How many conventions are there in bridge

But it does include some of the more choices for adding finishing touches to a basic bidding repertoire. They range from some things that are pretty standard and do not have to be alerted in tournaments to the more exotic.

Even the Bridge Burglar, who likes to keep things pretty basic, has found some exotic touches he likes. Entire books have been written about these various bidding conventions — can you imagine a whole book on Jacoby transfers? Special conventions do not only exist to aid offensive players in finding the right contract for them.

Many conventions have been invented for defensive players as well, to either put up more strenuous interference and thus make it harder for the more powerful opposition to find its fit, or to steal the bid away. You should be familiar with them for possible use by you and your partner, but you should also know what the conventions mean in case your opponents use them against you.

You may start out an auction with the presumption that you will be on defense, but during the course of the auction you may discover, to your pleasant surprise, that you and your partner actually do have the power and now you need to shift from defense to offense. If you or your partner opens with a weak 2 bid, you will have between 5 and 11 high-card points, and if the remaining points are equally distributed, your opponents will have the majority of the high-card points and it should be their hand.

Some useful conventions again, there may be more — no representation is made that this is an all-inclusive list for shifting from an expected defensive role to an offensive role:. Plug in your email address and we'll let you know every time the Bridge Burglar posts a new item. Email Address. Bidding Intermediate Jump Overcall - A skip bid over opponents Call, showing at least an opening hand and a solid six card suit. Bidding Inverted Minors - The weak jump response of partner's minor suit bid, used as a preemptive tactic against opponents.

See Details Bidding Invisible Cuebid - Also known as a virtual cuebid, a bid in the opponent's implied, but not bid, suit. Using Italian Cuebids, the partnership may also cuebid second round controls Kings or singletons provided the bidding level is beneath game. See Details Bidding Jacoby Transfer - A popular bidding treatment to enable the Notrump Opener to become Declarer when the Responder holds five or more cards in a suit.

This allows the stronger hand to remain unexposed. After opener bids 1, 2, or 3 Notrump, the Responder transfers to the next higher suit. Journalist Leads - An opening lead system against opponent's Notrump contract. Bidding Kantar 3 Notrump - Unlike the Gambling 3 Notrump with length in a minor suit, Kantar 3 Notrump is based on a long running major suit.

The KS approach follows two principles that bidding sequences should have precisely described meanings and, where safety permits high bids must be used to describe weaker hand and low bids to describe stronger hands. See Details Bidding Keycard Blackwood - A slam bidding variation from regular Blackwood, designed to increase the accuracy when considering the potential to reach slam or grandslam. Key Card Gerber - A slam bidding variation from regular Gerber when trump suit has not been names , designed to increase the accuracy when considering the potential to reach slam or grandslam.

Kickback - Typically used to explore slam, a variation of Roman Keycard Blackwood using one suit above four of the partnership's agreed trump suit as a keycard asking bid. Kokish Relay - An refinement to opener's responses after a strong 2 Club opener.

Kokish Game Try - After Opener makes a major suit bid and Responder raises the suit, the Opener with 6 Losing Trick Count may use a combination of both short suit and asking game try to discover possible game fits. See Kokish Game Try. Bidding Landy - An elementary form of interference over a 1 Notrump opener by the opponent.

See Example Bidding Lavinthal - A discard system which uses the rank of the card signal suit preference. See Details Also see and Details on signaling and books on Signals Bidding Leaping Michaels - A 4 level minor suit jump or skip bid in opponent's preemptive bid to show a game forcing auction with a two-suited hand.

See Details Also see Michaels Cuebid and Roman Jump Overcall Bidding Lebensohl - A comprehensive arsenal of bids designed to handle several difficult auctions, including opponent overcalls to 1 Notrump, 2 level preempts weak 2 bids , and opener reverses George Boehm originally attributed the convention resolving opponent's notrump interference to Ken Lebensold, who did not take credit for the convention nor relate to its spelling.

Examples include a cuebid of an overcalling opponents' suit bid, the Jordan 2 Notrump convention, doubles over opponent's cuebid, and redoubles. See Details and Cuebids Bidding Long Suit Game Try - After opener makes a major suit bid and responder raises the suit, the opener with 6 Losing Trick Count may use a long suit game try based on opener's length in a side suit.

When used to show count, the low-high signal typically indicates an odd number of cards in the suit. See Standard Count. See Convention Card Instructions Bidding Marionette - A transfer, or puppet, which instructs one's partner to make an artificial bid at the cheapest level, allowing the other partner to then clarify their holdings through the subsequent bid.

See examples as Lebensohl 2 Notrump advancer bid and Kokish Relay. Bidding Marx 2 Clubs - In response to partner's opening Notrump bid, a 2C response used to inquire about partner's major suit holdings. Bidding Mathe - An elementary defensive system against opponents' Big Club system to show a two-suited hand. A Double indicates the major suits, while a 1 Notrump bid promises both minor suits.

See Details Bidding Mathe Asking Bid - After partner makes a 3 level invitational jump raise, an artificial bid of the next higher rank used to accept game and ask partner to show a singleton or void. See Details and more Doubles Also see Books on Doubles Bidding McCabe Adjunct - After Opener's preemptive weak 2 bid, McCabe provides a mechanism to differentiate signoff 3 level bids in a new suit, and various invitational game asking bids. Michaels Cuebid - A cuebid of opponents' 1 level opening bid, indicating a two-suited hand.

Mini Max Gerber - Advanced players use "keycard" responses instead of the traditional "Blackwood-like responses" or Extending the responses, the third step shows minimum hand with the fourth step showing a maximum hand.

See Gerber. Also see Kamikaze Notrump. Mini Roman - An opening bid of 2 Diamonds to show a point opening hand with either a or distribution. Mini Splinter - A jump shift or jump reverse by opener or responder to show a 4 card fit, and a singleton or void in the named suit, and invitational values. Minor Opening - Partnership agreements for opening minor and Responder strong and weak bids.

Minor Suit Smolen - An extension to the Stayman, Jacoby Transfer, and Smolen conventions, used to explore a minor suit slam after opener's 2 Notrump opener.

Similar to the Smolen major suit convention, here the responder bids the complementary minor to ensure the stronger 2 Notrump opener plays the hand. While the Minor Suit Stayman has many variances depending on partnership agreements, typically the 1 Notrump opener's rebid supports a minor suit with length in the respective suit. The methods are centered on a symmetric system of bidding while the opening side has the majority of strength, also using weak opening methods according to Jukasz Slawinski.

The objectives of the Moscito Byte include:. Quickly entering the auction to find the best contract 2. Consume opponents bidding space 3. Efficiently investigate game and slam opportunities See Overview. Mixed Raise - A Call which has both constructive and preemptive properties. Moscow Escape - Especially when playing Weak Notrump openers, a conventional countermeasure when opponent Doubles for penalty.

See Details , Pre-Escape , Exodus. MUD - A signaling system to show leader's 3 card suit count, holding three insignificant cards. The leader begins with the Middle card, playing a higher Up card second and the lower Down card last. MUD signals partner with a 3 card suit.

Also see Details on signaling and books on Leads. Bidding Multi 2 Diamonds - An opening 2D bid, showing one of several types of hands partnership agreements vary.

Preemptive weak 2 level bid in an unspecified major 2. Google BridgeHands. Ace from Ace King - A popular opening-lead agreement to show partner holding of at least Ace, King, and another card in a given suit. Ace Identification - A treatment used in slam conventions to determine Aces held in a given suit by the responder, typically involving cuebidding controls.

Acol 2 Bid - A strong forcing opening bid, likely showing distributional strength. Acol 3 Notrump - An opening bid of 3 Notrump , holding a long, solid suit with stoppers in at least two of three remaining suits typically points. Acol 4 Notrump Opening - A opening bid asking forcing partner to show Aces. Advance Cuebid - A control-showing Cuebid made prior to a suit agreement by the partnership.

Advanced Lebensohl - An addition to Lebensohl when opponent's interfere with a 1 Notrump opener. All Purpose Cuebid - The generalized approach by responder or advancer that the forcing cuebid of opponent's suit enquires partner for additional information. Alpha Cuebid Support Asking Bid - A control asking structure associated with the Precision bidding system, used to explore a trump fit.

Ambiguous Splinters - See Concealed Splinters. American Leads - A lead methodology giving partner a count when holding a long unbroken suit. See Splinter Bids. Aspro - An English variation of the Astro Convention, named after a brand of their aspirin. Astro - A defensive bidding system against opponents 1 Notrump opening bid. Also see Smith Echo.

Autosplinter - A call that indicates both length in one suit and either a singleton or void in another suit. Baby Blackwood - The use of 3 Notrump bid to ask partner the number of Aces held after the side has found a suit fit.

Balancing In Direct Seat - To make a competitive bid in the direct as opposed to passout seat, where opponents are both bidding. Bergen Redouble Over Notrump - A method to show opening 1 Notrump partner assurance of a solid Contract when intervening opponent doubles to show a one-suited or two-suited hand.

Beta Cuebid - A control asking structure associated with the Precision bidding system, used without a strong suit fit. Blackwood - A method used to locate Aces in consideration of making a slam bid. California Cue Bid - A bid in opponents' suit requesting partner to bid Notrump with a stopper in the given suit same as Western Cuebid.

Cheaper Minor Second Negative - After an initial negative bid in response to partner's strong opening bid, a new bid in a minor or lowest suit confirms a weak hand. Examples: 2C - 2D; 2S - 3C;. Checkback Stayman - A method similar to the New Minor Forcing convention for responder to determine if opener is holding a 4-card major or 3-cards in responders bid suit.

Chicago Convention - A illegal tongue-in-cheek convention used against one's opponents to claim a fouled hand. Club Conventions - Many opening 1 Club bidding systems are commonly used. Concealed Splinter - An artificial ambiguous bid used to signify a singleton or void along with 4 or more trump in partner's major suit. Constructive Raise - A single raise of partner's major suit, indicating above minimal strength usually points and suggesting game exploration; responder's constructive bid is not forcing.

Duplicate Laws. Convention Charts - At any ACBL Tournament it is the responsibility of the participants to know which convention chart is in force for the event they are playing in. Delta - A system based on weak opening bids. The convention, typically used in a game forcing auction after the Big Club opener makes a jump bid response bypassing other possible asking bids by responder , asks responder to cuebid Aces up the line.

Double Negative - Often used by responder after opener's strong 2 Club bid, the second negative call indicates less than 3 points. Double Raise - A Skip or Jump bid in partner's suit, two levels higher than partner bid as: 1H - 3H Typically, Double Raises are played as an invitational limit raise historically a game forcing raise , while some treat it as a weak preemptive bid showing 4 card support see Bergen Raise.

Drury - A method where Responder rebids 2 Clubs after an initial Pass to explore game when one partner opens a Major Suit in third perhaps fourth seat possibly with light values and other partner is holding game invitational values.

Eastern Cuebid - A bid in opponent's suit used to show a stopper, anticipating partner may chose to call Notrump. Also see Cuebids. Eastern Scientific - Referring to a bidding style that relies on a more complex style of bidding to quantify their holdings. Escape Runout - After an opponent's penalty double, typically a Redouble is a plea to partner asking to find a better final auction.

Exodus - An escape mechanism using the Redouble when opponent's attempt to penalize partner's 1 Notrump opening bid. Fit Showing Jump - A skip bid showing suit length in both partner's suit as well as the bid suit of the jump. Flannery 2 Diamonds - An opening bid of 2 Diamonds shows an opening hand points with 4 Spades and 5 Hearts.

Forcing Notrump - A conventional response of 1 Notrump to partner's major suit opening, requiring further description of opener's hand. Gambling 3 Notrump - An opening bid of 3 Notrump based on a long, solid minor suit. Game-Force - A call that requests partner to continue bidding until game is reached. Keep It Simple, Stupid. If you are a social bridge player, then we recommend learning Stayman.

Other useful conventions are Takeout Doubles, Blackwood asking for aces and kings on the way to a slam and the 2-club opening bid, which shows a very strong hand usually 22 points or more , in conjunction with weak 2 bids. If you are a duplicate bridge player, then the list becomes longer. We conclude this article with a list of useful conventions for duplicate players. However, an extensive arsenal of conventions will never take the place of clear bridge thinking.

We know several superb bridge players who use very few conventions.