Introduction 9th June 2020
============
The first bridge course that I attended taught British Acol. Not many
people play that in Switzerland, so my system has been modified ad hoc
over the years to come into line with more common practices in Switzerland.
Basic Maxims
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1. Bid as high as possible, as early as possible, then back off.
2. Unless very weak, try not to let opponents play at the 2-Level
or less in a suit of their choice. But beware of partner
misinterpreting and pushing them into a makeable game that they
otherwise would not have reached.
HCP = High Card Points
SP = Strength Points = HCP + distribution pts.
Note: SP can only be used if there is a trump fit.
Opening Bids:
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An opening bid promises 12+ HCPs
or 7 or less losers
or Rule of Twenty (sum of HCPs and number of cards
in the 2 longest suits is 20 or more).
1C may be a doubleton in clubs (See "Better Minor" below). It
should not be passed. A 1D response shows a weak hand or diamond
suit.
1D promises 4 or more D and no 5-card major suit
1H/1S 5+ card suit
1NT 15-17 HCP, no void, no singleton, at most one doubleton and
no 5-card major suit. 2C response is Stayman. 2D
and 2H responses are transfers.
2C Semi-forcing. Most likely a strong suit and 5 losers or less,
if the strong suit becomes trumps.
Response is 2D. Responder may pass before game is
reached.
2D Forcing to game, unless 2NT is next bid. Response gives strength:
2H - less than 7 HCP, no Ace.
2S - one Ace, but nothing else.
2NT - 2 Kings, or equivalent
3C - one Ace and extra points too.
3D - 2 Aces (or more - never happens).
2H/2S Weak 2, 6-card suit, 6-10 points, mainly in the 6-card suit. 2NT
response is special, see:
https://maden.ch/bridge/weakTwo/weakTwo.pdf
2NT 20-21 HCP. At most 1 doubleton and at least a Kx or Qxx block
in every suit.
3C/3D/3H/3S Pre-emptive. Expect a -2 (vul) or -3 (non-vul) result with
no help from partner.
Responses
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1) With 6-7 HCP or more, parter may not pass unless opponents have intervened.
2) To respond at level 2 in a new suit, partner needs 10+ SP. Otherwise
he must bid 1NT.
Important: a response may be a 4-card suit, EVEN AFTER INTERVENING BID
from the opponents. Opener needs 4 cards in that suit
to support it.
3) NT response is always limited: 1NT - 8 or less HCP. It may be
a desperation bid.
2NT - 9-11 HCP
4) 4NT - Asking for Aces. Responses 5C: 0 or 3, 5D: 1 or 4, 5H: 2, 5S: 2 Aces + a King.
Intervention (Overcall) Bids
============================
1) A suit overcall shows 5+ card suit. Maybe quite weak - down to 8 HCP
or a long suit.
2) A double not preceded by a pass shows an opening hand and
strength in the other suits.
3) A double after having passed:
a) if the opponents have bid a major suit, it shows 4 cards in the
other major and probably 9-11 HCP.
b) otherwise, probably shows length in the non-bid suits and
9-11 HCP.
4) Jump to 2H or 2S - see Weak-2 above.
5) A redouble of opponent's take-out double indicates 8+ SPs.
Opening Lead
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1) If partner has bid, I will lead my HIGHEST card in that suit.
2) If partner has not bid, and the contract is NT, and I have no obvious
minor suit lead, I will lead my WEAKER major suit (hoping to find partner's
better suit - theory: if declarer had a decent major suit, it would
be the trump suit. I will not normally lead suit bid by opponents, but may
lead through suit bid by dummy.
3) I do not lead from under a King.
4) Singleton lead in Trump Contract:
Only if: a) Partner has bid the suit
or b) I have at least 5 trumps
5) Doubleton lead in Trump Contract:
Only if: a) Partner has bid the suit
or b) I have at least 5 trumps
6) If my only option is to lead a suit with an Ace in it,
(e.g. I have Qxx in trumps), I lead the Ace. But if possible,
I'll lead a trump.
Signals
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1) On opening lead - in suit contracts, high response is positive.
- in NT contracts, low response is positive.
2) First Discard: Lavinthal
Other Conventions, depending on Partner
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Better Minor: 1C indicates at least a 3-card suit, and the club suit
is longer than the diamond suit.
1D may indicate only a 3-card suit and the diamond suit
is longer than the club suit.
Inverted Minor: Raising partner's opening of 1C or 1D to the 2 level is strong.
Raising partner's opening of 1C or 1D to the 3 level is pre-emptive.
Bergen Raises: Jump to 3C => 4-card fit + 8-10 SPs
Jump to 3D => 4-card fit + 11-12 SPs
Jump to 3H/S => 4-card fit + 0-7 SPs
2NT => 3-card fit + 11-12 SPs
If opponents intervene at 2+ level, Bergen is off and
calls are natural.
2D-Multi: See: https://maden.ch/bridge/2KaroMulti/2KaroMulti.pdf
4C - Asking for Aces. Only if there has been no bid of 3C.
Drury: 2C response by a passed hand after partner opens 1H or 1S in third
or fourth seat. Asks if opener's bid is weak or not.