Responding after the Opponents Overcall our Major Part 1
This is the first part of a three part series on how to respond when the opponents overcall your partner's major suit opening bid.
Overcall is at the 1-level
Responding after the opponents overcall our opening major with a 1-level bid is pretty straightforward. There are only a few auctions/sequences that apply. Opponents can overcall our opening heart with 1♠, they can also make a 1NT overcall to an opening either major.
When they overcall 1NT, we'll treat it similar to the 1NT opening bid (when it shows similar values) and utilize transfer bids at the 2-level. That system is covered in the TONTO (Transfer over NT overcalls).
When the opponents overcall a spade to our heart opening, they haven't hindered us much (and gave us information: that they have some HCP and at least 5 card spade suit). We can make all our normal bids: 1NT for 6-9 and <3 hearts, 2
as Extensile, 2
as GF, 2NT for Compressed Bergen and raising hearts with constructive value or double raise with preemptive values and length in hearts.
The only bid we can't make would be 1
, if that was they bid we intended. Those hands should have an easy choice to bid 1NT. A new option is available, we can double the 1 overcall. This would be a 'negative' double. It tends to deny 3 hearts and shows modest values with tolerance for both minors. The negative double would be a secondary choice to 1NT, so the responder would be implying that they don't have spade stop.
Trust is a re-opening double Don't feel obligated to bid marginal hands, if your LHO opponent also pass, trust that your partner will make a reopening double. They should make this double on most all 'full' opening strength hands and hands they hold a 6-card opening suit. We do this "Billie Double" instead of rebidding our 6-card suit. This reopening double gives our side a chance to convert the double to penalty. Too many opponents make loose 2minor overcalls and getting a double bonus setting them may be the best possible result (plus 200 vs at most 110 or 140 our way)
Let's look at a few example hands:
TBD:
We continue this discussion when the oppoenent overcall at the 2-level in Part 2