What do you need to overcall at the two level
In most of my bridge career (recognizing I stopped playing for a few decades and bidding changed enormously) I felt quite happy to overcall with a decent five-card suit at the two level as long as I had about an opening bid or better. Then some of my newer partners suggested that AQxxx was not good enough to overcall. I started to think about this and to please them I tried to upgrade my overcalls. But I never really felt all that good about it. Sure, sometimes you went for a number but a lot of the time it was important to get into the auction. Perhaps there is an argument for requiring a six-card suit for a minor overcall. I am happy to hear from people with strong feelings about this.
In this hand from the final round of the European Open Team Championship would you overcall or not:
| South
♠ A ♥ AQJ87 ♦ J974 ♣ 1096 |
Your partner passes and Caviezel (Italy) opens 1♠ . You are vulnerable aginst not. Is this time to overcall. Yah or nay?
Pros: you are short in spades, you have near an opening bid, your heart suit is let’s say decent, you have a second suit of sorts and if partner hates hearts you have support in either minor.
Cons: You would much rather have a minor ace than the spade ace, you have a minimum, partner is a passed hand and you “only” have five hearts.
You could make a takeout double but would you with five hearts. I guess it is a bit safer? But if you have the values for a takeout double don’t you have the values to overcall.
In the Open Room South passed and the hand was passed out. In the Closed Room Mariani for Italy bid 2♥ and partner raised to 4♥. Here is partner’s hand:
| North
♠ Q10974 ♥ K1092 ♦ 8 ♣ AJ5 |
Do you think North should have bid over one spade pass, pass? I don’t think so. He thinks you are short in spades and yet you didn’t bid so you can’t have much or worse you can have a non-fitting hand. Perhaps you think he should have opened? I think there is an argument for that. But this is a lot of punishment for not opening a marginal hand.
Over the 2♥ overcall Baroni bid 4♥ which made for 11imps. Of the six tables playing on BBO nobody opened the North hand and all but one overcalled the South hand. A few East-West took an unprofitable save in 5♦. Here is the whole deal:
| Dealer:
Vul: |
North
♠ Q10974 ♥ K1092 ♦ 8 ♣ AJ5 |
|
| West
♠ J6 ♥ 6543 ♦ 1065 ♣ Q743 |
 |
East
♠ K8532 ♥ – ♦ AKQ32 ♣ K82 |
| South
♠ A ♥ AQJ87 ♦ J974 ♣ 1096 |
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Bridge-related
You have a supporter (more precisely, you are supporting) in Ulf Nilsson, Swedish international and occasional blogger. He wrote about this a couple of months ago (http://viewsfromthebridgetable.blogspot.com/2010/05/whos-overcalling.html), but also covered in his Bridge World article entitled the Suit Quality Paradox.
I’m a fan of this style too.
Paul’s link doesn’t work because of the right parenthesis. Try this:
http://viewsfromthebridgetable.blogspot.com/2010/05/whos-overcalling.html
We are going to address this topic in the Bridge Bulletin in the It’s Your Call feature. There is a deal that will be out in the August magazine in which South overcalled 2H with Axxxx (and 14 HCP). Several of the panel went crazy.
We plan to have the hand Ulf wrote about in a future issue, just to see how and why and how much. It’s okay to say I would pass, but we want to hear the experts’ reasons, if they do (and vice versa).
Linda:
I am far from an expert but experience has made me a proponent of two theories … ‘The world hates a coward’ and ‘It is a bidder’s game.’ Trite perhaps — but realistic!
Hard to imagine anyone not overcalling with the South hand (one with which you would certainly open in any position). I think it is rather routine in this day and age. We’ve all gone for numbers on occasion — so what else is new? It only hurts for a little while.
Watching the U. S. Trials, it is very evident that few top players are passive! I think the rewards exceed the risks — and after all, you are only at the two level.
Braveheart