SAYC
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Preface

  SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card)
  1. Introduction
  2. Bidding Hierarchy
  3. Determine Opening Bid
  4. Opening Bid Options
  5. Scoring Structure
  6. Bidding Strategy

  Statistics
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Open 1 Level

Open 1 Level
   Open  1 ♠ 
   Open  1 ♥ 
       Open  1 NT 
           Open Better Minor
               Open  1 ♦ 
               Open  1 ♣ 

Opening Bid & Table Position
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Respond to 1 Suit Openings

   Guidelines for Responses
         Support Suit (Distribution Points)
         Propose Suit (1-over-1 Restriction)
  • Respond to  1 ♠ 
  • Respond to  1 ♥ 
  • Respond to  1 ♦ 
  • Respond to  1 ♣ 
Opener's Next Bid (Bid 3)
   Responder Supports the Bid Suit
   Responder Proposes a New Suit
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Respond to  1 NT 

Respond to  1 NT 
    Transfers (1NT)
       Stayman (1NT)
          No 4-card Major (1NT)
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Transfer Convention
Stayman Convention
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Weak Bids

Weak Opening Bids
 • 6-card suit            2 ♦   2 ♥   2 ♠ 
 • 7-card suit   3 ♣   3 ♦   3 ♥   3 ♠ 
 • 8-card suit                    4 ♥   4 ♠ 
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Respond to Weak Openings
  • Respond to          2 ♦   2 ♥   2 ♠ 
  • Respond to  3 ♣   3 ♦   3 ♥   3 ♠ 
  • Respond to                   4 ♥   4 ♠ 
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Strong  2 ♣ 

Open  2 ♣ 
Respond to  2 ♣ 
  • 2-Diamond Waiting (SAYC)
  • 3-Point Step (Social Bridge)
  • 2-Diamond Bust (Social Bridge)
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Strong  NT  Bids

Open  2 NT  or  3 NT 

Responses

Respond to  2 NT 
    Transfers (2NT)
       Stayman (2NT)
          4-card Major (2NT)
Respond to  3 NT 
    Transfers (3NT)
       Stayman (3NT)
          No 4-card Major (3NT)
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Other Bids

 • Jacoby  2 NT 
 • Slam (Blackwood & Gerber)
 • Overcalls
 • Doubles
 • Balancing
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Taking Tricks

Leads on Defense
Leads on Offense
    • Finessing a Tenace
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Practice

Open 1 Level
Responses to 1 Suit Openings
Open 1 NT (14 Examples)
Open 1 NT (16 Examples)
Responses to  2 ♣  Opening
Overcalls

Practice Websites

   • SAYC Bidding Practice
   • Trickster
   • Bridge Base On Line
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Duplicate

Duplicate Protocol
Duplicate Scoring
1. Contract Points Scoring
2. Match Points Scoring
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Downloads

SAYC Summary
Open 1-Level Bids
Respond 1-Suit Opening
1 NT Openings & Responses
Responses to Weak Openings
Responses to 2 Club Openings
Handout Duplicate Bridge Contract Points
Front Door

Guidelines for Responding to a 1-SUIT Opening Bid

Yellow Card Bidding System Mantra
    ● First, determine which suit to play - then determine the contract level to play.
    ● Try to play a contract in the following priority:
           1) Play a MAJOR suit contract.
           2) Play a NO TRUMP contract.
           3) Play a MINOR suit contract as a last resort.

As soon as the OPENER makes an opening bid of 1-SUIT, everyone knows the opener's point count range (12 to 21 HCPs) and the minimum number of cards the opener's suit (5+cards in a major suit, or 3+cards in a minor suit). The the RESPONDER (opener's partner) follows the #1 Yellow Card priority and tries to enter a major suit contract.

If the opened suit is a MAJOR suit:

• The responder determines if its hand is suitable to SUPPORT the opened major suit and play a major suit contract.
• If not, the responder determines if its hand is suitable to PROPOSE the other major suit and play a major suit contract.

#3 Priority

• If the responder cannot support the opened major suit, and cannot propose the other major suit, the responder can PROPOSE the better minor suit in its hand.

If the opened suit is a MINOR suit:

• The responder ignores the minor suit for the moment.
• The responder determines if its hand is suitable to PROPOSE a major suit and play a major suit contract.

#3 Priority

• If the responder cannot propose a major suit, the responder can either SUPPORT the opened minor suit, or PROPOSE the other minor suit.

The responder chooses one of three ways to proceed:

     • SUPPORT bid: The responder agrees to play a contract in the suit mentioned by the opener. The responder indicates the agreement by re-bidding the opener's suit. The partnership has found the suit to play and the partnership determines the contract level. The level of the responder's support bid indicates the responder's point count range.
     • PROPOSE another suit: The responder does not want to play a contract in the opener's suit. Instead, the responder proposes a new 4-card suit to play.
     • PASS: The partner with 0 to 5 HCPs does not have enough HCPs to support the opened suit, and not enough HCPs to propose a new suit.
                    For more information go to the SUPPORT page or the PROPOSE another suit page.

The selection of the appropriate response bid depends upon the opened suit, the strength of the responder's hand and the Yellow Card priorities. For more information on the appropriate response bid for each opened suit, go to one of the following four web pages:

Respond to  1 ♠  opening bid.
Respond to  1 ♥  opening bid.
Respond to  1 ♦  opening bid.
Respond to  1 ♣  opening bid.

3/26/2025
Reed's Bridge Site © 2025         (Updated 4/13/2025)