What’s Standard? by David Lindop - Audrey Grant's Better ...

1 BB14 BETTERVOL. 11, NO. 4 BRIDGEMARCH/APRIL2007 This series is based on GrantStandard, a set of conventions andagreements that are in popular usetoday, such as 15-17 1NT openings,five-card majors, and weak two-bids. A summary chart of GrantStandard and the correspondingconvention card can be found The sitealso has Grant Basic, a simpler setof articles in this seriesappeared in the Bridge Bulletin andcan also be found under Articles the opponents haveopened the bidding, oneof the ways we can enterthe auction is with an overcall. If webid at the cheapest available level,we are making a , we aren t constrained toovercall at the lowest possible as we can open the bidding atthe two level or higher, we can alsoskip one or more levels when makingan jump OvercallIf we skip one level of bidding, weare making a jump overcall.

2 If weskip two levels of bidding, we aremaking a double jump overcall. Forexample:WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 2 South s 2 bid is a jump overcall. A3 bid by South would be a doublejump , the terminology isa bit confusing. Suppose East opens1 instead of 1 :WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 ?South would now have to bid 3 tomake a jump overcall and 4 tomake a double jump overcall. To simplify things, we usually referto any overcall that skips one or morelevels of bidding as a jump one time, jump overcalls wereused to show hands too strong for asimple overcall. In the days of strong jump overcalls, they showed about18 or more points. In the age of intermediate jump overcalls, theyshowed about 14-17 points and agood 6-card or longer popular modern style is to useweak preemptive jump jump overcall shows a long suit andless than values for an opening bid.

3 To adopt this approach, we modifyour system so we can still handle theold-fashioned strong and intermediateovercalls. We expand our range for asimple overcall to about 7-17 about 18 or more points, westart with a takeout double, planningto bid our suit at the next , welcome to the era of the weakjump jump OvercallsA weak jump overcall to the twolevel shows a hand similar to thatfor a weak two-bid: a good six-cardsuit and fewer than 13 we are South and theauction starts like this:WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 ?With this hand, wewould have openedwith a weak 2 bidif East had East opens1 , we can describe the hand with aweak jump overcall of 2 . Why not make a simple overcallof 1 ? We could, but preemptivejump overcalls take more biddingroom away from the opponents.

4 That susually a good idea in a competitiveauction. Also, the jump overcall tellspartner what type of hand we will make it easier for partnerto judge whether to compete furtherin the we also havea six-card suit, butthe suit is not thatstrong and we havemuch of our strengthoutside of the heart suit. A simpleovercall of 1 is probably a betterdescription of this we have onlya five-card suit, somost players wouldsimply overcall 1 .With such a good suit and nostrength outside, however, there aresome players who might choose tojump to 2 with this hand, especiallyat favorable vulnerability. There sno rule that you must have exactlysix cards for a two-level jump OvercallsA weak jump overcall to the threelevel shows a hand similar to athree-level preemptive opening bid:a good seven-card suit and fewerthan 13 pointsSuppose we are South and theauction begins:WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 ?

5 This hand is idealfor a preemptivejump overcall of3 . We wouldhave opened 3 ifEast had passed, and we might aswell make the same call now. We don t have to be directly over theopener to make a weak jump the auction started:WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 Pass2 ?We would still make a preemptivejump to 3 . We would make thesame bid if East responded 1NT, or2 , or 2 ..any time we can get intothe way of the s Standard? The jump Overcallby David Lindop A Q J 10 8 8 2 9 7 6 3 8 3 K Q J 8 7 3 6 9 5 J 8 4 3 K 4 A 9 7 6 4 3 8 2 Q J 5 A K J 8 7 4 3 9 J 7 2 8 4BB15 BETTERVOL. 11, NO. 4 BRIDGEMARCH/APRIL2007 WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 ?Here we have onlya six-card suit, butsome players wouldmake a weak jumpovercall of 3 ,especially if the vulnerability isfavorable.

6 Why not a simple overcallof 2 ? Because partner would expecta Better hand for a simple overcall atthe two level something closer toan opening bid or are always free to exercise ourjudgment. If we held this hand asopener, we might bid 3 becausewe couldn t open a weak 2 . Higher-Level jump OvercallsAs with opening preemptive bids,we can make a weak jump overcallat any level we ?With this hand,we can make apreemptivejump overcallof 4 . A jumpto the four level typically shows aneight-card jump OvercallSuppose we are South and the auctionstarts this way:WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 PassPass?We are in the balancingposition. Ifwe pass, the auction is over. In thissituation, there is no need to make aweak jump overcall. With a weakhand, we should pass and leave theopponents in their partscore.

7 If wereopen the bidding with a weak hand,we give the opponents a chance toreconsider and bid to a Better contract,perhaps a , in the balancing position ajump overcall is intermediate, notweak. It shows a good six-card suitor longer and at least the values foran opening bid. With this hand, wewould jump to 2 in the balancingposition. We dothis so that partner knows we have agood hand. In the balancing posi-tion we might bid 1 with a muchweaker hand; if the A were a lowheart, for an even stronger hand, wewould start with a takeout doubleand then bid our suit at the an Opponent PreemptsIt doesn t make much sense for bothsides to be preempting on the samedeal. If an opponent is showing a weakhand, a jump overcall is strong:WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH2 ?

8 After East s weak2 opening, thishand is too strongto make a simpleovercall of 3 .Partner might pass, and we willlikely make game if partner holds aslittle as the Q, perhaps less. So weshould jump right to 4 .Why not start with a takeout double,planning to bid hearts next, showinga hand too strong to overcall 3 ?The trouble with this approach isthat West might raise to 4 over ourdouble and now we d have to decidewhether to introduce our suit at thefive guideline in these situationsis don t preempt against an opponent preempts andyou make a jump overcall, partnershould assume you are bidding tomake, not as a defensive jump OvercallsWhen partner makes a weak jumpovercall, we are now the , we are in the same positionas responding to a preemptive openingbid.

9 We can use a similar approach:Partner s jump overcall is prettyspecific: a good six- or seven-card suitand a weak hand. As advancer, it sbetter to focus on tricks rather thanpoints. You can assume partner hasabout five playing tricks for a jumpto the two level and about six playingtricks for a jump to the three level. With enough strength to take thepartnership to game, get to interest in game, bid a newsuit or cuebid the opponent s no interest in game, pass withno fit. With a fit, raise to the level ofthe number of combined trumps asa further preemptive we are South and thebidding begins:WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH1 2 Pass?With no fit and notenough tricks totake the partnershipto game, we wouldpass with this this hand wewould raise to 4 ,expecting to makeit.

10 We have a spadetrick, two hearttricks, at least one diamond trick,and perhaps a club ruff. That shouldbring the partnership to ten this hand we renot sure whether webelong in game, sowe can cuebid 3 toget more informationfrom partner. If partner shows aminimum by rebidding 3 , we canpass and settle for partscore. If partnershows some interest by biddingsomething else, we can get to interest ingame, we can bid3 , forcing, withthis hand. With somesupport for hearts,partner can raise. If partner returnsto 3 , we might be best to this hand, wedon t have the tricksfor a game contract,but we have a goodtrump fit. We canjump to 4 as a further AJUMPOVERCALL A new suit is forcing (by anunpassed hand).