In the game of contract bridge, balancing (or protection in Britain) refers to making a call other than Pass when passing would result in the opponents playing at a low level. Balancing is done by the player in the balancing position, i.e. to the right of the player making the last non-pass call. This is in contrast to bidding in the direct position, i.e. by the player to the left. Balancing is normally done with values unsuitable for direct action, but only after the opponents' bidding has demonstrated weakness or minimal strength. The aim of the tactic is to find a makeable or nearly-makeable contract for one's own side or to "push" opponents a level higher. It is more common in matchpoint games, where even a defeat and loss of 100 points is a relatively better result than the opponents' gain of 110-140 points.
Balancing situation result from sequences like:
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♥ | Pass | Pass | ? |
Note that a Pass in this balancing position would result in defense against a 1♥ contract. The player in the balancing position, knows that the opener has made a non-forcing bid and that the opener's partner has denied values required to respond. In such a situation, it is probable that the opponents have less than half of the high-card strength. It is important to be able to enter the bidding on hands in which one has about 9-11 high card points (HCP). Therefore, in balancing position, either a takeout double or 1NT overcall can be made on less values than in direct position.
In the card game contract bridge, a forcing bid is any call that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's bidding system or a bridge convention, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, thereby preventing his left-hand opponent from ending the auction with a pass and enabling the "forcing bidder" to bid further.
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking potential of their hands as the auction proceeds and additional information about partner's hand and the opponent's hands becomes available.
In the card game contract bridge, a takeout double is a low-level conventional call of "Double" over an opponent's bid as a request for partner to bid his best of the unbid suits. The most common takeout double is after an opponent's opening bid of one of a suit where the double shows a hand with opening values, support for all three unbid suits and shortness in the suit doubled. Normally, the partner of the doubler must bid his best suit but may pass if (a) his right hand opponent intervenes or (b) on the more rare occasions when his hand is such that he wishes to convert the takeout double to a penalty double.
Mike Lawrence gave a detailed account of the various balancing situations in his Complete Book on Balancing in Contract Bridge. He stressed the fact that balancing over a minor suit is markedly different from balancing over a major suit. The difference stems from the fact that on a minor suit you can double and - after partner's response at 1-level - can rebid 1NT with 15-17 HCP. However, on a takeout double over a major suit, partner will seldom bid at the 1-level. As a result, the 1NT overcall over a major suit needs to be stronger.
The following summarises the balancing agreements made by competitive bridge players:
| West | North | East | South (in the balancing position) | |
| Call | Meaning | |||
| 1♦ | Pass | Pass | Double | 8+ HCP |
| 1♥/♠ | normal overcall | |||
| 1NT | 10-14 HCP, does not guarantee a stopper | |||
| 2♣ | normal overcall | |||
| 2♦ | unknown two-suiter (see Michaels cuebid) | |||
| 2♥/♠ | good 6+ card, 12-16 hcp | |||
| 2NT | 18-19 HCP, balanced | |||
| West | North | East | South (in the balancing position) | |
| Call | Meaning | |||
| 1♥ | Pass | Pass | Double | 8+ HCP |
| 1♠ | normal overcall | |||
| 1NT | 12-16 HCP, does not guarantee a stopper | |||
| 2♣/♦ | normal overcall | |||
| 2♥ | unknown two-suiter (see Michaels cuebid) | |||
| 2♠ | good 6+ card, 12-16 hcp | |||
| 2NT | 17-19 HCP, balanced | |||
Balancing can be also executed in later rounds of bidding, in the sequences where the opponents have found a fit but stopped at a low-level. Normally, it is performed with some values, but less than if it was in direct seat. The opponents' fit requirement is important: statistically, existence of one side's 8+ cards fit favors the possibility that their opponents also have one (see Law of total tricks). Also, the opponents fit gives a clue to the partner's length in the suit, and, by inference from previous rounds of bidding, in other suits.
In contract bridge, the Law of total tricks is a guideline used to help determine how high to bid in a competitive auction. It is not really a law but a method of hand evaluation which describes a relationship that seems to exist somewhat regularly. Written by Jean-René Vernes for French players in the 1950s as a rule of thumb, it was first described in English in 1966 International Bridge Academy Annals. It received more notice from appearing in The Bridge World in June 1969. In 1981 Dick Payne and Joe Amsbury, using their abbreviation TNT, wrote at length about it for British readers. Later, in the USA, Marty Bergen and Larry Cohen popularized the approach, using their preferred abbreviation: 'the LAW'.
| Bidding | South Holding | Comment | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♠ J1084 ♥ 8♦ A982 ♣ QJ63 | South was too weak to give a takeout double in the first round, but the bidding now places some points with partner, and a likely fit in some suit | ||||||||||||
| ♠ KQ108 ♥ 8532♦ A82 ♣ J6 | South can now venture 2♠ overcall, judging that the partner has singleton heart and some values, so even a 4-3 fit could play well. | |||||||||||||
| ♠ 108642 ♥ 83♦ A98 ♣ QJ6 | A hand too weak for initial overcall might now try a 2♠, as partner is marked with some values. | ||||||||||||
| ♠ 10864 ♥ AJ6♦ 98 ♣ KJ103 | Although the distribution and strength are fine, opponents have not found a fit, and balancing can be dangerous; no fit from partner is implied, and East may have passed with significant values in fear of a misfit. | ||||||||||||
| ♠ 10864 ♥ 5♦ KQ65 ♣ J1094 | This is a fairly extreme case, but a takeout double might be ventured at matchpoints. The partner is marked with values which lie behind 1NT opener, although he might fail to provide a fit or expect more from the balancer and pass for penalties. |
Although the "balancing in direct seat" term is self-contradictory, it is occasionally possible to have the "balancing values", yet to act relatively safely in the direct seat. The classic case [1] is after the opponents have found a fit at the two level:
| Bidding | South Holding | Comment | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♠ 10963 ♥ 8♦ A8532 ♣ KQ8 | South can see that the partner is not short in hearts and is unlikely to balance over 2♥, so a takeout double is in order. A prior partnership agreement for light actions is in order. |
It can also occur when the LHO has bid a sign-off without a clear fit, though this is not recommended due to the danger of not landing in a fit after the "pre balance". [1] The tactics/convention is often referred to as "OBAR BIDS" (acronym for "Opponents Bid And Raise - Balance In Direct Seat").
An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation from the initial components of a phrase or a word, usually individual letters and sometimes syllables.
Stayman is a bidding convention in the card game contract bridge. It is used by a partnership to find a 4-4 or 5-3 trump fit in a major suit after making a one notrump (1NT) opening bid and it has been adapted for use after a 2NT opening, a 1NT overcall, and many other natural notrump bids.
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1950s and 1960s, its earliest versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'Goren'. With the addition and evolution of various treatments and conventions, it is now more generally referred to as Modern Standard American. It is a natural bidding system based on five-card majors and a strong notrump; players may add conventions and refine the meanings of bids through partnership agreements summarized in their convention card. One standardised version, SAYC, is widely used by casual partnerships and in online bridge.
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is basically a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, a weak no trump.
Polish Club is a bridge bidding system which was developed in Poland, where it is the most popular bidding system, and which is also used by players of other countries. It is a type of small club system.
In the card game of bridge, the unusual notrump is a conventional overcall showing a two-suited hand. It was originally devised by Al Roth in 1948 with Tobias Stone, to show the minor suits after the opponents opened in a major.
Calls made during the auction phase of a contract bridge game convey information about the player's card holdings. Calls may be "natural" or "artificial". A bridge convention is an agreement about an artificial call or a set of related artificial calls.
The Jacoby transfer, or simply transfers, in the card game contract bridge, is a convention in Standard American bidding systems initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that forces opener to rebid in the suit ranked just above that bid by responder. For example, a response in diamonds forces a rebid in hearts and a response in hearts forces a rebid in spades. Transfers are used to show a weak hand with a long major suit, and to ensure that opener declare the hand if the final contract is in the suit transferred to, preventing the opponents from seeing the cards of the stronger hand.
Preempt is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents' ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A preemptive bid is usually made by jumping, i.e. skipping one or more bidding levels. Since it deprives the opponents of the bidding space, it is expected that they will either find a wrong contract of their own, or fail to find any. A preemptive bid often has the aim of a sacrifice, where a partnership bids a contract knowing it cannot be made, but assumes that, the penalty will still be smaller than the value of opponents' bid and made contract.
These terms are used in contract bridge, using duplicate or rubber scoring. Some of them are also used in whist, bid whist, the obsolete game auction bridge, and other trick-taking games. This glossary supplements the Glossary of card game terms.
Cappelletti is a bridge bidding convention for the card game contract bridge, primarily used to interfere over opponent's one notrump (1NT) opening. Usually attributed to Michael Cappelletti and his longtime partner Edwin Lewis, origin of the concept is also claimed by Fred Hamilton, John Pottage and Gerald Helms.
Bridge bidding systems that incorporate a strong 2 clubs opening bid include modern Standard American, standard Acol, 2/1 game forcing and many others.
In contract bridge, a cue bid is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking"--a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.
In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A direct overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e. next in the bidding rotation; an overcall in the 'last seat', i.e. by the player to the right of opener, which is made after two intervening passes, is referred to as a balancing overcall.
In the game of contract bridge Fantunes is a natural bidding system initially developed Carlos Mosca and popularized by Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes - two players that were later found to be cheating and were banned from play by many bridge federations
EHAA is a highly natural bidding system in contract bridge characterized by four-card majors, sound opening bids, undisciplined weak two-bids in all four suits and a mini notrump, usually of 10–12 high card points.
Inverted minors refers to a treatment introduced by the Kaplan–Sheinwold (K–S) bidding system for the popular card game bridge. The original structure of Precision, another bidding system, also employed inverted minors over a 1♦ opening. However, the treatment is no longer restricted to users of these bidding systems. although partnerships that use a Short club system tend also to use the convention only after a 1♦ opener.
Bridge base basic, also known as BBO basic, is a bidding system for the game of bridge based on Standard American Yellow Card. It is simplified, suitable for beginners, and widely used in internet bridge particularly on Bridge Base Online. It is taught in Fred Gitelman's educational software called Learn to Play Bridge that is available as a free download from the American Contract Bridge League's website.
Five-card majors is a contract bridge bidding treatment common to many modern bidding systems. Its basic tenet is that an opening bid of one-of-a-major in first and second position guarantees at least five cards in that major. This method has become standard in North American tournament play, but European methods vary.
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.