Negative free bid
{{Technical|date=August 2022}}
Negative free bid is a contract bridge treatment whereby a free bid by responder over an opponent's overcall shows a long suit in a weak hand and is not forcing. This is in contrast with standard treatment, where a free bid can show unlimited values and is unconditionally forcing. The treatment is a relatively recent invention, and has become quite popular, especially in expert circles.
Negative free bids resolve relatively frequent situations where the responder holds a long suit with which he would like to compete for a partscore, but is deprived from bidding it by opponent's overcall.
Example
| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right:10px;"
!width="25%"|West | width="25%"|North | width="25%"|East | width="25%"|South |
| align=center | |1{{diams}} | 1{{spades}} | ? |
For example, if South holds: {{BridgeHandInline|86|KJ10852|K6|532}}, partner opens 1{{Diams}} and East overcalls 1{{Spades}}, he couldn't bid 2{{Hearts}} in standard methods, as it would show 10+ high-card points, and a negative double would be too off-shape. With NFB treatment in effect though, he can bid 2{{Hearts}} which the partner may pass (unless she has extra values and support, or an excellent suit of her own without tolerance for hearts).
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However, as a corollary, negative free bids affect the scope of negative double; if the hand is suitable for "standard" forcing free bid (10-11+ points), a negative double has to be made first and the suit bid only in the next round. Thus, the negative double can be made with the following types of hand:
- A weakish hand with unbid suits (unbid major)
- A stronger hand with unbid suits
- A strong (opening bid or more) one-suited hand.
This can sometimes allow the opponents to preempt effectively.
| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right:10px;"
!width="25%"|West | width="25%"|North | width="25%"|East | width="25%"|South |
| align=center
|1{{Diams}} | 1{{Hearts}} | Dbl | 4{{Hearts}} |
| align=center
|? |
For example, West, holding: {{BridgeHandInline|KJ103|J8|AKQ104|J2}}, after this auction is in an awkward situation — he doesn't know whether partner has spades or not; whether South was bidding to make or to sacrifice — is it correct to double, bid 4{{Spades}} or pass?
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See also
External links
- [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804E0DA123BF935A15753C1A964948260 Alan Truscott's column in New York Times]
- [http://kwbridge.com/bb/nfb-1.htm 5-part series by Karen Walker that originally appeared in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin, Jan-May 2005]
- [http://bridgewinners.com/article/view/negative-freebids/ Discussion of merits]
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