When the opponents compete in our auction it becomes even more important to find our fit quickly. This week we look at the ways we raise Responder in these competitive auctions!
Bidding
When our left-hand opponent opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we have a big decision to make – should we get into this auction, or should we leave the opponents to play at the 1-level? We have a variety of bidding tools to help us compete in the bidding, but we need to use our judgement about when to compete in the bidding and when to keep quiet. Here we look at some of the classic bidding situations where we have a difficult decision and then overview some of bidding tools in these auctions.
Bidding
One place that we do not need a jump bid to show a weak hand is in the passout (PO) seat, also known as the balancing seat. In this seat with a weak hand, say 5-8 HCP, and a long suit, we would not bid; we would simply pass the hand out. Bidding here with so few HCP may give the opponents a chance to reach a better partscore or game that they may not otherwise reach. Since we will not bid in the PO seat with a weak hand and we could make a simple overcall with 9-10 HCP and a long suit, then a Jump Overcall in the PO seat is free to be used to describe a different type of hand that can otherwise be difficult to show.
Bidding
A balancing 1NT bid can be a wide-ranging action, about 11-15/16 points. This 5-point range is much larger than most Notrump bids and leaves partner with a more difficult bidding situation. Range Stayman is a tool that can help Advancer better determine the values of our hand and if game is a possibility.
Bidding
Our TWiB lesson is about Balancing NT and some other balancing options. We look at auctions where we can balance with 1NT with a wider range of values, and we look at what to do with some hands where 1NT isn't an option.
