Standard and Frequent. Our preemptive raises are quite standard for competitive bridge. Use of them is for more common than social bridge, of course.
They are bid when there is no chance of slam and the offensive value of preemption is necessary. This means the preemptive hand is usually quite weak, and the possibility is high the opponents will outbid the hand unless drastic action is taken at once.
Outrageous!. Totally outrageous preemptive bids often work very well, as opponents may go too high, double you when you can make it, or cause other interesting outcomes. Especially not vulnerable against vulnerable, bid preemptively or bid as though you are preemptive and you might get doubled in a contract you can make. The Law of Total Tricks will protect you from most disasters. (The Law is not covered in this series) Mix It Up. Don't always bid the same way - aggressively or conservatively - because opponents will figure you out and a serious competitive weapon in your arsenal will be diminished.
N
E
S
1©
P
DBL
???
4©
The preemptive raise. Might be strong, weak or somewhere in between. Only South knows. E/W have to make the hard guess.
North
South
or
South
ª xx ª xx ª xx © AQxxx ©KJxxx ©KJxx ¨ Ax ¨ xx ¨ KQJxx § QJx §Txxx § Kx Strength may vary from almost an opening hand down to nothing more than several trump and some shape. Opponents have to guess and partner has to pass. Whenever your opponents have to guess with minimum information, your preempt has succeeded.
Even better on the example above could be:
N
E
S
1©
Dbl
5©
Good bid South! E/W now have to guess at 300 point penalty or missing a 650 point game or going down 100.
A good preempt. Don't have any fear about going down a ton - this is good competitive bridge and it's only 1 hand.
(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998 All Rights Reserved