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Quiz: Barrier-Reversing

Quiz: Deal # Thursday
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Basic
strategy
0000). How to use 0001). Bidding Objectives = "8 and 25" 0002). 28 for minor 0003). 33 for NT slam 0004). Suit slam 0005). Importance of length 0006). Convention card 0007). ACOL and American Standard, differences 0008). A-Z Glossary 0690). A-Z Glossary
Hand
evaluation
0010). Balanced-Unbalanced 0011). How strong is your hand, HCP 0012). Distribution points 0013). Losing trick count 0014). Barrier-Reversing 0015). Selection of opening suit 0016). Showing shape 0017). 4441 distribution 0018). The skip over principle 0019). Rule of 20 Opening 1 of a suit 0019a). Rule of 25 Opening 2 of a suit 0019b). Rule of 500 Max penalty risk on preempt if doubled 0019c). Law of total tricks 0019d). Rule of Protective bidding
Opening
bids
0020). Plan of attack 0021). Bal, 12 to 19 HCPs, weak NT 0022). Bal, 20+ points 0023). Bal, 15 to 17 HCPs, strong NT 0025). Unbal, 12 to 19 HCPs, 1 suit 0026). Unbal, Strong 2s 0027). Unbal, Pre-emptive 0028). Unbal, Gambling 3NT 0029). Benji Strong 2s
Responder
1st bids
0030). After 1NT, General principles 0031). After 1NT, Weak 0032). After 1NT, Getting out of trouble 0033). After 1NT, 11+ balanced 0034). After 1NT, 11+ 4-card major 0035). After 1NT, 11+ unbalanced 0036). After 1NT, 19+ 0037). After 2NT 0038). After 1NT, and Enemy has interfered 0039). 1 NT responses 0040). After 1 Suit, With fit 0041). After 1 Suit, No fit, but alternative suit 0042). After 1 Suit, No fit, no new suit, probably balanced 0043). After 1 Suit, 6 points, nothing to bid 0044). After 1 Suit, Very strong 0045). After 1 Suit, Weak freak 0047). After 2 Suit, Strong 2s 0048). After 2 Suit, Weak 2s 0049). After 3 Suit, Responding to preempt
Openers
rebid
0050). Unbalanced, The general idea 0051). Unbalanced, You are weak 0052). Unbalanced, You are strong 0053). Unbalanced, Partner replied with 1NT 0054). Unbalanced, Delayed support 0055). Balanced
Responder
rebids
0060). Responder rebids, The general idea 0061). Choice of two suits 0062). Responders reverse 0063). After 1NT rebid
Basic
Convention
0080). Stayman 0081). Transfer 0082). Transfer after 2NT 0161). Minor suit transfer
Slam
bidding
0090). Slam, Spotting the chance 0091). Blackwood 0092). No-trump slam 0093). Gerber 0094). Extra slam techniques
Interfering
bids
0100). Overcalls, the basic idea 0101). Overcalls, in a suit, over a suit 0102). Overcalls, in a suit, over 1NT 0103). Overcalls, in NT, over a suit 0104). Overcalls, Jump overcall 0105). Overcalls, Double then bid a suit 0106). Overcalls, Bidding opponents suit 0107). Overcalls, Balancing (protective) 0108). Overcalls, Overcall a preempt 0109). Overcalls, Preemptive double jump 0110). Overcalls, To overcall, or to double 0111). Overcalls, Response to 1NT after suit overcall (Lebensohl) 0115). Defence after 1NT 0116). Competitive bidding 0117). Be cautious sometimes 0118). Sacrificing Be bold when non-vulnerable 0119). Sacrificing 0120). Doubles, Double a 1NT 0121). Doubles, Double for takeout 0122). Doubles, Doubling after opponent overcall 0126). Doubles, Protective double
Doubles

0120). Doubles, Double a 1NT 0121). Doubles, Double for takeout 0122). Doubles, Doubling after opponent overcall 0123). Doubles, Negative double 0124). Doubles, Double a 1NT overcall 0125). Doubles, Double a suit over 1NT 0126). Doubles, Protective double 0127). Doubles, Responsive double 0128). Doubles, Double then bid a suit 0129). Doubles, Penalty 0130). Doubles, Support double 0131). Doubles, Lead directing double 0132). Doubles, Maximal double 0133). Doubles, Redoubling - coded meanings 0134). Doubles, Forcing Pass 0135). Doubles, Re-opening double 0139). Doubles, Index of doubles
Advanced
Convention
0150). Majors Jacoby 2NT 0151). Majors Splinters 0152). Majors Weak 2s 0153). Majors Weak 2 defence 0154). Trial bid 0160). NT and minors 4th suit forcing 0161). Minor suit transfer 0162). DONT Bidding When Opponents open 1NT 0163). Game tries 0166). Grand Slam Force 0167). Roman Keycard Blackwood 0168). Cue bidding for controls 0170). 2-suited Overcall Unusual 2NT 0171). 2-suited Overcall Michaels cue bid 0172). 2-suited Overcall Landy over 1NT 0173). Overcall Unassuming cue bid 0179). Very advanced

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Quick summary

It's an interfering bid, aim is to obstruct stronger enemy, and get foot in the door.
Be more cautious when vulnerable.

Go to the limit fast if it's competitive. If enemy drop out, go slowly, use LTC.

Must have 5 or more cards for a suit overcall. An exception is Landy 2 over weak 1NT.

Cards and Points for higher level overcalls:

6c & LTC=6: Jump
7c & <10p: preempt 3
8c & <10p: preempt 4

5c & 18p: double & rebid the suit
6c & 16p: double & rebid the suit

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Bridge Venue

« 0100 »

Interfering bids. Overcalls, the basic idea

Wrecking opponent's bid, & even triumphing yourselves

Often with only a few points

If your opponents have started bidding, your chances of reaching a game bid are looking much slimmer. But you may still have a chance to do some constructive wrecking - even if your cards are weak as they often will be. Aside from consuming your opponents bidding space and making it hard for them to communicate effectively, the other reasons for overcalling are

to tell your partner what to lead if you end up defending
to 'push' the opponents' contract to a higher and hopefully unachievable level
to find an effective sacrifice

And finally of course, you might even end up with the contract yourselves! And it can sometimes even lead to game "bid and made".

Take a look at the summary to the left, and the chart. The general approaches are discussed below the chart, with links to more detail on each one.

100. Overcalls
Opening bid	Overcall	HCP	Cards	note	LTC
1 suit	1 suit	8-15	5	2 honours in the suit. LTC=8, 7 if vulnerable.	8/7
1 suit	2 of a lower suit	10-15	5	3 honours in the suit	7
1 NT	2 suit	12-15	6+, or 5-4	Don't bid with flat hand. 2 special, Landy=two 4-card Majors	7/6
1 NT	double	15-18		for penalties
1 suit	single jump	11-15	6+	e.g . 1-2, or 1-3. Can also play Weak but long with 6-10 HCP	6
1 suit	3 of a higher suit	6-10	7+	preempt, e.g.1-3. Double jump needed.
1 suit	4 of any suit	6-10	8+	preempt, e.g.1-4. Double jump to 4 needs 8+
overcalling with more than one suit on offer
1 suit	Double	12-15	~4441	looking for any of the 3 unbid suits
suit A	cue bid suit A	8-15	5 (x2)	a two suit overcall, looking for 2 Majors if A=minor
suit B	2NT	8-15	5 (x2)	a two suit overcall, looking for 2 minors if B=Major
strong overcalls
1 suit	1 NT	16-18	balanced	good stop in bid suit
1 suit	Double then suit	16+	6 (5)	18 needed with only 5-cards
1 suit	Double then NT	19+	balanced	rebid NT at lowest level
overcalling preemptive openings
weak 2	3	12	6/good5	weak two defence
weak 3	3	12	6/good5	need long strong suit
weak 2 or 3	Double	12	~4441	weak in opener's suit, cover in the others
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Basic Requirements

Overcalling in a suit after a suit opening

The enemy have opened the bidding, so have some strength, and therefore your chances of finding a contract are narrowed, since you are weaker.

Your ability to wreck your opponents chances is therefore more dependent than usual on having a long strong suit, rather than a strong hand. The sort of flat hand on which you would have opened a (12-14) 1NT is often better suited to defence. (Of course it's also worth competing if you are very strong).

If you're considering whether or not to overcall, ask yourself "if my partner ends up on opening lead, do I want him to lead this suit?" If you overcall on J10976 and your partner dutifully leads that suit, declarer may be able to cash AKQ and discard a loser in another suit where your side holds the top cards. Without your overcall, partner may well choose a much better lead.

The basic golden guideline then is that although you can be weak, you must have a 5-card suit, and it must have some quality. Unsurprisingly, the fewer points you have, then the better your suit will need to be.

How many points ? If the bidding status requires you to overcall at the two level you'll need just 10 points, so not many, and a mere 8 to open at the one level. Note that you DO also promise your nice partner certain other things, and he'll base all his calculations on your promises Alex :

a 5-card suit, and
some good colour (2 honours, but at the two level need either 3 honours or extra length: see Suit Quality Test)
if you have to bid at the 2 level: 10-15 points
if you can bid at the one level: 8-15 points
more strength if the vulnerability is unfavourable, less if favourable
read more

Overcalling in three suits at once

By simply doubling, you can tell your partner that you are strong in each one of the 3 suits other than the one your enemy just bid. You'll need an opening hand and a 4441 distribution, or close. Unless there's an intervening bid, your partner must tell you which suit it his best. See Double for takeout.

Overcalling in two suits at once

By bidding either 2NT ("unusual 2NT"), or simply bidding the same suit your opponents just bid ("Michael's cue bid"), you can tell your partner that you are strong in two of the remaining 3 unbid suits

2NT (unusual !): "I have 5-cards suits, in each minor" (when overcalling a Major). When overcalling a minor, the 5-card suits are in the other minor and one of the two Majors (unspecified. . ."Call enemy's suit to enquire which Major").
cue bid 2 of the enemy suit: "I have 5-cards suits, in each Major" (when overcalling a minor). When overcalling a Major, the 5-card suits are in the other Major, and one of the minors. "Call 2NT to ask me which minor".

You'll need 8-15 HCP, same as for a normal overcall. It's forcing unless there's an intervening bid: choose best of the two, jump to encourage, and bid opener's suit to force to game.

2 Clubs over 1NT: "I have at two good 4+ cards suits in each Major, weak minors, and an opening hand. Please tell me your best Major or give me a point count with 2 or 2NT". Partner will also use 2 to enquire about the Majors. This is called Landy, and does not promise a 5-card club suit, of course!

Overcalling 2 of a suit after 1NT opening

The requirements on Length and Strength are more stringent:

an opening hand (around 12 points)
6 card suit, or two suits with a 5-4 distribution or more

Overcalling in NT (over a suit)

Since the opposition is strong, then you should use the strong NT convention, not the weak NT. 15 HCP are needed, 16 better. You also need stoppers in opponents' suit.

Higher level overcalls

jump overcall: 12-15 points & 6 cards & colour (LTC), or
weak jump overcall: 6-10 points & 6 cards & colour
double then rebid a new suit: 16 or 18 HCP depending on length (6 or 5)

and a rather out dated approach. . ..

bid opponents' suit: 20 points+, pure point count. (Note: You can't use this system as well as the very useful Michael's cue bid mentioned above. To have 20+ HCP after the opponents have opened is quite rare, will not always lead to game, and will basically never get you to slam, so you might find the Michael's cue bid more useful. In any case, you can always force your partner to bid with a straightforward takeout double, and then show your strength on your rebid).

Response to overcaller - Changing suit

To change suit at the 2 level, you must have a good 5-card suit, obviously. You are fighting your partner !

Overcalling at the 3-level, over a Preempt

Most partnerships agree that calling 3 over an opening bid of 3 signifies that you have good points (opening hand) and a strong long suit to overcall in. If you had a strong hand but were short in the enemy suit you would double, asking partner for his best suit. That's double for take-out, of course. This double can be left by partner of the doubler if he has two stops in the enemy suit and he considers more points will be gained by defeating the contract.

It's rare to overcall 3NT after an opening 3-suit bid. It signifies great strength with good stops in the opening preemptive suit.

Note that overcalling 3 over 1 (not 3) is different, and itself signifies a Preempt.

Is your partner's overcall weak or strong?

When your partner makes a simple overcall at the one level, he could have as few as 8 HCP or as many as 16.

If you have 10+ points and support for partner's suit, or very good all round strength with stops in the opponent's suit and are thinking of No Trumps, you might have a chance of game if he's at the upper end, so it's useful to have a way of asking him how strong he is. You can do this by bidding the opponent's suit, e.g. (1) – 1 – (Pass) – 2.

This is called an Unassuming Cue Bid (UCB). It asks your partner to tell you how strong his overcall is.

If he's a minimum overcaller (8-11 HCP) he simply rebids his suit at the lowest possible level and you pass unless you're very strong.

If he's stronger (12-15) he bids anything else which tells you something useful about his hand, e.g. he rebids his suit with a jump to show at least 6 cards, bids another suit in which he has good cards, or even bids No Trumps if he has good stops in the opponent's suit. This will help you to decide how to bid on.

Responding to partner's overcall

When you can support partner's suit it's often a good idea to be aggressive in your bidding to make things difficult for the opponents, particularly if they are vulnerable and you are not. If you use a UCB (Unassuming Cue Bid) whenever you have real game-going support, you can use raises of partner's suit as pre-emptive. With a weak hand and several cards in his suit, raise to the 'limit of the fit'.

Meaning? If the bidding goes (1) 1♠ (2) ?? you know your partner must have at least 5 spades. Thus, if you have four spades then you have a 9-card fit, so raise to 3. If you have five, you have a 10-card fit- raise to 4. This may stop the opponents making a 4 contract.

(With six spades (11-card fit) it's probably wiser to raise to 4♠ rather than 5♠ though. Partner won't get excited by starting to look for slams - he'll know you're weak because you didn't use a UCB).

If you cannot support partner's overcalled suit it's usually best to pass the overcall. You should only suggest a suit of your own if it's likely to be superior to his – e.g. if he overcalls in a minor and you have AKQxx of a major. You may have a singleton in his suit . . .but remember he may well have a void in yours!

1NT? If you are weak in partner's overcalled suit (let's say partner overalled in ♠, e.g. bidding has gone 1, 1♠ pass), but have support for the other suits, and in the enemy suit of , you can think about a switch to 1NT. Beware! A reply of 1NT to a standard 1♠ opening will mean 6-9HCP. But as an overcall 1NT will have to be stronger because a 1♠ overall can be quite a lot weaker than a standard opening. You'll need

9-12 HCP,
2 or fewer cards in partner's overcall ♠ suit, and
semi-balanced shape

42. Reply to a Suit overcall, probably balanced
bid	1 NT	not NT	2NT	3NT	new suit	6NT
normal reply	6-9	10	11-12	13+	16+	21+
reply to overcall	9-12		13-15	16+
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Here's another summary

overcalling how high to bid

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Quiz: Barrier-Reversing

Quiz: Deal # Thursday