TWiB Lesson #572 (6 of 9)
When responding to partner’s 1-Major opening bid, Responder tries to apply the Law of Total Tricks (LOTT) – getting to the size of the partnership’s fit as quickly as possible. This LOTT bidding is especially effective when our side has a 9+card fit. Bergen Raises are a set of conventional bids Responder can use when responding to a 1-Major opening bid with 4+card support (at least a 9+card fit). Let’s see how this system works.
TWiB Lesson #574 (8 of 9)
Jumping in the auction eats up a lot of bidding space, which is likely to make communicating with partner more difficult. Since our jump bid may make future communication more difficult, it should have a specific meaning. When partner opens the bidding, Responder’s jump shifts can be used to show a variety of different types of hands. We need to decide, as a partnership, which ones we want to use. We will choose different agreements for different situations.
TWiB Lesson #575 (9 of 9)
When partner makes a bid, and we choose to bid a suit of our own, this is called a freebid. In most normal situations freebids show values (called positive freebids) and are often forcing 1-round. We’ve all heard the saying -- a new suit is forcing by an unpassed hand. Unfortunately, this is not always true, but it is often our agreement. Let’s look at freebids made by a passed hand and see how the fact that we are passed changes these situations.
TWiB Lesson #577 (2 of 9)
When Opener makes a jump shift into a new suit with their second bid, it is a strong bid that creates a game forcing auction. This is a good bid because it ensures we reach game, but it is a bad bid because it eats up a lot of bidding space without fully describing our distribution. This is a problem. One of the most difficult opening hands to describe to partner is the unbalanced single-suited (one 6+card suit) hand with 18-19 HCP. This is one of the strongest hands that does not open the bidding 2♣. Let’s look at a system that helps us improve our jump shift methods.
TWiB Lesson #578 (3 of 9)
When partner opens the bidding with a 2-level or 3-level preemptive opening bid then Responder may have a struggle to find the best final contract without getting the auction too high. One of the natural pressures is whether Responder risk going past 3NT to look for a fit or a better fit. Given the variability of modern preempts it can be dangerous to reach the 5-level when partner has taken an aggressive action. Here we look at a tool, called Preempt Keycard, for Responder to ask for Keycards after a preempt, but still keep the auction at a low level.
TWiB Lesson #490 (2 of 9)
Having the right mindset is an important part of approaching a declarer play problem. When you are in a good contact start to consider “What could go wrong?!?” and when you are in a bad contract start to make assumptions that good things are going to happen for you!
TWiB Lesson #491 (3 of 9)
When we are defending and the Declaring side holds the King and the Jack in a suit then they will often have to guess the layout of the suit in order to take their most tricks. Here we look at the art of giving them the most difficult guesses we can!
TWiB Lesson #492 (4 of 9)
Finding a fit makes declaring a hand much easier. When we are playing a hand without a fit it is much more challenging. Here we look at some strategies for playing hands that have less than an 8-card fit.
TWiB Lesson #480 (1 of 9)
When the opponent’s open the bidding and we have two long suits it is useful to be able to show them both immediately. This is especially true when we have a weak hand. Here we look at Michaels Cuebids and see how they help us do this!
TWiB Lesson #481 (2 of 9)
There is another valuable tool for competing in the bidding when we have a two suited hand — the unusual NT. Let’s see how this bidding tool is effective in competitive bidding.
TWiB Lesson #482 (3 of 9)
Here we look at Simple Overcalls and how they vary based on situation and level — which is dramatic!
TWiB Lesson #483 (4 of 9)
Dealing with preempts is extremely difficult. Here we look at an extremely useful tool for dealing with the opponent’s 2-level preempts — an innovative use of 2NT as a convention, not a contract!
TWiB Lesson #484 (5 of 9)
Against the Opponent’s 2-level preempts we have ways of showing strong hands with two long suits by using a special jump overcall called Leaping Michaels. Here we see how to use it.
TWiB Lesson #485 (6 of 9)
When the opponents make a high-level preempt it makes our life difficult. Here we look at our options for bidding over them and what risks we have to take.
TWiB Lesson #486 (7 of 9)
When we open the bidding the opponents love to preempt and eat up our bidding space. This is especially difficult when their preempt is a jump to game in a Major. Here we look at how to deal with it!
TWiB Lesson #487 (8 of 9)
It is frustrating to have a good hand and not be able to get into the auction. Here we look at a less used option for getting into the auction when the opponents open the bidding — overcalling a 4-card suit.
TWiB Lesson #488 (9 of 9)
The latest upgrade to “modern expert bidding”. If you love gadgets, this is what you should add to your bidding system.
TWiB Lesson #471 (1 of 9)
Attitude signals are some of the most important ways that we can communicate with our partner. Here we look at how to make them and when they apply so that we can work with partners effectively!
TWiB Lesson #472 (2 of 9)
Signaling with partner is an important part of working together to defend a hand. Attitude signals are extremely important, but so are count signals. Here we look at how to give them and more importantly, when they apply.
TWiB Lesson #473 (3 of 9)
When we run out of cards in a suit being played then we must discard. These discards are a great way to communicate with partner. Our first discard communicates a lot of information, but so do our subsequent discards. Here we look at making sure you are making good use of these discards.
TWiB Lesson #474 (4 of 9)
Giving Count and Attitude signals is a key part of defense. Modern expert players often use Upside Down Count and Attitude to communicate. Let’s see how it works!
TWiB Lesson #475 (5 of 9)
Against a NT contract, when the opponents win the first trick and attack another suit they are often leading their best suit. In this case, we have an opportunity to communicate with partner. Smith Echo is an agreement that makes use of this situation to tell partner if the opening lead was good or not.
TWiB Lesson #476 (6 of 9)
Our goal on defense is to help our partner. Suit Preference Signals are a way to do this by giving painter information about which suit we would like them to shift to (or where we hold good stuff).
TWiB Lesson #477 (7 of 9)
There is more to suit preference signals than just the simple cases are trick 1. Here we look at even more places where you may use these valuable signaling tools.
TWiB Lesson #478 (8 of 9)
When Dummy has a holding like Qxx (or longer) it is important to have good agreements about signaling our partner, so they can make a good decision about what to do next.
