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Opening bids - Unbalanced, Pre-emptive
- Question 1
(of 16 on this page)
You are West, dealer, not vulnerable, nobody has bid yet.
Q 5
A K J 10 9 4 3
K 3 2
4
Would you open, and what with ?1. 1 Heart
2. 2 Hearts
3. 3 Hearts
4. 4 Hearts
5. 1 NT
6. pass
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- Answer 1
(of 16 on this page)
You are West, dealer, not vulnerable, nobody has bid yet.
( 1 ). 1 Heart Q 5 A K J 10 9 4 3 K 3 2 4
Would you open, and what with ?
You have too many points to open 3 Hearts, which is a weak bid. Your partner will assume as few as 6 HCP, even though you have 13 HCP plus good shape. As a result your partner might pass if he can't see 4 tricks in his hand. So if he has one or two hearts and just two other winner's you'll miss game. Remember that pre-empts are weak, so don't tell your partner you are weak if you are strong!
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- Question 2
(of 16 on this page)
You are North, dealer, nobody vulnerable, nobody has bid yet.
Q 5 A 10 9 7 4 3 2 J 3 J 4
Would you open, and what with ?1. 1 Heart
2. 2 Hearts
3. 3 Hearts
4. 4 Hearts
5. 1 NT
6. pass
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- Answer 2
(of 16 on this page)
You are North, dealer, nobody vulnerable, nobody has bid yet.
( 6 ). pass Q 5 A 10 9 7 4 3 2 J 3 J 4
Would you open, and what with ?
Although you have a 7-card suit and 8 points, your honours are separated and weak. You only have 5 winning tricks. You should pass, and bid your hearts later. Otherwise you could go down as many as 3 or 4 doubled, and give the enemy up to 600/ 900 points, which unfortunately is more than the 400 they could get for the game they might bid if you pass.
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- Question 3
(of 16 on this page)
You are East, dealer, not vulnerable, nobody has bid yet.
7 5 A J 10 9 8 7 3 Q J 3 4
Would you open, and what with ?1. 1 Heart
2. 2 Hearts
3. 3 Hearts
4. 4 Hearts
5. 1 NT
6. pass
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- Answer 3
(of 16 on this page)
You are East, dealer, not vulnerable, nobody has bid yet.
( 3 ). 3 Hearts 7 5 A J 10 9 8 7 3 Q J 3 4
Would you open, and what with ?
You have all the right components for a pre-empt. You hand is weak, 8 points, but you have 6, possibly even 7 winning tricks, your honours are not wasted, and you have strength in your long suit. With your 6 tricks, and no help whatsoever from partner, you can only go down a maximum of 3, which is a worthwhile gamble when you are not vulnerable. Why? If your partner's hand is indeed useless, then the opposition are likely to make game - best to stop them if you can.
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- Question 4
(of 16 on this page)
You are South, not vulnerable, East dealt and passed. (You cannot see East's cards, and of course East does not have the cards shown here to the right, which relate to a different question).
A J 10 9 8 7 3 7 5 K J 3 4
Would you open, and what with ?1. 1 Spade
2. 2 Spades
3. 3 Spades
4. 4 Spades
5. pass
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- Answer 4
(of 16 on this page)
You are South, not vulnerable, East dealt and passed. (You cannot see East's cards, and of course East does not have the cards shown here to the right, which relate to a different question).
( 5 ). pass A J 10 9 8 7 3 7 5 K J 3 4
Would you open, and what with ?
In second seat you need at least 2 of the top three trumps to pre-empt. That's because you're disrupting only one of your enemy, but your partner too, with equal likelihood. Your partner might be strong, so you need to be more informative and have a slightly more useful hand to reduce your chances of missing game. With this hand it's best to bid your spades later.
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- Question 5
(of 16 on this page)
Your LHO opened the bidding with a pass. Your partner pre-empted with 3 Diamonds, and RHO passed. You are not vulnerable. You have this 15-HCP 7-loser hand
A 10 8 A 6 4 3 Q 2 K Q 7 6
Would you reply, and what with ?1. pass
2. 3 Hearts
3. 3 Spades
4. 3NT
5. 4 Clubs
6. 4 Diamonds
7. 4 Hearts
8. 4 Spades
9. 5 Clubs
10. 5 Diamonds
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- Answer 5
(of 16 on this page)
Your LHO opened the bidding with a pass. Your partner pre-empted with 3 Diamonds, and RHO passed. You are not vulnerable. You have this 15-HCP 7-loser hand
( 4 ). 3NT A 10 8 A 6 4 3 Q 2 K Q 7 6
Would you reply, and what with ?
You know that your partner has 2 of the top 3 Diamonds, because he pre-empted in the second seat. You have the other one. No matter what the opposition lead they can only make one trick before you get the lead, making a likely 7 diamonds tricks and a total of three other tricks in the other 3 suits.
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- Question 6
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO passed. You are not vulnerable.You have this 9-HCP 6-loser hand
A Q 9 8 7 6 5 K 3 2 9 4 3
What would you bid ?1. 1 Spade
2. 2 Spades
3. 3 Spades
4. 4 Spades
5. pass
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- Answer 6
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO passed. You are not vulnerable.You have this 9-HCP 6-loser hand
( 3 ). 3 Spades A Q 9 8 7 6 5 K 3 2 9 4 3
What would you bid ?
You have 6 tricks, and a 7-card suit. AND you have two of the three top trumps, so it's right to pre-empt in the second seat.
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- Question 7
(of 16 on this page)
You are the dealer. You are vulnerable, enemy is not.You have this 8-HCP 7-loser hand
A J 9 8 7 6 5 K 3 2 9 4 3
What would you bid?1. 1 Spade
2. 2 Spades
3. 3 Spades
4. 4 Spades
5. pass
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- Answer 7
(of 16 on this page)
You are the dealer. You are vulnerable, enemy is not.You have this 8-HCP 7-loser hand
( 5 ). pass A J 9 8 7 6 5 K 3 2 9 4 3
What would you bid?
Although you have 7 cards and 6 probable tricks, you are vulnerable. You need one more trick to open 3. Your partner will know this. If you go down three doubled and vulnerable, it will cost you 800 points.
Too risky, better to let the enemy make their possible 400 for game.
(Unless of course your opponents are the type of players who tend not to double for penalty, in which case you can risk a preemptive 3 Spades....)
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- Question 8
(of 16 on this page)
You are the dealer. You are not vulnerable.You have this 9-HCP 5-loser hand
A Q 9 8 7 6 5 4 2 K 3 4 3
What would you bid ?1. 1 Spade
2. 2 Spades
3. 3 Spades
4. 4 Spades
5. pass
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- Answer 8
(of 16 on this page)
You are the dealer. You are not vulnerable.You have this 9-HCP 5-loser hand
( 4 ). 4 Spades A Q 9 8 7 6 5 4 2 K 3 4 3
What would you bid ?
You'll probably only go down three, even if partner's hand is utterly useless. A reasonable price to pay to stop the enemy getting to game in Hearts. And with this bid, it's highly unlikely the enemy will have the guts or the foolhardiness to bid anything.... since they have no chance to start to communicate below the 5-level!!. And if partner has three tricks of his own, you'd actually make game.
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- Question 9
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO bid 3 Hearts. You are not vulnerable. You have this 13-HCP 5.5-loser hand
4 K Q 10 5 2 Q 8 4 A Q 5 4
What should you bid ?1. pass
2. double
3. 3 Spades
4. 3 NT
5. 4 Clubs
6. 4 Diamonds
7. 4 Hearts
8. 4 Spades
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- Answer 9
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO bid 3 Hearts. You are not vulnerable. You have this 13-HCP 5.5-loser hand
( 1 ). pass 4 K Q 10 5 2 Q 8 4 A Q 5 4
What should you bid ?
You should pass. If you double, your partner is likely to jump to 4 Spades, which would be a disaster. That's because, if you double, your partner will think you're asking him to choose his best suit from anything other than hearts, and to ‘take you out' of the double.
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- Question 10
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO bid 3 Hearts. You are not vulnerable. You have this 13-HCP 5.5-loser hand
A Q 8 3 2 K Q 5 2 Q 10 9 6
What shoud you bid?1. pass
2. double
3. 3 Spades
4. 3 NT
5. 4 Clubs
6. 4 Diamonds
7. 4 Hearts
8. 4 Spades
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- Answer 10
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO bid 3 Hearts. You are not vulnerable. You have this 13-HCP 5.5-loser hand
( 2 ). double A Q 8 3 2 K Q 5 2 Q 10 9 6
What shoud you bid?
You are weak in hearts, and good enough to take any bid from your partner. You've got 16HCP including shape. You know the enemy is weak. So double for takeout, forcing your partner to bid his longest suit.
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- Question 11
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO opened the bidding with a pre-emptive 3 Hearts. You have this 13-HCP 6-loser hand
A K J 10 8 3 2 A 3 J 10 9 6
What should you bid?1. pass
2. double
3. 3 Spades
4. 3 NT
5. 4 Clubs
6. 4 Diamonds
7. 4 Hearts
8. 4 Spades
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- Answer 11
(of 16 on this page)
Your RHO opened the bidding with a pre-emptive 3 Hearts. You have this 13-HCP 6-loser hand
( 3 ). 3 Spades A K J 10 8 3 2 A 3 J 10 9 6
What should you bid?
You cannot double, as you are too short in Diamonds. But with an opening hand and a very strong 5-card suit you can overcall Spades. Yours is a 6-loser hand, which is good, so you are only looking for a 9 loser hand from your partner, which with 6-9 HCP he'll usually have. A reasonable prospect since on average your partner will have half of the 17-21 HCP outstanding.
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- Question 12
(of 16 on this page)
You are not vulnerable, and you are the dealer.You have this 10-HCP 6-loser hand
J 9 8 7 6 5 3 7 A A J 9 6
What should you bid?1. 1 Spade
2. 2 Spades
3. 3 Spades
4. 4 Spades
5. pass
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- Answer 12
(of 16 on this page)
You are not vulnerable, and you are the dealer.You have this 10-HCP 6-loser hand
( 1 ). 1 Spade J 9 8 7 6 5 3 7 A A J 9 6
What should you bid?
You have 7 Spades and 10 points, but only 1 of them is in your long suit. You can open 1S under the rule of 20.
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- Question 13
(of 16 on this page)
Same as last question. Your partner replied 2 hearts, and the opposition both bid diamonds. You have this 10-HCP 6-loser hand
J 9 8 7 6 5 3 7 A A J 9 6
What should you bid next ?1. pass
2. double
3. 3 Spades
4. 4 Spades
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- Answer 13
(of 16 on this page)
Same as last question. Your partner replied 2 hearts, and the opposition both bid diamonds. You have this 10-HCP 6-loser hand
( 3 ). 3 Spades J 9 8 7 6 5 3 7 A A J 9 6
What should you bid next ?
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- Question 14
(of 16 on this page)
Same as last question. You partner then bids 4 Clubs in response.You have this 10-HCP 6-loser hand
J 9 8 7 6 5 3 7 A A J 9 6
Should you bid again?1. pass
2. 4 Spades
3. 5 Clubs
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- Answer 14
(of 16 on this page)
Same as last question. You partner then bids 4 Clubs in response.You have this 10-HCP 6-loser hand
( 3 ). 5 Clubs J 9 8 7 6 5 3 7 A A J 9 6
Should you bid again?
Yes, 5 clubs. You may go down a couple, but the opposition are just as likely to bid diamonds which you can double.
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- Question 15
(of 16 on this page)
You are not vulnerable, and you are the dealer.You have this 6-HCP 6-loser hand
K Q J 6 5 4 3 10 9 7 4 5 6
What should you bid?1. pass
2. 1 Spade
3. 2 Spades
4. 3 Spades
5. 4 Spades
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- Answer 15
(of 16 on this page)
You are not vulnerable, and you are the dealer.You have this 6-HCP 6-loser hand
( 2 ). 1 Spade K Q J 6 5 4 3 10 9 7 4 5 6
What should you bid?
You have a 4-card Major side suit. So you should wait for your partner to bid: you might have a Major game in Hearts, which a preemptive opening by you of 3 Spades would block out. Don't pre-empt your partner!
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- Question 16
(of 16 on this page)
Your partner was dealer and you are not vulnerable. Dear partner opened 3 Clubs.You have this 14-HCP 5-loser hand
A K 8 7 6 5 4 A K 6 2 7 5
What should you bid?1. pass
2. 3 Diamonds
3. 3 Spades
4. 3 NT
5. 4 Clubs
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- Answer 16
(of 16 on this page)
Your partner was dealer and you are not vulnerable. Dear partner opened 3 Clubs.You have this 14-HCP 5-loser hand
( 3 ). 3 Spades A K 8 7 6 5 4 A K 6 2 7 5
What should you bid?
Of course, you are happy to play in 4 Clubs, because your partner's pre-emptive bid should have guaranteed 6 tricks and YOU can win 4 more tricks, making 10 altogether. 4 Clubs! But it would be so much nicer to play in 4 or a Major, would it not? All those juicy bonus points for reaching game.
It's very rare to change suit after your partner's preempt, but you can do it if you are very strong, or you can do it IF you can cope with any response from your partner - note that it's a forcing bid on your partner.
In this case, your partner can choose between the 2 suits, going back to 4 Clubs if he doesn't like your spades.
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| West | |
|---|---|
 | Q 5 |
 | A K J 10 9 4 3 |
 | K 3 2 |
 | 4 |
| North | |
|---|---|
| Q 5 |
| A 10 9 7 4 3 2 |
| J 3 |
| J 4 |
| East | |
|---|---|
| 7 5 |
| A J 10 9 8 7 3 |
| Q J 3 2 |
| 4 |
| South | |
|---|---|
| A J 10 9 8 7 3 |
| 7 5 |
| K J 3 |
| 4 |
Other Deals that illustrate this technique