Overcalls

Overcalling the Opponents’ 1NT Opening

When your opponents open 1NT, you are forced to go to the two level in any suit that you would like to bid. So for diamonds, hearts and spades, overcalling in your suit is just like it is after a suit opening. The 2♣ bid, however, has a special meaning. Watch the video to find out more, then have a go at the quiz.

Try some hands

Hand 1

Do you think your hand is worth a bid after the opponents open 1NT? In the play, see if you can limit yourself to one diamond loser.

Hand 2

How can you best show your hand over 1NT? In the play, see if you can limit your heart losers, but be careful of entries!

Hand 3

After your partner bids Landy, you need to find the bid which best describes your hand.

Hand 4

You definitely need to show your club suit, but how? More importantly, can you see a way to get an entry to all of dummy’s lovely diamonds?

Back

Overcalling the Opponents’ NT Opening

Some familiar stuff here from overcalling suit openings but we also introduce you to a really useful new piece of system.

Question 1/8

Penelope has opened 1NT. What should Boris bid with this hand?

Boris has 13 points and a nice, five card spade suit. He can make a natural overcall of 2♠ (the lowest level at which a spade bid is available) in just the same way as he would overcall 1♠ over a one level suit opening.

Same start to the auction, but this time Boris has a rather more shapely hand. What should he bid?

Boris has both major suits, so when his opponent opens 1NT he can show the two suits in one bid: The artificial bid of 2♣ (Landy) shows both majors, at least 5-4. Here Boris is even better placed because he is 5-5 in the majors.

Boris has a nice 14 points and was planning to open the bidding if Penelope passed. However, she has opened 1NT. What should he bid now?

Despite the fact that Boris has a nice hand, he has no valid bid to make here. Double would show a balanced 16+, 2♣ would show both majors, at least 5-4, and bidding any suit of his own would show five cards.

Another 14 point hand for Boris to bid after Penelope’s 1NT opening. What is his best choice this time?

This time Boris has both a hand that would be strong enough to open the bidding and a nice six card suit. Unfortunately, his suit is clubs, so he can't bid it at the 2 level because 2♣ would be Landy, showing both majors. Rather than pass though, he can bid 3♣ naturally because he has a good suit and well-positioned honour cards in spades. Note that while other three-level bids are weak, 3♣ is 12+ points because we still need a way to show good hands with clubs.

Looking at things from the other side of the table now, what should Ophelia do here?

Ophelia doesn't have a great hand but she is forced to bid when Boris shows both majors and Walter passes, otherwise Boris will be playing in 2♣, doubled, which would not be good. She must show her longer major if she has one, and here she has three spades and only two hearts, so she can bid 2♠, making a choice at the lowest level.

Just like in the previous question, Boris is showing a hand that is at least 5-4 in the majors. How should Ophelia respond with the hand she has here?

Again, Ophelia has longer spades, so she should definitely bid that suit. 2♠ would promise no points at all - just longer spades, and 3♠ would be invitational, asking Boris to bid game if he were not minimum for his bid. But with four good spades as well as three nice cards in partner's other suit and an opening hand herself, she should bid game.

Same set-up as before. What should Ophelia bid this time?

When Boris has shown at least 5-4 in the majors with his 2♣ bid, Ophelia is being asked to show her longer major if she has one. Strength doesn't come into it. So even though her spades are very good and her hearts weak, she has the same number of cards in each, so she must bid 2♦. This is important because when her partner is 5-4, they can now bid their five card suit and be guaranteed to play in the suit with the greater fit.

Back to Boris for the last question. Penelope has opened 1NT and he has a good hand, but no five card suit. What can he do here?

Despite having both majors, Boris should not bid 2♣ because he needs to be at least 5-4 for that. He has no suit that he can bid but he does have 16+ points, so he can just double to show his strong hand.

The links will take you to the Bridge Training website, where you can have a go at these overcalls. You will then be able to play the hands and see if you can make your contract. Have as many goes as you like if you don’t succeed the first time.