Modern Bridge Convention Calls

Author: Chief Editor: Qin Debin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-09-01
Features:
Fragment: 1NT opening, responder faces the following issues: telling the opener whether they hold weak cards, medium game cards, or game-making strong cards, especially how to convey information after interference from opponents'; exploring high-suitbest contracts (4-4 match or 5-3 match); sometimes also exploring low-suitbest contracts; when holding strong cards or having an excellent partnership hand type, probing for slam at the lowest possible level; also considering how to ensure the stronger hand becomes the declarer. Various conventional responses are used to handle these issues more appropriately. Moreover, they should be used as an organic whole to avoid contradictions and misunderstandings. In recent years, due to the diversification of bidding methods, the major point count and bidding conventions for no-trump openings have varied considerably. To ensure clarity, we establish the following benchmarks:
1. 1NT opening: 15–17 major points
2. 2NT opening: 20–22 major points
3. Two Clubs opening, followed by 2NT rebid: 23–24 major points
4. Two Clubs opening, followed by 3NT rebid: 25–27 major points
If your bidding system specifies different opening methods or point counts, these conventional bids can still be adopted, provided the responder adjusts accordingly based on the difference in opening point strength.
2. Medium game cards, with one or two 4-card high-suit suits. The point requirement generally should not be less than 24 or 25 major points minus the upper limit of the 1NT opening point count. In other words, under natural bidding, at least 6 or 7 points are required, while under precise bidding, at least 9 or 10 points are needed. This is because when the partnership has 24 or 25 major points and high-suit matching, the hope of making game is significant.