Overcalling

1. To compete. With a good hand and/or a long suit the Overcaller wants to compete in the auction.

2. To sacrifice. With a weak hand and/or a good long suit, a preemptive overcall can lead to a worthwhile sacrifice.

3. To disrupt. Where the opposition are looking for a contract, an Overcall takes up valuable bidding space. Overcalling in Spades is especially disruptive because it forces the opposition to a higher level.    

4. To indicate lead. With a strong suit but a weak hand, an Overcall can tell partner which suit to lead in defence. With an Ace and King in a 5 card suit but little chance of competing in the auction, an overcall can give a lead indicator for the defence.  The opening lead in defence can defeat the contract.  

For a Simple Overcall it is critical that the Overcaller has at least FIVE  cards in the bid suit.

You need at least 8-15 HCP and one good Honour to Overcall at the One Level and 11-15 HCP and two Honours to Overcall at the Two Level. However the quality of your suit may be so good you can Overcall with fewer points. 

Do the SQOT test - Number of cards in suit + Number of honours (10 is an honour for Overcalling) 

A, K, 10, 3, 2        SQOT = 5+3= 8. You can overcall at 1 & 2 levels

K, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5       SQOT = 6+1 =7. You can overcall at 1 level only

SQOT - Suit Quality Overcall Test

If you have an Opening hand but your 5 cards are in Opener‘s suit you should PASS (“beware the silent man”). If partner Overcalls you might find a NT contract. Even if you have really good length and strength in Opener‘s suit, it’s nearly always best to pass.

You are looking for a fit in a Major. With 3 or more cards (A FIT)  in the overcaller's suit, bid to the level of the fit. 

5+3=8      Level of the fit is 2

5+4=9      Level of the fit is 3

5+5=10    Level of the fit is 4

With a fit you can count shortage points. Void +4, Singleton +3, Doubleton +2

Only change suits if you have fewer than 2 cards in the Overcaller’s suit, and an Overcalling suit (SQOT = 7+ for one level, 8+ for 2 level) of your own  - ie at least  5+ cards of reasonable quality in your new suit. A change of suit here is not a forcing bid.

With no support, no biddable suit of your own and fewer than 9 points, PASS at the One Level

With fewer than 3 card support of Partner’s suit AND a stopper in Opener's suit 

AND 9-12 HCP, bid 1NT in response to partner’s one level Overcall. 

With 13-14 HCP bid 2NT. 

With 15+ HCP bid 3NT.

If you have an Opening Hand but no 5 card suit, bid a TAKEOUT DOUBLE.  This bid promises:

SUPPORT -  at least 3 cards in each of the unbid suits (shows “tolerance”).

OPENING POINTS

SHORTAGE 0/1/2 of Opposition’s Suit

Your partner MUST bid unless the Opposition intervene. 

In fourth seat an Overcall can be more aggressive (you can ’borrow a king’ +3HCP). Responder has passed (0-5 HCP) so bidding here could help you find a fit or just by forcing Opener to bid again you could avoid letting them get away with a cheap contract. This is called a protective bid.

Sometimes you can make neither a Simple Overcall (no 5 card suit) nor a takeout double (no shortage in Opener’s suit) even with a good intermediate (10-15 HCP) balanced hand, so you must reluctantly PASS . You will have to settle for a good defensive hand.

However, If you you have a strong balanced hand (16-18 HCP), no 5 card major and one stop in opposition's suit, bid a 1NT OVERCALL. In fourth seat, you can make a 1NT Protective Bid with (about an Ace ) less - 11-14 HCP after 2 passes.  

Responder to the 1NT Overcall can respond with ‘all systems on‘ (such Red Suit Transfers & Stamen if you play them) taking into account the points promised.

If you have 19+ HCP and are balanced, BID a TAKEOUT DOUBLE followed by NT at the lowest level.

If you have a weak hand (5-9 HCP) and at least 6 cards in a suit including 2 honours, bid a WEAK JUMP OVERCALL.  
1H - jump to 2S (weak with 6 spades)

Every extra card in your long suit is worth an extra trick so with 7 cards, make a double jump.

1D - jump to 3H (weak with 7 hearts)

with 8 cards in your long suit, make a triple jump. 

1H, jump to 5D (weak with 8 diamonds)

This very descriptive preemptive bid disrupts opposition's bidding whilst giving the opportunity of a sacrifice contract if partner has a fit. 

A sacrifice contract is usually only worthwhile if you are not Vulnerable.

If an Overcall finds a fit, it can be a winning strategy in duplicate bridge, to bid the contract to one more than is likely to be achieved. This prevents opposition making part game.

Weak Jump Overcalls don’t apply in fourth seat after 2 passes.

If the Overcaller has 2 five card suits, she can use Unusual No Trumps (UNT).

With 0-9 HCP raise to the ‘Level of the Fit’ - Overcaller has at least 5 of a suit. Add the number of cards that you have in that suit and bid to that number of tricks.  For example, if your partner bids a heart and you have 5 hearts the fit is 10(5+5), so bid 4H.

With 10+ HCP, and at least 3 of partners suit, bid oppositions suit at the lowest level - a Cue bid.  The Overcaller will respond to the cue bid by rebidding the suit to to tell you his losing tricks. He will bid 2 of his suit if he has 8 losers, he will bid 3 with 7 losers, 4 with 6 losers. You agree the contract based on the number of losers in your hand.