August 1, 2024

Alan Ward, Bridge Convener

The Bridge group continues to meet on Tuesdays at 12:45 p.m. in the Friendship Room at Willowdale Emmanuel United Church, on the east side of Kenneth Avenue just north of Church Street. We are a social group and welcome new players, including rookies with little or no game experience. The RTO subsidizes renting the room, and we charge $2 per person to cover our part. On an average day, we have six tables and play until 3:30 p.m.

While success at games such as chess is wholly dependent on the knowledge and skills of the individual players, success at bridge has an element of luck. Each player holds 13 cards, which vary from the very weak to the very strong. The declarer plays the hand but has no control over the opening lead from the opponent on their left. Almost all finesses have an element of luck about them. The cards in a particular suit in the opponent’s hands may split evenly or be wildly unbalanced.

For newcomers to the game, the process of bidding can be daunting. There are hundreds of conventions available. Learning 10-12 of these will be sufficient for new players to compete in the auction when appropriate and to understand the coded language of their partner and opponents. One pair must outbid the other to win the contract; since there are 13 possible tricks to be taken, the lowest possible contract is at the “1” level, implying the capacity to take 7 tricks (1+6). A bid of 1 club, 1 diamond, 1 heart, 1 spade or 1 notrump will, if successful, make a part score. Clubs and diamonds are minor suits, and hearts and spades are majors. The highest bid at the “1” level is 1 notrump. Bidding and making a contract of 1 club or 1 diamond earns the declarer 70 points, 1 heart or 1 spade earns 80 points, while 1 notrump earns 90. Experienced players prefer to play in a major suit rather than a minor.

When both partners have strong hands, rich in aces, kings and queens, they will strive to bid a game, a slam or a grand slam. With its conventions, the bidding process allows partners to exchange information about their hands’ strengths and the cards’ distribution in the four suits. All this information must be available to the opponents; no secret codes are allowed. The players take it in turn to bid, beginning with the dealer. If the dealer has a poor hand, they will Pass, and the player on their left will have the opportunity to open the bidding.

Each deck of cards has 4 aces, 4 kings, 4 queens and 4 jacks for a total of 40 high card points, counting 4 for an ace, 3 for a king, 2 for a queen and 1 for a jack. A pair generally needs a majority of the 40 points to succeed, even in a part-score contract. To open the bidding at the “1” level, the player should have 13 HCP or better. As with all rules, there are exceptions, of course. In the simplest uncontested auctions, the opponents are too weak to bid, and the players with stronger hands will exchange information to determine the optimum level for the contract.

The player whose partner has opened the bidding is called the responder and should have a minimum of 6 HCP to make a bid other than pass. This guarantees that the partnership will have a 19-20 HCP minimum and that they can choose the trump suit. Trumps can beat the opponents’ aces and kings! Whenever reasonably possible, a pair will bid a game, a slam or even a grand slam because the rewards are much higher. Making a contract of 1 spade with 3 overtricks (10 in total) earns 170 points. Bidding and making a 4-spade contract earns 420 points, or 620 if vulnerable.

The game bonus is an extra 250 points or 450 points if vulnerable. However, failing to make the contract is penalized by 50 points per trick, 100 if vulnerable. Overbidding can be as costly as underbidding. 9 tricks are required for the game bonus playing in notrump, In hearts or spades, 10 tricks must be bid and made. In a minor, 11 tricks are needed. Notrump seems the preferred contract, but only if the partnership has stoppers in all four suits. Unbalanced hands with voids or singletons will usually play more successfully in a suit (with trumps).

Most players with 13 HCP or better will open 1H or 1S, provided they have 5+ cards in that suit. Lacking a 5-card major suit, 1D promises 4+ diamonds. Failing that, 1C tells the partner that your hand has 13-14 or 18-19 HCP and 3+ clubs. i.e. it denies a 5-card major or a 4-card diamond suit. With 6+ HCP, the responder will bid a major suit with 4+ cards. With 6-9 HCP and no 4-card major, the responder may opt to bid 1NT. If both partners have relatively flat hands, e.g. 4333, there is little opportunity to trump the opponents’ high cards.

Consider the bidding sequence Pass 1S Pass ?

Responder can only bid at the “2” level if their hand has 10+ HCP. The exception is if the hand has 3 spades, in which case a bid of 2S shows a weak 6-9 HCP hand. With only 13-14 HCP, the opening bidder will happily play in this 8-trick contract. With 18-19 HCP, the opener may bid 3S, which invites the responder to bid game (4S) with 8-9 HCP and pass with 6-7.

If the opening bidder has 13-14 or 18-19 HCP, they will open 1 of a suit. With a balanced hand of 15-17 HCP, the opening bid will be 1NT. If the hand is 15-17 HCP but has a singleton or void, open with 1 of a suit, preferably a major.

Shortage adds value to a hand being played in a suit contract. A void adds at least 3 points to the value of a hand; a singleton adds 2. To make 10 tricks in hearts or spades, the combined hands should have 26 HCP including distribution.

If you want to make bridge one of your retirement projects, come any Tuesday. While we cannot guarantee to make you into a Life Master, our experienced players will be happy to help you achieve competence in a few weeks. The more often you play, the more skilled you become.