Test your knowledge
Basic Strategy - Bidding objectives
- Question 1
(of 12 on this page)
To get the highest score from a deal, is it generally most effective to seek a contract in Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, Minors, Majors or No Trumps ?
1. Clubs
2. Diamonds
3. Hearts
4. Spades
5. minors
6. Majors
7. No Trumps
8. No Trumps, or minors
9. No Trumps, or Majors
- Question 1
(of 12 on this page)
To get the highest score from a deal, is it generally most effective to seek a contract in Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, Minors, Majors or No Trumps ?
Answer
9 . No Trumps, or Majors
You get most money by getting to game most often. You need to bid at the 5 level to get to game in a minor (Clubs or Diamonds), and for that you and partner are going to need 28 HCP or so between you. Much better to bid in a Major or No Trumps, for which a smaller and much more probable number of HCP is needed.
- Question 2
(of 12 on this page)
How many HCP do you need to bid for a game contract in No Trumps, and have a better than "evens" chance of success ?
7 option numbers1. 12
2. 15
3. 20
4. 23
5. 25
6. 28
7. It depends on distribution
- Question 2
(of 12 on this page)
How many HCP do you need to bid for a game contract in No Trumps, and have a better than "evens" chance of success ?
Answer
5 . 25
- Question 3
(of 12 on this page)
How many points do you need to bid for a game contract in a Major, and have a better than "evens" chance of success ?
1. 12
2. 15
3. 20
4. 23
5. 25
6. 28
7. It depends on distribution
8. No Trumps, or minors
9. No Trumps, or Majors
- Question 3
(of 12 on this page)
How many points do you need to bid for a game contract in a Major, and have a better than "evens" chance of success ?
Answer
5 . 25
You get most money by getting to game most often. You need to bid at the 4 level to get to game in a Major (Hearts or Spades), and for that you and partner are going to need 25 total points between you, including distribution. Thus with good distribution points, you can get away with less that 25 HCP.
- Question 4
(of 12 on this page)
How many poitns do you need to bid for a game contract in minor, and have a better than evens chance of success ?
1. 12
2. 15
3. 20
4. 23
5. 25
6. 28
7. It depends on distribution
- Question 4
(of 12 on this page)
How many poitns do you need to bid for a game contract in minor, and have a better than evens chance of success ?
Answer
6 . 28
So, quite a lot of points, which is quite rare. Better to try to go for a game in No Trumps, if at all possible.
- Question 5
(of 12 on this page)
How many trump cards do you and your partner need between you for a game in a suit contract ?
1. 4
2. 5
3. 6
4. 7
5. 8
6. 9
7. It depends which suit
- Question 5
(of 12 on this page)
How many trump cards do you and your partner need between you for a game in a suit contract ?
Answer
5 . 8
Remember that if you have only 7, then your opponents have 6, almost as many as you, so you don't really have a significant advantage. If you have 4 and 3, they could easily be split 4 and 2, and they will often not run out before you do. With 8, they will only have 5, and with 3 more than they have, you are going to find things MUCH easier.
- Question 6
(of 12 on this page)
When should you avoid playing in No Trumps ?
1. When as opening bidder you have 12 points, balanced hand, and you are vulnerable.
2. When you have a singleton
3. When you have a void
4. All of the above
5. When you only have stoppers in 2 suits
6. When you are frightened
- Question 6
(of 12 on this page)
When should you avoid playing in No Trumps ?
Answer
4 . All of the above
When you are vulnerable, and you are opening the bidding, it's best to have more than the usual 12-14 points. That's because your LHO might have 17+ points, and will double you. Very often this results in going down 2, 3 or even more. Doubled and vulnerable, that's a lot of money - roughly same as a Game or even a Slam. Secondly, avoid No Trumps in almost all circumstances with singleton or less. Even if your partner has strength in that area, you will often have problems leading to it. It's OK to play in NT with only 2 stoppers if you have reason to believe your partner has probably got the other suits covered. Frightened ? You just need to practise. And of course, read the site notes on playing in No Trumps.
- Question 7
(of 12 on this page)
When should you actively prefer to play in a suit contract, instead of No Trumps ?
Answer
If you have a Major 8-card fit and 25 points, but you are otherwise balanced, then you have a statistically higher chance of getting successfully to Game in the Major, rather than No Trumps.
- Question 8
(of 12 on this page)
How many 5-card suits can you have in a balanced hand ?
1. none
2. 1
3. 2
4. it depends
- Question 8
(of 12 on this page)
How many 5-card suits can you have in a balanced hand ?
Answer
2 . 1
One. You can even have a 6-card suit if it's a minor. When you have a 5-card Major, generally try to explore the Major suit, before exploring No Trumps.
- Question 9
(of 12 on this page)
How many 2-card suits can you have in a balanced hand ?
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. none
- Question 9
(of 12 on this page)
How many 2-card suits can you have in a balanced hand ?
Answer
1 . 1
Only one. You can still play in No Trumps with TWO doubletons if you have a 6-card minor, even though your hand is technically NOT balanced. Of course, under these circumstances, you and partner are still going to need stoppers in the 2 short suits.
- Question 10
(of 12 on this page)
Is a King a good stopper ?
1. yes
2. no
3. it depends
- Question 10
(of 12 on this page)
Is a King a good stopper ?
Answer
3 . it depends
On it's own it's useless. Together with any other card it can win a trick after throwing the small card under the Ace.
- Question 11
(of 12 on this page)
What should you aim to bid if, between you, you have 26 HCP and an 8-card fit in diamonds ?
1. 5 Diamonds
2. 4 Diamonds
3. 3 Diamonds
4. 5 No Trumps
5. 4 No Trumps
6. 3 No Trumps
7. 2 No Trumps
8. A major
- Question 11
(of 12 on this page)
What should you aim to bid if, between you, you have 26 HCP and an 8-card fit in diamonds ?
Answer
6 . 3 No Trumps
26 HCP is not enough to reach a 5 level contract, but it's often enough to get a 3 No Trump contract, if you have stoppers in the other sutis. So that's the better way to get your hands on the Game contract bonus points (there are lots of them, so your 3NT contract will be worth at least 400 points, possibly 600).
- Question 12
(of 12 on this page)
You can somehow tell from your partner's bids that he has 15 HCP, a balanced hand, and that hearts (a Major) is his best suit. With the cards shown, should you try for game, and in which suit ?
1. no
2. yes, Spades
3. yes, Clubs
4. yes, No Trumps
5. yes, Hearts
6. I need more information from partner's next bid
- Question 12
(of 12 on this page)
You can somehow tell from your partner's bids that he has 15 HCP, a balanced hand, and that hearts (a Major) is his best suit. With the cards shown, should you try for game, and in which suit ?
Answer
4 . yes, No Trumps
Yes. Go for it. Remember, he can only have 4 hearts at most, so you certainly don’t have an 8-card Major fit. You certainly DO have a minimum of a 7-card combination in Clubs, and probably 8. But with only 26HCP, and even allowing a point for your doubleton, going to Game by bidding to the 5 level in Clubs is going to be risky, and very risky if the opposition have any helpful distribution. What about No Trumps ? You only have to bid 3 to get to game (and the money!). You've obviously got Hearts, Clubs and Spades covered with stoppers. The only risk is Diamonds. Your partner has a minimum 15 points. . . they have to be somewhere, and since they are not in Clubs (you've got them) he must have a stopper in Diamonds. Remember that your partner would not have told you he was balanced unless he had stopers in 3 suits. So, a 3NT game bid looks like the best option, with success looking likely. I wonder what they are going to lead. I bet it's diamonds. . ..
