Reviewing the Bidding
You should always remember that you have the right to understand every bid by your opponents and hopefully by your partner. You may always ask, at your turn to bid, about the meaning of any bid by your opponents and for a complete review of the entire bidding to date. This happens a lot in club, tournament and world class play: don't think it is an annoyance to the opponents and don't be offended when someone asks you. Don't be shy - just do it.
You can't ask your partner what in the world that bid means -- you're supposed to know.
On the next page is an example Two Over One convention card, as played by Georgia and Bob. You will learn about all the items on this card in the next sections. You are required to have two identically filled out convention cards for tournament and club play, although usually one copy is OK at a club. The point is, it must be readily available at all times for your opponents to examine.
(For an explanation of all the bids on this card, see Conventions and Two Over One sections of the series).
Alertable Bids on the Convention CardOn the convention card in the section called Strong Forcing Opening, notice that 1§ [ ] is printed in red. This means it must be Alerted by the partner of the bidder whenever it is bid. This 'Red for Alert' rule applies for the whole card and throughout the duplicate bridge world.
Throughout this series, bids which must be Alerted are indicated with an asterisk, e.g., [1 NT - P - 2D* ]
(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998 All Rights Reserved