Various bridge tips

The expert player and writer Michael Lawrence once wrote.

If you were never going to lead an unsupported ace all you life, you would be much better off.

That includes the case when your partner has bid the suit.

An exception can be made if you are defending a 5 level contract or higher

Do not bid the same values twice!

You have this hand: AQxx-xx-KJxx-Qxx

Your RHO opens one heart and you double.

LHO passes, and pard bids one spade. Now RHO bid two hearts. More often that I care to remember, I see the doubler bid two spades. And then his excuse is “I want to show pard that I have spade support”????? Well well, did you not double? Doesn’t the double show support for all unbid suits? For all you know, pard could have only 2 points. Where are you going with 14 points in both hands combined? You are going to a big minus if you are doubled. And you are also fooling pard who will think rightly that you have 16 points or more. If he happens to have a good 8 points, he will bid game and you will be minus for no good reasons. So you must pass and leave it to pard. He knows what you have. You don’t know what he has! If he is broke, he will pass and if he has some values he can compete to two spades.

After partner preempts.

Pard opens two spades, next hand doubles and you bid three spades.

Now next hand bids four hearts, followed by two passes.

Your call? PASS!

You made a good bid with three spades. LHO had to guess and he might have guessed wrong and is now going down. Don’t rescue him. And if you feel that your hand is really worth bidding four spades, you made the wrong bid the first time. Now you have to guess if you should bid or pass. Much better to bid four spades the first time and have the opponents guess! Passing with a fit, hoping (dreaming!) to buy the contract at a low level is a commonly made mistake. Determine how high you are willing to bid if the opponents are going to push you and do it immediately. Make them guess.

Competing for the partscore in the balancing seat.

When the opponents stop in one NT after bidding two or more suits, they don’t have a fit. If they don’t, you and pard usually do not have a fit either. In NT contracts, no fit no tricks unless there are lots of high card points. If they have the HCP, they make one NT, but you go down a lot by bidding. If you have the HCP, they go down a lot if you pass.

When the opponents stop in two hearts, they have a fit and so do you most of the time.

If they are happy in two hearts, you should not be! Unless your hand has a heart stack, do not let them play in two hearts. Bid!!! Bid two spades even with only four. Otherwise double for take out!

But, here is a very good rule for balancing bids. Only one player balances.

If your pard bids two spades when the auction was going to die at two hearts and then RHO bids three hearts, DO NOT bid three spades because you have 11-12 HCP or so. Pard knows that you have some values because the opponents were happy to stop at the two level. The more you have, the less pard has. Pard made a good bid and may be they are going to go down now. Don’t punish pard by bidding three.

(Once in a while, you will have exceptional distribution like four or five trumps support and a good five card suit on the side, plus a singleton. In those cases, you could “should” bid three spades.)

And, I will tell you this again and again!!

The worst place to play a misfit is in NT!!!

You open one club, pard bids one heart and you rebid either one spade or one NT or two clubs, doesn’t matter. Pard rebids two hearts and you have a singleton. Pass unless you have 18 HCP or more. Pard has (should have) six hearts or a strong five card suit.

You will not be able to use his hearts in a NT contract if he has a weak hand. Pass... Pass..... Pass