Competitive Bidding
Overcalling after opponents have opened the bidding
| Overcalls | Responses |
|---|---|
| Simple overcall of a suit at the 1 level (e.g. 1H - 1S) • 5 card suit or longer • Probably with 3 of the top 5 honours including A or K • 8 to about 15 pts | With a weak hand & support for partner's suit: • Single raise with 3 to an honour • Double raise with 4 card support • Triple raise with 5 card support • 1NT (10-12 pts), 2NT (13-15), 3NT (16-18), i.e. 3/4 pts stronger than normal • Bid a new suit at the same level with a good 5/6 carder |
| Simple overcall of a suit at the 2 level (e.g. 1S - 2D) • 5 card suit or longer • Probably with 3 of the top 5 honours including A or K • 12 to about 16 pts | With a weak hand & support for partner's suit: • Pass with 3 to an honour • Single raise with 4 card support • Double raise with 5 card support • 2NT (10-12), 3NT (13-15) • Bid a new suit at the same level with a good 5/6 carder |
| Jump overcall (e.g. 1H - 2S, 1S - 3D) • Quality 6 card suit or longer • 12 to about 16 pts | • Raise with 2 card support • otherwise PASS |
| Pre-emptive overcall (e.g. 1H - 3S, 1S - 4D) • Quality 7 card suit • Less than 10 pts | Responses similar to a pre-emptive opening bid; see Table 10 |
| INT overcall • Balanced, 16 - 18 pts • 2 stops in opponent's suit | Responses similar to a 1NT opening, but require 4 points fewer; see Table 1 |
| DOUBLE: A "take-out" double asks partner to bid his best suit. Ideally the hand will have: • 12+ pts (9 - 11 with 'distribution' if previously passed, or 14+ over a pre-empt) • A shortage of opponent's suit(s), i.e. no more than a doubleton • At least 3 card support for all the unbid suits | Base responses on the assumption that partner has 13 pts with 4-4-4-1 distribution (10 pts if previously passed) • Must bid unless Right Hand Opponent bids • Bid as many of your best suit as you think you can jointly make • Alternatively, with 2 stops in opponent's suit: bid 1NT (6-9 pts), 2NT (10-12), 3NT (13-15) |
Responding after Opponent's Take-Out Double
| Pass | 0 - 5 pts |
| Re-double | Typically 10+ pts, a shortage in partner's suit. Suggesting anything opponents bid should be doubled. |
| With 4 card support for partner's suit, raise pre-emptively (1 level higher than normal) | • 0 - 5 pts: Raise 1 level • 6 - 9 pts: Raise 2 levels • 10+ pts: Bid 2NT. If LHO passes partner will raise suit to the 3 or 4 level. |
| Bid 1NT | 6 - 9 pts and 2 or 3 card support for partner's suit |
| Change suit | 6 - 10 pts. 1 round force. Important to show a 4 card Major at the 1 level |
| Jump shift in new suit | 12+ pts. Game forcing, based on a good 6 card suit |
| After 1NT - Double | With a weak hand, take-out at the 2 level, even if only a 4 card suit |
: