PRACTISING OVERCALLS

Board 1: East open 1♥; you hold ♠AQJ4 ♥AK3 ♦KT93 ♣85.  Your overcall is __________?

Board 2: East opens 1♣; you hold ♠KJT4 ♥AQ3 ♦KT62 ♣75.  Your overcall is _________?

Board 3: East opens 1♣; you hold ♠KJ85 ♥72 ♦AQ3 ♣KJ42.  Your overcall is _________?

Board 4: East opens 1♣; you hold ♠KQJT4 ♥AQ3 ♦75 ♣862.  Your overcall is _________?

Board 5: East opens 1♥; you hold ♠72 ♥2 ♦KQT75 ♣AKJ93.  Your overcall is _________?

Board 6: East opens 1♦; you hold ♠AQT862 ♥4 ♦652 ♣943.  Your overcall is _________?

Board 7: East opens 1♠; you hold ♠A ♥AKQ98 ♦2 ♣KQJT87.  Your overcall is _________?

ANSWERS TO “PRACTISING OVERCALLS”

Board 1: 1NT; here is a balanced hand with between 16 – 18HCP and two stoppers in the opponents 

               heart suit.  Suppose you were opener rather than overcaller.  Would you open this hand with  

               1NT in spite of the poor Club doubleton?  If yes, then overcall.

Board 2: Double; 12HCP, shortness in opponent’s club suit, and tolerance in the three unbid suits.

               This is a perfect take-out double hand.

Board 3: Pass; the hand has 14HCP but no bid.  There is no five-card suit; values are missing to

               overcall 1NT and no shortness in clubs with tolerance in the three unbid suits for a TO DBL.

Board 4: 1♠; a picture-perfect hand for an overcall at the one-level—a five-card suit and between

                     7 – 17HCP.

Board 5: 2NT; “Unusual 2NT”, an artificial, conventional overcall that is NOT alerted, but is forcing for

                         one round UNLESS opponent interferes. After opponent’s call of 1♥, a jump overcall  

                         of 2NT shows and hand with 5 X 5 in the two lowest-ranking unbid suits: ♦ and ♣.

                         An unusual 2NT overcall “usually” points to the minor suits.

Board 6: 2♠; this weak hand with only 6HCP does have a nice six-card spade suit.  Here is a perfect

                     opportunity to obstruct your opponents, who just may be on their way to game, by

                     making a jump overcall.

Board 7: 2♠; “Michaels Cue-bid”, another artificial, conventional overcall that is NOT alerted, but is

                      forcing for one round UNLESS opponent interferes. When opponent opens in a major

                      suit, cue-bidding that suit as an overcall—a “Michaels”—shows a hand with

                      five cards in the OTHER major and five cards in one of the minors—called an

                     “unspecified” minor.  At this point in the auction, the advancer doesn’t know which minor.

                      This is a slight weakness in the Michaels.  Here, the 2♠ overcall tells advancer that

                      Partner holds five ♥ and either five ♦ OR five ♣.