The approach adopted by today's serious players is simple but it does differ slightly from what was popular in times past. I have found the modern approach vastly superior. I describe here today's standard approach for competing in the auction after an opponent has opened the bidding with one of a suit.
We will first look at your action when you are sitting in the "direct" position, i.e. your right-hand opponent (RHO) has opened the bidding:
Slightly different rules apply in the "protective" position, i.e. your left-hand opponent (LHO) has opened the bidding and the next two players have passed. We will cover that later. First we will deal with the hand types you may have in the direct position, after your RHO has opened the bidding with one of a suit.
The traditional method of cue bidding the opponents' suit to show a game-forcing powerhouse is no longer available, since the cue bid is now Michaels (see later). This is not a problem. Simply make a takeout double initially and then follow that with a cue bid of the opponents' suit on the next round.
If you hold a balanced hand and are to compete without incurring serious risk, you need to have at least a good 15 hcp. If you have fewer than 15 hcp you should pass. Don't make a takeout double with a 12-14 hcp balanced hand. The reasons why are described in my summary of unsuitable hands for a takeout double.
If your RHO opens the bidding and you hold a balanced hand with 15-18 hcp, including a good stop in the opponents' suit (Q J x or better), you should overcall 1NT.
If you have a balanced hand stronger than 18 hcp, first make a takeout double then rebid NT after partner's expected suit response. A bid of NT at the lowest level shows 19-21 hcp and a jump bid 22+ hcp.
If you have 12 hcp or better and your short suit is the opponents' suit, make a takeout double. Otherwise you must pass. I have prepared a complete summary of the modern treatment of takeout doubles, which you may wish to refer to.
If you have a two-suited hand and are short in the opponents' suit and your values are entirely or mostly in your two suits, you should make a conventional two-suited overcall. Otherwise you should pass.
The most commonly played system of two-suited overcalls is the Michaels Cue Bid and the Unusual Notrump. There are others (e.g. Ghestem), but the combination of Michaels and the Unusual NT is the simplest and works well. The conventional bids are as follows:
The only two-suited hand pattern where the combination of Michaels and the Unusual NT does not provide the bid you need are when the opponent opened in a minor suit and you hold spades and the other minor. In that case you have two choices. If you decide you would like to show both suits you should bid your minor suit as a simple overcall and follow it up by bidding spades on the next round if the bidding has not got too high. Bidding spades second is usually the better way of showing both suits at the lowest possible level but it risks possibly not being able to show your spades at all. If you do not want to risk not being able to show your spade suit then first make an overcall in spades and then bid your minor suit later if the auction permits.
If you are thinking of bidding a single-suited hand, first make sure that most of your strength is in that suit and, in particular, you are confident that it would be best for your side if your partner should lead your suit rather than any other. If you are not sure about that then don't bid. You are more likely to end up defending than declaring after the opponents have opened the bidding. If your overcall results in your partner's making a good lead you will score well. If your overcall results in your partner's lead giving a trick away you can expect a poor score (and quite likely an unhappy partner). If your partner should lead the king from his holding of K x you had better be holding something like A x x x x or Q J x x x at the very least. If you are holding J 9 x x x (or even J 10 x x x x) then it will be declarer who gains from your ill-advised overcall.
So let's assume you have a good suit. What should you bid? A direct overcall, even a jump overcall, is not forcing. To show a strong hand you must first make a takeout double and then bid your suit after partner's response. Partner will take a change of suit after your takeout double as showing a strong hand such as would have made a strong jump overcall under old methods.
With a competitive hand only, or one where you wish to give your partner
a lead direction, make a jump overcall with a good 6-card suit
otherwise a simple overcall.
When vulnerable, a jump overcall should be of at least opening bid strength
but when not vulnerable it matters more that most of your strength should
be in the suit that you bid.
I do not recommend playing the very weak jump overcall style,
where your suit might be no more than
The main difference between a simple overcall and a jump overcall is the length of your suit. Five cards is expected at the one level, six at the two level (though a good five-card suit in a distributional hand is OK) and at least a good six-card suit is expected at the three-level.
The basic rules are that after the opposition has opened the bidding with one of a suit:
Note in particular:
If your left-hand opponent (LHO) opens the bidding and the next two players pass, you know for sure that your right-hand opponent (RHO) cannot have much. Say you have 10 hcp or so. Your partner most likely has a good hand but had nothing he could say after the opening bid. Perhaps he is long in their suit but too weak to bid 1NT. Perhaps he is long in their suit but without support for both unbid majors, so he could not make a takeout double.
Since your partner very likely has a reasonable hand but could not bid, it is your job, after LHO's opening bid has been followed by two passes, to "protect" your partner's pass. To do that, imagine that you hold one more king than you actually have and if your hand is then worth a bid, make that bid. For example:
If partner is holding a good hand with six (or a good five) cards in the opponents' suit, your takeout double will be music to his ears. He will pass and you should collect a very nice penalty score.
Otherwise he should respond to your bid exactly as he would if you had made it in the direct position, except that he must realise that you have "borrowed" a king from his hand. Therefore he should imagine his hand with a king fewer and then make the appropriate bid.
Note that we do not play either Michaels or the Unusual NT in the protective position. In the protective position:
With a protective 1NT showing 11-14 hcp and a protective 2NT showing 19-21 hcp, the intermediate balanced hands of 15-18 hcp are shown by first making a protective takeout double and following this with a bid of no trumps at the lowest level.
If your partner has made an overcall in a suit, whether a simple or jump overcall, and the next hand passes, your responses are:
When your side has a double fit (a fit in two suits) the other side will have a double fit in the other two suits. When a double fit exists, you will want to be declaring rather than defending and you should be inclined to bid on over the opponents' contract.
Fit jumps enable your partner to diagnose whether a double fit exists or whether only a single fit exists. Knowing this puts him in a better position than the other three players at the table to judge how far to compete and whether to defend or attack.
If you are playing fit jumps, in any competitive auction where you have four-card support for partner and a good suit of your own (at least nine cards between the two suits), you can show your support and your second suit with one bid: you make a single jump bid in your second suit. Partner now knows that you are two-suited. If he is also two-suited in the same two suits, he knows that you have a double fit, The opponents (and you, of course) are in the dark. If partner is short in the suit in which you made your fit jump, he knows that you have only a good fit, not a double fit. Partner is now the best placed player at the table to judge whether to compete over the opponents' bids, pass or double.
Fit jumps, if played, apply in any competitive auction, i.e. whether your side opened or the opponents opened.
If you play splinters when your side opens the bidding, it is sensible to play them also when the opponents open the bidding. But only a jump in a suit bid by an opponent is a splinter. A jump in a new suit in a competetive auction is a fit jump. Once the auction has become competetive, the only suit in which a shortage needs to be shown is the suit the opponents have bid. You can still splinter in their suit, but a jump in a new suit is a fit jump.
You need to agree with your partner that you will play fit jumps and splinters, or else you should not use them.
Author: Chris Burton
Gravesend Bridge Club