Overcalls of One Notrump Openings

Your opponent open One Notrump and your partner says "Two Clubs"

Does that promise Clubs or something else? 

Here's where you tell your opponents what your overcalls of their opening Notrump bids mean. There are boxes to indicate whether your calls are in direct and passout seats and against Weak and Strong Notrump openers. Finally, you must show the suit or suits you mean when you make such a call.

Vs. Wk. [  ] Strong [  ] NT Opening

Direct [  ] Balance [  ]

2§ shows    § ¨ © ª

2¨ shows    § ¨ © ª

2© shows    § ¨ ©ª

2ª shows    § ¨ © ª

Other _________________________

Our Card for Overcalls of One Notrump Openings:

 

Vs. Wk. [X] Strong [X ] NT Opening

Direct [X  ] Balance [  ]

2 §  shows    § ©  

2¨  shows    ¨ ©

2© shows    © ª

2ª shows    § or ¨ + ª

Other ___Double = Penalty_____

You Need Something to Compete. There are many such conventions, as you need to have some way to compete over Notrump openers and two good suits is the most common way. You need to be able to bid over Notrump, especially when your opponents open with a scattered 10 HCP (Weak Notrump). If the only bid you have is one which shows a long suit, you will be at a real disadvantage. Lacking a convention showing two suits, you will have to overcall with your longest suit and hope to find partner with something, or hope the opening side will compete and go too high.  Wait a while before you take on any two suit showing convention, because the responses get quite complicated. Just bid whatever long suits you have, as in Standard American.

Our card shows we use a convention which promises two five card suits or one long solid suit --  Brozel.

This means we use the Brozel convention over both strong and weak Notrump, but only in direct position. In the passout seat, we use the old fashioned "Double for takeout or leave it in; bid with a long suit and see what happens" approach.

Brozel shows two suits pivoted around Hearts: 2§ shows Clubs and Hearts; 2¨ shows Diamonds and Hearts; 2© shows Hearts and Spades; 2ª shows Spades and one of the minor suits. Partner bids accordingly. To find out which minor, partner bids Two Notrump - alerted, of course. A Double call in direct seat, e.g., [1NT - Dbl* . . .], shows a long solid suit, on lead, and is a penalty call.

Some of the other two-suit-showing conventions are Ripstra, Astro and Hamilton, which is very popular nowadays.

---

(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998  All Rights Reserved