Bridge7's
Home Page 		2. OPENINGS

2.0 Rules for Opener

You can practise openings at the Section-10!

2.0.1 General Rules for Opener 

General Rules for Opener in Every Position:
 
 1) You need at least 13 points to open. For preemptive openings you may have lesser points.
2) You must have 5 or more cards in major for opening in majors. If you don't have a 5-card major, open your longest minor. If the lengths of minors are equal, in case of 3-3, open clubs, otherwise open diamonds (higher ranked minor)
3) Open at the one level if you have 13-21 points.
4) If you have 6 or more cards with top two honors in any suit, and less than 13 points, you may open to prevent your opponents from making a good contract. This kind of openings are called preemptive openings. 2 and any higher suit bid is preemptive.
5) Open 2 if you have 22+ points to show your strength to your partner.  
6) Your points are limited for notrump openings. You need 15-17 points for 
1 NT, 20-21 for 2 NT..
7) You can open 2 with 25-27 points. So 3NT opening bid is reserved for showing a four-level pre-empt in an unspecified minor....
8) For opening balanced hands use TOBAHA

2.0.2 Rules for Opener in 1st and 2nd Positions

The general rules at 2.0.1 are all valid for the players in the first and second chair. Anytime you are in a borderline (11-12 Points) and can not decide whether to open the bidding or not, use Rule of 20:

"Add your HCP and the number of cards in your two longest suits. If the total is 20 or more open the biding. If the total is less than 20 then pass"

2.0.3 Rules for Opener in 3rd Position

The general rules at 2.0.1 are all valid for the players in the third chair. 

Third position is the best time to open light. In the  third chair you can open with a weaker hand than the hand in 1st and 2nd chair. 

You can still us Rule of 20 explained at 2.0.1. Preemptive openings can be make with weaker hands.

Also in third seat you can preempt a suit that you want partner use as an opening lead..

As a result weakest possible opening is allowed at third chair.

2.0.4 Rules for Opener in 4th Positions

The general rules at 2.0.1 are all valid for the players in the fourth chair. If you are in borderline situation (11-12 points) take a look at your spade suit. Why?

If your spade suit is short or void that means that opponents are likely compete: They can easily steal the contract from you..

So, if you are in a borderline situation in forth chair use below Rule of 15:

"Add your HCP to the number of spades in your hand. If the total is 15 or more you can open the bidding. If the total is less than 15, don't open the bidding"

Note: In 4th seat you are allowed to pass with 13 points; if you think that the opponents are likely to compete..

2.1 Openings at the One Level

 

A major shows 13+ points and minimum 5 cards in that major.

Your
opening bid		 Your
points		 Description Example
(click on the box)
1NT 15-17  You must have a balanced hand for notrump openings. A balanced hand  is a hand without void, singleton and a hand with no more than one doubleton. Balanced hand: 4-3-3-3 or 5-3-3-2 or 4-4-3-2

(Some partners accept 16-18 points for 1 NT opening. But, increasing  the point range causes less NT openings).
1 or
1 		13-21  You must have at least 5-cards for major opening.
You can not open bidding with a major suit, if you don't have at least 5 cards in that major suit. If the lenghts of both majors are equal, bid the higher ranked (spade).

1 or
1		 13-21  If you don't have a 5 card major, open your longest minor.  
You must open with your longest suit. 
In case of equal lenght open with higher ranking suit (diamond). There is an exception: With holding 3-3 in minors, open 1 Club.

1- Open the higher ranking of  long suits  with equal lengths (5-5, 6-6)

2- If  the length of  long suits are not equal, usually the longest suit is opened (6-5).

We usually avoid reverse (Look at Bidding Tips at Chapter11a) in 6-5 (or 5-4) distribution and with minimum opening hand (3-15 Points)

A bid -at two level- higher than your first suit is called reverse. If your rebid will be higher in rank than your opening bid this is called reverse.. A reverse shows that you have at least a medium opening hand (16-18 points) hand..

 

2.2 Openings at the Two Level

Your
opening bid

Your
points

Description

Example
(click on the box)

2 NT

20-21

Needs a balanced and strong hand. A balanced hand  is a hand without void, singleton and a hand with no more than one doubleton.
Also, 2 NT opening needs stoppers in all four suits. By opening 2  NT you show your partner  your points and strenght.

 

2

22+ 

Open 2   with a very strong hand. 2 does not mean that club is your best suit (look at Section 5  "Two Clubs Openings, Responses and Rebids"). With an unbalanced hand 2 opening  informs your partner that you can play in game  with a very little help. 
2, 2, 2

Weak two bids Less than 13 points

2, 2, 2 are preemptive bids. Preemptive bids prevent opponents from finding the best contract. 2, 2, 2  openings promise a strong 6-card suit and less than 13 total points. Strong suit means a suit with at least two of top three honors:ace, king  and queen. Or, three of the top five honors.

Description of  weak-two bids also describes the points range: 
a-Two of top three honors means: minimum 5 HCP.
b- Less than 13 points means 12 points and 6-card suit means 2 long suit points. So,12-2 = 10 HCP
Thus the playable range for weak two's is 5-10 HCP

  • 3rd seat with weak 2 bids may be based on friskier suits if non-vul vs. vulnerable opponents:
  • 4th seat weak 2 bids are full opening bids...

Note: It is reccommended not to open weak-two, if you have 4 cards major.:Later you may not be able to find your major fit.


2.3 Openings at the Three Level

Opening Suit

Your
Point

Description

 Example
(click on the box)
3 NT  weak If you have a balanced hand with 25-27 points you can use 2 clubs strong opening bid and rebid 3NT. 
So 3NT strong opening bid is not used between partners who use strong two clubs opening bids.

For this reason 3NT is reserved for a convention which is named as "Gambling 3NT"

If you are using gambling 3NT convention, 3NT opening shows a weak hand with a very strog and long minor (see conventions Section-8)

3, 3, 3 or  3

Preemp-
tive 
Less than 13 points

 

 

 3, 3, 3, 3 are preemptive bids. Preemptive bids prevent opponents from finding the best contract.  3, 3, 3  openings promise a strong 7-card suit and less than 13 total points. Strong suit means a suit with at least two of top three honors:ace, king  and queen.

Description of   preemptive three bid also describes the points range: 
a-Two of top three honors means: minimum 5 HCP.
b- Less than 13 points means 12 points and 7-card suit means 3 long suit points. So,12-3 = 9 HCP

Thus the playable range for preemptive three bid is 5-9 HCP


Preemptive bid cuts the communication between your opponents. So, they can not  get enough information about each other's hand. But always consider the vulnerability before a preemptive bid.

2.4 Openings at the Four Level

Opening Suit

Your
Point

Description

 Example
(click on the box)

4, 4

Preemp-
tive 
Less than 13 points

4, 4 are preemptive bids. Preemptive bids prevent opponents from finding the best contract. 4, 4  openings promise a strong 8-card suit and less than 13 total points. Strong suit means a suit with at least two of top three honors:ace, king  and queen.

Description of  preemptive four bid also describes the points range: 
a-Two of top three honors means: minimum 5 HCP.
b- Less than 13 points means 12 points and 8-card suit means 4 long suit points. So,12-4 = 8 HCP

Thus the playable range for preemptive four bid is 5-8 HCP


Preemptive bid cuts the communication between your opponents. So, they can not  get enough information about each other's hand. But always consider the vulnerability before a preemptive bid.