{"id":104623,"date":"2025-01-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funbridge.com\/blog\/?p=104623"},"modified":"2025-01-17T16:09:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T15:09:16","slug":"when-and-how-to-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funbridge.com\/blog\/en\/when-and-how-to-open\/","title":{"rendered":"When and how to open with a pre-emptive bid?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A pre-emptive opening bid is a weak opening that is made at a high level (from 2♥ or 2♠) that aims at hindering the opponents in their quest for the best contract. Its maximum usefulness is achieved when you have a long suit that is rich in tricks and not much else on the side.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u203a The level at which you pre-empt<\/strong> is always a function of the number of cards you have in the long suit.
You need:

\u2022 <\/strong>Six cards to open at the two-level (only in diamonds or the majors, that’s the weak two<\/strong>).
\u2022<\/strong> Seven cards at the three-level.
\u2022 <\/strong>Eight cards at the four-level.

These conditions are in accordance with the law of total tricks: for example, if you have seven cards in a suit, each of the other three players has an average of two cards in the suit. Your side therefore has nine trumps, which allows you to bid at the three-level without risk …<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Be careful with the rest of your distribution<\/strong>: even though having a singleton is always welcome, your hand should
not be too unbalanced outside your long suit. It is out of the question, for example, to have a five-card suit in addition to the seven cards necessary for an opening at the three-level and the same applies to a four-card major: you’d risk missing out on finding the right contract for your side.

\u203a The influence of vulnerability <\/strong>is indeed essential. The result of your action will often be to allow your side to sacrifice against a game contract by the opponents. Your sacrifice will be all the more profitable if you have favorable vulnerability. On the other hand, if you are vulnerable against not, your \u201csacrifice\u201d will be more expensive than the opponents’ game contract if you go down by more than one trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows us to write this first principle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Red against green, there is no such notion as sacrifice.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Pre-emptive openings in this vulnerability are therefore always constructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your hand in South.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n