BridgeSnaps - March 2006

PARTY TIME

PART FOUR

Your partner opens the bidding then right-hand-opponent (RHO) makes a jump overcall, such as:

Partner RHO You
1 © 2 ª ??

Of course your first concern is what does this jump overcall mean? Years ago these bids were made with strong hands, stronger than an opening hand. There may always be those who continue to use jump overcalls as strong, but the modern practice is for the jump overcall to be weak like a preemptive opener; and we use the takeout double or cue bid in place of the jump overcall to show strength. In this instance RHO’s 2ª jump overcall is weak - typically 6 to 10 high-card points. It is your turn holding:

ª 8 7 6
© K 4 2
¨ A J 9 8 3
§ 8 2

Absent interference, you would have been happy to raise partner to 2©, but now you can‘t. That’s what preempts do - make like more difficult for the opponents. But not too difficult because there are good guidelines for this situation. You should raise one level higher than you would have absent the interference. In this case you should not hesitate to raise to 3©. The guidelines, which have been tested analytically and found to be sound advice, are:

- With support and 6 to 9 points, raise to the three level.
- With support and 11 or 12 points, jump raise to the four level.

The reason these guidelines are sound is because partner almost always has more than a minimum when RHO has 10 points or less.

CLASSIC BRIDGE QUOTE

“You cannot double your partner even when it feels right!” - bridge teacher Barbara Seagram.