Bidding
The basic advice is: if you are thinking about bidding game but are not sure, bid it, especially if you are vulnerable.
At Pairs, the difference between 600/400 for 3NT= and 620/420 for 4S= is crucial. At Teams, these 20 points count for little, so bid the safer game.
If you are thinking about bidding a small slam, you should be fairly certain that it will make and you should think about whether or not your opponents will bid it when they have your cards. It is very frustrating to go one off and give away a lot of IMPs because your opponents bid only game. If you are going to bid a slam, you should choose the safest slam you can. Suppose you have a choice between 6S and 6NT. At Pairs, 6NT gets 10 extra points and that makes a difference. At Teams, these 10 points don’t matter; what matters is that you choose whichever slam that is more likely to make: if one slam is 80% and the other is 70%, bid the 80% slam at Teams and whichever is worth the higher score at Pairs.
Years ago, Jonathan and I lost a cup final by bidding a grand slam that had about an 82% chance of making. We went one off and lost the cup. Had we bid only a small slam, we would have won the cup: the moral here is clear.
Contesting part score contracts is different too. At Pairs, if you go one off undoubled vulnerable in 3D, you lose 100 points. If your opponents can make 2S they would score 110, so the 10 points you save make all the difference to your score. At Teams, these 10 points make no difference at all, so if you think you might defeat your opponents’ part score contract, let them play in it. Don't bid on unless you are fairly sure your part score will make. If you do bid on, look confident. You are unlikely to be doubled in a part score contract at Teams because of the risk of being doubled into game; this is especially true if you have good trumps.
Advice given to me years ago was, ‘Don’t sacrifice at Teams when your opponents bid game.’ Obviously, it’s not always true, but it’s a good basic rule to follow. Pleased with their score of +620 for making a game, your teammates are never pleased doing the scoring at the end and they find that you have scored -800 on the same hand.
Declaring a Contract
Your objective, above all others, is to make your contract. Unlike Pairs, when they are crucial, overtricks are not very significant at Teams, so DO NOT JEOPARDISE YOUR CONTRACT BY TRYING TO MAKE OVERTRICKS UNLESS YOU ARE CERTAIN YOU CAN MAKE THEM AT NO RISK.
Defending
Your objective is to beat your opponents’ contract. Suppose your opponents reach 4S
1S 2D
2S 4S
Your opponents seem to have good hands and this will be a ‘standard’ contract, certainly one you would expect your teammates to reach!
Your hand is:
A43
K8
Q3
986432
Playing Pairs, your main objective is to avoid giving away overtricks, so you would look for the safest lead that you can find (probably the C9 or C8).
Playing Teams, you would like to beat this contract if you can, so you are willing to risk giving away an overtrick in favour of going on the attack by leading the HK. On a good day, you will find partner with the HA and your side wins HK, HA, a ruff and SA to set the contract. This is too risky at Pairs when leading the unsupported King is likely to give away an overtrick.
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