1. The document discusses reverse bids in bridge where a player opens 1 heart and their partner bids 2 clubs instead of 1 spade with a 4 card spade suit and 5 card club suit. 2. This used to commonly lead to part score contracts going down, but reverse bids were invented to prevent this. 3. A reverse bid of 2 clubs after a 1 heart opener shows 16+ points, 5+ hearts, and 4+ clubs to minimize the chances of the part score contract failing. It provides more specificity about the hand than an unassuming new suit bid.

1. NYU Bridge and Spades Club

2. Reverse Bids

3. Imagine the following hand: S: Axxx H: KQxxx D: Kx C: xx You open 1H only to find partner bids 2C. “Darn,” you say to yourself, “Why didn’t my partner bid 1S??? Maybe I should test if he has 4 spades and 5 clubs!” You proceed to bid 2S. Partner gives you a dirty stare and bids 3H. You play in 3H and go down 1 because you lose your K diamond to a finesse. You curse your luck and wonder if this could’ve been prevented.

4. This is really not such a rare occurrence. Before the advent of reverse bids and up-the-line bidding, many partnerships ended up going down in part-score contracts in this exact fashion. Eventually, bridge players found out the problem with this kind of bidding – by rebidding 2Y after a 1X opener where Y>X, you are forcing a partner with no fit in Y to bid 3X when bidding his preferential bid.

5. Hence the invention of the reverse bid. A 2Y bid after a 1X opener (where Y>X and 2Y is not a jump) shows 16+ points, 5+ cards in X and 4+ cards in Y (this is the reverse bid). The extra points and specificity of the distribution are meant to prevent the above scenario from occurring. With 16+ points, the chances of 3X going down are minimized. Also note that in the scenario, partner with 4 spades should’ve bid 1S (even with 5+ clubs). This is because a major fit is much more important than a minor fit. Note: reverse bids are used in both SAYC and 2/1.