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Introduction To Bidding Systems

To begin with, please try to think how you and your partner will bid the below hand, using your present agreements.

Bidding the hand assume there is no intervention by opponents. West is the dealer. Both sides are vulnerable. Let me ask you some questions while you are trying to remember your methods and bidding accordingly:

• Do you see, slam makes with 4-4 fit but not with 5-4?
• Do you see, if you change and suit holdings in either of the hands slam is not good? Slam is only good if W's shortness is . A 13 to 14 HCP slam because of a suitable shortness. This needs W to show his shortness and E to decide its suitability.
• Can you find 4-4 fit with your present partnership agreements, after West has opened 1 and you have 4 cards fit to ?
• Finding your 4-4 fit, can you show your shortness?
• Do you think a system can contain methods both finding 5-4 major fits for a higher security level and 4-4 fits for slam purposes -- can show shortness and test its suitability for limited points slam bidding?

If your answers to the above questions are all YES and the bidding with your partner ends bidding the slam; finding your 4-4 fit, showing and testing the suitability of the shortness, you may not find more on this site. The aim of this site with systems documents is to introduce the bidding problems, analyze them and describe the solutions. So partnerships can adapt it to their bidding systems.

NOTE: Finding and establishing 4-4 fits are very important in slam bidding.

A strong partnership should :

1. Find out your 8 cards Major suit fits. This is the basic rule for bidding. This is also very important to raise your security level from 3NT to 4 or 4.
2. Doing this, search for a 4-4 fit which is best for slam contracts.
3. Doing this, finalize your "Slam Interest decision taking process" below your security level.
4. Prepare your "Slam bidding project"
5. Begin slam bidding, using complete content of it.

Related Topics :

• Why and how 4-4 fits for slam?
• What is Security level and how to apply?
• What is Slam Interest Decision Taking process?
• Slam bidding project?
• Complete content of Slam bidding?

Related topics are discussed in our Newsletters and documents available at the members only site Document Center.

What--Part of the discussion

It was about 1984 or something like this. At Cavendish Calcutta (a competition played with invitational pairs) some of the best partnerships of the world has been invited to play, at which partnerships are sold by an auction and players are given big money awards. Alan Sontag and Peter Wheichsel of USA won it. I never forget the conversation between Sharif and Sontag.

Omar Sharif got closer to Sontag:

-It is surprising, did you two, guys win the event?

Alan Sontag replied:

-The System...

Here we will try to clear the meaning of a bidding system.

...The need, the logic behind building up and properly using of a bidding system...

There are 2 types to play bridge: First, only a social game played between friends without a high competition. Played just for fun. Second, a competitive game. Consisting the former, in the later, there is a high competition between the partnerships and the teams.

When you talk of a competition, development and improvement becomes referable. Learning and playing good bridge is not the final criteria to be a good and a winning player in a competitive game. Instead, you have to improve more than your opponents do and you have to bid, play and defense on the same hands better than your opponents did. Remembering the basic mentality of a competition, this makes bridge a sport. As in all other branches of sport, you need to practice to be successful and improve yourself more than your opponents do and in the competition act accordingly to your strategies. If your predetermined strategies are well developed and if you play better, applying your strategies what is going to be the problem ?

How--Part of the discussion

A system is a reference

A system is a reference between partners. You need to have written documents that reflects your agreements. In our document center, you will find well formatted complete written systems. Systems in document center are based on 5 card major systems like 2/1. There is one artificial system based on a strong club (precision) has been completed. A complete system for expert and long term partnerships with all competitive solutions. A sophisticated system developed for serious and long term partnerships.

You will find modular structure in the systems that you can take a part out of it and insert your preferences.

Study your system.

A written system gives you the opportunity to improve it. Take the written one a preference to your actions, compare the endings with your documents and take preventing and corrective actions on it. While using your system, you can improve its deficits when you faced with a problem that causes because of insufficiency of it. You can study your system if it is documented.

Less human behavior.

In competition, human factor causes some loss. Your feelings take part in your actions and decisions, where you have to be more technique and realistic. Feelings change day-by-day. But not the deals and/or the probabilities. You have to be technique to be successful in a competition. To depend upon a technique, you have to have predetermined strategies, tactics that builds up your strategies and plans those build up your tactics. A well designed smooth operating system, provides you all. You should rely on less human behavior, if you can. Instead do what you had planned before. Try to reach your objectives and tactics using system to establish your strategies.

Using a system, you will reach to desired endings and what you had planned before, even if your feelings change.

What--Part of the discussion - II

Learning bridge and playing good bridge is something different. There are lots of bidding problems to deal with. There should be very sophisticated agreements between partners to defend a bridge hand those can not be taught while learning bridge.

Most of the hands you play in a competition, lets say 80 out of 100 are standard deals. You should play them without any mistake. They are easy and no problem hands. Everybody can play those hands easily. The hands that differs the winners and losers are the hands those fall in the other 20. There are problems on those hands. You have to recognize them when faced with. Who ever solves more problems of that kind wins the event. If you make a mistake with in the former 80, your total number of problems increase to 21.

The essential words here are:

• Play the standard hands without any mistake. Do not forget most of the hands are simple and basic hands.
• Recognize the problem hands. Do not mix them with the standard ones. Solve the problems.
• Do not let partner to bid instead of you. You take your own risks and bid your hand yourself.
• Do not think every hand is a problem and do not think you have to make something winning on every other hand.

How--Part of the discussion - II

We are Dealing With Problems

We, as ETHBridge dealing with those problem hands. How to recognize them? How to bid them? Defensive bidding? How to defend a bridge hand communicating with partner?

You Need a Partner

To use our site more effectively and efficiently you need to establish a long term partnership. Then with your partner use the documents and partnership coaching sub-site of our web. Thousands pages of all kind is supplied here in service of you.

Documents

Use the systems documented or adapt the conventions detailed here to your favorite bidding system. You will find many new ideas and sophisticated solutions to be applicable to your own system, our corrective action taken conventions. Compare our system with yours with random hands you have played at a tourney and investigate the difference and effectiveness.

Partnership Coaching

We have established documents and tests for partnerships to practice. You may use your own system. We have given you some winning tactics inside our members-only pages.

Note: To read the rest of this article, please see article named "Bidding System".