44  Safety factors

We’re all trying to be more accurate in our bidding, yes? If you have absorbed the Captain rule, you know that your partner will be relying on you for accuracy, and if your bid has relied on suit length instead of points, then the need for accuracy is paramount if you want to avoid a silly bidding war with your opponents.  I’m thinking of 3-level pre-empts at the moment, though the principles apply elsewhere.

The rules I was taught are four-fold, and here they are:

1. You need a 7-card suit
2. You must not be strong enough to open the bidding
3. You must not have a 4-card major on the side unless partner has already passed
4. You must be safe under the rule of 2 and 3.

Am I going too fast? Never heard of this? Only using rule a, or a and b? It’s the canine table again..

The whole point of any pre-emptive behaviour is that you believe the opponents have more strength than you and therefore would probably get a good score unless you stop them. So if there’s any chance of your side opening the bidding and reaching a partscore, the pre-empt is pointless and usually harmful to you. Take this hand: 

S  None  H  xxxx  D  AQxxxxx   C  xx

Would you open 3D with that? I’d like to know a bit more before deciding: Are you vulnerable? What seat are you in? If 4^th seat (unlikely) the opponents aren’t strong, so either open 1D or pass. If 3^rd seat, all the points are on your left, partner has passed, so this is the ideal time for a pre-empt. Bid 3D.  2^nd seat is tricky, as your partner hasn’t yet bid.  If you pre-empt now and he has a strong hand, he may get things wrong. But if you and next player both pass, and he opens 1H you have 4 1/2 Dummy Tricks – enough for game and possible slam. If he opens 1S, you bid 1NT and you will get to a makeable contract.

Weak Twos

Surely the above principles apply to weak twos? They are pre-emptive, after all, and rashly applied could either go down badly or conversely stifle a good bidding sequence with your partner. Start thinking about all pre-emptive bids as overcalls made in advance, and so apply the same safety principles as overcalls. Weak twos are usually six cards exactly, and 5 or 6 to 10 points, that’s like 1 to 2 honour tricks (already imprecise). Assess it as an overcall and a hand like this:

S  Jxxx

H AJxxxx 

D  x 

C  xx  

rates as 1HT + 3 length tricks = 4 playing tricks. If you are vulnerable, add 2 making 6, or if non-vul add 3 making 7, so the most this hand is worth in theory is 1H, not 2H. And look at that 4-card major.  If I were playing weak twos (which I don’t by choice, being terribly old-fashioned), I would only open this hand in 3^rd seat and not vulnerable. I’m saying, by all means open weak twos, but consider each hand on its merits and the current conditions, rather than bidding any old rubbish with a 6-card suit. (Never fall in love with…)

Defence to Weak Twos

Yes, they can be a nuisance, especially 2S which forces 2NT or the 3-level. My gut reaction to any type of pre-emptive bid from the opponents is “Don’t let them get away with it”, but this isn’t always easy. My policy with trusted partners is that the first partner after the pre-empt should strive to deal with it, and if they don’t than the remaining partner should do so. Dealing with it is a matter of choosing between an overcall, a NT bid, or a double for take-out (Doubles of 4-level pre-empts would be for penalties.) But do we need extra strength? You certainly don’t need a weak hand, but say 12 points is enough for most cases. To settle your choice of bid, the mantra is “Do what you would have done over a 1-bid of that suit, only your bid is now one higher of course.” Good luck. Much of bridge is based on probabilities rather than certainties. If it were the latter we wouldn’t play it.