Standard American Yellow Card
adapted from Fred Gitelman's ACBL Tutorial

by Wesley Fager, April 2004

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General notes:
1. Game requirements
25 TPs for 3NT, 4H, 4S (TPs=total points)
29 TPs for 5C, 5D
33 TPs for small slam
37 TPs for grand slam
2. A 2 trick failure in your contract is better than a game by opponents.
3. If opener rebids his suit, then 6cds so min of 2 is needed for support
4. Long suit pts (for opener and responder)--1 pt for ea cd above 4 in any suit.
5. Prempts follow this too, eg. prempt open of 2D with 6 diamonds, add 2 pts for the 6 diamonds
6. After making a suit match with partner, reevaluate your hand and count short pts.
eg. 1:doubleton, 3:singleton; 5:void. Never count both short suit and long suit pts.
... Then raise partner to show support.
7. Note: 13+ means 13 or more
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Opener's bid
normal
1C, 1D, 1H, 1S 13 - 21 TPs including long suit pts
open longest suit even if minor, but must have 5spades or 5hearts to open 1S or 1H
if 2 5-cd suits, open the higher suit
if no 5-cd maj, open longest minor: if 44 in minor open 1D, if 33 in minor open 1C
1NT 15 - 17 HCP
balanced hand. (4 triple 3 (4333) is best bal., but no more than 1 dblton allowed)
nice to have stoppers in all suits but not required
strong
2C 22 or more TPs (artifical and forcing: partner must respond)
2NT 20 - 21 HCP balanced hand
3NT 25 - 27 HCP balanced hand
weak premptive: < 13 TPs w long/strong suit (eg. 2 of 3 top honors).
2D, 2H, 2S strong 6 cd suit
3C, 3D, 3H, 3S strong 7 cd suit
4C, 4D, 4H, 4S strong 8 cd suit
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Responder's .bid
respond to open of 1 in a suit: bid a new suit or raise opener's suit or 1NT or PASS
1 or 2 in new suit forcing. 6+ TPs (10+ at the 2 level).
the plan as always is to try for a 8 cd major fit
Respond in a new 4 cd+ suit. Even respond w 4 cd major as opener might have 4 cd major.
preferable to bid 4 cd major than raise a minor.
-w 2 possible suits of unequal length, respond w longer
-w 2 5cd suits respond w higher rank
-w 2 or 3 4cd suits, bid suit that keeps bidding as low as possible-even if you have 10 TPs
Forcing as opener doesn't know yet if responder has 6 pts or 21 pts or if he has opener's suit.
raise partner (When you find a fit, reevalute your hand counting short points)
2 of partner's suit 6 - 9 TPs w 3 - 4 cd major spt (4 - 5 cd minor spt)*, **
4 of partner's suit 6 - 9 TPs w 5cd major spt (6 cd for minor) and 1 singleton or 1 dblton. A Game raise.
3 of partner's suit 10 - 11 TPs w 3cd spt (eg. 1H to 3H). Called a limit raise.
Consider. Partner opens 1H. You have 8 TPs with 4H & 4S. Bid 2H. You already have
a maj suit fit. Partner has more Hs than Ss. If he has 55 or 66 he would have opened 1S.
1NT (From Bridge Baron) With 6-12 TPs, no spt and no 4 cd major to bid.
respond to open of 1 NT 8 is the magic number. Max opener can have is 17 and 8 + 17 = Game.
So if responder has less than 8 the partnership can not make game anyway.
weak
2 of a suit < 8 TPs with a 5cd+ suit bid at 2 level. signoff.
PASS <8 HCP and no 5cd+ suit.
invitational
2NT 8 - 9 HCP. partner passes w min, bids 3NT w max, and uses judgement w 16.
game signoff
3NT 10 - 15 HCP with balanced hand. (include long suit pts)
4H/4S 10 - 15 TPs w 6+H or 6+S.
3NT 10 - 15 TPs w 6+C or 6+D.
slam
4NT invite 6NT 16 - 17 HCP, bal. partnr passes w min, bids 6NT w max, uses judgement w 16.
6NT signoff 18 - 19 HCP, bal. (Min 18 + min 15 = 33 and max 19 + max 17 = 36 or small slam.)
5NT invite 6NT or 7NT 20 - 21 HCP. part bids 6NT w min, 7NT w max, and uses judgement with 16.
7NT signoff 22 or more HCP (Min 22 + min 15 = 37 or grand slam.)
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respond to open of 2 Clubs Opener may be void in clubs. YOU MUST RESPOND IN SOMETHING!
negative 2D < 8 TPs. YOU MAY BE VOID IN DIAMONDS, OPENER MUST RESPOND FOR 1 BID!
natural positive Game forcing
2S, 2H, 3D, 3C 8 or more TPs and strong 5+cd suit.
2NT 8 or more TPs but NO strong 5+cd suit. (Try to avoid if not balanced.)
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respond to open of 2D, 2H, 2S (preempt). 1. Forget point count. 2. Visualize partner's hand.
3. Count total tricks team can make and bid accordingly.
new suit Response in new suit is forcing for 1 round (unless game was bid--that's a signoff.)
raise partner If opponents could make a good contract and you won't go down by much.
3NT Must have stoppers in all suits.
PASS Otherwise PASS.
opener's rebid
when responder bids 1 in a new suit
min: 13 - 15 TPs
Show support for responder. If you have responder spt then non-jump raise in responder's suit.
else look for new suit fit. Non-jump raise in new suit if you have one (non-forcing)
(Could be minimum 13-15 or medium 16-18)
else, with 6+ cds in opened suit rebid opened suit.
else 1NT.
med: 16 - 18 TPs
non-forcing Show support for responder. If you have responder's suit (4+) jump raise his suit.
else jump in NT with stoppers and 18 - 19 HCP.
else jump in opened suit (Opener must have 6+cds whenever rebidding opened suit.)
else bid new suit (non-jump) (13 - 18 TPS).
max: 19 - 21 TPs
Partnership must go Show support for responder. If 4+ cd responder spt bid game in responder's suit
to game else jump in new suit .
else jump to 3NT with stoppers in all unbid suits and a long suit.
else jump to game in opened suit.
when responder bids 2D (negative) after a 2club opening
if unbalanced Just like opening at 1 level.
forcing Rebid in longest suit. With two 5cd suits bid higher ranking. With two or three 4cd suits
bid the suit that keeps bidding the lowest.
if balanced
2NT 22 - 24 HCP
3NT 28 - 30 HCP
4NT 31 - 32 HCP
responder's rebid
to opener's rebid of 1 in a new suit
min: 6 - 9 TPs rebid responder's suit with 6+ cds or a strong 5 cd suit
or raise one of opener's suits (need 4 cd to spt opener's 2nd suit)--looking for a major suit fit
or 1 NT
or PASS (non-forcing)
Opener will PASS with min; force game with max; or invite game with medium hand.
med: 10 - 11 TPs
invitational jump raise opener's first suit
else jump raise opener's 2nd suit
else jump rebid responder's own suit
else 2NT
max: 12+ TPs
game forcing raise one of opener's suits to game
else raise responder's suit to game (Must have 6+ cds in maj or 7 in minor)
else 3NT
or bid new suit
Responder's rebid in a new suit is artificial and forcing at a minimum to game.
If responder has two new suits to rebid, rebid the stronger, but it is possible repsonder may
be VOID in his rebid suit. Opener's job now is to show stopper's in responder's weak suit.
Responder should rebid in a new suit when he has a strong hand and 1. wants to explore slam
or 2. is not yet sure of the strain for game or slam.
to opener's rebid of 1NT
minimum PASS or bid a new lower ranking suit.
non-forcing Responder bids a new lower ranking suit if he has minimal points and a hand not suitable for NT.
Opener should pass or rebid responder's first suit.
maximum Jump raise in new suit
game forcing Opener needs 4cd spt for responder's new suit or 3 cd spt for responder's first suit.
  If you can't find a major suit fit, bid 3NT.