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Competitive Bidding
Competitive bidding is when the opponents open the bidding. Right away you know where 12+ points reside. That leaves around 28- points for the rest of the table. Under normal random distribution, that means you and your partner have around 18 points between you. Normally not enough for a game, so if your partnership is to get anything normally, it will be a part score. However, miracles do happen.
Strong hand (16+ HCP)
Your RHO has opened the bidding and you have a strong hand. Your partner and your LHO share the remainder of the points, about 12 or so. If your partner has 8 or so points you may indeed have a game in NT or the majors, particularly since you know where most of the opponents points are. But how to get partner to bid?
You double. Partner thinks this is a Takeout Double and is forced to bid. Normally you will pass partners bid or raise partner’s suit since a Takeout Double promises support for the unbid suits. If partner bids your suit, then jump raise to encourage partner. If partner bids something else, then you rebid your suit. This introduction of a new suit after a “Takeout Double” is the signal to your partner that you have a strong hand with a 5+ card suit, not support for the unbid suits. Subsequent bidding is natural.
Intermediate hand (11-15 HCP)
Double if you have 3+ card support for all of the unbid suits or you have NT distribution. When partner bids, give a single raise of partner’s suit or bid cheapest NT to allow partner to continue if partner has points.
Overcall at the cheapest level if you have a 5+ card suit.
The exception to the 11-15 HCP requirement is when you can overcall on the 1 level. You can do so with 8+ HCP and a 5+ card suit (see Weak hand bids for 6+ card suits)
Weak hand (<11 HCP)
With 8+ HCP and a 5 card suit, you may overcall at the one level.
With 8+ HCP and 3+ cards in the unbid suits, overcall 1NT. This is known as R.U.N.T. (Really Unusual NoTrump). Partner (Advancer) treats it as a weak TO Double and bids their best suit if the 1NT is passed or doubled. If Overcaller's LHO bids something else, then Advancer can pass or bid appropriately. This overcall is particularly troublesome to 2/1 opponents.
The rest of the bids are preemptive bids meant primarily to interfere with opponents bidding.
Weak Jump Overcall (WJO): 6-10 HCP and 6+ card suit. Similar to opening a weak 2. Note the lack of the requirement for 2 of the top 5 honors.
Double Weak Jump Overcall: 7+ card suit, few points, no defensive capability
Special conventions
Modified Ghestem
With a weak (<11 HCP) 2 suited hand you may use the Modified Gestem convention. This is an amalgam of 3 other 2-suited conventions:
With 5/5 in the top 2 unbid suits, cue bid opponents suit (Michaels).
With 5/5 in the bottom 2 unbid suits, bid 2NT (Unusual NT).
With 5/5 in the top and bottom unbid suits, bid 3C (Ghestem).
