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Stayman

Adam introduces the Stayman convention.

DONT

Adam discusses the DONT convention for overcalling the opponents’ 1NT opening.

Leaping Michaels

Leaping Michaels is a modification of the Michaels Cuebid made over a weak-2 bid. It’s pretty simple:

 

After they open 2♥ or 2♠, a jump to 4 of a minor shows a Michaels-type hand: 5 cards in that minor and 5 in the other major. It is game forcing. Advancer will generally pick one of overcaller’s suits.

 

After they open 2♦, 4♦ shows both majors. 4♣ shows clubs and either major; advancer can bid 4♦ to find out.

 

Playing Leaping Michaels frees up the direct cuebid for other uses. Many use it as a stopper ask – i.e., a hand that wants to be in 3NT if advancer has a stopper. Some use a cuebid of 3M to show both minors. I prefer a cuebid of 3♦ to still be Michaels, just not strong enough to force to game; getting both majors in is important.

 

 

(2♠)        ?

 

♠ 8 ♥ AQJ65 ♦ KQJ98 ♣ K3              Bid 4♦

 

♠ 9 ♥ AJ6 ♦ AKQJ654 ♣ Q8              Bid 3♠, asking for a stopper

 

 

(2♦)        ?

 

♠ QJT98 ♥ AKQ98 ♦ —   ♣ K65       Bid 4♦

 

♠ AKJ65 ♥ 6 ♦ 8 ♣ AQ9874               Bid 4♣

 

♠ AJ653 ♥ KQ984 ♦ 8 ♣ Q8               Bid 3♦

 

 

Leaping Michaels is by no means an essential addition to your bidding arsenal; just playing regular Michaels Cuebids is fine. But almost all expert pairs play Leaping Michaels, so it’s at least something you want to be familiar with.

 

 

Impossible 2♠

Opener Responder
   
1♥ 1NT

 
2♣ 2♠

 

What on earth does 2♠ mean? Responder can’t have spades. That’s impossible; she didn’t bid 1♠ over 1♥. Since this bid can’t be natural, we can treat it kind of like a cuebid – a support cuebid. The 2♠ bid says, “I have the best possible raise of clubs.” We call this the Impossible 2♠.

 

This means that a raise to 3♣ is not as strong; we call it a “courtesy” raise. So the weakest hands with club support pass, reasonable hands raise to 3♣, the best hands bid the Impossible 2♠.

 

 

♠ A5 ♥ 65 ♦ J9874 ♣ Q983                 Pass

 

♠ A5 ♥ 65 ♦ J9874 ♣ KJ98                 3♣

 

♠ A5 ♥ 65 ♦ J987 ♣ AQ983                2♠

 

 

Opener will either retreat to 3♣ with a minimum or look for game. Very simple.

 

 

ODR

A key concept when evaluating a hand, especially when deciding whether/how high to compete or preempt, is ODR: Offense to Defense Ratio. ODR is a measure of how many tricks a hand will take on offense (if it gets to choose the trump suit) vs. on defense (in the opponents’ trump suit). An example will make this clearer:

 

♠ 87 ♥ KQJT874 ♦ 54 ♣ 93

 

How many tricks will this hand take on offense in a heart contract? Six. How many will it take on defense in another suit? Maybe one, probably zero. That’s a high ODR: 6:0.

 

♠ AK5 ♥ A65 ♦ A75 ♣ 8532

 

A classic 1NT opening. How many tricks will this hand take on offense? Four. On defense? Four. This is a very low ODR – the same number of tricks on offense as on defense.

 

 

What Types of Hands Have a High ODR?

 

Shapely hands. Two-suiters and one-suiters are the most common examples. There’s a reason that in high-risk situations, like coming in over their strong 1NT, we reserve bidding for hands with a long suit and two-suiters: hands with a high ODR. The idea is that on offense it is a hand that can take many more tricks than its simple HCP count would suggest.

 

♠ KQ874 ♥ QJ984 ♦ 54 ♣ 6

 

With a fit in one of the majors, this hand will take a good number of tricks, maybe six or seven. On defense probably one.

 

♠ 87 ♥ 654 ♦ QJT954 ♣ 84

 

In diamonds this hand will take four tricks; anywhere else probably zero. This is why if partner opened 1NT you would choose to play in 3♦ (using whatever methods your partnership employs to get there): even though it’s two levels higher, you rate to provide 4 extra tricks.

 

Hands without aces. Aces take tricks on defense; kings and queens not necessarily so, especially when you have a long suit. Aces lower ODR because they provide a defensive trick.

 

♠ AQJ9854 ♥ 8 ♦ 8743 ♣ 3

 

♠ KQJ9854 ♥ 8 ♦ 8743 ♣ 3

 

Probably the same number of tricks on offense, but the first hand will usually take a trick on defense; the second will usually not.

 

Hands without voids. Voids can throw off ODR, because the void can provide ruffing tricks on defense. Of course, if they play in your void suit that’s not the case, but that can mean a bad trump split that creates defensive tricks for partner. This is why the old-school rule was not to preempt with a void. We aren’t that strict anymore, but voids certainly lower ODR.

 

Fit. The bigger your fit, the higher the ODR. Let’s say you hold ♠ AK432 and partner holds ♠ 98. Likely three or four tricks on offense and two tricks on defense. Let’s say partner has ♠ 987. Offensive potential goes up – probably four tricks – but defensive potential goes down, as the likelihood someone has a singleton increases. (A 4-1 split is much more likely than a 5-1 split.) Now give partner ♠ 9876. Offensive potential goes up, as you might score 5 tricks. And defensive potential goes down, as now a 3-1 split is the most likely division of the opponents’ spades. Give partner ♠ 98765 and on offense you expect five tricks and on defense only one, sometimes zero.

 

 

 

How Does ODR Help Us?

 

ODR can be a helpful guide when making the most important and difficult decision in bridge: should I compete or not? When the opponents have outbid you and you have to decide whether to bid on or defend, considering your ODR can make the decision clearer.

 

How shapely is your hand? More suggests bidding on, less suggests defending. Especially if you have shortness in their suit(s). Are you looking at sure defensive tricks like aces, or kings in short suits? Weak holdings in their suits like Qxx that are likely useless on offense but potential tricks on defense? And most importantly, how big is your fit with partner? Extra trumps suggest offense, fewer trumps suggest defense. A double fit means higher ODR and suggests offense, while a misfit points to defense.

 

1♠        (2♥)     2♠        (3♥)

?

 

♠ AK874 ♥ Q87 ♦ KQ4 ♣ 84

 

Very flat, a possible defensive trick in their trump suit, minimum length in your trump suit. Low ODR suggests defending; you should pass.

 

♠ KJT873 ♥ 5 ♦ AJT ♣ KQ3

 

Extra trump length and shortness in their suit mean a higher ODR; you should bid 3♠.

 

 

 

 

Mitchell Stayman

What happens after an opponent overcalls 1NT? There are two basic principles:

 

  1. Double is penalty. Responder has 9 or 10 + points, knows advancer is pretty much broke, and wants to penalize 1NT.
  2. Bidding a suit is natural and non-forcing. Stronger hands would double. Bidding your own suit is like a weak-2.

 

1♥        (1NT)              ?

 

♠ QJ9873 ♥ 32 ♦ K983 ♣ 5                 Bid 2♠

 

♠ K432 ♥ Q3 ♦ QJT98 ♣ K3              Double

 

 

One convention treatment that is useful is Mitchell Stayman, which treats a 2♣ bid by responder as showing both majors, usually at least 5-4. Since responder didn’t double, you should expect a weak hand, under 10 HCP.

 

You can treat this much like Landy: opener can bid 2♦ to ask what responder’s better/longer major is. Of course, if opener’s suit is diamonds, it probably makes more sense to use 2♦ as natural – i.e., 6+ diamonds.

 

A few other details. What does it mean if opener has opened 1 of a major and responder shows “both majors?” Usually it means 5 in the other major and Hx or xxx in opener’s major. For example:

 

♠ KJ652 ♥ Q3 ♦ J987 ♣ 32

 

 

Some people choose to play that whichever minor opener didn’t open is the bid showing the majors, so that responder can raise opener naturally. So after 1♣ (1NT), 2♣ would be natural and 2♦ would show the majors. I like always using 2♣, but it’s something to discuss with your partner.