The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 1 on 23 March
North counts 10 HCPs plus 1 each for the doubletons. He's too strong for a weak-two and a little weak for 1 Heart so decides to pass and see what happens. East passes and South counts 14 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and opens 1 Spade. West passes and North responds 2 Hearts promising 10 or more points and 5 or more Hearts. East passes and South reverses to 3 Diamonds promising 15 points and forcing partner to 3 Spades or higher. North rebids 3 Hearts and South raises to 4 Hearts. It makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 2 on 23 March
East counts 14 HCPs minus 1 for the flat hand and opens 1 Club. West counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and responds 1 Diamond to force partner to describe. East rebids 1 Spade. West wants to find a game and rebids 2 hearts to show his other suit, 10 or more points and to force again. West has no suit that he can rebid so must rebid 2 No Trump. West raises to 3 No Trump and everything works. He can make 4 Spades, 4 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and 1 Club for the top. If the defenders force out the Ace of Clubs, declarer will have to play cautiously and may not get them all.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 3 on 23 March
It floats to East who counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Spade. West counts 8 HCPs and raises to 2 Spades. All pass and it makes for a good score.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 4 on 23 March
West counts 15 HCPs minus 1 for the King singleton and opens 1 Diamond. East counts 9 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and responds 1 Spade. West is forced and rebids 2 Clubs. East rebids 2 No Trump showing 10 or more points and West raises to 3 No Trump. It makes for a good score.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 5 on 23 March
North counts 9 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and passes as does East. South counts 10 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton. He ponders some number of Diamonds. He might squeeze out 1 Diamond but West may have a good hand. He uses the Rule of Two or Three and counts 5 Diamonds with favorable vulnerable and opens 2 Diamonds. West counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and competes to 2 Hearts. North adds a trick the partner's preempt and raises to 3 Diamonds. East has an Ace and 5 Hearts so competes to 3 Hearts. Diamonds make 4 and Hearts make 3 so it depends.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 6 on 23 March
East counts 22 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and 1 for the 4 Aces. He opens 2 Clubs and West responds 2 Diamonds. East rebids 2 Hearts to show his 5-card suit or better and he needs help for game (He would have jumped with game in hand). West adds a point for his 4-card support in Hearts, but has no Aces so jumps to 4 No Trump (Blackwood). East responds 5 Clubs to show none or all the Aces which he deduces is all four. He raises to 6 Hearts and it makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 7 on 23 March
South counts 10 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and passes. West counts 14 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Heart. North passes and East counts 10 HCPs minus 1 for the flat hand and responds 2 Hearts. All pass and all pairs go down. Minus 1 gets the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 8 on 23 March
West counts 9 HCP and passes. North counts 11 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton King and ponders 1 Spade or 2 Spades. He decides on the Weak-Two and all pass. It should make an overcall for the top, but one pair bid a game and were allowed to make it.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 9 on 23 March
It floats to South who counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Diamond. West counts 11 HCPs but lacks the good 6-card Club suit to overcall and must pass. North counts 6 HPs and responds 1 Heart. East overcalls 1 Spade and South rebids 2 Hearts. All pass and it makes for a mediocre score.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 10 on 23 March
East counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Club. South passes and West counts 9 HCPs plus 1 for the Heart doubleton and responds 1 Diamond to force partner to describe his hand. North passes and East rebids 1 Heart. West rebids 1 Spade and East rebids 1 Notrump. It makes for what should be a top but Jack and Jane were hot today and made an overcall.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 11 on 23 March
South passes and West counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the overcall and opens 1 Diamond. North passes and East counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the Ace doubleton and responds 1 Heart to show his best suit and to force partner to describe. West rebids 2 Clubs and East rebids 3 Hearts to show his 6-card or longer suit and enough for game. The opponents can get the first trick with the Ace of Clubs or the last but declarer gets 1 Spade, 6 Hearts and 5 Diamonds for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 12 on 23 March
West counts 12 HCPs and stretches with the 6-card suit to open 1 Spade. North passes and East counts 9 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton Diamond and 1 for the 4-card support and jumps to 3 Spades to invite game. South counts 14 HCPs plus 3 for the void and doesn't like interfering at the 4-level opposite a passed hand. Whether he does or doesn't, West will add 3 points for the support 6-card suit and will rebid 4 Spades as did all the West pairs. The computer says they go down but two pairs made it for the top. If North first leads the Ace of Hearts and the the 5, South will win the King and lead a third one for partner to ruff, they will also win a Diamond for to put declarer down 1 for the bottom. If they do anything else, declarer makes it for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 13 on 23 March
North has a great hand in a tricky situation. He has 22 HCPs but if he opens 2 Clubs, he can't rebid 2 No Trump with his singleton. If he adds 2 points for the singleton Club, he can't rebid 3 Diamonds with a 5-card suit which requires 25 HCPs. He can fudge, but partner will always wonder if he has what he promised after that. He decides to open 1 Diamond. East will probably overcall 1 Heart, South will respond 1 Spade and West will pass. North will then bid 2 Hearts, a cue bid which forces to game while they look for the best game. South will probably rebid 2 Clubs to show his second suit. North will then bid 3 No Trump and make 2 overtricks for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 14 on 23 March
East passes and South counts 1 HCPs with a balanced hand and opens 1 No Trump. West passes and North counts 12 HCPs and responds 3 No Trump. It makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 15 on 23 March
South passes and West counts 1 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Diamond. North counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and doubles for takeout. East counts 5 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and raises to 2 Diamonds. South counts 10 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and jumps to 3 hearts. All pass and it makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 16 on 23 March
It floats to East who counts 17 HCPs with a balanced hand and opens 1 No Trump. South passes and West raises to 2 No Trump promising 8-9 HCPs and inviting game. East raises to No Trump with his maximum. It makes for the top although some went down badly. Can you figure out how Herb (and the computer) made it.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 17 on 23 March
North passes and East counts 11 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and opens 1 Diamond. South counts 14 HCPs and doubles for takeout. West counts 15 HCPs and responds 1 Heart. North passes and East raises to 2 Hearts. South passes and West raises to 4 Hearts. It makes for a good score but 3 pairs made an overcall for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 18 on 23 March
East counts 10 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton. There is no Weak-Two bid for Clubs so he stretches for the 6-card suit and opens 1 Club. South passes and West counts 12 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and responds 1 Spade. North counts 11 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and overcalls 2 Hearts. East rebids 3 Clubs. South passes and West raises to 4 Clubs. All pass and it makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 19 on 23 March
South passes and West counts 15 HCPs with a balanced hand and opens 1 No Trump. East counts 8 HCPs and responds 2 Hearts (Jacoby Transfer). West rebids 2 Spades as directed. East responds 2 No Trump showing 8-9 HCPs, exactly 5 Spades and inviting game. West has a minimum with 3 Spades, bids 3 Spades and goes down.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 20 on 23 March
It floats to South who counts 14 HCPs plus 1 for the Diamond doubleton and opens 1 Heart. West overcalls 1 Spade and North raises to 2 Hearts. East counts 10 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and competes to 3 Clubs. South competes to 3 Hearts and West competes to 4 Clubs. It makes for a poor score. The big scores were from setting North/South.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 21 on 23 March
North passes and East counts 16 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and opens 1 Club. West counts 11 HCPs and responds 1 Heart to force partner to describe his hand. East jumps to 3 Hearts to promise 4-card support and 17 or more points. West reevaluates to 11 HCPs plus 5 for the void and 1 for the 5-card suit and jumps to 4 No Trump (Blackwood). East responds 5 Hearts to show two Aces and West bids 6 Hearts. It makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding
We have a whole bunch of bidding rules, systems and conventions to help us with the bidding. If we don’t know what we are trying to accomplish, however, it makes it exceedingly difficult to reach the best result. We are trying to converse so that one partner knows what both partners have and can set the contract. That’s it. Sometimes it’s the opener, sometimes it’s the responder, but every hand has the same process.
With many opening bids the opener describes his hand with one bid and responder has systems to guide the bidding to the best contract. This is why opening bids of No Trump, Strong Two Clubs, Weak Twos and Preempts make it easier for responders to guide openers through the bidding.
Unfortunately, the most common opening bid is one of a suit and that tells responder very little. Opener could have 13 points or a lot more. He could have a 3-card suit or a 10-card suit. From here we must perform a coded dance to trade information to reach our goal. We must know what bids are forcing and which are not. We continue until one partner has adequately described his hand and the other can set the contract. Learn the basic dance steps as described in Lesson 2 and you’re ready to have a ball. Just never forget what it is you’re trying to do.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Responses and Rebids
There was a great renaissance in bridge in the sixties and seventies. The Jacoby Transfer was an instant improvement to No Trump. The Italian systems brought about the Forcing-Two Clubs Openings and the Weak-Two Openings. The basic changes to 1-of-a-suit bidding were as important as any of the above. Many jump bids were changed from wasted bids forcing to game to very useful invitational bids. It became apparent that if you want to force partner to game, you can just bid it yourself.
It also became apparent that the opening one-of-a-suit bid tells partner very little. It can be 13 points or 20 points and a 3-card suit or an 11-card suit. It is the opener's rebid that really is descriptive and responder needs to stay out of the way. The partners need to bid so that one player knows what both have and can set the contract. It can be by responder limiting his hand so that opener knows what both have. It also can be by responder bidding a new suit that forces partner to describe his hand. Opener's rebid is the most important bid of the auction.
A jump-shift by responder merely uses up bidding space and makes it difficult or impossible for opener to describe his hand. Therefore an initial jump-shift by responder has been transformed to a weak bid. Too weak in fact to respond otherwise. The weak jump-shift can be useful when responder doesn't like opener's suit and thinks he may go down. Responder has a long suit with less than 6 points and thinks they will do better in two of his suit than one of opener's suit. He then wants opener to pass unless he has a really good hand. The responder will never make an initial strong jump-shift.
Explanation of Bids
I have discussed this subject under "Alerts, Announcements and Stops are banned" on the back of the guides, but we need a more detailed discussion.
Since some pairs utilize nonstandard conventions, their opponents can ask for an explanation at their turn to bid or later at their turn to play if they see bidding they don't understand.
A request for an explanation of a bid should be directed to the partner of the player who made the bid in question. The proper form of the request is "Please explain" or “Please explain any special agreement”.
The opponent is entitled to a full understanding of the agreement and all questions concerning the agreement should be graciously resolved.
These rules apply only to an understanding of special agreements between partners. This does not include inferences drawn from general bridge knowledge and experience. It especially does not include information as to how a player thought or acted in regard to the agreement. This would be unauthorized information.
If the meaning has not been discussed, "no agreement" is the proper response. If you've forgotten it, say so. You must not say such things as "I am taking it to mean ..."
If an opponent asks you how you took partner's bid, you should not answer. Call the director immediately.
If you bid incorrectly in response to partner's conventional bid and an opponent asks for an explanation, you must explain the agreement. You must make no mention of your misplay.
In other words, you must fully explain the agreement but never explain your thoughts or actions.
Calling the Director
You should be aware of the Club Rules and Pointers on the back of the Guide/Score sheets. Number 4 discusses the calling of the director with any Questions or suspected errors before taking any actions. A recent incident involving a revoke causes me to think that I need to discuss this matter more thoroughly.
Suppose an opponent makes a play causing you to think that there might have been a revoke on this or a prior play. The partner of the suspected revoker can ask partner if he has any cards of the suit led to try to prevent a revoke. Other than that, you must call the director immediately. Do not ask questions, turn over cards or replace a card which has been played. Everyone freezes.
When the director arrives, the player who called will explain what happened on the present play or what he thinks happened on a subsequent play. The director will ask any questions needed to clarify the situation, turn over any relevant prior plays and when he understands the situation will make a ruling. He will determine whether there was an established revoke requiring score adjustment or a revoke which is not established and can be corrected. If he can’t clearly understand what has happened, he can not make a ruling and will have to kill the board, especially if there is a time issue.
Incidentally, revoke is the proper name for this situation. Renege is an obsolete name which is not used.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 9 on 16 March
North passes and East counts 10 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Heart. South counts 19 HCPs plus 3 for the void and doubles (Big). West counts 9 HCPs and responds 1 Spade. North passes and East now considers his Hearts self-supporting and adds 5 for the 7-card suit and jumps to 3 Hearts promising 6 or more points and 17 points or more. South competes to 4 Diamonds. West sees at least 8 Hearts and 26 points so raises to 4 Hearts. If South plays Ace, King of both Clubs and Spades and then leads his last Club to North's King, East is down 2. If he instead then leads the Queen of Spades East will only go down 1. If he first leads the A, King, Queen of Spades, East may make it.