The opening bid is typically our first bidding lesson. It’s also the easiest because the requirements for points and suit lengths are so clearly defined. As we gain experience, though, we begin relying more on judgment than point-count, and that makes these decisions more complicated.
There are numerous theories and evaluation methods for choosing your opening call. Not all are recommended, and some that are good ideas in principle have pitfalls that can be hard to avoid. Here are some common opening-bid guidelines that you may want to rethink:
Follow the Rule of 20 for opening bids ?
This popular advice says you can open the bidding when your high-card points plus the number of cards in your two longest suits add to at least 20. This is supposed to accurately reflect a hand’s true playing strength, but problems occur if you read the rule as “should” instead of “can”.
To successfully apply this formula, you have to recognize false positives. A hand such as ♠KJ ♥Q8643 ♦J10654 ♣K meets the Rule of 20 test, but with so many of your high-card points in short suits, the long suits have little trick-taking power.
Consider changing to the Rule of 22, which counts points + cards in your two suits + quick tricks. The hand above has only ½ quick trick (the KJ), so it adds to only 20½ and should be passed in first or second seat.
With a minimum with 4 diamonds and 5 clubs, open 1D ?
You may have been taught to open a “prepared” 1D, planning to rebid 2C, with a hand such as ♠10 ♥AJ7 ♦K753 ♣AJ1065 . This allows partner to choose one of your suits at the 2-level, but because it suggests longer diamonds, there’s a risk of landing in your shorter fit.
There are better strategies that don’t distort your minor-suit length. All of them start with opening your longer suit.
With the hand above, if you open 1C and partner responds 1H, this is a good dummy for a possible 4-3 fit, so you can raise to 2H. If partner responds 1S, you have the right values for a 1NT rebid. Change your hand to ♠107 ♥AJ ♦K753 ♣AJ1065 and 1NT is a reasonable rebid over either response.
There are exceptions – a 0-4-4-5 minimum is one – but with most 4-5 hands, opening 1C won’t cause problems and may offer clear advantages. You’ll play in higher-scoring notrump and major-suit contracts more often and you’ll never have to declare a 4-2 diamond fit.
With a minimum and 5-5 in the black suits, open 1C ?
This was once widely accepted as the best way to bid a hand such as ♠AQ865 ♥2 ♦75 ♣AQ853 . The theory is that by opening 1C and then bidding spades twice (or bidding 2S after a 1NT response), you can fully describe your suit lengths without forcing the auction to the 3-level. Opening 1S and then bidding clubs twice shows extra values.
Most pairs have abandoned this agreement. One reason is that it makes it difficult to show other black-suit distributions. You can’t accurately describe a minimum with 5 spades and 6 clubs. If you hold extra values with 4 spades and longer clubs, you can’t show your strength or pattern with a reverse rebid.
The main problem, though, is that this strategy doesn’t work well in the modern game. Competitive bidding has become more aggressive, making it too likely that you’ll lose the spade suit. If you open 1C with the hand above, the auction may well be at 3D or 3H at your next turn – and your only sane option will be to pass and change your system later.
© 2020 Karen Walker