COMPETITIVE
BIDDING
SSS by Danny Kleinman
SAYC. Bids have the same meanings as in uncontested auctions. However, it is sometimes necessary to make a bid that would have been
your second A cue bid of an opponent's
suit forces to game, and usually (but not always) shows a fit. Responder should stretch to raise opener. New-suit responses at the 2-level may be shaded a point, but should usually be based on at least five cards. New-suit
responses at the 3-level are forcing to game. SSS. Limit bids are necessary: responder no longer has the luxury of temporizing bids once an opponent overcalls. With support for opener's suit, responder must show it immediately:
via a standard single raise, a limit jump raise, or a cue bid with a forcing raise or better. Responses at the 1-level may no longer be made on minimum Type w hands just to keep the bidding open: they must be based on hands with
which responder would be happy, not reluctant, to bid in the absence of competition. A 1NT response now shows 8-10 HCP with a stopper; 2NT shows 11-12, 3NT shows 13-15. Non-jump new-suit bids at the 2-level and higher remain
unchanged. Occasionally, having no other reasonable bid, responder may raise opener's suit with poorer support than in uncontested auctions, but will always have a high-card maximum when he does. SAYC. Negative doubles of
overcalls through 2S. All negative doubles promise at least four cards in at least one unbid major; 1C-1D-double promises both majors. [Hmmph-- what meaning does SAYC assign to 1H-1S-double, 1S-2H-double, and 1H-2S-double?---DK]
In reply to a negative double, opener makes a minimum rebid with less than 16 points, a non-forcing jump with 16-18 points, cue-bids with 19 or SSS.
Penalty doubles of overcalls, but never doubles based only on trump stacks, and at low levels, always pullable when opener is short. As in S.J. Simon's book "Why You Lose at Bridge" (from where else do you think I got the
name for the system "Simple Simon Says"?), a double shows a better-than-average hand with some stuff in the overcalled suit and a misfit for opener's suit. On page 1 of his new book "Negative Doubles," Marty
Bergen concurs with Eddie Kantar in saying, "Regarding negative doubles, no two players are in agreement." Bergen and Kantar are right, and the fact they cite is reason enough not to play negative doubles except in
regular partnerships that have reached agreement about how to play them. Personally, I favor negative doubles with the right agreements, but unless you and your partner go through the checklist in my book (which may need revision)
about doubles of overcalls, and reach sound, firm agreements, you're better off without them. The SAYC treatment is not nearly adequate.
choice in an uncontested auction. For example, suppose you have S-J43 H-A875 D-AQJ4 C-J3. After 1D-pass-1S, you'll rebid 1NT if fourth hand passes, but raise to 2S if fourth hand bids 2C.
more points to force to game, or (rarely) passes for penalties. If responder and
advancer both pass after an overcall, opener should make a balancing double unless he has three or more cards in the overcalled suit, catering to the penalty double that responder cannot make because
of negative doubles.