Standard American Bridge Lesson 2
Opening Bids at the Level of 1
Ranking of Suits - the ranking of bids from highest to lowest
NT NoTrumps
♠ Spades
♥ Hearts
♦ Diamonds
♣ Clubs
These are listed in descending order: NoTrumps (NT) is the highest bid winning over suit bids:
Spades is the highest ranking suit
followed by hearts
then by diamonds
and the lowest ranking suit is clubs
Comment:
The importance of this ranking is to do with winning the bidding for a contract. You can win the contract at any level by bidding a higher ranking suit
♦ Opener’s First Bid
The first person to make a bid (other than pass) is called the opener. You should have at least 13 TP to open the bidding.
Start with your longest suit – “Length before Strength”.
When you open with a bid at the level of 1 you are saying that you expect to win at least 7 tricks out of the 13 tricks available in the game. This bid also nominates the suit you bid as the trump suit.
The rules differ according to whether you open a major or minor suit.
The Major Suits are Spades ♠ and Hearts ♥
1 ♠ or 1 ♥, opening bids
· 13-21 TP
· promises a 5-card suit
· open longest suit
· with two 5-card suits, open the higher ranked suit
|
Hand 1.
Your Hand
♠ A K Q J
♥ J 5 4 3 2
♦ A K
♣ 6 5
Your Bid
The correct opening bid here is 1♥ Even though the spade suit is stronger, the heart suit is longer and should be bid first.
Minor Suits - Diamonds ♦ and Clubs ♣
1♣ or 1♦ opening bids
· 13-21 TP
· your better minor suit
· promises at least a 3- card suit
· open longest suit, regardless of quality
· with two 4-card suits, open the lower ranked suit
|
Hand 2.
Your Hand
♠ A K Q J
♥ 3
♦ A 8 6 3
♣ A Q 3 2
Your Bid
The correct opening bid here is 1♣. With two 4-card minors open the lower. You can bid your spade suit later, if possible.
PLAY BRIDGE ONLINE NOW
PREVIOUS LESSON - Hand Evaluation NEXT LESSON - Bidding Game
BL 1 © House of Cards 2008: info@bridgedoctor.com
