Play bridge properly

1       Bidding Objectives = “8 and 25”.  

8 trumps and 25 points.    A slightly different way of looking at it 

1.1     The only essential things you really need to know

The main things you are trying to communicate to each other about your hands are, in order of importance, whether you have:

1. balanced[1] or unbalanced hands;

    

2. a fit either in No Trumps (NT) or a major suit ♥ ♠, or failing that, a minor suit ♣ ♦;

    

3. sufficient trumps between you for game (8 needed for game);

    

4. sufficient points between you for game: (25 is the minimum you need for a game in “No Trumps”, or - as a general rule - in a major suit).

    

If you find you have balanced hands, with stoppers[2] in all suits, you can play in NT.  If you have 25 points, you should bid up to game (3NT).

With NT, you both need to be (and you can be) very specific about the number of points you have, and inform your partner in the knowledge that 25 points[3] (but probably not 24) should get you to game 75% of the time. 

How can you be so specific? The bidding charts, in sections 2-4 explains in detail how. 

If you are unbalanced and therefore play in a suit, then 25 points is also a good initial guide for bidding up to game (a bid of 4 provided it’s in a major suit). However, shape is more important than in NT, and credit needs to be given for length and for voids and singletons, unless the latter are in trumps of course !   For a minor, reckon on 28 to be able to bid the 5 tricks needed for game.  

1.2     Balanced hand – a simple definition

Crudely: no suit or pair of suits dominates your hand, so it makes sense to play in NT.

Specifically:  (1) no 5-card major suits, (2) no singletons or voids, (3) maximum of one doubleton, and (4) stoppers in at least 3 suits.  Most players allow 5-card suits in ♣ and ♦, because a long minor suit can be very useful in NT. So, my advice: with 12-14 HCP’s and a 5 card minor always open 1 NT, provided you satisfy the other conditions, of course.