This is a list of defensive conventions used in the game of contract bridge to compete in the bidding after the opponents have opened with a one notrump (1NT) bid.
In contract bridge, a two suiter is a hand containing cards mostly from two of the four suits. Traditionally a hand is considered a two suiter if it contains at least ten cards in two suits, with the two suits not differing in length by more than one card. Depending on suit quality and partnership agreement different classification schemes are viable. The more modern trend is to lower the threshold of ten cards to nine cards and consider 5-4 distributions also two suiters.
A bridge convention is an agreement about an artificial call or a set of related artificial calls. 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".
In the card game contract bridge, DONT is a conventional overcall used to interfere with an opponent's one notrump (1NT) opening bid. DONT, an acronym for Disturb Opponents' Notrump, was designed by Marty Bergen, and is therefore also referred to as "Bergen over Notrump". Although the method is often criticized for being too nebulous, it remains fairly popular. The convention was first published in the September/October 1989 issue of Bridge Today.
Lebensohl is a contract bridge convention whose variants can be used in the following situations:
Cappelletti is one of many defensive bridge bidding conventions used in the card game contract bridge to compete or interfere in the auction when an opponent has opened one notrump (1NT). 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. Cappelletti can show a variety of one- and two-suited hands while retaining the penalty double for stronger hands.
Landy, named after its inventor Alvin Landy, is the first of several conventional defenses created to compete against an opponent's one notrump (1NT) opening. Landy is a 2♣ overcall of the opponents' 1NT opening to show at least four cards in each of the major suits; all other bids are natural. Requirements for the overcall vary from partnership to partnership: some require 5-5, some 5-4, and yet others only 4-4. The partner can take a preference to either major or make a non-forcing bid of a suit; 2NT is used as a forcing query.
Rubinsohl is a bridge convention that can be used to counter an opponent's intervention over a 1NT opening bid. After opponent's two-level overcall, all bids starting from 2NT are transfer bids to the next strain.
In contract bridge, the Gardener one notrump overcall is an overcall of 1NT denoting either a 16-18 balanced hand, or a weak hand with a long suit.
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 or protective overcall.
Suction is a contract bridge bidding convention used to intervene over an opponent's 1NT opening. Using the suction convention, a suit overcall of a 1NT opening is conventional and denies the suit actually bid. It shows either:
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.
The Romex system is a contract bridge bidding system designed by Mexican bridge expert George Rosenkranz. Key features of Romex are the multiple meanings attributed to certain bids, such as the dynamic one notrump and the Mexican two diamonds.
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.
Devised by Kit Woolsey, the convention is a defense against an opponent's one notrump opening; especially used at matchpoints. Initial bids are as follows:
The Rosenkranz double and Rosenkranz redouble are elements of a bridge bidding convention invented by Dr. George Rosenkranz, collectively known as the Rosenkranz double. It is a double made by the advancer in an auction where opener, overcaller and responder have all bid different suits. It is used to describe the advancer's top honor card holdings in the overcaller's suit.
In the card game bridge, CoCa or Comfy Canapé is a conventional defense against opposing 1NT openings. When playing CoCa, over a 1NT opening of the opponents, both a double as well as a 2♣ overcall are conventional and establish spades and hearts, respectively as anchor suits. Higher overcalls can be either natural, or conventional.
Walsh is a convention used in the card game of bridge in response to an opening bid of 1♣. The convention has its origins in the Walsh System developed by Richard Walsh.
Astro is a contract bridge bidding convention used to intervene over an opponent's one notrump (1NT) opening bid. The name is derived from the initials of the surnames of its inventors - Paul Allinger, Roger Stern and Lawrence Rosler.