An overcall should have a purpose and like an opening bid should give your
Partner some reasonably
accurate information
Points.
In 2nd or 3rd seat they should be close to an opening bid and certainly at the two level should
not have less than 11 HCP,
depending on suit quality and vulnerability.There are many philosophies about the upper limit.
The Acol file suggests up to 16 HCP but I find this too restrictive preferring to Double with most hands
with 14 or more , provided of course that I can stand any bid from partner, and then make it a rule that to
bid again after a simple response from Partner shows 16+.
Purpose Superficially the obvious purpose is to try to outbid your opponents and get a better
score than letting them play
in their contract; but it is a good idea to have a few rules to avoid getting into trouble.
Whichever seat you are bidding in you should apply a simple two out of three test to decide whether it is
worth overcalling.
1 Do I have a reasonable chance of winning the contract.
2 If Defending do I want Partner to lead this suit.
3 Am I taking up bidding space which will make it difficult to for the opposition.
RHO opens 1 ♠ and you
you hold ♠ xxx, ♥ Kxxx,
♦ Kxxxx.♣ A,
Is 2 ♦ a good bid? It fails on all counts.
But after a 1 ♦ opening ♠ xx, ♥KQxx, ♦xx, ♥ KQJxx passes all the tests
If a hand fails on two of the three tests it is rarely a good idea to overcall.
If it passes on one and is borderline on one, try this as a tie breaker.
Check how many of the opponent‘s suit you hold. If two or less then bid, if three or
more don‘t.
The logic is simple; if RHO opens a suit which you have four of then the probabilities are
that their partner will be short and making it more likely that they will have your suit and of course
less likely they will have a fit
Bide your time and take note of the subsequent bidding.
By limiting the immediate overcall to about 13 points your Partner needs a very good 5 or 6 card suit to
bid a new suit.
A jump bid in a new suit is usually forcing, at least 15 HCP
A bid of 1NT in response to an overcall should have at least 10 points and good stops in opener‘s suit
and 2NT would show 12 to 14.
Thus, for example, if you bid 1 ♠ after
a 1 ♣ opening with 12 HCP and partner responds 2NT you can have ago at 3NT
Raising partners overcall
Most tournament players use
what are called Unassuming Cuebids to describe the level of support
they have for the overcall.
This allows direct raises to be pre-emptive.
So 1 ♦ followed by 1 ♠ from your
Partner and a Pass from your RHO, 2 ♠
or even 3 ♠ from you gives the message “I am trying to make it as
difficult as possible for the opposition”.
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