Bridge Convention Cards
What exactly is a convention card?
A convention card is a sort of “profile” of a bridge partnership. Above all, it is absolutely essential whenever you play in competitions.
It describes all the agreements between two partners, whether regarding bidding or card play (opening leads, signals, discard systems, etc.). In short, everything that enables a partnership to understand each other at the table.
Yes, it’s mandatory (and not just a little)
No debate: the convention card is mandatory in all competitions.
Even before you start playing, you are supposed to draw your opponents’ attention to your important conventions. It is a matter of fairness; they must have the chance to prepare for your unusual conventions.
It must include, in particular:
- your names and rankings
- your basic system
- any of your slightly “tricky” or unusual conventions
The idea is simple: to avoid unpleasant surprises for your opponents, and to provide the director with a way to verify your prior agreements in the event of a disagreement during the competition.
If you are unable to show your convention card to your opponents when they ask for it, you risk incurring penalties, especially in top-level competitions.
A way to fine-tune your partnership
Filling in a convention card is also useful for ensuring you don’t forget anything important when setting up a system:
- “Hold on, what does 2♦ mean for us again?”
- “What do we play after a weak 1NT?”
If it is not clear on the card, it won’t be clear at the table. Oh, and by the way, at the table, each pair is only allowed to consult the opponent’s convention card. You are obviously not allowed to check what you are playing on the back of your own card during a bidding sequence 😉
Here is a template convention card!
You can fill in this card created by the EBL with all your conventions by following the section headings. Everything must, of course, be written in English. You can add additional notes if you think you are running out of space on the card.
Essential for directors
If a problem arises, the card (or the entire system!) becomes a key piece. It helps determine whether:
- you have explained your system incorrectly
- or whether you have played your own system incorrectly
And that completely changes the director’s decision. Indeed, an “application” error – that is, not having the appropriate hand for the bid made but correctly explaining what you were supposed to have – amounts to a psych, and is in no way reprehensible provided you mislead both your partner and your opponents at the same time.
Whereas if you make an “explanation” error, your opponents may feel aggrieved at not having understood the correct meaning of a bid. The director will then remedy this as far as possible.
Here is a pre-filled convention card!
This is the convention card I use with my Junior partner Clara Bouton. There may be a few mistakes in English – we are French, after all!
How do we actually use it at the table?
Let’s be honest: nobody reads a convention card line by line before playing. But we all do the same thing:
1. A quick scan before the start
We scan diagonally to spot:
- a Multi 2♦, a two-suited weak 2♥ in the majors
- a weak NT
- an Italian discard
2. A quick adjustment
With this information, you can say to our partner: “OK, against the Namyats, what do we play?”.
My conventions on Funbridge
You can customise your system on Funbridge so that Argine adapts to what you are best at, whether that is bidding or card play.
Did you enjoy this little reminder article?
Feel free to suggest specific topics – I am always happy to hear from you!
