Andrew Robson - The Times Improve Your Bridge Game

INTRODUCTIONI will be teaching a simple version of English Standard Acol, incorporating a 12–14 ‘Weak’ notrump and Four-Card Majors. I have focussed primarily on the first stages of an auction: if the first few bids are accurate, a sensible contract will normally be reached.

THE BASICSWhen first looking at your hand, count the high-card points (ace = four; king = three; queen = two; jack = one). An average hand will contain ten points (an ace, a king, a queen and a jack). Also look at your distribution. Are your suits of relatively similar length (‘balanced’), or is there some disparity (‘unbalanced’)?

You must then try to describe your hand to partner during the first phase of Bridge: the bidding (or auction). There are two objectives of the bidding: you must ascertain (i) whether you have a mutually compatible trump suit, a ‘fit’ (eight or more cards in one suit between the partnership), and (ii) how many of the 13 tricks for which to aim with that suit as trumps. Bids must increase, starting from 1 then 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 notrump (NT), 2 , 2 ….7NT. Adding six to the number of the bid made tells you the number of tricks for which you have contracted. Thus 3 means that you must win nine tricks (or more) with clubs as trumps.

Clubs and diamonds are known collectively as the minor suits. They score 20 points each trick (over the six), so bidding and making 5 and 5 is required to score ‘game’ (100 points). Hearts and spades, the majors, score at 30 points each, so 4 and 4 win game. Notrumps – literally playing without a trump suit – score slightly more than the suits: 40 for the first trick (over six), reverting to 30. Thus 2NT scores 70 points and 3NT gives game. The three most attractive game contracts are 3NT, 4 and 4 . Holding 25 high-card points between the partnership is a good guide for attempting one of those games. After winning the game, you become ‘vulnerable’: half way to rubber (the first side to two games). If you now fail in a contract, your opponents receive 100 per trick as opposed to 50. Playing Duplicate Bridge (or Chicago – four deal Bridge) a bonus is given for making a game: 300 (non-vulnerable) and 500 (vulnerable). In Duplicate an extra 50 points is added to the score resulting from a making part-score. Thus Four Hearts bid and made (non-vulnerable) scores 300 (the non-vulnerable game bonus) + 120 (the tricks) = 420. Two Hearts making three (i.e. one overtrick) scores 50 (part-score bonus) + 90 (tricks made) = 140. Note that overtricks score at trick value (i.e. 30 a trick for notrumps and majors; 20 for minors).

OPENING THE BIDDINGDealer starts the bidding. If he has a bad hand, he does not open the bidding, instead saying ‘No Bid’ or ‘Pass’. If he has a little above average or better, he opens. Typically he will open One of his Longest Suit.

Question : What is a little above average?

Answer : Always open the bidding with 12 or more points. You should also open when holding slightly less with a useful shape. Use The Rule of 20, which states that you should open when the number of cards in your two longest suits added to your high-card points totals 20 or more (Tip 1).

With a choice of two equal length suits, open the higher ranking (Tip 2), except with precisely four cards in both majors in which case prefer 1 (Tip 3).

NOTRUMPSThat you can win game in notrumps with just nine tricks gives it a huge significance and arguably the most important opening bid (and perhaps the most common) is 1NT. This shows a balanced hand and 12, 13 or 14 points.

Question : What precisely is a balanced hand?

Answer : It is a hand with no void (a suit with no cards), no singleton (a suit with one card), and at most one doubleton (two cards). There are just three balanced distributions: 4432, 4333 and 5332.

With one of the above shapes and 12–14 points, you MUST open 1NT (Tip 4). It is a very precise bid, so don’t open 1NT with more than 14 points, even if balanced (Tip 5), and do not open 1NT with an unbalanced hand, even if holding 12–14 points (Tip 6).

RESPONDING TO ONE NOTRUMPWhen responding to partner’s 1NT opener, bear in mind that, because you know so much about partner’s hand, you as responder are in charge. Partner will not bid again unless you make a strong bid. Although there will be occasions where responder needs more information, essentially the basic principle is:

1NT opener: ‘This is what I’ve got’.

Responder: ‘OK – I know so much about your hand that I can place the final contract right now.’ (Tip 7).

Note that it is much better to have a go at the nine-trick game of 3NT rather than the 11-trick games of 5 and 5 (Tip 8). Also note that you should never bid to increase the size of the part-score: thus raising 1NT to 2NT invites 3NT, rather than trying for 70 points as opposed to just 40 (Tip 9).

RESPONDING TO ONE-OF-A-SUITWhen partner opens One-of-a-Suit, he could have anything from 12 points (even less if he satisfied the Rule of 20) up to 19 (with 20 or more he would open at the two-level). Because he could have as many as 19 points, you as responder should keep the bidding open with at least six points (Tip 10).

The top priority response is support – always support partner with a known eight-card major-suit fit (Tip 11). And the stronger your hand, the more you should bid in support. Use the Responder Line (Tip 12), noting that no supporting bids, even jumps, force partner to keep bidding (Tip 13).

When you have less than four-card support for the suit opened, you should try to find a fit in another suit – the general principle being to bid your longest suit at the lowest level. Thus avoid precipitate leaps to 2NT (Tip 14) and 3NT (Tip 15). Also, to avoid a very common mistake, you should prefer a four-card suit at the one-level to the nebulous 1NT response (Tip 16). Note that with two four-card suits, you should prefer the cheaper (Tip 17).