Three Reasons for Overcalling in Bridge-Monday Bridge Group,

As I mentioned in my previous postings, I play bridge here at THD 4 days during the week. THD has four Bridge Groups and I play in the 4 groups. Last month, I was surprise to hear that one of the best player here at THD, seldom used overcall.  Later on, this player did mentioned that he did some search and now is eager to play overcalling during our bridge game. 

I have played bridge for several decades now. I was in graduate school at the University of Illinois in the early 1960's when I learned how to play bridge. Most of my fellow Graduate students played bridge. We played in our dorm rooms almost on all weekends, if we do not have examinations the following week.

I learned not only to play offensively but also defensively with either a weak or a strong overcall depending on my mood and the ability of my bridge partner and opponents.    

Here are the three Reasons why a Good Bridge Player Should OverCall.

 Objectives of an overcall:

There are three primary reasons to make an overcall.

Reason 1 is what is called “lead directing”. If the opponents win the contract and your partner makes the opening lead, partner should lead your suit.

Reason 2 is to obstruct the opponents' bidding by taking bidding space from them and possibly “lifting” their bids to a higher level where, perhaps, they should not go.

Reason 3 is to compete for a part score or (less likely) a game contract. If opponents have opened the bidding it is unlikely you and your partner have enough points for game.

If you want more details on simple or jump overcall, or weak and strong overcalls read:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overcall#:~:text=In%20contract%20bridge%2C%20an%20overcall,to%20the%20first%20such%20bid.

On the other hand, your opponent will know you have a few points and you may be a victim of a successful "finish".  Sometimes, passing is a better option than overcalling.  

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Two Most Widely Used Bridge Bidding Systems

If you are new to bridge you may not know that there is more than one system of bidding. 

There are in fact many bidding systems but the two most widely used, especially by people learning bridge, are American style Five Card Majors (SAYC) and UK Standard English (ACOL).

As a rough guide: If you live in UK, Ireland or New Zealand you are more likely to be playing Acol bridge with Four Card Majors and Weak No Trump (12-14). If you live in USA and most of the rest of the world you are more likely to be playing American style Five Card Majors with Strong No Trump (15-17). 

For UK style bidding go to www.nofearbridge.co.uk.

For American style bidding go to www.nofearbridge.com.

In the Philippines, the ACOL system is the most popular bidding system. In our younger years, Macrine(RIP) and I went to Duplicate Tournaments with another couple who used the ACOL bidding system that they learned growing up in the Philippines. Macrine and I used the SAYC system thus it is sometimes confusing when we play against its other.   

Meanwhile, here's the latest photo of one of my companions here at THD.

Hello, My Name is Batman. What is yours?  

I hope you find this article useful.  Your comments will be appreciated! 

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💥To All our Monday Gp Players, please let me know (925-378-7740) or 916-342-1765 ASAP if you can not play for some reasons or another, so I can get a Sub. Thank You!  

Here's the List of Regulars ( Monday Gp):

Lee Cruise 707 378 3962,  Pat Smith 925-407-7397,  Patty Healy 925-788-5978,  Anne Long 925 915-9412, Linda Esner 925-954-1554 , Claire 925 932 1182 and Maggie Yoeman💥 925 482 0603 and ME( David K)-925 378 7740 or 916-342-1765 or E-mail: tagaboac@comcast.net  💥925-330-1824(Maggie cell phone)

Here are the Lists of SUBS:  Sandi Green 949 285 9947, Jane Williams 650-727 7455,  Phyllis Morical 925-300-3034, Dori Scanlon 925 980 4302, Jan Muto 925 381 6419, Cossette Mitchell 925 330 1620 and Rebecca Said 510 2203765     

Remember to bring your DOLLAR- 12:30PM at PGR or the LIBRARY. 

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Here's the explanation of the Jacoby transfer in response to a 1NT bid:

The Jacoby transfer, or simply transfers, in the card game contract bridge, is a convention in most bridge bidding systems initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that forces opener to rebid in the suit ranked just above that bid by responder. For example, a response in diamonds forces a rebid in hearts and a response in hearts forces a rebid in spades. Transfers are used to show a long suit, usually a major, and to ensure that opener declare the hand if the final contract is in the suit transferred to, preventing the opponents from seeing the cards of the stronger hand. -That is the weak hand is the dummy. For details visit:

 https://www.ateacherfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Lesson-2-Responding-Using-Stayman-and-Jacoby.pdf