If you play duplicate bridge with the ACBL, you and your partner are required to have identically filled out copies of you convention card available for your opponents. Similarly, they must have copies available for you to look at. During the bidding or play, you are then permitted to consult your opponents card in order to discover what their bids mean. This limits questions (which may pass unauthorized information to your partner). While most of us do not play regularly with the ACBL, filling out a convention card with a partner is still a good way to discuss what your approach to bidding and defense is.
In this post, we consider the "General Approach" part of the card. On the first line, we put "Standard American." This tells the opponents our general approach. We bid the way "most" people in the US bid (this is gradually changing). On your opponents cards you may see things like "Two Over One" or "Precision" or other even more exotic options.
After that we get to some more specific information.
Consider the "Two Over One" line. Suppose you open 1S, and then your partner bids 2C. When can you stop bidding? In almost all systems, you must bid at least once more. In some systems however, you must bid until a game contract is reached. If the latter, check the "Game Forcing" box. In our system however (and in Standard American generally), the 2C bid only shows 10+ HCP, so we are only forced to bid once more, and can easily stop below game. Accordingly, we check nothing. (The other check box says this sequence is almost game forcing-there is one way out).
On the next line, where it says "Very Light" we are asked about our opening style. Do you routine open one of a suit with fewer than 11 points? If so, check opening. Many players open weaker hands after two passes (when they are third to bid). Do you? How about overcalls? Would you overcall an opponents opening bid with only 7 points and not great distribution? Would you preempt with a bad suit and only 4 points? Any of these would get the appropriate check. We check nothing here. Our bids are sound and solid. If we are weak in HCP, we make up for it in distribution.
Finally, we coming to the "Forcing Opening" line. If you bid 2C, your partner is required to bid something. Your bid shows an exceptionally strong hand. So we check the 2C box. Other systems use different bids to show their very strong hands. Some use 1C. Some use 2D, or even all the 2 level suits. There are systems where 1D is forcing. If you have a forcing opening bid, you must declare it on this line.
That completes this section of the convention card. Stay tuned for the next update: No Trump Opening Bids.
Addendum: You may notice that some things on the convention card are in color. If a bid has a meaning drastically different from what your opponents might expect, you are required to alert that bid when it is made. Anything marked in red is such a bid. In live bridge, the partner of the person making the bid says "alert" upon hearing such a bid. For example, if 1C is a forcing opening bid, when I bid 1C, my partner says "alert."
On bridgebase, the system is slightly changed. You alert your own bids. Before bidding, click the alert button in the bidding dialog.
My version of 8-NT standard has no alertable bids, however you may wish to modify the system and add them.
Later, we will see some sections marked in blue. Those are things that must be announced. I'll say more about that when we get there. We do have bids that require an announcement (every 1NT bid does, so it's unavoidable).
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