Page 160 - 2 over 1 Game Force

Chapter 9: Defensive Carding and Bridge Rules 160

losers) and four quick tricks (two aces and two KQ combinations); using the rule of 44, open

the hand 2♣. Marty Bergen in the September 2009 issues of the Bridge Bulletin (page 50)
also reviews this rule, but he did not name it the rule of 44.

Rule of 64

When opening a hand that is 6-4 in the majors, show the four-card suit only if the

number of HCP in the four-card suit is greater than or equal to the number of HCP in the six-
card suit. If this is not the case, rebid the six-card suit and do not show the four-card suit.

Rule of 2/3

This was reviewed in chapter 2; recall that a guide to preemptive opening bids and

overcalls is that one cannot afford to set more than five hundred unless one is saving against a
slam contract. One often assumes that a vulnerable partner can make two tricks, and a

nonvulnerable partner three tricks. Thus, a player who opens 4♠ should have an eight-playing

trick hand if vulnerable, and a seven-playing trick hand if not vulnerable. Tricks = 13 - losers
+3 if nonvulnerable, and playing tricks = 13 - losers + 2 if vulnerable. If the number of tricks

is 10, open the bidding at the four-level; if the number is 9, open the bidding at the three-
level. The quantity 13 - LTC is called the number of playing tricks.

The law of total tricks

In Larry Cohen’s book (1972) To Bid or Not to Bid, Cohen states the law of total
tricks as: the total number of tricks available on any deal is approximately equal to the total

number of trumps. The total number of trumps means the combined total of cards in both
sides’ best trump fit. For example, if north-south’s best (longest) fit is a 5-4 spade fit, and

east-west’s best (longest) fit is a 4-4 diamond fit, then the total number of trumps would be 9
+ 8, or 17. Now for the rule: Never outbid the opponents at the three-level with sixteen

trumps, but always outbid the opponents at the three levels with eighteen trumps. With

seventeen trumps, it is usually right to outbid them on the three levels, if not vulnerable.
Note: With ten trumps in a major suit partnership fit, it is usually correct to bid to the four-

level (due to Marty Bergen, not the law).

Let’s look at the law in more detail; for example, with only sixteen trumps and both sides
vulnerable, Cohen shows that it is better to let the opponents play in three hearts and for you

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