Develop your bridge---bidding

Opening with unbalanced hands with less than eight playing tricks or, say, less than twenty points (continued)

Occasionally, partner compensates for the imbalance in your hand , and no-trumps becomes a possibility.

S K3

A 2H opener may be best here, but after 1H, if partner bids 1S or 2C, then 3NT is probably worth a try.

H AK542

D KQ32

C K2

S K3

This is the same hand as above, but picture a spade overcall on your left. No-trumps is too dangerous now, and your rebid becomes hearts or diamonds.

H AK542

D KQ32

C K2

S A98

After a 1D opening, a heart response from partner might encourage you to rebid 1 NT rather than show your fragile clubs.

H 2

D AK432

C A432

S K542

If partner shows clubs and diamonds over your 1H-2H, you may well settle for no-trumps.

H AK432

D Q2

C 43

Unbalanced hands tend to yield a good crop of tricks which arise perhaps through the small cards in a suit or perhaps through shortages which allow ruffing. The losing trick count is the best way of evaluating these hands, but an alternative, which gives aggressive players a justification for an opening bid on a shaky hand, is the rule of nineteen.

Take the number of cards in your two longest suits (probably 5 + 4, or 5 + 5 if the hand is unbalanced) and add this total to your normal honour point count. If the total comes to nineteen or more, you are entitled to bid. Do bear in mind the quality of your long suits. Your arithmetic will be way out if you can't expect to take tricks in these long suits.

S K Q 4 3 2

H A 7 6 5 4

D J 3

C 2

A ten- point honour count and two five-card suits gives a 'count' of twenty. You can open one spade.

S A J 9 7 5	A ten-point honour count with a five-card and a four-card suit gives you a 'count' of nineteen. Open 1S.
H K Q 4 3
D 3 2
C 3 2

S J 7 6 5 4

H J 7 6 5 4

D K 3

C A

Although the 'count' is nineteen, you would be foolish to open here as neither major offers much prospect of tricks.

Note in passing that the above three hands all have a losing trick count well in excess of five.

Try your hand at this quiz which encompasses both pages on this topic.

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Contact Ray

Two couples playing bridge, one girl having shocked the men by her unethical proposal.

The informative call.

Male bridge player
" Any conventions, partner?"
Young lady "Yes. If I say 'Nope' instead of 'No bid', it means that my hand's absolutely rotten."

Image by courtesy of The Chelwood Gallery (Tel 01242-251-412)