weaker hand bids at a higher level with more support than the stronger hand. As is the case with a major suit opening, responder may bid any five-card or longer suit at the two level with 10 or more points. Typcially this bid is two clubs over a one diamond opening, without support for partner's suit and no biddable major suit. In the vast majority of cases, however, responder shows a major suit and awaits developments.
After a double raise in a minor suit, opener should almost always pass. Responder may have fine trump support, but insufficient values for play in a game contract. The single raise, however, is forcing on the opening bidder. Opener bids 2NT with 15-17 points (3NT with 18-20 points), balanced distribution, and a three-card holding in the minor suit. With a four-card or longer holding in the minor suit, opener can show a value (usually a stopper) in a side suit to investigate the feasibility of a no-trump game. Because a minimum 4-4 fit exists in the minor suit, it will serve as a safety net if the bidding reveals that a no-trump game is likely to fail.
Without any of the above bids available and 9 or fewer points, responder must make a 1NT response to the minor suit opening. Unlike a 1NT response to a major suit, this bid is not forcing. With the right cards, opener can press forward by inviting to game, bidding game, or jumping the bidding to show additional strength.
If the opener has bid 1NT or 2NT over the responder's first bid, responder can guide the partnership to the correct contract, as opener has shown balanced distribution and 15-17 or 18-20 points respectively. Responder should bid a game in no-trump with the appropriate values and no important distributional asset, or pass with a weak hand. However, if responder has a strong five-card or longer holding in any suit, it may be rebid at the two level with 6-9 points, or at the three level with 10 or more points. Any change of suit by responder is forcing on the opening bidder.
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2NT
An opening bid of 2NT is used for balanced hands with no more than
one doubleton (preferably not weaker than K x). The point count must be
exactly 21 or 22 points. With less, the hand should be opened with one
of a suit; with more, the hand should be opened with two clubs.
Responding to 2NT
Responding to the 2NT opening bid is simple. Pass only with a featureless hand and 3 or fewer points. If responder holds 4-9 points without a five-card or longer major suit, a simple raise to 3NT will suffice. If the responder wants to investigate possiblities in a suit contract, a suit bid other than clubs at the three level shows 4+ points and five-card length in the bid suit. A suit bid other than clubs at the four level shows 6+ points and six-card length in the bid suit. With 10-11 points, responder should invite a slam by bidding 4NT (use the Gerber Convention to check on aces, if necessary). With 12 or more points, a slam will usually be a laydown; bid 6NT with 12-15 points, and 7NT with 16 or more points.
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Two Clubs
Two clubs is the only forcing opening bid in this system. It is an
artificial bid used to describe two types of hand: a very strong balanced
hand of 23-26 points, or a hand of 21 or more points and a powerful long
suit. By opening with two clubs, the opener indicates the abnormal strength of the hand early so that responder may bid a game or slam in confidence even on a very poor hand. The opener's rebid clarifies the holding by showing the long suit or bidding the appropriate number of no-trump, according to the point count. With 23-24 points, opener rebids 2NT; with 25-26 points, opener rebids 3NT.
Responding to Two Clubs
Responder must bid after an opening bid of two clubs, for it is an
artificial bid. With 0-6 points, responder makes a waiting response of
two diamonds over two clubs. This bid is also artificial, and it generally
shows that responder lacks the high cards to produce a slam. Over the response of two diamonds, opener simply proceeds with the original rebid and waits developments. If responder's weak hand has a fit with opener's long suit or enough high cards to produce a game, the responder must leap to the appropriate game contract after the opener's rebid. With 7 or more points, responder should either bid 2NT with balanced distribution or show a long suit of five or more cards at the two level. In these cases, the partnership should investigate slam possibilities as the combined holdings should yield a decent play for it.
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Two of Other Suits (Weak Two Bid)
Most partnerships play a bid of two spades, two hearts, or two diamonds as a weak bid, showing 6-10 points and six-card length in the bid suit. The hand must contain at least 1 Quick Trick, but not more than 2 Quick Tricks. This bid is one of the most useful bids in the game, as it paints an accurate picture of the opening bidder's hand to responder, while making it difficult for the opponents to intervene.
Responding to a Weak Two Bid
Responder should pass a weak two bid without a fit (viz., a void or
singleton) for opener's suit, and no long suit. Generally, the opening
bidder's hand is only useful when its long suit is trump. Thus, without
a wealth of high cards, including at least 3 Quick Tricks, a pass is far
safer than risking a bid and suffering a large penalty. However, responder
should raise a weak two bid to game with a strong doubleton or more in
opener's suit and a hand with at least 3 Quick Tricks. The importance of
the Quick Tricks must not be underestimated, because they will cover the
losers in the opener's weaker hand. Responder may also make a pre-emptive raise of the weak-two bid in an attempt to suit out the opponents when the partnership is weak.
With a strong suit of at least six cards, responder may bid it directly over the weak two bid. Opener will raise this suit with at least two cards in support of it; otherwise, opener should simply rebid the original suit. If responder wants to get more information about the opener's hand, the artificial bid of 2NT is used over the weak two bid. It says nothing about having stoppers in any number of suits, but it promises game-going values and at least 3 Quick Tricks. The bid asks opener to bid a side suit of at least four cards, or a suit with a high value in it (ace, king, or queen). Without either, opener simply rebids the original suit. Responder can judge on the basis of this information whether a game in no-trump or another suit is feasible.
Competitive Bidding
Takeout Doubles
When the opponents make the first bid of the auction, it becomes increasingly more difficult to use the conventions of unopposed bidding described above to find the partnership's best spot. Therefore, a sound bidding system must be able to function even when the opponents start the auction. As a general rule of competitive bidding: use a takeout double if you want partner to choose a trump suit, and use an overcall if you want to choose the trump suit yourself.
A double is for takeout only if you have no clue as to partner's distribution, because partner has not made any bids. When you double a suit for takeout, you promise at least four cards in support of any unbid major suit, and at least three cards in any unbid minor suit; consequently, a takeout double suggests shortness in the opponent's suit. This requirement is basic, and you cannot make a takeout double if you cannot support any suit partner might bid. In addition, the doubler should have at least 10 points in high cards and 2 Quick Tricks; there is no upper limit. Partner must show a long suit at the first opportunity.
Responding to a Takeout Double
If your right-hand opponent passes after partner makes a takeout double, you cannot pass except in one special circumstance: when you are very strong in the opponent's bid suit and want to play for penalties. In every other case, you must make a response even with a horrible hand. When selecting a response, always prefer an unbid four-card major suit over any unbid minor suit. Note that if you have no four-card suit to bid, you cannot bid 1NT unless your hand is strong enough (see below). In this case, you must bid the lowest available three-card suit. The schedule of responses to a takeout double are as follows:
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There is a special response available for hands that count 8-11
points without a biddable four-card suit. This is the 1NT response, which
shows exactly this and a stopper in the opponent's suit, in case no-trump
becomes the final contract.
On the basis of the responder's bid, opener can select the appropriate spot for the partnership. If opener has a good fit for responder's suit, opener can pass with a minimum hand, invite or bid game with a strong hand according to the strength of the hand. Special care should be taken if responder has made a weak response, as responder may have nothing.
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Overcalls
As mentioned above, an overcall is made when the bidder wants to name a specific suit as the trump suit. This is frequently the case when the overcaller has a six-card or longer suit, or even a powerful five-card
suit. The overcall is the most dangerous bid in bridge, as it is very possible that partner has very few points and no fit for the overcaller's suit.
Nevertheless, a judicious overcaller can collect more profits than losses
if the bid is used in the correct way. There are two types of overcall:
a standard overcall and a weak jump overcall.
A standard overcall promises the strength of an opening bid, usually at least 13 points and 2 Quick Tricks. The suit must be at least five cards in length, for obvious safety reasons. Bear in mind that you are making a bid without any knowledge of partner's holding, and that if partner turns out to hold miserable cards you may be headed for a disastrous penalty. With responding to an overcall, your first priority should be to show support for partner's bid suit. Even three small cards is sufficient, because partner has virtually guaranteed possession of five-card suit. Thus, you should raise partner's suit one level with 6-9 points. two levels with 10-12 points, and directly to game with 13 or more points. If you do not have support for partner's suit and a lousy featureless hand, you must invariably pass, for a bid may put your partnership in further trouble. However, if you have any six-card suit or a decent hand of 10 or more points with a sure stopper in the opponent's suit, you should bid your suit or no-trump respectively.
The weak jump overcall is very similar in structure to the weak-two bid. It typically promises a hand with a good six-card or longer suit but no more than 9 points. More importantly, the bid is made to distort the auction of the opponents and prevent them from reaching their best contract. With this in mind, you should almost always pass a weak jump overcall unless you hold a wealth of Quick Tricks or a very poor hand. In the first case, game in partner's suit or no-trump may be a distinct possibility; in the second case, a pre-emptive raise may lead to a paying sacrifice.
A 1NT overcall is made on a very special type of hand. Because one of the opponents has bid, it is very clear where most of the outstanding high cards are and what the dangerous suit might be. As a result, the 1NT overcall is made on a balanced hand of 15-17 points with at least two stoppers in the enemy's suit. On the basis of this information, responder can suggest a possible trump suit by bidding it if it has six or more cards, or try for a game in no-trump with the appropriate high card strength. If the auction has started with a weak-two bid, an overcall of 2NT is identical in every way to the 1NT overcall.
Slam Conventions
Obviously, every partnership wants to score the extra bonuses associated with fulfilling a slam contract. When the partnership's holdings are strong enough, it becomes more important to identify which specific aces and kings the partnership holds. Fortunately, there are a number of conventions that allow the partnership to reveal this information.
Key Card Blackwood
This is a simple variation on the famous Blackwood ace-asking convention. When the partnership holds the majority of the high cards and has clearly decided on a trump suit (i.e., it has been supported), a bid of 4NT by either partner asks the other how many key cards he or she holds. Obviously, this information is most valuable when the Blackwood bidder only needs to know the number of key cards held; it is far less useful with a void suit. The five key cards are the four aces and the king of the agreed trump suit. Over the 4NT bid, responder indicates the number of key cards held according to the following schedule:
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Although the responses for zero or four and one or five key cards
are identical, it should be very clear based on the previous bidding whether the responder to the Blackwood bid has the lesser or greater number. The Blackwood bidder can then leap directly to a slam over the responder's reply to Blackwood if it shows sufficient information. A bid of 5NT by the Blackwood bidder must necessarily guarantee that the partnership is in possession of all five key cards. Many play that the 5NT bid asks for kings; it is far more useful if it is used as a bid to elicit responder's thoughts on grand slam prospects. In most cases, though, the responder will simply show kings in steps (viz., six clubs shows no king, six diamonds shows one king, six hearts shows two kings, and six spades shows three kings); however, there may be cases when the responder has a distributional feature that makes the hand more valuable for play in a grand slam.
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Gerber Convention
The Gerber Convention is only used when no-trump is the agreed denomination of the contract. Typically, the Gerber bidder will have a long running suit and is interested solely in the number of aces held by the other partner. A bid of four clubs, only when the partnership has bid nothing but no-trump, asks the other partner how many aces he or she holds. Note that in any other auction, Key Card Blackwood should be used, because a natural bid of four clubs may be very crucial in some hands. In response to a Gerber call of four clubs, responder shows the number of aces held by the following schedule:
Armed with this information, the Gerber bidder can leap to the appropriate slam contract. Additionally, if the Gerber bidder wishes to find out about kings, five clubs can be bid (responder shows kings in exactly the same way, one level higher).
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Control-Showing Cue Bids
On many slam-going hands, you have a void suit that makes your hand unsuitable for Blackwood. In these cases, control-showing cue bids are the best method to find out whether the aces held by the other partner
are actually going to be useful. When the partnership has definitely agreed on a trump suit (generally a strong raise of a major suit or the forcing raise of a minor suit), a new suit bid at the four level shows either the ace or a void (first-round control) in that suit and an interest in slam.
The next partner can make the lowest cue bid available to continue in the
direction of slam, or simply return to the agreed trump suit at the game
level to sign off. When a suit is cue-bid a second time, it shows a guarded
king or a singleton (second-round control).
When making cue-bids, it is very important to make the cue-bid in the lowest ranking suit first in order to determine where the missing aces are as quickly as possible. For example, suppose partner cue bids four clubs to show a first-round control in clubs. If you hold both the diamond ace and the spade ace, it is imperative that you show the diamond ace first because it is in the lowest ranking suit. As soon as the cue-bids reveal the necessary information to one memeber of the partnership, that person should choose the right contract.
