Monday, August 5, 2013

Rules Broken By The Opener

You will now be let in on a dirty little secret: bridge experts lie!

Some of the golden rules you hold most sacred are disregarded on occasion because the “lie” is the lesser of evils. 

Openers lie often because the lie is usually the only bid that makes sense:

Rule: Always bid a major when possible; Don’t open NT if you are unbalanced. 


But:

1. You
♠ 4 2                You should open 1 NT. Charles 
♥ A Q 9 8 7     Goren would have said to open 1
K 10 7         because of the worthless spade 
♣ A Q J           doubleton and the 5-card major. 
                        But today, most experts open 1NT 
                        to avoid rebid problems, despite 
                        holding a 5-card major. 
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2. You
♠ K 9               You should open 1 NT. Charles 
 Q J               Goren would have said to open 1
 A J 9 8 7 6 because of the two doubletons. 
♣ A 2 But opening 1 NT is better because
                        opening 1 presents distasteful 
                        rebid problems. Ignore your doubletons.
Note: But don’t open 1 NT with 2 doubletons and a 5-card major.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Rule: Do not rebid 1 NT with a singleton. 

But:

         You             Opp.           Partner          Opp.
         1♣               Pass            1♠                 Pass
 1NT

3. You                Your second bid of 1NT should
♠ 9                     show a balanced hand. But there are
 Q J 7 6           hands where bidding 1NT with a
 K 9 8              singleton in partner’s suit is the   
♣ A Q 6 5 2      lesser of evils. Bidding 2 is too
                        expensive (a reverse bid) and rebidding
                          clubs
 should show 6+.

©2013 Roberta Salob