PRE-EMPTIVE OPENINGS
‘Pre-emptive’ means getting ahead – in the case of bidding, we are getting in early with a higher-level bid because that makes it harder for our opponents to open the bidding in the normal way at the one level. Often, you can make these higher-level contracts that you bid because of the distributional strength of […]
STRONG OPENING BIDS
Usually when we open the bidding above the one level it is to be pre-emptive – that is to say we want to make it more difficult for our opponents to come into the auction. These hands have too few points to open at the one level but a lot of distributional strength (see Pre-emptive […]
Unbalanced hands
Unbalanced hands are much more fun than balanced ones, and hands with whacky distribution can have much greater playing strength than their point count alone would suggest, especially if you find a fit with partner’s hand. If your hand is unbalanced and you have enough strength to open at the one level, the panel above […]
Balanced hands
First, let’s get our terminology straight: If you are the dealer, or the if the other players before you have passed, you get to make the opening bid. If your opponents have bid first, then you are said to be making an overcall, and if your partner has already bid you are responding. The panel […]