Blum on Bridge Keep it Simple
	For the past three weeks I'm afraid that I've been a disappointment to the most important segment of bridge enthusiasts, the afternoon foursomes and rubber bridge players who just want to learn enough to be the best among their peers. By being so esoteric recently you may have thought I had forgotten you. No way, for by far you're the most populous group in the bridge world. So today we'll come back to earth and talk basics. I've often stated that there are only 15 words one is allowed to use during the bidding auction to describe 635,013,559,600 different hands that one named player can hold. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs, pass, double and redouble constitutes the language of bridge. After the rubber has been completed - when you take a break stating, "Please excuse me while I get myself a cup of coffee with cream and sugar" - it kind of tells you 15 words doesn't go very far. My point is that the use of "kiss" becomes classic when describing your hand to partner. Simplicity is oh so important. If you want to make a bid that perfectly fits your hand, but are unsure whether or not partner is aware of its meaning, don't make the bid. Find another call you know partner understands that comes as close as possible to explain your holding. For example your hostess has invited three tables for lunch and bridge. Playing "Chicago" your first partner is someone you've just met. She opens 1 diamond and your rho overcalls 1 heart. You hold 10 points with two hearts and four spades. Playing "negative doubles" the perfect call would be to double showing specifically four spades. However, not knowing your partner, she might think your double is for penalty. Keep it simple and bid 1 spade. The worst that could happen is she thinks you have five spades. If she raises spades you can now rectify your first call by bidding 2NT. This may tell partner you only hold four. On the very next hand you open 1 spade and partner jump raises to 3 spades. You have a big hand with both the diamond and club ace. Cue bidding four clubs to show that ace would be great, but all you know about partner is that she enjoyed the Caesar Salad served at lunch. Better bid Blackwood, guessing the location of her aces if she has any and not take the chance she'll raise your clubs to five or, God forbid, six. Before making your opening bid try to anticipate partner's response in order to make it easy for you to make your second call. If your distribution is 5-4-3-1 with 14 points it's a no-brainer. You open a spade and no matter what partner responds you have a descriptive second bid. However, suppose your distribution is 3-5-3-2 with 16 points. You quickly open 1 heart, your five-card major. What is your second bid when partner responds in one of the other three suits? Had you thought before acting you would have opened 1NT regardless of the five-card major because no matter partner's response you have a rebid. I know I've spoken of the above call recently, but when I play club duplicate almost every time I open 1NT with a five-card major I get a top board. I know it's because the competition gave no thought about their second bid and opened the major. You have the option of opening 1NT as long as there are no singletons or voids in your hand. My friend, expert Mark Lair, just told me on the phone that he would open 1NT holding KJ3-Kx-AQ6532-K7, a six-card suit, as long it was a minor. Regardless of your level of skill I strongly believe all of you should learn and add to your system certain conventions. They are Stayman, Blackwood, Jacoby transfers, limit major raises, and the forcing no-trump. After interference it is important to learn negative doubles. When you open at the two-level you should reserve 2 clubs as your strong opener and learn the easy responses. This will allow you to open the other three suits at the two-level preemptively (weak two-bids). Last but not least learn to bid the unusual no-trump. I'm almost willing to bet someone in your group knows one or more of these conventions and would be happy to teach you.