John is fond of saying that bridge has become a kamikaze game. These days people are bidding aggressively, opening up weaker and weaker hands. How can you compete?
We strongly believe in being aggressive, but in a disciplined way. Discipline is key, so that partner has a good idea of the strength of your hand when you open. Partner can then make the best decision about whether to bid game, raise competitively, sacrifice, or double the opponents.
When is a hand worth opening?
You’re probably familiar with the Rule of 20, coined by bridge great Mary Bergen. Add the lengths of your longest and second-longest suits to your hand’s high card points (HCP), and if the total is 20 or more, open the hand. This rule applies to first and second chair only (opening bids are often more relaxed in third and fourth chairs.)
Most bridge experts believe that the Rule of 20 is a good starting point, but that there are many other factors that need to be taken into consideration. To keep things simple, we recommend the following approach:
- Does my hand meet the rule of 20?
- Do I have two quick tricks?
- Are my points working?
If the answer to these three questions is yes, open the hand.
Quick Tricks
Here is how to calculate the number of quick tricks (QT) in your hand.
- AK in the same suit: two QTs
- AQ in the same suit: 1-1/2 QTs
- A: 1 QT
- KQ in the same suit: 1 QT
- Kx: 1/2 qt
Working Points
Basically, this means that your points are concentrated in your long suits. Note: Do not count singleton honors, other than Aces, as working points
Consider the following hand. It doesn’t meet the rule of 20, as the total of HCP (12) and the sum of the length of the two longest suits (4 + 3) is 19. We do not recommend opening this hand.
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However, we would open the following hand. It also has 12 HCP. This hand meets the rule of 20, and it also has two quick tricks.
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A Word to the Wise…
Keeping these principles in mind will help you when you open with fewer than the usual 13 points, and your partner insists on a notrump contract. There’s nothing worse than opening up a lousy 11-point hand that happens to meet the rule of 20 but not our other requirements, winding up in 3NT, and going down like a lead balloon. The fact that your points are working, and that your hand has at least two quick tricks, will help tip the scales in your favor.
Thank you to Jeanne Snyder for noticing a glaring error (now corrected) in this article!