NYU Bridge and Spades Club

Bridge Lessons - Beginners

The Basics of Overcalling Opponents and the Introduction to Doubles

Practice Scenarios for Lesson 6

Practice Scenario 1RHO opens 1S. What do you bid?

Your hand:S: xxH: AJxxxD: QxxC: Axx

Answer to Scenario 1You bid 2H. You have 10+ points and 5+

hearts and this bid shows your hand perfectly fine.

Practice Scenario 2RHO opens 1H. What do you bid?

Your hand:S: AKJxxxxH: -D: AC: KJxxx

Answer to Scenario 2Before learning about the takeout double,

your answer would have been 1S. Here you can see how disappointed you would be if partner decided not to bid anything above your 1S bid. This is a prime opportunity to use the takeout double.

After X, if partner bids 2D, you rebid 2S to show you have a strong hand, most probably with both spades and clubs

Practice Scenario 3RHO opens 2H. What do you bid?

Your hand:S: AKQJTxxxxH: -D: AC: Axx

Answer to Scenario 3Bidding 2S or 4S may be your immediate

answer but both are wrong. 2S would show an opening hand with 5+ spades while 4S would probably simply be to play. While both may be good descriptors for your hand, they’re not the best.

The best bid here is the takeout X. After bidding that, you can rebid 4H (cuebid… future lesson) or 4S to show your ultra long suit with a very strong hand. Without bidding the takeout X first, your partnership may well miss a slam or GS.

Scenario 4Partner opens 1C, RHO overcalls 1H. What

do you bid?Your hand:

S: AxxxH: xxD: KQxxC: Jxx

Answer to Scenario 4You bid the negative X. This is the perfect

description of your hand – 6+ points with 4+ cards in the unbid major.

Scenario 5Partner opens 1C, RHO overcalls 1H. What

do you bid?Your hand:

S: AxxxxH: xD: KQxxC: Jxx

Answer to Scenario 5Looks the same as Scenario 4? Look more

closely – you have an extra spade in this case.

With 5 spades, you should bid 1S instead. This is a better description of your hand. You ignored the availability of the negative X and bid 1S. 1S must then mean that you have 5 or more spades and partner can support you with just 3 spades!

Scenario 6Partner opens 1C, RHO overcalls 1H. What

do you bid?Your hand:

S: AxxH: KxxD: KQxxC: Jx

Answer to Scenario 6Here we recall our basic principles – how

many points does it take to make a game? You have 13 points and partner stands to have a hand with 13+ points. It seems then that a game is evident. How then do you communicate that to your partner?

You must make either a forcing bid (usually a new suit or a double) or bid game. You don’t have any suit to communicate here so a direct 3NT bid is probably best. Note that you need a stopper in opponent’s suit to make this bid.