NOVICES TIPS

1.  If a suit is good enough to bid then it is good enough to lead- Always lead partner's suit

eg.

ª QJ1095       after         1¨    1©      2NT       3NT  
© 86                do not be tempted to lead Spades
¨ J532            the 8©  should be on the table immediately
§ 32
   
 2. If you are not sure whether or not to reply with your 4 or 5 points hand to partner's 1 of a suit opener say to your self "If partner now rebids 3NT with his balanced hand and my hand now goes down on the table will he be pleased with me?" 

eg

ª Q76  ª Q109432 
© Q764               or © K4 
¨ J52 ¨  53
§ 432 §  63
no he will not so PASS  its OK since you can now go to 4ª

 

   3. If there is no other source of tricks when you defend try and give partner a Trump promotion. If partner plays a suit that he knows you and declarer are out of and you have a short trump holding, trump with your largest trump. Sometimes trumping with what you think is a worthless 10 will mean that declarer will now have to ruff with his King or Jack and suddenly your own partner's Queen is promoted. If left to his own devices declarer might have been able to draw trumps in 2 rounds capturing partners queen. So if in doubt trump high  and reap the rewards.     

 

INTERMEDIATES TIPS

1. When deciding to accept an invitation to Game with in between hands ie partner opens 1NT and then invites you with 2NT what do you do with exactly 13 points - do you accept or deny ? if in doubt consider the following hand estimation tips:-

a). Balanced 4333 and 4432 hands are unlikely to produce the extra 9th trick.

b). Balanced 5332 hands are more user friendly to produce that extra 9th trick.

c). J109  holdings are better than  J53- possible finesse positions etc for that extra trick. 

2.  If you have Aces be prepared to defend especially at the 4 and 5 levels but if you are Aceless and you are in competitive auction bid one more - bid 4ª over their 4©  or bid 5§ over their 4ª
3. 

a) In response to 1¨  if you have 5 Clubs and 4 Spades and a good hand (11+ points) do not distort your hand and make sure you reply 2§ as you will get a second chance to show your other suit as you can control the auction to the at least 2NT 

b)  In response to 1¨  if you have 5 Clubs and 4 Spades and a  minimum hand (6+ points) as you might only get one chance to bid get the Spades in bit them  early and respond 1ª (Also you might not be strong enough to reply 2§  

eg

ª K765 ª K765 
© 76                 BUT © 62
¨ A2 ¨ J2
§ AJ732 § AJ732
reply 2§  bid 1ª

 

 

ADVANCED TIPS
1. a) In a competitive auction "WHEN YOU HAVE ALL THE POINTS" make sure you treat partner's final pass as FORCING- this means you can either bid one more or Double. Do not merely, pass like a wimp.

b) In a competitive auction "WHEN YOU PUSHED THE OPPONENTS HIGHER  then they might want to be but THEY HAVE ALL THE POINTS" make sure you DON'T double the final contract. If contract is going off you are getting a very good score and if  it does make you are now giving them a top.  Be pleased that you have put pressure on them to make an 11th trick rather than a comfortable 10.

2.  Make sure you play 1NT in the balancing seat as 10-14 points balanced otherwise you will be passing out many auctions when you should be competing. Don't worry that you are entering the auction with only 10 points as "partner is known to have values!!"

eg

ª Q765 N E S W
© Q54 1© NO NO 1NT
¨ K52     WEST    
§ A32  
bid 1NT   

 

3. There is little benefit in playing attitude signals when declarer is playing on his good suit so adopt COUNT SIGNALS HERE. Occasionally, if you think count signals will help declarer  too much play a false count signal or no count signal at all.