SAYC
× Introduction:
  1. Introduction
  2. Evaluate an Opening Hand
  3. Bidding Process / Hierarchy Chart
  4. Bidding Strategy

  SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card)
  Statistics
× Opening Bids
       Opening Bid Options
Open 1 Level
   Open  1 ♠ 
   Open  1 ♥ 
       Open  1 NT 
           Open Better Minor
           Open  1 ♦ 
           Open  1 ♣ 
Weak Opening Bids
 •          2 ♦   2 ♥   2 ♠  (6-card suit)
 •  3 ♣   3 ♦   3 ♥   3 ♠  (7-card suit)
 •                  4 ♥   4 ♠  (8-card suit)
Strong Opening Bids
      • Open  2 ♣ 
      • Open  2 NT 
      • Open  3 NT 
Opening vs Table Position
× Bid 2: Respond to Suit Openings
   Guidelines for Responses
         1-over-1 Restriction
         Distribution Points
   Respond to  1 ♠ 
   Respond to  1 ♥ 
         (Jacoby  2 NT )
   Respond to  1 ♦ 
   Respond to  1 ♣ 
Bid 3: Opener's Next Bid
   Responder Supports the Bid Suit
       (Response to Jacoby  2 NT )
   Responder Proposes a New Suit
Respond to Weak Openings
  • Respond to  2 ♠   2 ♥   2 ♦ 
  • Respond to  3 ♠   3 ♥   3 ♦   3 ♣ 
  • Respond to  4 ♠   4 ♥ 
Respond to Strong Openings
  • Respond to  2 ♣  using:
      • 2-Diamond Waiting
      • 3-Point Step
      • 2-Diamond Bust
  • Respond to Strong 2
× Respond to NT Openings
Respond to  1 NT 
    Transfers (1NT)
       Stayman (1NT)
          No 4-card Major (1NT)
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)
× Other Bids:
 • Slam (Blackwood & Gerber)
 • Overcalls
 • Doubles
 • Balancing
× Practice Bidding:
   • Open 1 Level
   • Responses to 1 Suit Openings
   • Open 1 NT & 14 Responses
   • Open 1 NT & 16 Responses
   • Responses to 2 Club Opening
   • Overcalls
Practice Websites:
   • SAYC Bidding Practice
   • Trickster
× Taking Tricks:
• Leads on Defense
• Leads on Offense
    • Finessing a Tenace
× Keeping Score:
1. Contract Points Scoring
2. Match Points Scoring
× Downloads:
• SAYC Summary
• Open 1-Level
• Responses to 1-Suit Opening Bids
• 1 NT Openings & Responses
• Responses to Weak Openings
• Responses to 2 Club Openings

Beginner's Guidelines for Responses to an Opening Bid of 1 in a Suit

• The partnership's priority is to play a MAJOR suit contract first, then play a NO TRUMP contract second, and as a last resort, to play a MINOR suit contract.
• Determine the suit to play, then determine the contract level to play.
As soon as a teammate makes an opening bid of "1-Suit", that teammate is considered the OPENER. The opener, with at least 12 HCPs, is PROPOSING a suit to be played in a contract. The partner is now the RESPONDER, and re-evaluates its hand as a SUPPORT hand for the openened suit, or re-evaluates its hand to PROPOSE another suit to be played in a contract. The value of the responder's hand depends upon which suit was opened.

The value of the responder's bid is based upon:
   • HCPs of the partner's hand. The location of the HCPs does not matter.
   • Suit Length for each suit.

For bid selection purposes:
          1) Responder knows the opener has between 12 and 21 HCPs, but for responding purposes, the responder assumes a conservative level of 12 HCPs.
          2) Responder needs at least 6 HCPs to make a response bid. The location of the points does not matter.     (Note: An experienced responder will use distribution points for evaluating the hand. While the player is a beginner, do not include distribution points. They require more memory and can add confusion while learning. They can be adopted later, after the beginning player gains more experience)
          3) Responder examines the SHAPE of its hand - that is the number of cards in each suit.
With those 3 criteria, the responder selects the type of response to use - either to SUPPORT the opened suit, or to PROPOSE another suit.

Support vs Propose

Support an Opened Major Suit (hearts or spades)
The opener has at least 5-cards in that opened suit. To support that suit, the responder must have at least 3-cards in that same suit so the combined number of cards in that suit is at least 8. An "8-card fit" is required to win a contract in that suit. With an 8-card fit, the opposition has 5 or less cards of that suit between them.

Support an Opened Minor Suit (clubs or diamonds)
The opener has at least 3-cards in that opened suit. To support that suit, the responder must have at least 5-cards in that same suit so the combined number of cards in that suit is at least 8. An "8-card fit" is required to win a contract in that suit. With an 8-card fit, the opposition has 5 or less cards of that suit between them.

Propose a New 4+card Suit
If the responder cannot (or does not want to) support the opened suit, the responder must have at least 4+cards in another suit in order to propose that suit. The HCPs in the proposed suit is NOT a factor. The opener must also have 4-cards in that suit in order to have an 8-card fit in that new suit and support it. Otherwise, the opener can propose another, new 4-card suit.

The primary objective is to enter a contract in a major suit. The steps to acheive this priority are slightly different for each opened suit.

Distribution Points for a Response Hand

Note: Beginners should avoid including Distribution Points to the hand's point count value. It complicates the process which makes it a little harder to learn. During the beginning and learning phases, keep it simple and easier. Later on with more experience, use distribution points to become a more aggressive bidder.

The point count value of the supporting hand is the sum of the Honor Card Points (HCPs) plus additional points for helpful distribution features of the hand. Distributional features such as Extra Trump Suit Points, and Short Suit Points (voids / singletons / doubletons) in the other three suits will increase the point count value of the response hand.
When playing a suit contract, having extra trump cards add value to the hand. They reduce the number of trump cards held by the opponents, and potentially enable the offense to win more tricks using the extra trump cards. The support hand must hold at least 3 trump cards.
Extra Trump Suit Points
(only in the trump suit)
Trump Suit LengthPts
3 cards0
4 cards1
5 cards2
6 cards3


When playing a suit contract, having short suits (in the non-trump suits) add value to the hand. They can enable the offense to use trump cards to take tricks with a void, or when a short suit is depleted.
Short Suit Points
(not in the trump suit)
Other Suit LengthsPts
Zero cards (Void)4
1 card (Singleton)2
2 cards (Doubleton)1
For experienced players, the Point Count Value of the support hand = HCPs + Extra Trump Suit Points + Short Suit Points.

For the Beginning Player - When evaluating a support hand for a suit contract, the beginner is only concerned with the total number of HCPs the hand contains and the number of cards in each suit. The beginner is NOT concerned with distribution points and where the HCPs are distributed across the suits.

Propose a New Suit

There are two requirements for proposing a new suit:
    • new suit must be at least 4+cards
    • bid the new 4+card suit at the lowest possible level

When proposing a new 4+card suit, the partnership has not yet found a suit to play. So the proposer makes the lowest possible bid in order to keep the bidding low. The proposer's partner may not like that suit, so keep the bidding as low as possible until the partnership finds a suit to play.

When proposing a new 4+card suit at the lowest possible level, the proposal may be hampered by the "1-OVER-1 RESTRICTION" for hands that are in the 6 to 9 pts range. Since the 6-9 pts range is very common, this restriction will be inforce for many situations.

The "1-over-1" Restriction

Every bid must be made at a higher level of hierarchy than the previous bid. The 1-over-1 restriction applies a barrier to bidding when the responder has only 6 to 9 points. The responder with 6-9 pts can only propose a new suit at the 1-level. This will affect opening bids in three suits. For example:
    •  When the opening bid is  1 ♣ , the responder has no restrictions since all proposing bids are at a higher level of hierarchy. The responder can propose any new suit with a bids of:  1 ♦ ,  1 ♥ , or  1 ♠ . These new suit proposals are all at the 1-level. If the responder does not have a 4-card suit to propose, the responder bids  1 NT , an artificial bid indicating 6 to 9 pts and no 4-card suit to propose. The responder must not PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the partner.

    •  When the opening bid is  1 ♦ , the responder is restricted to proposing a new major suit with bids of  1 ♥  or  1 ♠ . These new suit proposals are at the 1-level. The responder can not propose a new club suit with a bid of  2 ♣  because it requires a 2-level bid, which is forbidden by the 1-over-1 restrition.
The responder can bid  1 NT , an artificial bid indicating 6 to 9 pts and no 4+card major. The bid indicates nothing about the length of a club suit, since the 1-over-1 restriction prohibits bidding it. The responder must not PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the partner.

    •  When the opening bid is  1 ♥ , the responder can propose only a new spade suit with a bid of  1 ♠ . This new suit proposal is at the 1-level. The responder can not propose new 4+card suits with bids of  2 ♣ ,  2 ♦ , or  2 ♥  because they all require a 2-level bids, which are forbidden by the 1-over-1 restrition.
The responder can bid  1 NT , an artificial bid indicating 6 to 9 pts and no 4+card major. The bid indicates nothing about the lengths of the club and diamond suits, since the 1-over-1 restriction prohibits bidding them. The responder must not PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the partner.

    •  When the opening bid is  1 ♠ , the responder can not propose another suit, because all new suit proposals will be 2-level bids which are forbidden by the 1-over-1 restrition.
The responder can bid  1 NT , an artificial bid indicating 6 to 9 pts and nothing about the other three suits, since the 1-over-1 restriction prohibits bidding them. The responder must not PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the partner.

5/27/2024
Reed's Bridge Site © 2024         (Updated 11/20/2024)