Preempt (also spelled "pre-empt") 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 (too high or in a wrong denomination) of their own, or fail to find any. A preemptive bid often has the aim of a save, where a partnership bids a contract knowing it cannot be made, but assumes that (even when doubled), the penalty will still be smaller than the value of opponents' bid and made contract.
| Our Score If We Are Doubled and Defeated | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| When We are Not Vulnerable | When We are Vulnerable | ||
| Undertricks | Score | Undertricks | Score |
| 1 | -100 | 1 | -200 |
| 2 | -300 | 2 | -500 |
| 3 | -500 | 3 | -800 |
| 4 | -800 | 4 | -1100 |
| Our Score If They Make Game | |
|---|---|
| When They are Not Vulnerable | When They are Vulnerable |
| -400 in NT or -420 in a suit | -600 in NT or -620 in a suit |
The tables at right help to illustrate the limits of the scoring advantage to be gained in duplicate bridge by preempting or sacrificing when the opponents may be successful in making a game contract. The level to which one may preempt, bid competitively or ultimately sacrifice is heavily influenced by the vulnerability status of each side and the assumption that the defending side will double the contract. There are four possible scenarios:
In summary, based upon the expectation that the opponents are likely to bid and make game, it is advantageous to preempt, compete or sacrifice for down three when vulnerability is favorable, down two when equal and down one when unfavorable.
A preemptive opening bid is one made on the second or higher level, typically showing a weak hand containing a long, strong suit. Preemptive opening bids on the third or higher level are common for most bidding systems; for example, the hand of ♠ 4 ♥ KQJ9854♦ J62 ♣ 95 is a typical 3♥ opener. The bid is made on presumption that, without any additional tricks from the partner, at least six tricks can be taken with hearts as trump, and the potential penalty of 500 points in 3♥ doubled is smaller than the value or opponents' likely game or slam.
A preemptive opening bid usually shows at least six (6) high card points and a suit with six or more cards headed by honors (typically either K-Q or better or Q-J-10 or better) but less than a normal opening bid. Some textbooks recommend the "rule of 2 and 3":" [1]
Obviously, preempting at unfavorable vulnerability entails greater risk; such preempts, if ever, are often made with an intention of making the contract, and the long suit is often backed up by an unusual distribution, such as 7-4-2-0.
An alternative approach is to bid the level suggested by the Law of Total Tricks, with the assumption that partner's hand has one third of the remaining trumps. Using this approach,
Note that, in the "Weak Twos" convention, an opening bid of two clubs (2♣) is strong and artificial, typically showing at least 22 HCP, and thus is not available for preemption for hand with six clubs. Thus, some partnerships bid 3♣ with good preemptive hand (typically at least 8 HCP) that has only six clubs. Many partnerships that use an opening bid of 2♦ as a conventional bid will likewise bid 3♦ with a good preemptive hand that has only six diamonds.
Obviously, preempts in the fourth seat are very rare, as there is nobody to preempt: they do occur occasionally, though, e.g. when the player has a near-opening bid with a long suit, but is reluctant to open on level 1 for fear of being outbid by perceived opponents' major. For example, the hand ♠ 3 ♥ 94♦ KQJ963 ♣ AJ92 might reasonably open 3♦ in the fourth seat, hoping to silence the opponents' with their spades and/or hearts.
A preemptive bidder bids again only if his or her partner makes a conventional bid that requires a response.
Gambling 3NT opening bid is often used to preempt with a solid minor suit.
If Namyats is used, 4♣ and 4♦ are no longer available for preempts.
A preemptive overcall is a jump overcall (so 2♦ is preemptive over 1♣ but not over 1♥) that is otherwise identical to a preemptive opening bid.
The suit requirements for preemptive overcalls are generally similar to a preemptive opening. However, they are normally loosened in third seat, when the partner has already passed, so the opening bidder can be sure that the only side preempted are the opponents, and thus can bid with better or thinner values.
A partnership can preempt the opponents cooperatively, having discovered that they have an excellent suit fit but not much overall defensive strength. For example, after the partner opens 1♦ and RHO doubles, the following hand is suitable for a bid of 5♦, outbidding opponents' major suit game in advance:
♠ 83 ♥ 4♦ Q108542 ♣ QJ64
In a more general sense, even low-level and non-jump bids can have a preemptive value if they deprive the opponents of bidding suits that they could otherwise bid on level 1 or 2. For example, weak 1 notrump (characteristic for Acol system) opening takes up entire level 1 from the opponents, who could bid their long suit on level 1 had the opening been 1 of a minor, like in Standard American bidding. However, there is always the danger that the preempting side could preempt themselves, taking up their own bidding space that could be used for constructive bidding. For example, four-card major openings have a more preemptive effect compared with five-card major openings, but also carry less precise information, as the partner should not support the opened suit without at least 4 cards; that could result in missing a partial contract or even a game.
Many partnerships also use Michaels Cue Bids preemptively. A Michaels Cue Bid is a bid of two of a suit in which an opponent has bid one that promises two five-card suits including the unbid majors and, in most partnerships, at least seven or eight HCP. Thus, either 1♣-2♣ or 1♦-2♦ promises both five hearts and five spades, 1♥-2♥ promises five spades and either five clubs or five diamonds, and 1♠-2♠ promises five hearts and either five clubs or five diamonds. Over a Michaels Cue Bid in either major suit, partner's response of 2NT asks the Michaels bidder to bid the minor suit. If the Michaels bidder has a strong hand, the Michaels bidder can show the strength by rebidding an agreed suit at a higher level.
Since the preempter has a weak hand, responder will pass most of the time. However, responder also has the following options:
Over a preemptive opening bid or overcall at the "two" level, many partnerships use the 2NT response to ask for more information about the preemptive hand. In the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC) bidding system, the preemptive bidder responds by bidding another suit containing an ace or a king or, lacking such a suit, by rebidding the suit of the preempt at the "three" level. In either case, the responder can then place the final contract.
The Ogust convention provides a more informative set of responses to the 2NT inquiry.
The differentiation between "minimal" and "strong" preempts and between "poor" and "good" hands is a matter of partnership agreement, and typically depends upon the partnership's strictness in preemptive bidding. Partnerships that are very strict typically regard a suits with only two of the top three or three of the top four honors as "poor" while partnerships that preempt with poorer suits may regard such suits as "good." Hands that respond 3♦ or 3NT typically do not have outside entries, as their long suits contain nearly all of their high card points.
Many players use the law of total tricks (often referred to as the "LAW") as a rule of thumb for preemptive and sacrificial bidding. Bids dictated by the LAW are often sacrificial, but nonetheless produce consistently better results with proper play. [3] [4] The LAW states:
"In a competitive auction, it is safe to bid a number of total tricks equal to the number of trumps in the combined hands of both partners."
When viewed in context of the Law of Total Tricks, normal preemptive opening bids, described above, basically assume that the preemptive bidder's partner possesses two of the five to seven outstanding cards of the long suit—mathematically, the "expected" number based on equiprobable distribution of the missing cards. Thus, the Law of Total Tricks implies that the preemptive opener's partner can safely raise the preemptive opening bid by the number of cards in excess of two in the named suit (for example, raise an opening bid of 3♥, which promises seven hearts, to 4♥ with three hearts (7+3=10 total tricks) or to 5♥ with four hearts (7+4=11 total tricks)), regardless of the responder's high card points.
The limit raises and preemptive raises of major suits in the Standard American Yellow Card bidding system also conform to the Law of Total Tricks. By opening a major suit normally, the opening bidder promises at least five cards of the major suit. A "limit" raise, which is a response of three of the opener's suit, requires ten to twelve high card points and four cards in the responder's suit, for a total of nine. Likewise, a preemptive raise, which is a bid of four of the opener's suit, requires five cards in that suit, for a total of ten. The Law of Total tricks allows the opening bidder to raise such responses by the number of cards in excess of five in that suit.
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.
Precision Club is a bidding system in the game of contract bridge. It is a strong club system developed in 1969 for C. C. Wei by Alan Truscott, and used by Taiwan teams in 1969. Their success in placing second at the 1969 Bermuda Bowl launched the system's popularity.
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 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.
A game try in the card game of bridge is a bid that shows interest in bidding a game and asks partner to help in making the decision.
The forcing notrump is a bidding convention in the card game of bridge.
The Jacoby transfer, or simply transfers, in the card game contract bridge, is a convention in most bridge 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 long suit, usually a major, 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.
Zar Points (ZP) is a statistically derived method for evaluating contract bridge hands developed by Zar Petkov. The statistical research Petkov conducted in the areas of hand evaluation and bidding is useful to bridge players, regardless of their bidding or hand evaluation system. The research showed that the Milton Work point count method, even when adjusted for distribution, is not sufficiently accurate in evaluating all hands. As a result, players often make incorrect or sub-optimal bids. Zar Points are designed to take many additional factors into consideration by assigning points to each factor based on statistical weight. While most of these factors are already implicitly taken into account by experienced players, Zar Points provides a quantitative method that allows them to be incorporated into bidding.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
The Kaplan–Sheinwold bidding system was developed and popularized by Edgar Kaplan and Alfred Sheinwold during their partnership, which flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. K-S is one of many natural systems. The system was definitively described in their 1958 book How to Play Winning Bridge and later revised and retitled to The Kaplan-Sheinwold System of Winning Bridge in 1963.
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.
Ogust is a bridge convention used by responder after his partner has made a weak-two opening bid; its purpose is to gauge the strength of the weak-two bidder's hand. Named after Harold A. Ogust from the United States, the convention is also known as the 'Blue Club response' from the bidding system developed by Benito Garozzo.
Bridge base basic, also known as BBO basic, is a bidding system for the game of bridge based on the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC). 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.