Copyright: (c)1993-7 by Meadowlark Software Ver. 1.31
Citation: Meadowlark Software


Table of Contents
Meadowlark Bridge - Version 1.36 (1/99)

Meadowlark Bridge

by Meadowlark Software

PO Box 5166, Fargo, ND, 58105-5166.

Phone: 1-701-235-5113

Phone: 1-888-705-1391 (toll free)

meadowlark@rrnet.com

http://rrnet.com/meadowlark

http://rrnet.com/~rludwig/odyssey.html

Created and programmed by Rodney A. Ludwig

•

Table of Contents

Latest Changes

Bidding Conventions

Definitions

Duplicate Bridge

Duplicate Bridge Scoring

Keyboard and Mouse

Menu Commands

Product Support

Rubber Bridge Scoring Explanation

Rubber Bridge Scoring Table

Tournaments

Registering the Demonstration Program

Portable Bridge Notation

Hand Generation

Counting Points

Playing a single hand


Bidding Conventions

For help on any of the above conventions click on the convention name.


Playing a single hand

A single hand can be played. The result is not stored as is done for tournament hands and for the rubber bridge hands. The hand is loaded from a hand file (.hnd) or from a Portable Bridge Notation file (.pbn). The hand cannot be loaded from a tournament file (.dat).

This is called from the menu selection [SETUP][PLAY SINGLE HAND].


Portable Bridge Notation

Meadowlark Bridge 1.36 and above supports Portable Bridge Notation v1.0. This is a mechanism (file format) for the interchange of bridge hand information.

A. Introduction (taken from Tis Veugens introductory file that accompanies PBN).

In the past years a lot of bridge computer programs have been developed.

There are programs for dealing, bidding, playing, and/or teaching.  A

widely accepted standard format for bridge games does not exist.  Therefore,

the output of one program can't be used in another program.  This not only

holds for programs running on different computer platforms, but even for

programs on one and the same computer.  This document specifies a universal notation for bridge games, called "Portable Bridge Notation" (PBN).  PBN is based on "Portable Game Notation" (PGN), a standard for the representation of chess games.

PBN has been designed with several criteria in mind.  Portability is of

course the main criterion.  Other criteria are:

1) PBN is an open standard. It is publicly available for users and

   software developers. PBN is not subject to any copyrights.

2) The PBN notation must be straightforward and comprehensible.

   A human must be able to read and write the PBN notation easily.

3) PBN must be suitable for a variety of computer programs.  It can be used

   by dealing programs, bidding programs, playing programs, etc.  The PBN

   files range from single deals to large databases.  Examples of database

   contents are:

   (a) tournament database

   (b) famous player database

   (c) database with 7NT deals

4) PBN must be able to serve as an interface between competing computer

   programs.

5) The PBN standard must be expandable.

6) The PBN notation must be worldwide applicable.

7) The syntax of the PBN notation must be easy to parse by a computer

   program.

  The PBN standard is based on textual files, instead of binary files.

A lot of PBN data, including comment, are text strings. Therefore, low

priority is given to minimization of file sizes.

B.

Document:       Portable Bridge Notation (PBN)

Version:        1.0

Date:           1998.04.02

Coordinator:    Tis Veugen ( veugent@IAEhv.nl )

Co-editor:      Kaj G Backas (kgb@compart.fi)

Authors:        Readers of the Internet newsgroup rec.games.bridge

  The text of this PBN proposal and other PBN information can be found on

the PBN homepage:  http://www.IAEhv.nl/users/veugent/pbn.html

C. PBN software

---------------

 1)  PBN verifier

-----------------

  The PBN verifier validates whether a PBN file obeys the PBN standard.

Non-compliances are clearly indicated in the generated output.  The

verifier also contains an export facility.

  Two PBN Verifier programs are available for the PC:  a Windows95 program

and an MS-DOS program.  The source code (ANSI-C) is also available, so that

you can compile a PBN Verifier on any platform.  The source code and the

executables can be downloaded from the PBN homepage

(http://www.IAEhv.nl/users/veugent/pbn.html).  The source code may freely

be used in any program to import and export PBN files.

 2)  PBN viewer

---------------

  The PBN viewer presents the games of a PBN database.  It shows the calls,

the played cards, the annotations, etc.  You an also scroll through the

"raw" tags of each game.

  Two PBN Viewer programs are available for the PC:  a Windows95 program

and a Windows3.11 program.  The executables can be downloaded from the

PBN homepage (http://www.IAEhv.nl/users/veugent/pbn.html).

 3)  cardtabl

-------------

  Kaj G Backas (kgb@compart.fi) has written a (Windows95) program to

read a deal from a variety of formats (including PBN), show the deal,

and save the deal. The program 'cardtabl' can be download from his

homepage http://www.compart.fi/~kgb .

 4)  pbn2html

-------------

  Yvan Calame (fsb@worldcom.ch) has written a (ms-dos) utility to convert

a PBN game into HTML.  The utility 'pbn2html' can be download from

http://www.compart.fi/~kgb .

 5)  BridgeViewer

-----------------

  George Mavridis (gm@mavridis.tng.oche.de) has written a Windows95 program

to view bridge games.  The program can import several bridge formats among

which PBN. The program can be downloaded from

http://www.okbridge.com/~jeff/programs/#georg .

 6)  SmartPBNViewer

-------------------

  Francesco Barcio (pes136k1@pe.nettuno.it, or francesco@kagi.com) has

written a bridge viewer called SmartPBNViewer. It can be downloaded from

http://www.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000OLF

or http://www.winsite.com/cgi-bin/dload/50/win95/games/smartpbn.zip .

  Francesco has also written a bridge playing program called SmartBridge.

The inclusion of a PBN interface is scheduled for April 1998, refer to

http://www.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000NQQ .

 7)  Hand dealer

----------------

Jens Brix Christiansen (alesia@pip.dknet.dk) has written a card dealing

(MS-DOS) program used in Denmark for official tournaments. This program

(and a suite of other programs) can be found at

http://isa.dknet.dk/~alesia/ .


Tournaments

Tournament Setup

Enter Tournament

Quit Tournament

Computer Plays Tournaments

Tournament Disks


Support Doubles
Bidding Systems

We have made it convenient to quickly set your conventions if you use one of the selected bidding systems. After selecting the system, the conventions can still be modified as destired.

Remember to save your desired system/conventions using [PROGRAM][SAVE OPTIONS].

Also remember to save to the file default.opt the options that you desire to have at program startup. Once saved these will be remembered and loaded each time Meadowlark Bridge is started.

Click on the Systems button in the Convention Selection dialog box and make your selection from the list that appears.

You may choose from:

•	Kaplan Sheinwold

•	Standard American Yellow Card

•	Standard American - simple

•	Standard American - basic

•	Acol (new for version 1.36)

•	The Max - this has all conventions available, as far as consistencyt allows, to Meadowlark Bridge turned on.

•	Gorens New Bridge complete - from the book of the same name.


Menus
Program Menus

Program Menu Load Options Save Options Run 'Hand Librarian' Player Name Show Bidding Show Played Cards About Exit Tournament Menu Enter Tournament Setup Tournament Utilities Quit Tournament Computer Plays Tournament Show Overall Score Show Hand Scores	Rubber Bridge Menu Play Quit Rubber Show Score Zero Score Set $ Setup Menu NS Conventions EW Conventions Set Seed Set Defenders DoubleDummy Set Signals Jumping Cursor Help Menu Introduction Bridge Product Support Claim/Concede Hints for play of the hand Show Messages for bidding Latest News


Support Doubles

After the bidding proceeds 1♣, Pass,1♥, 2♦?: how do you raise your partners hearts?

If you decide to support hearts, it is important to distinguish

the number of hearts that you have in support. This is clearer

when playing Support Doubles. In this situation, you double with 3-card

support. Therefore a direct raise promises 4-card support. This

show of length has proven to be important in competitve bidding

situations. For further discussions on this see the section on

support doubles in Better Bidding with Bergen, Volume 2, Competitive

Bidding, Fit Bids, & More. Also the reasons for explicitly showing

the length of support is well outlined in To Bid or Not to Bid, The

Law of Total Tricks by Larry Cohen.

Also see Support Redoubles.


Escaped from doubled
Escape from Doubled

A mechanism is necessary to escape from a doubled notrump contract.

Especially when playing weak notrump openers.

The simple system played here consists of:

Redouble	a single suited hand. The notrump opener is forced to bid 2 clubs. The responder then corrects to the suit, passing if it is clubs.
2 of a suit	This shows a two suited hand. The suit bid and a higher suit. Therefore suits are bid up the line until an acceptable fit has been found. For instance, 2 hearts shows hearts and spades, opener should pick one. 2 clubs shows clubs and a higher ranking suit. You should leave the lower ranking suit only if it is clear that a higher ranking suit will be better. This is similar in concept to DONT which is used as a defense to opponents notrump openers.
Pass is to play.


Cheaper Minor
Cheaper Minor Rebid

The initial negative response to the Strong 2♣ Convention is the 2D response. An additional conventional bid can be made by responder after the negative 2d bid. It is referred to as the Cheaper Minor convention. It is a second negative bid, essentially describing a bust hand with 0-4 HCP, no ace, of course.

2♣, Pass, 2♦, Pass, 2♠, Pass, 3♣, Pass, 3♠ is now not forcing.

2♣, Pass, 2♦, Pass, 2♠, Pass, 3♣, Pass, 3♦ is still forcing.

Only the rebid of openers original suit can be passed below game.

This convention allows the opener to rebid his suit and in that sequence the openers rebid is not forcing. The benefit of this convention is that it allows opener to make the strong 2♣ bid on strong hands but with less than a game force. This helps Standard American bidding to reduce the range of possible one bid openers, a continuing problem for SA bidders. This was an early concept for the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system.


Aggressiveness

You can set the aggressiveness for your partnership or the East/West partnership. The middle setting is the normal, with lower setting being more timid, and the higher setting more aggressive.


Lebensohl Defense
Lebensohl Defense to Weak Two Bid Openers

Lebensohl is used with good effect after interference over an opening 1N bid. It can also be used to response to the take-out double of a weak two bid. The 2N response forces a 3C rebid and any bid at the three level is a natural forcing bid.  A natural non-forcing bid is made by the 2N bidder, or a pass if his suit is clubs.


DONT

DONT is a popular two suited defense to an opponents opening 1N bid. The lower of the two suits is bid, and the other suit is left unspecified. If the partner of the DONT bidder cannot tolerate the bid suit and has tolerance for the unspecified suits, he bids up the line to find the other suit.

1N-2♣-P-2♦-P-2♠ shows that the DONT bidder had clubs and spades and his partner could not tolerate the clubs. Generally this is used to bump the opponents out of 1N contracts and not to try and find game.


Cappelletti
Cappelletti Over No Trump

Cappelletti is a defence to the opponents opening 1N bid. For a description you should refer to the pamphlet Cappelletti over No Trump by Mike Cappelletti and Ed Lewis.

It is clearly preferable to overcall the opponents no trump opening when holding a distributional hand (either one long suit or two suited) regardless of high card strength.

2♠ or 2♥	Two suited hand showing the bid major and an unspecified minor.

2♦	Two suited hand showing both majors.

2♣	Shows a one suited hand. Partner usually responds 2♦

Double	Shows a good hand of 15+ points.


Namyats

Namyats is a convention that uses 4C to represent a strong heart pre-empt and 4D to represent a strong 4S pre-empt.


Drury

Drury is a conventional response by the responder to an opening bid of 1♠ or 1♥ made in third seat. Drury essentially asks partner if he has a true opening bid. With a full opener the response is to rebid 2 of the original major. 2♦ shows a substandard opening.

See Reverse Drury


Reverse Drury

Drury is used to respond to a third hand opening of one heart or one spade. The Drury bid asks opener to disclose whether he had a full opener by rebidding the major suit. Reverse Drury on the other hand asks opener to show the full opener by bidding anything other than a return to the openers suit.

See Drury


Cue is limit raise or better

The cue bid is used in this instance to show a specific hand that has four card trump support and is at least a limit raise. Partner with a minimum will return to the original suit, and the cue-bidder will only go on with less than an 8 loser hand. If you are using this bid (and you should), then raises of partner are competitive in nature, while all strong hands are bid through the cue bid.


Unusual versus Unusual

Unusual versus unusual is a defence to the unusual notrump overcall and other two suited bids. There are two cue bids available, so that the cheaper cue-bid is a limit raise of partner, while the other cue-bid is a game forcing bid in the fourth suit. A raise of partners suit is competitive and a new suit is natural and non-forcing.


Setting Notrump Ranges

This section of the convetion dialog box allows you to set the notrump bidding ranges to the levels you play.


Advanced Jacoby

As discussed by Marty Bergen in Better Bidding with Bergen this is a fit bid after a notrump opening. The main idea is that good fits must be shown, and even opposite a bad hand such a fit will either play well or the opponents had a good fit and contract for themselves. Therefore the difference between Advanced Jacoby and Accept Jacoby Bid is that Advanced Jacoby does not accept the transfer with a 4 card fit, while Accept Jacoby does not accept the transfer with a 4 card fit and a maximum.

The responses to a Jacoby Transfer Bid are altered thusly (ex. for the notrump bidder with 4 spades after a 2♥ transfer):

2 ♠	two or three spades at any strength
2N	four spades; 4333 distribution
3♣ 3♦ or 3♥	four spades; doubleton in bid suit; maximum
3♠	four spades; minimum

Notes:

1) if opener merely completes the transfer then he lacks four trumps.

2) further suit bids after bypassing the transfer start a cue bid auction.

3) responders rebid of the transfer suit is a retransfer to force the one notrump opener to bid the suit and thus become declarer.

1N	2♥
3♣	3♥   <- a retransfer to spades
3♠	P

See also Accept Jacoby Bid


Accept Jacoby

As opposed to the Advanced Jacoby Bid the 1NT opener only bids more than the transfer if he has a maximum and a four card fit. This is another response to the Jacoby Transfer Bid. The bid of 3S in response to a 2H transfer indicates four trumps and a maximum. Some would also play that a new suit shows a doubleton in that suit plus the aforementioned.


Soloway Jump Shifts

The theory behind Soloway Jump Shifts is based on the concept that one should not jump the bidding in a constructive auction unless there is a specific hand to be described. Soloway jumps are used to show specific types of hands rather than a strong hand. A hand of opening strength can make a jump shift if it describes the hand appropriately.

Soloway jump shifts have three and only three distinct hands that can be shown. The first is a solid suit, the second is a good suit with two of the top three honors plus good support for openers suit while the third is a good suit and a balanced hand usually restricted to 18-19 high card points. These bids are based on good suits, and/or good fits and can allow slams to be bid on good fitting hands. Hands without such distinctions should be bid without an initial jump shift.

It should be noted that a new suit bid now shows a splinter in support of openers suit along with the other requirements for a jump shift. Thus the sequence 1♣-P-2♥-P-3♣-P-3♦ shows good hearts with 2 of 3 top honors, plus good support for clubs, plus shortness in diamonds!


Lebensohl

The Lebensohl convention is used to overcome problems caused when an opening 1NT bid is overcalled by the openers LHO.

Two Lebensohl bids are available:

For weaker hands bid 2NT.	This is a transfer bid to 3♣. After the 3♣ transfer the responder will bid his best suit or if clubs are best pass.
Three of a new suit	This is a natural bid. This forces partner to bid again.
After a 2 NT bid, if the responder bids a suit higher in rank than the suit bid by the overcaller, it is a game invitation.

Lebensohl can also be used to communicate the existence of a stopper in the suit bid by the overcaller:

3NT after 2NT	Promises a stopper in the opponent's suit.
Cue-bid of overcall after 2NT	Promises a stopper in the opponent's suit and four hearts.
3NT bid immediately after overcall	No stopper in the opponent's suit.
Immediate Cue-bid after overcall	No stopper in hearts and four spades.


Balanced Forcing Major Raise
Three Notrump Balanced Forcing Raise

A 3 Notrump response to an opening bid of a major suit shows 13 to 16, four card trump support, and no void or singleton

Over Interference:

After a takeout double by the opponents, the Three Notrump Balanced Forcing Raise can still be used. After an overcall the convention cannot still be used.

See also:

Forcing Major Raise

Limit Major Raises


Limit Major Raise

A 3 level raise to an opening bid of a major suit shows less than 13 points (or an 8 loser hand) plus four card trump support. This replaces the forcing major raise, which is generally replaced by a 3NT Balanced Forcing Raise plus Splinter Bids bids, and/or a Jacoby Two Notrump bid.

If you are playing the Forcing One-Notrump you can show a limit major raise with 3 card support by first bidding 1N and then jumping to three of the major.

See also:

Forcing Major Raise


Forcing Major Raise

A 3 level raise to an opening bid of a major suit shows less at least 13 points (or a hand with 7 or less losers) plus four card trump support. This is often replaced by a 3NT Balanced Forcing Raise plus Splinter Bids bids, or a Jacoby Two Notrump bid. Both of the preceding styles then allow the use of Limit Major Raises


Checkback Stayman

Checkback stayman is a conventional response of 2♣ to openers rebid of 1NT. It is used to see if the opener has 1) secondary support for responders suit or 2) a side 4 card major suit. It is artificial and in many partnerships it is the only forcing bid that can be made after the 1N rebid by opener. Another similar bid is New Minor Forcing which uses the unbid minor rather than 2♣ as the checkback call.


New Minor Forcing

New Minor Forcing is a conventional response of the unbid minor in response to openers rebid of 1NT. It is used to see if the opener has 1) secondary support for responders suit or 2) a side 4 card major suit. It is artificial and in many partnerships it is the only forcing bid that can be made after the 1N rebid by opener.

When using the New Minor Forcing or Checkback Stayman the second round jumps by responder in NT or a previously bid suit are all therefore invitational. If not playing one of these two conventions, Meadowlark Bridge plays all jump rebids by responder as forcing to game.

Another similar bid is Checkback Stayman which uses 2♣ rather than the unbid minor as the checkback call.


Inverted Minor Raises
Inverted Minor Suit Raise

In the Inverted Minor Suit Raise convention a single raise in a minor suit shows at least 10 points, at least four-card trump support, and is forcing for one round. It denies holding a four card major.

Responses

After an Inverted Minor Suit Raise the opener must bid again, unless partner was a previously passed hand or the RHO intervenes.

With a minimum hand	2 Notrump. Shows a balanced hand, is not forcing, and many times has just three Clubs.
	3♣. Shows four-card support and is not forcing
With better hand values	New suit. Shows three or four cards in the suit bid and four cards in the minor suit originally bid. This is forcing for one round.
	3 Notrump. Shows a balanced hand too strong for a 1 Notrump opening.
Rebids

The responder is required to bid again only if the opener names a new suit.

Two or three of the agreed minor indicates a hand with minimum values.

Suit bids in other than the agreed minor are forcing. Bids below 3 Notrump show stoppers.

Three Notrump is a sign-off bid.

Interference

The Inverted Minor Suit Raise is still in effect over a simple overcall or a Takeout Double.


Texas Transfer
Texas Transfers

The Texas Transfer is used in responding to 1 Notrump bids. It is similar to the Jacoby Transfer, but at a higher level.

A 4♦ or a 4♥ response to a 1 Notrump bid shows at least six cards in the next-higher major suit. The aim of the responder is simply to play a game at that major suit.

After the Texas Transfer bid the opener is required to bid four of the indicated major.

The Texas Transfer also applies over an opening of 2 Notrump.

If the Strong 2♣ Convention is selected, the Texas Transfer applies after a 2♦ response and a 2 Notrump rebid by the opener. Thus, a bid of 4♦ or a 4♥ is a Texas Transfer.

A Texas transfer followed by 4N is Blackwood, while a Jacoby Transfer followed by 4N should be interpreted as a quantitative invite, similar to the 3N rebid after a Jacoby transfer.

Interference

If the 1 Notrump opening bid is doubled or overcalled below the level of 4♦ the Texas Transfer can still be used.


Truscott 2 Notrump Response

The Truscott 2 Notrump Response is used after the takeout double of a major suit opening bid.

For example, 1♥;Double;2 Notrump. The 2 Notrump bid indicates 10 to 12 pts. and at least four card trump support. This is often played as a limit raise or better.

Under the Truscott 2 Notrump Response a double raise of partner's opening bid promises no more strength than a 2 bid, but with better trump support.


ASTRO

An overcall of a 1 NT opening is dangerous. Unless a fit is quickly found an expensive double can ensue. Overcalling with a two-suited hand is less hazardous.

Minor Suit Overcalls

In ASTRO an overcall of 1 NT in either minor suit is artificial and shows a two-suited hand with 9 to 14 HCPs.

2♣ overcall	At least 5-4 shape with a Heart suit and a minor suit.
2♦ overcall	At least 5-4 shape with a Spade suit and another suit.
Responses

After the ASTRO overcall the responder knows the major suit held by partner. Most responses will indicate if there is support for the major suit indicated by partner.

2 of indicated major	Shows 3-card support. Not forcing.
Next step response	Denies 3-card support. Known as the "relay" response.
2♠ over 2♣ or  3♣ over 2♦	Shows 6-card suit, but no support for the indicated major suit.
2 NT	Requires 11 points. Wants partner to bid the second suit. This is a forcing bid.
Raise of ASTRO overcall	Shows 6-card support and is invitational to game.
Jump in any suit	Invitational to game.
Any game bid	A sign-off
Rebids

After receiving the relay response a contract must still be reached. The ASTRO bidder has the following responses:

Pass	The relay suit is the second suit
2 of the known major	Shows a five card suit. The second suit was not the relay suit. If the responder does not like the known major he bids 2 NT. This forces the ASTRO bidder to bid the second suit.
3 of a suit	Shows at least five cards in that suit. If this bid is a raise or a jump it is inviting to game.
2♠ when the ASTRO bidder has denied Spades	Shows three Spades
Major Suit Overcalls

The requirements of an ASTRO bid of a major suit overcall of 1 NT are similar to the requirements of a minor suit overcall-9 to 14 points and two-suited distribution.

Responses

2 of a major	Shows a six-card suit
2 NT	Shows at least five-five in the minor suits.
3 of a minor	Shows at least a seven-card suit, or good six card suit.
Higher overcalls	Show at least a seven-card suit and within one playing trick of the bid.
Balancing

If the opener bids 1 NT and it is followed by two Passes, the ASTRO bid then applies with the point count requirements slightly reduced.

Over a 2 NT opening bid

It is rare to be in a position to enter the bidding after a 2 NT bid, but ASTRO can still be used in this situation.

3♣	Shows Hearts and a minor suit. Bidding continues as above.
3♦	Shows Spades and another suit. Bidding continues as above.
All other suits	Natural bids
3 NT	Shows both minor suits.


Minor Suit Transfers

A bid made in response to an opening notrump bid to show a hand with a single suit which is a minor suit. This bid is used similarly to the Jacoby Transfer. The transfer bid, however, is to transfer to a minor suit. Generally 2Notrump is used as the transfer bid to force the bid of 3 Clubs. However some partnerships play that 3 Clubs is a transfer to 3 Diamonds. These transfers show a one suited hand and the rebids will further describe the bid. For a weak hand the responder will just pass 3 Clubs or bid 3 Diamonds if diamonds is the suit. Further bidding indicates a strong hand, often with slam intentions.

See Also:

Minor Suit Stayman


Minor Suit Stayman

Minor Suit Stayman is used in conjunction with the Jacoby Transfer Bid. When playing the Jacoby Transfer Bid the 2♠ falls into disuse. A 2♠ response to a 1 NT opening bid indicates at least 5-4 shape to the minor suits and an interest in game or slam. Minor Suit Stayman denies a four-card major suit.

Responses

Minimum opener	A bid of 2 NT suggests stoppers in both majors. It does not deny minor suit support; it suggests that the contract will be better to play in notrump.
	A bid of three in a minor suit shows a four-card suit.
A maximum opener	3 NT promises stoppers in both majors and is natural
	3 of a major shows a natural suit or a stopper
	4 of a minor suit shows four-cards in that suit and no wasted values in the major suits. This shows a hand that should make a minor suit game or slam.
Rebids

Over a response of 2 NT, three of a minor, or 3 NT	Pass
3 of a minor	A five-card suit and is not forcing. A 3♦ bid after opener's 3♣ is forcing.
3 NT	A sign-off
Four of a minor (other than a simple raise)	Shows a five-card suit and is forcing.
Any major suit bid (other than a simple raise)	Shows a singleton or void in the suit and shows slam interest.
Four NT	Blackwood if a minor suit has been agreed, otherwise it is natural.
Minor Suit Stayman over bids of 2 NT and 3 NT is tied to the use of the Jacoby Transfer bid. If Jacoby Transfer applies in a given situation, Minor Suit Stayman also applies.

See Also:

Minor Suit Transfer

Jacoby Transfer


S-O-S Redoubles

The S-O-S Redouble is used in low-level contracts to warn your partner that the opponents have doubled a contract that is quite unsustainable. The S-O-S Redouble is used after the penalty double of a natural suit bid below the game level, and the penalty pass of a takeout double. The S-O-S Redouble does not apply after unpassed takeout doubles, notrump bids, negative doubles, etc. The redouble, which requires two unbid suits, is an attempt to remove to a safer contract.

Responses

After an S-O-S redouble, partner bids one of the unbid suits, even if the suit only holds three cards.


Jacoby 2 Notrump or Two Notrump Unlimited Raise
Jacoby Two Notrump

(Two Notrump Unlimited Raise)

This convention uses 2 NT as an artificial forcing raise of partner's opening bid in a major suit. It is most commonly used as a balanced forcing major raise.

Responses

After a Jacoby Two Notrump bid the opener responds:

3 of a new suit	Shows singleton or void
3 of agreed major	18 or more points, balanced
3 NT	16 or 17 points, balanced
4 of a new suit	A five card suit
4 of agreed major	15 or less points, balanced
See also

 3NT Balanced Forcing Raise


Michaels Cue Bid
Roman Two Diamonds

An opening bid of 2♦ shows a three-suited hand of 17 to 20 HCPs.

Responses

Minimum suit responses are natural and not forcing. If responder bids the opener's short suit, the opener should make a minimum response. A response of 2 NT forces the opener to bid his short suit.


Michaels Cue Bid

The normal use of the cue bid of the opponent's opening bid is for a very strong bid and is forcing to game. These situations occur rarely and the are other methods to handle these occasions. As a result the Michaels Cue uses the cue bid of the opposition's suit to show a two-suited hand. The strong holding normally using the cue bid is handled by a Double, then a cue bid on the next round. A Michaels cue bid over a bid of one:

Club	Shows both majors
Diamond	Shows both majors
Heart	Shows spades and a minor
Spade	Shows hearts and a minor
The Michaels Cue bidder needs at least five cards in each suit. Though, if both suits are majors a good four card suit is acceptable.

The strength of two-suited hands is divided into three ranges:

Weak	less than 12
Intermediate	13 to 16
Strong	more than 17
The Michaels cue bid should only be used with weak or strong hands. Intermediate hands should make simple overcalls and bid again in the next round.

Responses

The responder should assume that his partner has a minimum two-suited hand. A bid in a suit shown by partner indicates a preference, but no interest in game.

Bidding 2 NT after a major suit cue bid asks cue bidder to bid his minor suit. After the minor suit bid, responder may pass or bid again to invite to game in the major suit. If 2 NT is not available, due to interference, responder may bid 4♣ (non-forcing) or 4 NT (forcing) to cause the cue bidder to bid his minor suit.

A jump takeout to a suit shown by partner indicates good support. A bid below game is pre-emptive, a game bid can indicate either a pre-empt or a constructive response.

A cue bid of the opponents suit is a game or slam try, and is forcing for one round. The cue bidder with a minimum hand makes a minimum response. With a maximum hand he can make any other bid.


Introduction

Meadowlark Bridge allows two main modes of play. From the menus you may select either Tournament or Rubber Bridge.

Conventions may be set at any time. The current bidding system is Standard American with Five Card Majors; 15-17 pt. 1NT Opener; 2 over 1 not forcing to game, default conventions are:

Stayman

Blackwood

Strong 2♣ Opener and Weak Two Bids

Negative Doubles

Fourth Suit Forcing

Please see Keyboard and Mouse for information regarding rapid keyboarding during Play of the Hand. Retractions during the Play of the Hand are done by clicking the right mouse button.

You may play duplicate tournaments with your friends. You may also create your own tournaments. The first by selecting Tournament Enter the latter by selecting Setup Tournament. You may select from many different types of hands when creating your tournaments. You may also select the opponents when creating a tournament.  Meadowlark Software also sells tournament disks. These disks allow you to play along with the players at major bridge tournaments.

Help is always available by pressing F1 or selecting Help when offered.

Our reference for the conventions used in Meadowlark Bridge is Modern Bridge Conventions by William S. Root and Richard Pavlicek, which can be consulted for a detailed description of the conventions.


Rubber Bridge Scoring

After a hand in bridge is played it is scored according to the outcome of  the play. Taking at least the number of contracted tricks results in a score for the declaring partnership. Not taking the number of tricks bid results in the partnership being "set." This results in a score for the opponents.

In rubber bridge each partnership strives to win the best two-out-of-three games. A game is 100 points scored. Points are won for taking the number of tricks bid. Points are also awarded for excess tricks. These points do not count toward the game's score (below the line), but they do count toward the final score. Winning two games results in the partnership winning the "rubber." After one team wins two games, the scores are totaled and a winner determined. The winning side is not determined by whom wins the two games. The partnership accumulating the most points wins the rubber. This is usually the partnership winning two games, but if one side takes several sets or a very large set, they can win two games and still lose the rubber.

Points can be increased by doubling contracts.

The bridge score card is divided into two columns with a horizontal line drawn across the columns about halfway down.

One side of the score card is labeled We and the other They. One player takes the responsibility for keeping score. This partnership score is then entered on the We side.

The value of a trick taken is dependent on the suit bid. The suits are scored as:

No Trump	40 for first trick,  30 each additional trick
Spades	30 each trick
Hearts	30 each trick
Diamonds	20 each trick
Clubs	20 each trick
A bid of 4♥ gives 4 times 30, or 120 points. The points scored from making the bid are scored below the horizontal line on the score sheet. Tricks taken in excess of the 4♥ bid are scored above the line. If the We partnership had bid 4♠ and took eleven tricks, or 5♠. It is scored as:

The We side has now won one game. A line is drawn under the 120 to indicate the first game is completed. Bids made are now entered below this line, i.e.,., in the second game. Now that We has won a game that partnership is now considered vulnerable. When a partnership is vulnerable the penalties for going set are increased. This forces the partnership that has won a single game to be more conservative in their bidding and play. Some of the bidding rules are affected by the vulnerability of a side.

Failing to make the contract scores points for the partnership who defeated the contract. If the We side bid 4♥ and took only 9 tricks, they would have suffered a one trick set.  The number of points the They  side scores above the line depends on the We vulnerability. In our example, We has won one game; therefore, They receives 100 points above the line. Points above the line do not count toward the game score, but are added to the points below the line to achieve the full point total of the rubber.

The team winning two games is awarded a rubber bonus. If the losing team has won one game the winning side receives 500 points. If the losing side has not won a game the winning side receives 700 points.

After this bonus is added above the line the score is totaled and the winner determined.

This is an example of a score pad after a rubber is won.

See: Bridge Scoring Table, Duplicate Bridge Scoring


Scoring Table
Bridge Scoring Table

Scoring below the line

Spades or Hearts	30 per trick
Diamonds or clubs	20 per trick
No Trump	40 for first trick, 30 for each subsequent trick
If the contract has been doubled, multiply the trick score by 2; if redoubled, by 4.

100 points below the line wins game. Partial scores do not carry over to the next game.

Scoring above the line - Overtricks

	Not vulnerable	Vulnerable
Undoubled	Ordinary trick value	Ordinary trick value
Doubled	100 per trick	200 per trick
Redoubled	200 per trick	400 per trick
Additional bonus

For making any doubled or redoubled contract	50

Honors

4 trump honors in any one hand	100
5 trump honors in any one hand	150
At No Trump, 4 Aces in one hand	150
Slam bonuses

Not vulnerable	Vulnerable

Small slam	500	750
Grand slam	1000	1500
Penalties for under tricks

	Not vulnerable	Vulnerable
Undoubled	50 each trick	100 each trick
Doubled	100 for first trick,	200 for first trick,
	200 for each adnl. trick	300 for each additional trick
Redoubled	Twice the doubled penalty	Twice the doubled penalty
Rubber bonus

When the rubber is won in two games	700
When the rubber is won by two games to one	500
Unfinished rubber

Bonus for a side with a game	300
Bonus for a part score in an unfinished game	50


Duplicate Bridge

Most players learn bridge in a social environment. Taught the rules by their friends, they eventually learn to play a passable game and have many enjoyable evenings at the bridge table.

For players who desire the heat of battle, the game of duplicate bridge is played to allow players to play bridge competitively.

One part of playing social bridge is that on a given night much of a partnership's success depends on the luck of the cards. Get good cards and you win, get bad cards and you lose. Duplicate bridge removes the luck of the deal and allows players to display their skills.

In duplicate bridge all hands are dealt out at the start of the evening into four equal piles of thirteen cards.

The cards for each hand are inserted into the pockets of a board labeled North, South, East, and West. Each board carries a number to identify it. All the players sit down at the tables and several of the boards are stacked at each table. The players sitting at the various points of the table remove their cards and bid and play the hand. After each trick played each player places the card they wish to play face up before them. After all players display their cards each player retains the card and places it before the player with the length of the card pointing toward the partnership that won the trick. Each player retains his own cards and never touches the cards of the other players. The dummy plays the cards from the dummy at the instruction of the declarer.  After all the cards are played and the score counted the hands are returned to their respective pockets in the board. The board is placed face down at the bottom of the stack of boards and the board now at the top is then played.

After all the boards have been played, the boards are moved to other tables and the players rotate in a predetermined fashion to play different boards with different opponents. At the end of the evening the score card for a board is removed and all the scores for this board are compared. The North-South partnerships playing the boards are ranked from top to bottom by score and points are awarded.

See: Duplicate Bridge Scoring


Duplicate Bridge
Duplicate Scoring

A hand at duplicate bridge is scored in a similar fashion to a hand at rubber bridge with a few exceptions.

Each hand is scored separately.

A game bonus is awarded for making a game bid. 500 points is added to the hand score if the partnership was vulnerable, 300 points if non vulnerable.

Part score hands are awarded a 50 point bonus.

A plus score is credited to the declaring partnership if the contract is made and a minus score to the defenders. If the contract is set the plus score is awarded to the defenders and the declarers receive the minus score.

Some examples:

North/South reach a contract of 4♠ vulnerable and make 4♠, North/South receives +620 points and East/West receive -620 points.

East/West bids 2♥ non vulnerable and makes only 1♥, East/West receives -50 points and North/South +50.

North/South bids 3♦ and makes 3♦, North/South receives +110 points (3x20+50 part score bonus), East/West receives -110.

After partnerships have played a board the partnership is awarded one point for every board with a lower score and 1/2 point for each board with the same score. If ten tables played the boards the (untied) top score would receive a 9 and the bottom score would be a 0. The same is done for the East-West partnerships. All the boards are scored in this manner. The winners are then ranked by the highest score from all boards.

Since all players play the same hands and are graded by their play as compared to the other players the element of luck is eliminated. The partnership that plays the hands best, no matter how bad the cards, wins.

See: Duplicate Bridge


Psychic Bids
A bid that intentionally misrepresents your hand. Intended to confuse the opposition. Not frequently used, because it more frequently confuses your partner, often with terrible results.


Quantitative 4NT Raise
This is a raise from an opening bid of 1 Notrump to 4 Notrump. This shows enough points to invite slam, 16-17 pts. in the case of the 16-18 pt. 1 NT opener, and is made to learn if the opener has a minimum or maximum notrump opener.

Responses

If the opener has:

a minimum notrump opener	Pass
a maximum notrump opener	6 Notrump
Caution: Do no confuse this bid with a Blackwood bid.


Forcing One Notrump
When using Five Card Majors after an opening bid of 1♥ or 1♠ a response of 1 NT forces the opener to bid once more.

The 1 NT promises 5-11 points and denies good support for the opener.


Assign Players

Indicate in the dialog box which positions of the table are human players. The default is South as human, and the rest of the seats are played by the computer. Any combination of human and computer players is allowed. The displays are easier to use if you are the South player.


Flannery Convention
Flannery 2♦ Opening Bid

Standard bidding methods have found it difficult to bid a hand holding four spades, five hearts, and a minimum opening bid. A solution to this problem was developed by William Flannery.

An opening 2♦ bid shows a hand of 11 to 15 pts with 5 hearts and 4 spades.

Responses

The precise nature of the Flannery 2♦ opening bid many times allows the responder to bid the final contract immediately.

The responder can:

jump to three of his preferred major suit.	Game invitation
2 NT	A forcing bid for clarification
3♣	A sign-off bid
3♦	Game try, but responder can pass on a weak hand with long diamond suit.
4♣ or 4♦	A transfer bid to Hearts and Spades, respectively
Rebids

On bids other than the forcing 2 Notrump bid, all other bids are natural.

On the forcing 2 Notrump bid the rebids by opener are:

3♣	4-5-1-3 distribution
3♦	4-5-3-1
3♥	4-5-2-2 and 11-13 pts.
3♠	4-5-2-2 and 14-15 pts.
3NT	4-5-2-2 a maximum hand with the points in the minor suits
4♣	4-5-0-4
4♦	4-5-4-0


DOPI

(Double 0 Pass 1)

This convention is used to overcome interference by opponents after a Blackwood bid. If the intervening opponent makes an interference bid, partner uses DOPI to show Aces:

Double	0 Aces
Pass	1 Ace
Cheapest bid	2 Aces
Next bid	3 Aces
Next higher bid	4 Aces

DEPO kicks in if the interference is above 5♠, from this point on Double indicates an odd number of aces and pass indicates an even number


Roman Blackwood

This is a variation to the Blackwood convention. This convention can aid in determining the missing Ace when partners hold 3 Aces. The 4NT bid signals Roman Blackwood.

Responses

5♣	0 or 3 Aces
5♦	1 or 4 Aces
5♥	2 Aces of same color or adjacent in rank.
5♠	shows 2 unlike Aces (♣/♥ or ♦/♠)
See also: Blackwood, Key Card Blackwood, Roman Key Card Blackwood


Roman Key Card Blackwood
Key Card Blackwood

This is a variation to the Blackwood convention. The King of the agreed trump suit is counted as an Ace. These five cards are then known as "key" cards. The 4NT signals Key Card Blackwood.

Responses

5♣	0 or 4 key cards
5♦	1 or 5 key cards
5♥	2 key cards
5♠	3 key cards
Subsequent Bidding

Asking for the Queen of trump: Bidding the next higher suit after a response of 5♣ or 5♦ asks for the Queen of trump, providing, of course, that the bid is not made in the agreed trump suit. For example, if the trump suit is spades and the response to Roman Key Card Blackwood is 5♦, then the bid of 5♥ asks for the queen. There are various methods of responding, but Meadowlark Bridge answers by bidding the lowest ranking king beyond the trump suit when it has the queen.

See also: Blackwood, Roman Blackwood, Roman Key Card Blackwood


Strong 2 Club;
Strong 2♣ Opening Bid

The Strong 2♣ Opening bid used along with the Weak 2 bids has almost completely replaced the use of Strong 2 bids. The 2♣ bid is reserved for all strong hands.

The Strong 2♣ bid is an artificial bid and is forcing for one round. The point requirements are:

Balanced Hand	23 HCPs
Unbalanced Hand	21 HCPs
One-suited Hand	17 HCPs
Responses

The responder must bid no matter how poor the hand.  The responses are:

Two of a major or three of a minor	8+  HCPs and 5+ card suit. 5 card suit must have Queen or better.
Two Notrump	8+ HCPs and a balanced hand.
Two Diamonds	A negative response showing none of the above conditions.
Rebids after a Negative Response

This bid is a natural bid. The rebids are:

Two of a major	Shows 5+ card suit or a 4-4-4-1 hand with strong holding in suit bid.
Two Notrump	A balanced hand of 23 or 24 pts. Not forcing.
Three Notrump	A balanced hand of 25 to 27 pts. Not forcing.
Four Notrump	A balanced hand of 28 to 30 pts.
Five Notrump	A balanced hand of 31 to 32 pts.
Rebids by Opener to a Positive Response

The Responder has the following options:

A new suit	Shows 5+ card suit or a 4-4-4-1 hand with strong holding in suit bid.
3♣ after 2 NT	Stayman To show Club suit bid 4♣ at next turn.
see also Cheaper Minor


Long Suit Game Tries

Long Suit Game Tries are used to see if a trump fit has the proper form to make a game bid.

This convention is used after a trump suit is agreed upon. This is usually after a sequence such as: 1♥;P;2♥. The opener bids a 3-card or longer suit where the most help in strength is needed. If the responder has help in the suit he bids 4 of a major, if he doesn't have the help he bids 3 of the major as a signoff bid.

See Also:

Short suit games tries


Short Suit Game Tries

Short Suit Game Tries are used to see if a trump fit has the proper form to make a game bid.

This convention is used after a trump suit is agreed upon. This is usually after a sequence such as: 1♥;P;2♥. The opener bids his shortest suit to invite a game try. If the shortness is of benefit to partner he raises to game, if he has wasted values opposite the shortness he bids three of the major and partner passes.

See Also:

Long suit games tries


Takeout Doubles
Takeout Double

The Takeout Double appropriates the penalty double at the one or two level to request your partner to bid again. A double is for takeout when it is doubling a bid at the one or two level and partner has yet to bid.

The requirements for a takeout double are: high card points equal to at least an opening bid and three or four cards for any unbid suit. If the doubler has passed 9-11 HCPs and support (4-card suits) for the unbid suits is required.

Doubling with a minimum opening hand (12-15 points) requires at least three cards in an unbid major and a void or singleton in the enemy suit.

Doubling with a 16-18 point hand, not balanced (on balanced hands bid 1 Notrump), you can relax the distribution requirements. If partner bids a suit you have no  tolerance for, bid your long suit next.

On hands with 19 HCPs or more the suit restrictions are relaxed completely. With a balanced hand, if unable to support a major suit reply by your partner bid notrump at the next available level. With an unbalanced hand make a jump rebid in either your partner's suit or your own.

Responses

In response to a takeout double it is permissible to count distributional points immediately. The doubler will have support for the unbid suits or a powerful enough hand to move the bidding to a new suit.

If the third hand passes the responder must bid. With:

0-5 points bid a suit.

6-9 points bid a suit or 1 NT

10-12 points jump shift a suit or bid 2 NT

>13 points bid game in a major suit or bid 3 NT.

If the third hand redoubles (holds more than 10 HCPs), bid as you normally would.

If the third hand bids a new suit or raises the opener: with 0-5 points Pass, any other bid promises 6 pts.

Rebids

The doubler, after a minimum reply from partner, should with:

12-15 pts.	Pass.
16-18 pts.	Bid again.
>19 pts.	Jump rebid.
19-21 pts., balanced hand	Bid next notrump level or major suit game
22-24 pts., balanced hand	Jump bid in notrump or major suit game


Weak Two Bids

The Weak Two Bid is used in conjunction with the strong 2♣ opening bid. By using the 2♣ bid for all strong hands the other 2-level bids are available for other purposes. The 2-level bids are used as "small" pre-emptive bids.

To open 2♦, 2♥, or 2♠ you require 5 to 11 HCPs and a reasonably good six card suit. You can not hold a side-suit four card major.  2♦ is often used for other conventional treatments, such as Flannery.

When sitting in the third or fourth seat the length requirements are relaxed, a five-card suit can be bid, but bidding on a minimum HCP hand should be avoided.

Responses

2 Notrump	The only forcing response to a weak-two bid. The bid shows interest in game and is forcing for one round. Requires 14 pts., but can be less with good trump support.
After the 2 Notrump response the opener describes his hand:

3 of the suit you opened	On a minimum weak two-bid, in the range of 5-8 points
3 NT	With a solid trump suit headed by the AKQ or AKJ. This is an artificial bid indicating a solid trump suit, but not indicating a desire to play notrump.
3 of a side suit	8-11 points and an Ace, King, or Queen in a side suit
4 of a minor suit	With a good four or five card minor suit and a upper end point count bid
The Two NT bidder now has a good idea where to place the contract. The bids available now are:

Pass	If opener has rebid his suit
Next higher level of partner's suit	Mildly invitational to game. The opener should only bid game with a maximum hand.
Any other suit bid (not including game bids)	Indicates five-card suit and is forcing. Partner should raise with three card support and or a doubleton honor.
A game bid	A sign-off bid
All other responses, but Two Notrump, are not forcing. The bidding options to the responder are:

Raise partner's bid to the 3 level	Pre-emptive. It does not invite to game. The opener is expected to pass.
Bidding a new suit	Indicates a six card suit and no fit. This bid is not forcing, and partner should pass unless he has support for the responder's suit.
Jump to a new suit	Shows a self-sufficient suit that is one playing trick below the bid.
Game bid	Ends bidding. Opener is required to pass.


Grand Slam Force

A bid of 5 Notrump after a trump suit is agreed upon asks partner to bid a grand slam if he holds at least two of the top three trump honors. If the partner does not have this holding he bids six of the agreed suit. This bid cannot be used in conjunction with Blackwood as 5 Notrump is a component of that bid that asks for Kings.

A bid of 5 Notrump with no agreed trump suit indicates the trump suit as the last suit bid.


Controls Showing Bid
Control Showing (Cue) Bid

Control Showing Bids are bids that are used to explore slam possibilities. These are among the most powerful methods available for slam exploration. These bids are normally made after the trump suit has been agreed upon. It is a non-jump bid over three of the trump suit. When the agreed suit is a minor suit, bids below 3NT are ambiguous, showing either stoppers for notrump or, as shown by subsequent bidding, control bids. Bids that go beyond 3NT confirm the fact that the bid was made to show a control. Controls are either 1st round (ace or void) or 2nd round (king or singleton).

For example,

North 	 South

  1♥	   2♠

  3♠	   4♦

4♦ shows 1st round control of diamonds. Note that

this is can be either the A♦ or a void in diamonds.

Responses

A return to the agreed suit (or possibly 3N) is a negative response.

Any other suit bid other than the agreed suit is another control showing bid. A repeat bid of a control then shows second round control.

Treatments

Upon instituting a cue bidding sequence Meadowlark Bridge will:

1)	always show an available 1st round control below game in the agreed suit if one is available.

2)	If there are no 1st round controls available it may make a temporizing bid of 3N. Once cue bidding has set trump as a major suit 3N cannot be a natural bid, and can be used to conserve bidding space. 3N would, however, be a natural bid if a minor suit has been agreed.

3)	not bid a second round control until all 1st round controls have been bid, unless it has no 1st round control to bid, and the bidding is still below game.

4)	will bid the last 1st round control to enable further bidding. Second round controls can be bid looking  for a grand slam.

5)     will always treat 4N as ace-asking (Blackwood).

See also: Blackwood, Short Suit Game tries, Long suit game tries.


SMOLEN

As explained in John Blubaugh's article in the May 1995 ACBL Bulletin the Smolen convention was devised by the late Mike Smolen of Los Angeles to allow the notrump bidder to become declarer when responder uses Stayman with 54 or 64 distribution in the majors.

When partner opens 1N, you bid Stayman, and partner then responds 2D (no four card major) these subsequent bids have the following meaning, and both are game forcing. You jump in the 4 card major to show 5 in the other.

3♥	Five spades and  four hearts
3♠	Five hearts and four spades

After your jump, partner can bid 3NT to deny three-card support for your long suit, then if you have 6-4 distribution you can retransfer, just as in Advanced Jacoby.

This keeps the strong hand concealed, unless, of course, you are using 8-10 HCP one notrump openers!


Negative Doubles

The Negative Double is a variation of the Takeout Double. Under natural methods, when the opening bidder is overcalled by an opponent, a double by the opener's partner is considered for penalty. Use of the Negative Double removes the indication of penalty from this bid allowing responder to show hands too weak to make a forcing bid.

The hand strength required for a Negative Double at the one or two level is seven points and at the three and four level 9 points. Negative doubles apply only if a suit is opened-it does not apply to Notrump bids.

A Negative double indicates:

1.) you do not have a hand you could open in a major suit, other wise you would bid that suit. It does indicate you have four cards in any unbid major.

2.) if partner opens 1♣ and is overcalled with 1♦ a Negative Double indicates you have four cards in both majors.

3.) if partner opens 1♥ and is overcalled with 2♠ a Negative Double indicates you have four cards in both minors.

The Negative Double is used effectively to show four card major suits. It is almost essential  when using Five Card Major

Responding to a Negative Double

When replying to the Negative Double, Opener treats the bid as if responder had bid the other major at the one level. His options:

1) If the opener's RHO bids, then the opener may pass.

2) If the opener's RHO passes, the opener must bid, unless he is willing to convert the negative double into a penalty double. This would require strength and length in the suit overcalled.

3) A Notrump response denies having four cards in the unbid major and indicates a stopper in the enemy suit.

4) Other bids show strength.


Gambling 3NT Opeing
Gambling 3NT Opening

An open to indicate a long solid minor suit, with good values, as the principle source of tricks.


Responsive Doubles

A bid that can be used after partner has bid a Take Out Double and the right-hand opponent has raised his partner's suit. A double at this point indicates:

6 points at the 2 level

8 points at the 3 level

10 points at the 4 level

If the opponents have bid a major suit the bid indicates length in the minor suits. If you have length in the unbid major, bid the unbid major, and do not use the responsive double.


Forcing Two Over One

A forcing two-over-one system requires a stronger hand from partner to make a two-over-one response. In generatel it requires enough strength to enable the partnership to make a game. Forcing two-over-one systems usually include Five Card Major and Forcing One-Notrump. In this system of bidding the two over one bid is considered forcing to game. There are exceptions played by most partnerships such as a rebid of responders suit after a minimal rebid by opener: 1♠−2♣,2♠−3♣.


Colorful Cue Bids

A direct cue bid of the opener's suit shows a two-suited hand of the opposite color of the suit bid:

2♣ over 1♣ shows red suits

2♠ over 1♠ shows red suits

2♦ over 1♦ shows black suits

2♥ over 1 ♥ shows black suits

See also: Michaels Cue Bid


Five Card Majors

A bidding agreement that any opening in a major suit will guarantee five cards in that suit. If there is no five card major suit in the hand a convenient minor suit can be used. This minor suit could be as few as three cards. Often used with Forcing One-Notrump  response. The forcing one notrump response becomes a safe bid because a 5-2 fit allows safety for exploration.


Weak Jump Overcalls

Any overcall that jumps one or more levels is always considered weak. It describes a hand with no more than 10 points, at least a six card suit, and very little defensive strength. Count the playing tricks in your hand and bid by the following table:

Vulnerability	Overbid by
Against	2 tricks
None or Both	3 tricks
For	3-5 tricks
Responses

The most common response to a weak jump overcall is to pass. You know your partner has already overbid by a number of tricks based on the vulnerability. Having a good fit and some strength can make bidding worthwhile.

Any raise of partner's suit should be to obstruct the opponents bidding or to sacrifice

Naming a new suit is a natural bid and not forcing on your partner. This bid can also be used for lead direction.

A cue bid is a game or slam try and is forcing for one round on partner. If he has a minimal hand he rebids his suit at the lowest level. A better hand allows the opener the freedom to make any bid he chooses.


Counting Points

High card points and distribution points are used to evaluate a bridge hand for bidding. High card points are assigned by the rank of the card:

Ace	=	4
King	=	3
Queen	=	2
Jack	=	1
Defensive or quick tricks are tricks that can be expected from a holding on the first or second round the suit is led.

AK	2 Quick tricks
AQ	1½ Quick tricks
A or KQ	1 Quick trick
Kx	½ Quick trick
High cards are not the only items that add value to your hand. If you are playing with one of the suits as trump, having no cards in one of the other suits will allow you to trump the trick the first time the suit is led. This is valuable. So in addition to high card points you must add points to the value of your hand based on the distribution of your hand.

Distributional adjustments

For opener

Distributional points are used to correctly allow for the added value of a hand from doubletons, singletons, and voids in a suit. Distributional points are:

	Opener	Responder
Doubleton	1	1
Singleton	2	3
Void	3	5
Distributional points may only be counted when the Responder has adequate support for the opener's suit. Length for suits over four cards are counted as one point for each card over four.

The opener can add a point for holding all four aces; he deducts a point for holding no aces. If responder supports the opener's suit the opener can add 1 point for the fifth card in the suit and two points for each additional card.

Totaling your high card and distributional points is the first step towards accurate bidding.


Stayman Convention
Stayman

The Stayman Convention is used in reply to an opening bid of 1 NT if the responder holds a four card major and eight or more points.

A game bid in a suit, rather than in notrump, is easier to make if your partnership holds eight or more cards in a suit. The Stayman Convention is used to explore the fit of the two hands to discover if a fit of eight or more cards exists in a major suit.

The Stayman Convention is a response of 2♣ over an opening bid of 1 NT. The opener responds:

with four spades and four hearts	2♠
with four spades	2♠
with four hearts	2♥
with no four card majors	2♦
The responder will then know where to place the contract.

If a eight card fit is found the responder bids either 4♥ or 4♠, the lack of a fit causes the responder to bid 3 NT.

Caution: Any bid at the two level in response to an opening bid of 1 NT other than 2♣ is taken as a "drop dead" bid, and requires the opener to Pass  This caution does not apply if playing Jacoby Transfers

see also Smolen


Gerber Convention
Gerber

The Gerber Convention is an artificial response of 4♣ over an opening bid of 1,2, or 3 NT. It asks the opener how many Aces he holds.

The response to the Gerber Convention is similar to the response to the Blackwood Convention except at a lower level.

Opener responds to the 4♣ Gerber bid with:

0 Aces or 4 Aces	4♦
1 Ace	4♥
2 Aces	4♠
3 Aces	4 NT
When the Gerber bidder wants to know about kings he bids 5♣. The responses are:

0 Kings or 4 Kings	5♦
1 Kings	5♥
2 Kings	5♠
3 Kings	5 NT


Unusual Notrump Convention

The Unusual Notrump Convention is a convention for overcalling the opposition to seek a fit in the minor suits.

This bid requests your partner to bid his longest minor suit.

A notrump bid is unusual when notrump is bid at a time when a notrump bid is inappropriate.

A 1 NT bid directly after the player on your right opens any suit at the one level is natural and cannot be an Unusual Notrump bid.

A notrump after both opponents have bid, and partner has passed, can be considered an Unusual Notrump bid.

Your partner cannot pass unless the opponents make an intervening bid.

A bid of 4 NT, over an opening bid at the four-level,  is not considered an Unusual Notrump bid,  but a Takeout Double. The meaning of the bid depends on the bid preceding the 4 NT bid.

Over a Spade bid	A takeout for the unbid suit.
Over a Heart bid	A takeout for the minor suits.
Over a minor-suit bid	Blackwood
Over any lower bid	A takeout for the two lower unbid suits


Blackwood Convention
Blackwood

Blackwood is the most popular of the slam conventions. It is used to ensure adequate controls when a slam is likely..

It is used after getting indications of a possible slam and a suit has been agreed upon. A bid of 4 NT signals to your partner you are using Blackwood.

The Blackwood responder counts the number of Aces in their hand and responds according to the result:

Zero Aces or Four Aces	5♣
One Ace	5♦
Two Aces	5♥
Three Aces	5♠
A count of the Kings in partner's hand is requested with a subsequent bid of 5 NT. Your partner replies in a similar fashion at the 6 level:

Zero Kings or Four Kings	6♣
One King	6♦
Two Kings	6♥
Three Kings	5♠
Caution: The 4 NT is considered to be Blackwood in various notrump sequences including direct raises and after Stayman.  A bid of 4 NT over partner's opening 1 NT is not Blackwood, but a quantitative raise of the opening bid. In notrump situations the Gerber Convention is more appropriate.

Caution: Blackwood should only be used when the number of Aces is what you need to know. If you need to know if your partner has a specific Ace, use Ace-showing methods of slam bidding.

See also: Roman Key Card Blackwood


Splinter Bids

Splinter bids are used in situations where a slam try will depend on one partner being short in a specific suit.

A splinter bid skips two levels of bidding and promises a singleton or void in the suit bid and good support for the last suit bid by partner.

If your partner opens 1♥, and you have good support in Hearts and a void in Clubs you will bid 4♣ showing your partner both your void and your support.

The splinter bid can be used by either the opener or the responder to show support and a singleton or void.


Strong Notrumps
Opening 1 NT hands with 15 to 17 or 16-18 points and balanced distribution.


Jacoby Transfers

Jacoby Transfers cover transfer bids at the two level. These bids are used so that the opening lead comes into the hand of the 1N opening hand. After an opening bid of 1 NT the responses are:

Bid by responder	Required bid by opener
2♦	2♥
2♥	2♠

See also Advanced Jacoby and Accept Jacoby


Jump Shift Bids

A jump shift is forcing to game.  It is a bid that includes a jump in level and is bid in a new suit.

For example, if your partner opens 1♥, then a response of 2♠ or 3♣ will represent a jump shift.  This bid generally shows a minimum of 17 points and two of the top three honors in at least a five card suit  (AKxxx or AQxxx etc.).

See also Soloway Jump Shifts


Roman Key Card Blackwood

Roman Key Card Blackwood(RKCB) is played by expert bidders and its use is beginning to gain popularity.

RKCB is an extension to the standard Blackwood bid. In RKCB the King of the suit agreed to be the trump suit is counted as an Ace or a "Key" card. Instead of needing to communicate four "key" cards in standard Blackwood, there are now five cards to show. The presence of the Queen of trumps can also be indicated. The responses when playing RKCB are:

5♣	Zero or three key cards
5♦	one or four key cards
5♥	two or five key cards, but no queen of trumps
5♠	two or five key cards, and the queen of trumps
The presence of the Queen of trumps can be determined after a 5♣ or a 5♦ bid by the RKCB bidder by bidding the next suit above the 5♣ or 5♦ response. If the responder does not hold the Queen of trumps he bids the next suit up. If the responder has the Queen of trumps and a side-suit King, he bids 5 NT. If the responder bids another side suit shows the Queen of trumps and the King of the bid suit while indicating no King in the suit skipped. A bid of 6 in the trump suit indicates the Queen of trumps and the King in suit directly above the suit the RKCB bid in asking for the Queen of trump.

See:

Blackwood

Roman Blackwood

Key Card Blackwood


Fourth Suit Forcing

After a partnership has bid 3 suits the next bidder can bid the fourth suit. This bid is artificial and indicates a good hand (11 points or better), and no better bid is available.  Meadowlark Bridge uses second round jump rebids as non-forcing, and with a strong hand and no clear bid the fourth suit forcing is bid. The reverse of this pattern is also possible, i.e., second round jump bids are forcing and the fourth suit is forcing for one round and invitational in strength.

The fourth suit forcing bid tells the opener that you have a hand with playing possibilities, but do not have a good bid available as yet, but you need to hear more about the opener's hand. This bid simply forces the opener to bid again.

The opener can use the fourth suit forcing idea if the opener on the second round simply raises his suit and responder then bids a new suit, as in: 1♥,1♠,2♥,3♣. A 3♦ bid by opener does not indicate any greater strength, but shows a hand that cannot support either of responder's suits and does not have a stopper in the fourth suit.


What follows is a parking place for items that don't fit in anywhere else

Meadowlark Bridge supports the following bidding conventions

Group I	Group III
Blackwood	Accept Jacoby
Five Card Majors	Advanced Jacoby
Stayman	ASTRO
Takeout Double	Checkback Stayman
	Constructive Raises
Group II	DOPI/DEPO
Forcing One-Notrump	Flannery 2♦ Opening Bid
Fourth Suit Forcing	Gambling 3NT Opening
Jacoby Transfers	Gerber
Limit Major Raises	Grand Slam Force
Long Suit Game Tries	Inverted Minor Raises
Michaels Cue Bid	Jacoby Two Notrump
Short Suit Game Tries	Lebensohl
Strong 2♣ Opening	Minor Suit Stayman
3NT Balanced Forcing Raise	Minor Suit Transfer
Unusual Notrump	Negative Doubles
Weak Two Bids	New Minor Forcing
	Responsive Doubles
	Roman Key Card Blackwood
	Soloway Jump Shifts
	Splinter Bids
	Texas Transfer
	Truscott 2NT Response
	Two Notrump Unlimited Response
	Weak Jump Overcalls


Plays hands double dummy.
Double Dummy


Set hand generation random number generator.
The Set Seed menu selection gives you the opportunity to generate the same sequence of hands. This can be useful, while playing rubber bridge, to allow two players to play the same sequence of hands, a sort of duplicate rubber bridge.


Set the North/South bidding conventions
Use this menu selection to alter your bidding conventions for the North/South pair. Selecting this item will bring up the convention selection dialog box you saw at the start of the program.


Set the East/West bidding conventions
Use this menu selection to alter your bidding conventions for the East/West pair. Selecting this item will bring up the convention selection dialog box you saw at the start of the program.


Duplicate Tournament disks
Now Available!

OKBridge Weekly Tournament Disk

OKBridge, a 24-hour bridge club on Internet (http://www.okbridge.com), founded by Matthew Clegg in 1990, makes it possible for people from around the world to play bridge together live through the Internet. Easy to use and inexpensive, OKBridge provides rubber, duplicate and team play. Each Sunday OKBridge has a tournament open to all players. As many as seventy pairs compete playing 20-24 boards in each tournament. Now you can play along with 10 weeks of these tournaments. Play each hand and:

compare your result on each board with the actual results from the tournament.

see the tops along with the bottoms.

you can also print out the hands for further study.

check the bidding and the play on each hand.

The OKBridge Weekly Tournament Disk are also available on a subscription basis. For $34.95 per year we will send you four tournament disks containing the weekly tournaments (8-10) for the preceding quarter.

This disk joins previously offered tournament disks from the 1995 Roughrider Regional, the 1993 World Championship (played in Santiago, Chile, this disk also includes the bidding on each hand.), the 1994 Gopher Regional (St. Paul, MN) and the 1994 Fargo (North Dakota) Sectional (free with each copy of Meadowlark Bridge).

To order simply call Meadowlark Software at 701-235-5113 (phone or FAX), mail or FAX the order form to us, or contact us at meadowlark@rrnet.com or http://rrnet.com/meadowlark on Internet.

Tournament Disks Available

The OKBridge Weekly Vol. 1 (10 weeks)	$9.95

The OKBridge Weekly Vol. 2 (8 weeks)	$9.95

The OKBridge Weekly Vol. 3 (8 weeks)	$9.95

The OKBridge Weekly Vol. 4 (8 weeks)	$9.95

The OKBridge Weekly Vol. 5 (8 weeks)	$9.95

The OKBridge Weekly Vol. 6 (8 weeks)	$9.95

The OKBridge Vol. 7 (21 weeks)	$9.95

The OKBridge Vol. 8 (21 weeks)	$9.95

Yearly subscription to OKBridge Tournaments	$34.95

The 1995 Roughrider Regional	$9.95

The 1993 World Championship	$19.95

The 1994 Gopher Regional Disk	$9.95

Shipping and Handling	$2.00

Send to:

Name:

Address:

City:                                            State     Zip Code              Country

Mailto: Meadowlark Software, PO Box 166, Fargo, ND 58105-5166

E-mail address: meadowlark@rrnet.com  WWW http://rrnet.com/meadowlark

All major credit cards are accepted.

Note: OK7 and on have more tournaments because OKBridge has daily tournaments now as opposed to weekly.


Latest News about Meadowlark Bridge
Program Updates

Since the printing of the manual, we have made a few changes to Meadowlark Bridge. These changes are few and will give you a greater enjoyment of the program.

Meadowlark Bridge and the Hand Librarian Version 1.36 and beyond supports Portable Bridge Notation which is a file format for bridge hand exchange (and more).

Keyboard support added to the Bidding dialog box

You may now enter your bids using the keyboard. See Bidding with the keyboard for further information.

Replaying, Rebidding, Printing of Hands

You may now replay and print hands. This option is available on a dialog box that appears after the result of the hand is displayed. At this time you may also print the hand. If you click on print a document appears that shows what will be printed. You may select/setup your printer at this time. Click on Print to begin printing. The cards, bidding, play of the hand, and the bidding conventions in force at the time are printed. New to version 1.31 is the explanations for the bids which appears at the bottom of the printout.

If you would like to bring our attention to the way a hand was bid or played, you may fax this page to us at 701-235-5113. (Toll Free at 888-705-1391) Our users are the best source of suggestions for improvement of the bidding and play of the hand.

Retracting a card during the play of the hand

To retract a card during play of the hand simply press the right mouse. Play will return to the state at the start of your previous turn.

Menu Changes

Changes to Computer play

You may now select multiple computer players to play a tournament. Each computer player you select will play all the hands in the tournament without any intervention on your part. This makes it easy to play against a large number of opponents.

To select more than one computer player, click on each computer player you want to participate in the tournament. To commence tournament play click on OK.

At the bottom of the dialog box is a checkbox labeled Watch. If Watch is checked the cards will be shown on the screen while the hands are played. Turning off this checkbox will cause the computer players to play the hands without showing you the cards.

After the completion of the tournament you may examine the computer bidding and playing by using the Tournament/Show Overall Hands menu selection.

Changes to Setup menu

We have changed the menu selections for setting conventions so that there are two selections: one for setting the North/South conventions and one for setting the East/West conventions.

The Set Seed menu selection allows you to set the random number seed in the hand generator. This will allow you to play a series of hands over again. Simple enter a seed number, play the hands, enter the same seed number and you will get the same set of hands.

Set defenders brings up the dialog box for selecting opponents when you are selecting the for the computer tournament. Select one computer opponent then click on OK.

Jumping cursor: The cursor is automatically set to a card in the next hand to play. This action can be turned off and the cursor is not moved during the play of the hand.

When Double Dummy is selected the computer will be able to see all the cards in all four hands when playing and bidding.

Now single hands can be played. These hands are loaded from hand files (*.hnd) or Portable Bridge Notation files (*.pbn).

Changes to Help System

Get a suggestion on the card to play

It is now possible to get a recommendation on a recommended card to play while playing a hand. If you would like Meadowlark Bridge to offer a suggestion on a card to play, press the space bar when it is your turn to play a card. A dialog box will appear giving the recommended play. Press the space bar again to clear the dialog box to play the card. The cursor is now positioned over the suggested card to play.

Changes to the Help menu selection

We have learned that many Meadowlark Bridge players have not seen the section of the manual on how to claim or concede tricks. We have created a menu selection that will get you to the section of the Help System describing claiming and conceding tricks during the play of the hand.

A new menu selection allows you to turn off the messages that appear in the bidding box. When messages are wanted in the bidding box select this menu selection so that a check mark appears before the selection. When no messages are desired select the menu item so that no check mark appears before the item.

Bidding Conventions Added to Version 1.2

Support Doubles have been added to our Convention selection dialog box.

Escapes from doubled

Cheaper Minor

Aggressiveness

Bidding Systems

Constructive Raises

Unusual_versus_Unusual

Cue_is_limit_raise_or_better

Lebensohl_Defense

DONT

Reverse_Drury

Namyats

Bidding conventions changed or added to Version 1.3

 2N Response to a minor opening

Acol bidding system added.

With the help of Matt Ginsberg and Alan Jaffray, the authors of GIB, a significant number of holes in the bidding system were found and corrected.


2N Response to Minor Suit Opening
2N Response

The 2N response to an opening bid of 1C or 1D generally has two ranges to be used depending on the bidding system. Either can be selected in Meadowlark Bridge. The ranges are 11-12, non-forcing or 13-15, game force.The 2N response to a major can be natural or Jacoby 2N


key board;bidding box
Using the keyboard while bidding

You may use the keyboard to enter your bids. The following table shows the each action of each key:

Key	Action	Key	Action
1	1	p, P	Pass
2	2	x, X	Double
3	3	r, R	Redouble
4	4	Enter, Space Bar	Done
5	5	Backspace	Retract
6	6
7	7
s, S
h, H	♥
d, D	♦
c, C	♣
n, N	Notrump


Bidding Definitions
Bridge Terms and Definitions

-A-	-O-
above the line	opener
Artificial bid	opening bid
ASTRO	opening lead
-B-	overcall
balancing	-P-
below the line	part score
Blackwood Convention	passed out
Blackwood, Roman Key Card	Penalty Double
book	Preemptive Bid
-C-	Psychic Bids
Colorful Cue Bids	-Q-
contract	quick trick
control	-R-
Control Showing Bids	redouble
convenient minor	renege
convention	responder
cue bid	Responsive Doubles
-D-	Reverse
declarer	revoke
distributional points	RHO
DOPI	Roman Key Card Blackwood
double	Roman Two Diamonds
double raise	ruff
doubleton	Rule of Eleven
drop dead bid	Rule of Two and Three
duck	-S-
dummy	sacrifice
-E-	set
Entered Player	Short Suit Game Tries
entry	side suit
-F-	singleton
finesse	Skip Bid
fit	slam
Five Card Majors	sulff
Flannery 2♦ Opening Bid	small slam
forcing bid	S-O-S Redouble
Forcing One-Notrump	Splinter bids
Fourth Suit Forcing	spot card
-G-	squeeze
Gambling 3NT	Stayman Convention
Gerber Convention	stopper
grand slam	Strong Notrumps
Grand Slam Force	Strong 2♣ Opening
-H-	support
high card points	-T-
honor card	Takeout Double
-I-	tenace
Inverted Minor Raises	Texas Transfer
-J-	3NT Balanced Forcing Raise
Jacoby Transfers	transfer bids
Jacoby Two Notrump	Truscott 2NT Response
jump bid	Two Notrump Unlimited Response
-K-	-U-
key card	unbalanced hand
-L-	Unusual No Trump
lead	-V-
lead direction	void
LHO	vulnerability
Limit Major Raises	-W-
Long Suit Game Tries	Weak Jump Over Calls
-M-	Weak Two Bids
major suit	-Y-
Michaels Cue Bid	Yarborough
Minor Suit Stayman
Minor Suit Transfers
minor suit
-N-
natural bid
Negative Doubles
No Trump
nonvulnerable


Entered Player
The Entered Player is the player whose name was entered while loading Meadowlark Bridge or by using the File/Name menu selection.


Duck
 To intentionally lose a trick. Often done so as to retain entries to a hand.


A A reverse occurs when you bid a new suit at a level higher than two of your original suit. This shows a very good hand of at least 17 points. For example,

North	East	South	West
1♥	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♠
Since the 2♠ bid is past two of your opening bid (2♥), your partner will assume you have better than 17 points. This is generally a game force although some partnerships play it just a one round force.


 The first six tricks taken in the play of the hand. These must be taken before tricks are counted toward making the bid contract.


Tricks scored below the line on the score sheet for tricks in bid and made contracts.


Reopening the bidding after the opposition has stopped bidding. Sometimes the partner of the opening bidder will pass and then the fourth seat has the opportunity to balance. At other times the opponents have bid, but they bidding dies out at a low level, and the last hand makes a balancing bid, sometimes based more on perceived strength in partners hand than in ones own hand.


The place on the score sheet where overtricks, set tricks, and penalties are entered.


A hand holding no card higher than a Nine.


A hand with a void, a singleton, or two or more doubletons.


Two honors in a suit that are separated by one card. E.g., AQ, KJ. Pronounced TEN es.


A play that forces an opponent to discard a protecting card from a suit. This requires one opponent to protect two suits with one of the threats behind him. There must be a squeeze card which is a winner, and there must be an entry with one of the threats. When the squeeze card is led the victim must release control of one of the two suits, establishing a winner with that threat, while the other threat is thrown away. Another requirement for a squeeze is that you must be within one winner of your contract.


A nonhonor card. The cards two through nine.


To discard a card when one cannot follow suit and does not trump the trick.


A jump bid. Often announced so that the next player has a chance to prepare his bid and not give away information by the timing of his bid.


Any of the three nontrump suits during the play of the hand with a trump suit.


To defeat a contract.


An obstructive bid that indicates a suit good for offensive play, but poor defensively in a weak hand. This bid is usually made at the 3 or 4 level as an opening bid with 6-10 high card points. The opening pre-emptive bid generally indicates a 7 card or longer suit. Other examples of pre-emptive bids include Weak Two Bids, and Weak Jump Over Calls.


A conservative bidder of a preemptive bid should not risk going down more than two when vulnerable and three nonvulnerable. More risks can be taken with favorable vulnerability.


When the fourth highest card in a suit is led, the difference of its rank from eleven is the number of higher cards in the other three hands. This is used by the third hand to help determine which cards the last player will have.


To play a card from the trump suit on a trick lead from a sidesuit and thus winning the trick.


The opponent sitting to one's right.


An error during the play of the hand. To play a card from another suit when able to follow suit. A revoke has become established when an opponent next plays.


A bid following a double that again doubles the penalties and rewards of playing a contract.


A bid that doubles the penalties and rewards of a contract.


A hand in which all players pass and no one makes an opening bid. The hand is discarded and the next hand is dealt.


A contract at less than the game level. Worth less than 100 points.


The card led to the first trick. This lead is made before the dummy is exposed.


The opponent sitting to one's left.


The first card played (led) to a trick.


A bid one or more levels higher than necessary to make a legal bid. E.g., 1♥ to 2♠.


An Ace, King, Queen, Jack, or Ten


An attempt to win a trick with a card below your top holding.

North

♥ AQ

♥Kx	♥xx

♥54

South

South leads a 5♥ and West faces a dilemma. If he plays the K♥, North will win with the A♥. If he plays low, North can win with the Q♥ and the K♥ will then lose on the next trick. This is a successful finesse. If East held the K♥, then the K♥ will win no matter what card North plays.


A card in a suit that can win a trick and let a player gain the lead. An entry can be used to cross to another hand.


The hand placed face up on the table by declarer's partner.


A raise of two levels of a suit partner has bid. E.g., 1♠ to 3♠.


The person who plays the cards in the partnership that won the contract.


A bid in an opponent's suit below game to indicate a very strong hand and a desire to find the best game bid. Also, a bid showing a control when moving toward a slam. Also, when searching for a notrump contract, a bid that asks for a control in the opponents suit.


A suit holding with and Ace, King, or singleton or a void.


The commitment of a partnership to take a certain number of tricks during the play of the hand in a suit or notrump


A bid not indicating length or strength in the suit bid, but requesting other information as to the strengths, weakness, or distribution in partner's hand. convention


Where a jump raise in partner's suit is invitational to game. Made on hands with 10 to 12 points, more often describe as 8 loser hands. Requires four card support.


The partnership has won one game towards the rubber. The increased risk a partnership faces after winning a game in rubber bridge. The scores for making a contract are the same, but the penalties for not making a contract are increased.


The scoring status of a partnership before they have won a game. After winning a game a partnership becomes vulnerable.


The strongest minor suit, when playing Five Card Majors, bid when the hand does not hold five cards in either major suit.


A bid made to give your partner an indication of the suit you would like to have led when the play of the hand begins. A lead directing double is an example that can be made to a Blackwood response by the opponents.


A bid that forces your partner to bid again, whether he wants to or not. In strong club systems the 1C opener forces partner to bid. In strong 2C systems that bid does the same. New suits by responder are forcing.


A bid that is not conventional, and means what it says. The bid suit is true. There is no previously agreed upon convention to extend or alter the true meaning of the bid.


A bid made without the intention of making the contract, but the loss will be small compared to letting the opponents make their contract. The desire is to lose fewer points than the opposition would have gained if they had won the bidding. A phantom sacrifice occurs when the opponents could not have made their contract anyway, so the loss was unnecessary.


A card that can win a trick when the opponents lead a suit. Thus, blocking further plays in that suit by the opponents.


To support: Raising your partner's bid in his suit. Support:  Adequate trump length to ensure a fit with partner. Jump support is generally four cards, normal support is three, secondary support is two cards.


Lacking any cards in a suit in your hand. A hand with no Spades is void in Spades


Holding only one card of a suit in your hand.


Holding two cards of a suit in your hand.


A contract at the six(small slam) or seven(grand slam) level.


The first bid made by any player that is not a Pass.


A bid made over an opponent's bid. E.g., if South bids 1♣, any suit or notrump bid by West or East is an overcall.


A bid that has a meaning not related to the natural indications of the bid.

E.g., Stayman Convention


The partner who bids first (not including Pass) is the opener; the other partner is then the responder. This term can also refer to the hand of the opener. E.g., notrump opener, minimum opener, etc.


8 or more cards in one suit in the combined holdings of a partnership's cards constitutes a fit. One of the major purposes of the bidding is to find a fit.


The Spade or Heart suits. Hands played in major suits yield more points than hands played in minor suits (30 versus 20 points per trick)


The Club or Diamond suits. Hands played in minor suits yield fewer points than hands played in major suits or No Trump.


A playing of the hand with no suit designated as trump. The highest card of the suit led wins each trick. Playing a card of a different suit than the one led cannot win a trick. Tricks yield more points on hands played in No Trump than in suit contracts.


Distributional points are used to correctly allow for the added value of a hand from doubletons, singletons, and voids in a suit. Distributional points are:

	Opener	Responder
Doubleton	1	1
Singleton	2	3
Void	3	5
The points may also be counted for length, a more appropriate measure of hand strength since shortness may be a defect if no fit is found, or worse, there is a misfit on the hand with shortness opposite length in the partnership suits.


High card points and distribution points are used to evaluate a bridge hand for bidding. High card points are assigned by the rank of the card:

Ace	=	4
King	=	3
Queen	=	2
Jack	=	1


A transfer bid is a response to a bid in a suit that is one suit rank lower than the suit your desire your partner to bid next. E.g. Jacoby Transfers


Quick tricks are tricks that can be expected to win a trick on the first or second round the suit is led. The have equal offensive and defensive value. An opening hand generally needs two quick tricks.

AK	2 Quick tricks
AQ	1½ Quick tricks
A or KQ	1 Quick trick
Kx	½ Quick trick


Rubber Bridge for Money
Set $

With this menu selection you can play rubber bridge for money. When you select this menu item a dialog box appears requesting you to enter a number representing the amount of money for each point. The default setting is to play for pennies per point. Click on the $ to play for dollars per point.

The amount of money you are ahead or behind appears at the bottom of the rubber bridge score pad.


Show Messages for bidding
K Turning this menu selection off will suppress the display of the short messages displayed in the bidding boxes used to describe both the user's bids and the computer's bids. When this item is checked the messages are displayed.


Codewheel Operation

Meadowlark Bridge has personalized versions, but also has versions that are sent out with a codewheel. When you start a codewheel version four playing cards are displayed on the screen. These are used with the Codewheel to arrive at an access number. To determine an access number:

1.	Find the Spade card indicated on the screen on the outer wheel.

2.	Rotate the Heart Wheel until the displayed Heart Card is lined up to the Spade Card.

3.	Rotate the Diamond Wheel until the indicated Diamond Card lines up with  the Heart Card.

4.	Read the access code from the window next to the indicated Club card. You will need to rotate the entire Codewheel to see this window.

5.	Enter the access code into the Welcome dialog box below the displayed card.


Load Options

Use this menu selection to retrieve previously saved bidding options.

This brings up the Select Options dialog box. Select an option file from the list of files in the File Name box or enter the name of the file you wish to load. Option files use the "OPT" file extension. Click on the OK button to load the options.

The file default.opt is special in that this file is loaded at startup to reset the conventions to your desired state.


Save Options

You many used this item to save the bidding conventions of North-South and East-West.. Enter a file name and use the file extension of ".opt".

 Use Load Options menu selection to save your current bidding conventions. This allows different bidding conventions for any player to be quickly loaded and lets the play get started sooner.

Automatic Loading of Conventions

If you save your options using the file name "default.opt", this file will then load automatically whenever Meadowlark Bridge starts. You will, also, not be prompted for your name as the program loads.

To save a new option file, enter a new name for the options in the Save As File Name box and select OK.


This menu selection runs the Hand Librarian program.


This menu selection lets you set Entered Player to another name. You must use this menu selection in order to let another player enter a tournament.


This menu selection exits Meadowlark Bridge. If Hand Librarian is running, it will remain running.


enter tournament;tournament
Enter Tournament

Use this menu selection to play in a previously created tournament (To create a tournament see Setup Tournament).

The player entered in the tournament is the Entered Player.

You will see a list of the tournaments that have been created. To see how many hands of the tournament you have played: click once on the name of the tournament and after a short delay the Count box will show you the number of boards you have played and the total humber of hands in the tournament.

To play a tournament double-click on the tournament name or click once on the tournament name and then on the OK button.

The hands will be played in order, starting with Board #1, until the tournament has been completed. You cannot skip forward, but you can replay the hand before you go on to the next hand.


opponents;set E/W
Set East/West Opponent

This menu selection allows you to select one of the 18 computer partnerships to play East/West against you. Each of these partnerships has different levels of play, bidding, and aggressiveness (See Computer Players).

In Tournament play the E/W opponents play against all tournament entrants. These opponents cannot be changed.

In Rubber Bridge you may change the opponents at any time.

Click on a computer partnership and click on the OK button to select an opponent.


Tournament Setup Options
Setup Tournament

This menu selection allows you to setup a tournament. Tournaments let you test your bridge skill with your friends. Meadowlark Bridge will deal each player in a tournament the same hands. Scoring in the tournaments will be duplicate style. As each player finishes playing a hand the player's scores are ranked with other players on the hand. Tournaments are one of the best playing features of Meadowlark Bridge. Play hands, talk about them and watch how others play them.

OKBridge tournaments are now available that include the bidding and the play of the hand so that evaluation and analysis of hands is available.

Tournament Name  Each tournament requires a unique name. If you use the name of a previous tournament you will lose the contents of that tournament.

Number of Hands  You can enter the number of hands to be used in the tournament. As you play the tournament each hand will be dealt to you until you have finished tournament or saved your place in the tournament and quit the program. Tournaments can be from two hands to 128 hands in size.

Type of Hands  Select the type of hands from the drop down list. See Hand Generation for specific type of hands.

Set EW Opponents  Click here to select a computer partnership to play East/West in the tournament. This partnership will play against all tournament entrants. This cannot be changed later.

Scoring Systems

You may score the tournament in either IMPs or duplicate scoing. The hands played by all players in the tournament are compared and points are awarded to each player according to their ranking on each board. In duplicate scoring, If three players have completed the tournament the top score for a hand will get 2 points, the second 1 point, and the last 0 points. In IMPs the average score on each hand is considered 0 IMPs and other player's scores are calculated by the difference of each player's score with the average score.


Tournament Utilities
Utility

The Tournament Utilities are used to load, save, and delete tournaments. One feature of Meadowlark Bridge is it gives you the ability to save tournaments to a diskette and send them to a friend who also has Meadowlark Bridge. It's possible to set up revolving tournaments with this feature.

Loading Tournaments	Saving Tournaments

1. Insert your diskette containing the tournament in your diskette drive. 	1. Select a tournament to save from the list.

2. Select the Tournament/ Utilities menu selection. Click on Load. 	2. Click on the Save As button.

3. The Select Hand dialog box appears. In the Drives box select the diskette drive containing your tournament disk. The file extension for tournaments is "BIN". 	3. The Select Tournament to Save to file requester will appear. In the Drives box select the diskette drive containing your disk.

4. Select the tournament to load and click on OK.	4. Enter a file name in the File name box. The file extension for tournament files is "BIN".

5. All the tournaments in the tournament file will be merged with your tournament file.	5. Click OK to save your tournament.

Deleting Tournaments -	Click a tournament from the Tournament list.

Click on the Delete button to delete the tournament.


Quit Tournament

This menu selection stops play in a tournament. If a hand is in progress, play is stopped. When the tournament or rubber is re-entered later, play will resume on this hand.


Computer Plays Tournament

This menu selection allows one of the 18 computer partnerships to play in a tournament. Each of these partnerships has different levels of play, bidding, and aggressiveness (See Computer Players).

A handy souce of opponents in a tournament are the birds. Each bird can enter a tournament and play all the hands. You can then compare your scores with the birds.

To make it easy for you to create lots of competition you can select more than one bird at at time to play a tournament. On the above dialog box click on each bird you want to play the tournament.

At the bottom of the dialog box is a checkbox labeled Watch. If this box is checked the cards will be displayed while the birds play the tournament. If you click on the Watch box to remove the check mark you will be unable to see neither the bidding nor the play of the hand.

When you have finished selecting the birds click on OK.

After a short time for processing the following dialog box will appear.

This dialog box allows you to monitor the progress of the tournament play. The bird currently playing the tournament is displayed in the Current Player box. The birds remaining to play the tournament are listed in the Queue list. The total number of hands in the tournament are displayed in the box under the Total label. The board currently being played is displayed under the current label. At the bottom of the dialog box is the Exit button. To suspend play in the tournament at any time click on the Exit button. Play will be resumed from the current hand when the current bird plays the tournament again. After another short interval this dialog box appears.

Select the tournament you want the birds to play. Click on the tournament and then Click OK.

If you select the minimize arrow in the upper left hand corner of the Meadowlark Bridge window you can run other programs while Meadowlark Bridge plays the computer players' tournament in the background.

After the computer partnership's turn is over, their score can be seen by selecting the Tournament/Show Overall Score menu selection.


Computer Partnerships

The computer partnerships are divided into three groups. Each group has different bidding skills. Members of each group have different playing skills and levels of aggressiveness.

Play ability can have two levels: 50% and 100%. Partnerships with 100% ability have the ability to spot squeezes and end plays, 50% ability partnerships lack this ability.

Aggressiveness can have three levels: 0%, 50%, and 100%. Partnerships with 50% aggressiveness play their cards as they're dealt. This setting produces the best bidding. Partnerships with 100% aggressiveness will shave the points on some bids by a point or two. They will overcall frequently and you should always have a double ready. Partnerships with 0% aggressiveness are overly cautious. If they bid it, they have it.

Group I Conventions	Group II Conventions	Group III Conventions

Blackwood	Forcing One-Notrump	Accept Jacoby
Five Card Majors	Fourth Suit Forcing	Advanced Jacoby
Stayman	Jacoby Transfers	ASTRO
Takeout Doubles	Limit Major Raises	Cheaper Minor
	Long Suit Game Tries	Checkback Stayman
	Michaels Cue Bid	DOPI
	Short Suit Game Tries	Escapes from doubled
	Strong 2♣ Opening	Flannery 2♦ Opening Bid
	Unusual Notrump	Gambling 3NT Opening
	Weak Two Bids	Gerber
		Grand Slam Force
		Inverted Minor Raises
		Jacoby Two Notrump
		Key-Card Blackwood
		Lebensohl
		Minor Suit Stayman
		Minor Suit Transfers
		Negative Doubles
		New Minor Forcing
		Responsive Doubles
		Roman Key Card Blackwood
		Splinter Bids
		Texas Transfer
		Truscott 2NT Response
		Two Notrump Unlimited Response
		Weak Jump Overcalls

The Opponents

Vultures, Herons, Boobies, Loons, Bluejays, and Cardinals

Swallows, Turkeys, Owls, Penguins, Wrens, and Parrots

Pelicans, Eagles, Falcons, Hummingbirds, Swans, and Toucans

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Overall Score
Show Overall Score

This menu selection lets you check the score for a tournament. To check the scores in a tournament, double click on the tournament name in the list of tournaments. Meadowlark Bridge will analyze the tournament score and list the score for each player in the tournament.

The score can be displayed in IMPs or with duplicate scoring. The default is IMPs. To score with duplicate scoring click on the Duplicate Scoring button before you double click on the tournament name.

The IMPs are calculated by averaging all scores on a board and then taking each individual player's score and subtracting this average and looking up the score difference in the IMP scoring table. IMPs are added for scores above the average and subtracted for scores below the average.

Duplicate scoring ranks the scores on each board from high to low. Each player receives one point for all players with a lower score, and one-half point for each player with an equal score.

In duplicate scoring, each score is listed as x points of y, where x is the number of points earned and y is the total number of points available.

Caution: Since either duplicate or IMP scoring is based on a comparison in scores. Two players must have played a board before any scoring is possible. If Jake has played the entire tournament (24 boards), and Sam has played only one board, the score will be displayed as:

Jake	1 of 1

Sam	0 of 1

After Sam has played the entire tournament, the score will be displayed as:

Jake	14 of 24

Sam	10 of 24


Show Hand Score
Show Hand Scores

This dialog box shows all the scores for a particular board in a tournament.

The section at the top, circled in red, shows the board number that is currently displayed.

The section outlined in blue lists all the results for this board. The pair name, the hand result, the points earned on the hand, and the percentage score for the hand. Select a result by clicking on the line of the result you want more information on.

The Show hand button will bring up the bidding and the play of the hand for the hand selected.

The Print hand button will print the hand, the bidding, and the bidding conventions in effect when the hand was played.

The Goto button will cause the hand result display to jump to the board number in the box to the right.

The section outlined in yellow allows you to move through all the boards played. The controls, from left to right, are: move to first hand, previous hand, next hand, last hand.

If the Auto Display checkbox is check the bidding and the play of the hand dialog boxes will remain visible on the screen while you are browsing the hand results.


Checking this box causes the bidding result box and the play of the hand box to remain open as you move throught the hand results. If you are interested in the results of several boards, this speeds up the inspection.


This button brings you to this page in the Help System.


This closes the dialog box.


Enter the hand you wish to see the results of in the box to the right, and either click on the button or press the Return key.


This control displays the results of the last board in the tournament.


This control displays the results of the next board in the tournament.


This control displays the results of the previous board in the tournament.


This control displays the results of the first board in the tournament.


Clicking here will display the bidding and the play of the hand for the board result highlighted in the above list.


The results of all players on this board are displayed here. Double clicking on an entry in this table will bring up the bidding and the play of the hand for the entry.


This is the result of the board just played.


This menu selection brings up a recap of the bidding.


This menu selection shows the cards that have been previously played in the hand.

As tricks are played they are displayed in this dialog box. The winning tricks are circled.

To remove the dialog box from the screen, click on the Click to Continue button at the bottom of the dialog box.


Rubber Bridge Play
Play Rubber Bridge

This menu selection starts Rubber Bridge play.

Rubber Bridge maintains a cumulative rubber score for both North/South and East/West. This score is maintained for the Entered Player. Any number of players can play the Rubber Bridge mode and Meadowlark Bridge will automatically keep their scores separate.

After every hand the Score Box will appear. On the left side is the current score of the rubber, and on the right side is a list of all the hands played. At the bottom of the dialog box is the cumulative score for all the rubbers played to date.


Quit Rubber
This menu selection halts play in the Rubber Bridge mode. The next time Rubber Bridge is played, the score will resume at this point.


Show rubber bridge score
This menu selection brings up a Rubber Bridge Score Pad displaying the current score. The cumulative score for all rubbers is displayed on the bottom. If you have selected Rubber Bridge/Set $ the amount of money you have won or lost appears at the bottom of the dialog box. A plus total indicates you are ahead and negative number indicates you are losing to the computer.


Zero rubber score
Meadowlark Bridge keeps a running total of the score of all rubbers played. This menu selection zeroes out the total.


Claim/Concede

At any point during the play of the hand you may claim with the F2 key. You may concede by using the F3 key. Claims and concessions are accepted as accurate.


Set Signals

This brings up the dialog box for setting the partnerships signalling.


Jumping Cursor

There are two different ways to handle the cursor position in Meadowlark Bridge. First, the cursor can be left alone by the program and the user will move it. Second, the cursor can be placed by the program into the hand, and suit from which the next card is to be played. This can be selected from the menu [SETUP][JUMPING CURSOR].


Hints for play

To receive a hint for the next play you may select the spacebar. The card that the computer suggests is shown in a dialog box along with a brief descripition of its thought on the matter. The card is also indicated by moving the cursor to the recommended card. The cursor movement can be shut off by [SETUP][JUMPING CURSOR] as a menu selection. This is a flag allowing or disallowing cursor movement to the selected card.


Registration

A new feature of Version 1.36 is the ability to convert the demonstration program to a fully functional program. Under the [PROGRAM] menu selection in the demonstration program is [REGISTER]. A name and registration code are entered into the dialog box and the transformation is accomplished.

During the first quarter of 1999 there is a special price for registering the demo program of $50.00. To register see Product Support.

The demonstration program can be obtained from the Meadowlark Bridge web site at http://rrnet.com/meadowlark


Bidding Conventions

The Bidding Conventions dialog box is one of Meadowlark Bridge's most powerful features. More bidding conventions are available than ever before in bridge programs.

Select the conventions for each partnership. Set North/South to play one system and East/West to play another.

Choose from these conventions:

Accept Jacoby	Long Suit Game Tries
Advanced Jacoby	Michaels Cue Bid
ASTRO	Minor Suit Stayman
Blackwood	Michaels Cue Bid
Cappelletti	Minor Suit Stayman
Cheaper Minor	Minor Suit Transfers
Checkback Stayman	Namyats
Cue is limit raise or better	Negative Doubles
DONT	New Minor Forcing
DOPI/DEPO	Responsive Doubles
Drury	Reverse Drury
Escapes from doubled	Roman Key Card Blackwood
Five Card Majors	Short Suit Game Tries
Flannery 2♦ Opening Bid	Soloway Jump Shifts
Forcing One-Notrump	Splinter Bids
Forcing Two Over One	Stayman
Fourth Suit Forcing	Strong 2♣ Opening
Gambling 3NT Opening	Support Doubles
Gerber	Takeout Double
Grand Slam Force	Texas Transfer
Inverted Minor Raise	Two Notrump Unlimited Response
Jacoby Transfers	Unusual Notrump
Jacoby Two Notrump	Unusual versus Unusual
Jordon (Truscott) 2NT Response	Weak Jump Overcalls
Lebensohl	Weak Two Bids
Lebensohl_Defense
Limit Major Raises

Agressiveness

Select from 1, 2, or 3 for the level of aggressiveness: 1 being least aggressive and 3 being most aggressive.

Systems

We have prepared settings for some of the common bidding systems in use today. Click on the Systems button and you will see a list of the currently supplied systems. Click on the button to the left of the system and then click on OK. If you do not wish to set a specific bidding system click on the Cancel button.

The Standard American Yellow card includes: Weak jump overcalls, Five-card majors, Unusual No Trump, Negative doubles, Limit raises/3N Force, Fourth suit forcing, Jacoby 2NT, DOPI/DEPO, Grand Slam Force, Jordan 2NT, Weak Two bids, 15-17 pt. Notrump range, 20-21 pt. 2NT range, Michaels direct cue bid, Stayman, Jacoby Transfers, Gerber, and Blackwood.

The Standard American simple card: Weak jump overcalls, Five-card majors, Unusual No Trump, Negative doubles, Forth suit forcing, Fourth suit forcing, DOPI/DEPO, Grand Slam Force, Weak Two bids, 15-17 pt. Notrump range, 20-21 pt. 2NT range, Michaels direct cue bid, Stayman, Jacoby Transfers, Gerber, and Blackwood

The Standard American basic is a very simple system card: Strong Two bids, 16-18 pt. Notrump range, 22-24 pt. 2NT range, 25+ 3NT range, Stayman,  and Blackwood

The Acol card. Aggressive light openings with sign-off rebids and limit bids. Four card major openings. Limit raises. 12-14 point openings in all seats. Acol two bids of 2D, 2H, 2S while 2C is a game forcing bid. 2N = 20-22 points, sometimes a bit unbalanced.

The Max essentially enables all bidding conventions in a consistent manner.

The Kaplan-Sheinwold system includes: Weak jump overcalls, Five-card majors, Forcing 1 No Trump, Splinter Bids, Gambling 3NT, Unusual No Trump, Negative doubles, Limit raises/3N Force, Fourth suit forcing, Jacoby 2NT,  Inverted Minor Raise, Support Doubles, DOPI/DEPO, Grand Slam Force, Jordan 2NT, Weak Two bids, Flannery, Short Suit Came Tr15-17 pt. Notrump range, 20-21 pt. 2NT range, Michaels direct cue bid, Checkback Stayman, Stayman, Jacoby Transfers, Gerber, and Blackwood.

The Gorens New Bridge Complete system includes: Weak jump overcalls, Five-card majors, Forcing 1 No Trump, Unusual No Trump overcall, Limit raises/3N Force, Fourth suit forcing, Grand Slam Force, 16-18 pt. One Notrump range, 21-22 pt. 2NT range, Weak Two Bids, Michaels direct cue bid, Stayman, Gerber, and Blackwood.

I am currently in the process of implementing Precision (expect it Summer 99).


Product Support

If you have any problems with Meadowlark Bridge or have any suggestions you can reach us at:

Phone or FAX:	701-235-5113

Toll Free	888-705-1391

Address:	Meadowlark Software

PO Box 5166

Fargo, ND 58105-5166

Internet:	http://rrnet.com/meadowlark

Internet	http://rrnet.com/~rludwig/odyssey.html

E-mail:	meadowlark@rrnet.com

Any problems with the original diskette can be repaired by sending the original diskette to the above address. The diskette will be replaced under warranty within 90 days of purchase. Please include a copy of your sales slip for warranty coverage. After ninety days a $6 charge will be made to replace your diskette.

Meadowlark Software is committed to continual improvements to Meadowlark Bridge. Any comments are greatly appreciated and will give us ideas for improving the program.

Meadowlark Bridge has a 90-day money-back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the program, return all materials to Meadowlark Software for a full refund of the purchase price.


Keyboard and Mouse
Using the Keyboard and Mouse

You can make your program choices in Meadowlark Bridge using either the mouse or the keyboard.

To Bring up the Help System -> F1 (function key 1)

To Claim -> F2 (function key 2)

To Concede -> F3 (function key 3)

To ask for a hint -> Spacebar

To retract a card played -> Right mouse button

Terms used in the Help System:

Press - To press down and hold the mouse button for the duration of an operation

Click - A short press and release of a mouse button

Double Click - Two short clicks in quick succession

Mouse and menu control in:

Bidding

Play of the Hand

Menu Selections


Making Selections with the Mouse and Keyboard
Mouse: To make a menu selection: Move the mouse to set the pointer on the menu selection you want to select and click the left mouse button. The menu will drop down. Move the mouse pointer to the menu item you want and click the left mouse button

Keyboard: Press down and hold the Alt-key, press and release the key associated with the underlined letter in the menu selection. The menu will drop down. Press the key of associated with the underlined letter in the menu item.


Bidding Box Control

Mouse: Click on the card symbol representing the bid you with to make.

To double, redouble, or Pass click on the buttons on the bottom right side of the Bidding Box.

To retract a bid click on the Retract button.

To bring up the Help System click on the Help button.


Printing Hands

Clicking on this button will cause the current hands, the bidding, conventions used, and play of the hand to be printed.


Play of the Hand

After the completion of the bidding your hand is displayed. The LHO to the declarer leads, and the dummy is exposed. Meadowlark Bridge includes an extensive context sensitive control system from the keyboard. While you can point at the card to play with the mouse the keyboard gives you a fast and flexible method of playing the hand.

To use the mouse

Directions for the mouse are very simple: click on the card you wish to play.

To use the keyboard

The arrow keys control the card to be played to a trick. The card played is dependent on the situation at your turn.

To use the keyboard press the value of the card (or T, J, Q, K, A) and the letter of the suit. If the value of the card is the only card of that value in you hand, you need only press the value of the card.

If you only have one card of a suit it will be played automatically.

The arrow keys provide a very fast method of playing out cards. When you are required to play a card in a suit:

[Up Arrow] 	Plays the highest card in the suit.

[Down Arrow] 	Plays the lowest card in the suit.

[Left Arrow]	Plays the second lowest card in the suit.

[Right Arrow]	Plays the second highest card in the suit.

Pressing the Space bar or the Shift Key moves the arrow on the screen from one suit to the next. The action of the arrow keys applies to the suit the arrow points at.

In sluffing situations the function of the arrow key changes:

To play the lowest card from the suit on the left press the [Left Arrow].

To play the lowest card from the suit in the middle press the [Down Arrow].

To play the lowest card from the suit on the right press the [Right Arrow].

If only two suits are left only the [Left Arrow] and [Right Arrow] are used.


Hand Generation

You can import the following types of hands from the Hand Librarian.

Advanced Jacoby - Strong NT - Jacoby transfer; Opener has 4 cards in the transfered suit

Jacoby Two Notrump - Jacoby response to major opener

Slam Hands - A partnership will have more than 32 HCPs.

Advanced Jacoby - Weak NT - Jacoby transfer; Opener has 4 cards in the transfered suit

Jump Shift - Strong hands with greater than 17 pts in response.

Slams 33 - Every N/S has exactly 33 HCPs.

ASTRO after Strong NT - Astro after strong NT opener

Lebensohl - Weak NT - Competitive sequences after weak NT opener.

Slams by Jacoby Transfers - Strong hand with 5 card major after standard NT.

ASTRO after Weak NT - Astro after weak NT opener

Lebensohl - Strong NT - Competitive sequences after strong NT opener.

Splinters - Splinter in support of opening major.

Balancing Hands - West opens the bidding, North and East pass, South makes a balancing bid.

Limit Raises - Limit major raises

Strong Notrump -  Strong Notrump openers opposite any hand.

Checkback for Strong NT - Checkback Stayman sequences

Minor Suit Openers - Opening hand with either five Clubs or Five Diamonds, partner has 10-15 HCPs with random distribution

Strong Notrump and Two-suited - Strong notrump hand opposite a two-suited hand.

Checkback for Weak NT - Checkback Stayman sequences

Major Suit Raises - Opening hand will have a five or six card major suit, partner will have support, the partnership will have 23-26 HCPs. Opener bids.

Strong notrump, Wack! - Strong notrump, double, then random hands.

Checkback for 2NT rebid - Checkback Stayman sequences

Major Suit Raises - Opening hand will have a five or six card major suit, partner will have support, the partnership will have 23-26 HCPs. Responder bids.

Strong Two Bids - Opener has Strong Two bid, partner is dealt a random hand.

Drury - 5 card major opener in 3rd seat; support

Negative Doubles - South will have a five card suit and 12-18 HCPs, the will be a fit in a major suit with partner. Partnership will have 20 or more HCPs.

Strong Two Bids - Responder - Strong two opened by partner.

Equal Hands - One player has an opening hand, but the partnerships will have approximately the same number of HCPs.

Opponents One Notrump Opening - Unbalanced hands after RHO opens one notrump

Strong Two Bids - responder has nothing - Strong two bid, partner makes 2nd negative.

Equal unbalanced - Equal split of points, weak unbalanced openings

One Diamond - Two Club Response - Always a difficult bidding sequence

Strong Two Bids - positive response - Strong two bid opener and positive response.

Escaping from weak notrump - Weak notrump opener, doubled -> escapes

One Heart - One Spade - One heart opener, one spade response.

Strong Balanced Hands - South has balanced hand with 16-18 HCPs, East has 3 or fewer points, all other hands are balanced with HDCs spread randomly.

Five Card Major Hands - The South Hand has a Five-Card Major Opening hand, North will have between 11-20 HCPs.

Overcalls - Overcalls with the balance of power.

Support Doubles - Opener's rebid after an overcall of a one over one response.

Flannery - Five heart and four spade opening hands.

Precision Interfered - Precision followed by interference

Support Doubles - Partner as opener raises or makes a support double after an overcall.

Forcing 1NT - Forcing 1NT response after major opener.

Pre-empts by 1st, 2nd or 3rd seats- The 1st, 2nd, or 3rd hands will have a seven card suit with fewer than ten high card points. Partner will have from 9-20 HCPs.

Takeout Double by partner - Deals opening hand to East, South has a Takeout Double hand, North has 8-12 HCPs.

Forcing Two Over One - Game forcing two over one responses

Pre-empts by Partner - North will have a seven or eight card suit with fewer than ten high card points.

Takeout Double by RHO - Bidding after RHO makes a takeout double

Free Bids - Free bids over an overcall.

Pre-empts by RHO - The East hand will have a seven card suit with fewer than ten high card points. Partner will have from 9-20 HCPs.

Two NT - 20-22 Two notrump opening by partner, balanced hands.

Fourth hand interference - Bidding by fourth hand after one-over-one bidding.

Partner Pre-empts leading to Slam - Getting to slam after partner makes a pre-emptive bid"

Two Suited Openers - Opening hands with 5-5 or 6-4 distribution, partner has 9-15 HCPs with random distribution.

Games 26 to 28 points - Always 26-28 HCPs between N/S

Random Hands - All hands are dealt randomly, anything is possible.

Void Suited Hands - Voids galore.

Gambling 3NT - Responding to Gambling 3NT; no outside Ace or King.

Random Hands Strong - North has ten HCPs, South 15-25, all other aspects of hand are random.

Weak Jump Overcalls - One player is dealt an opening hand, the following player is dealt a hand with a six or seven card suit and 8-10 HCPs.

Inverted minors (for weak NT) - Minor opening, responder has support and no major.

Random Openers - South has 13-20 HCPs, North has 12-20 HCPs, distribution is random.

Weak Notrump - A balanced opening hand with 12-14 pts. All other hands are dealt randomly.

Inverted minors (for Strong NT) - Minor opening, responder has support and no major.

Responder rebids 1 - Invitational hands after minor opening

Weak Notrump, Wack! - Weak notrump, double, then random hands.

Jacoby Transfers - Strong NT - 5 card major after standard NT opener

Responsive doubles - Opener is raised after partner's takout double.

Weak Two Bids - A six-card major suit with 8-10 HCPs. Other hands are dealt randomly.

Jacoby Transfers - Weak NT - 5 card major after standard NT opener

Slam on Fit - A slam hand where the power lies in the right fit, not the number of high card points.

Weak Two Bids by RHO - The East hand opens a with a Weak Two Bid, South has a 13 point hand, West has 12-16 point hand.


Constructive Raise
Constructive Raises

The use of an immediate raise from 1ª to 2ª or 1© to 2© to show 8-9+ points. Weaker raises are shown by bidding 1NT forcing and then reverting to spades.

To summarize the different types of major-suit raises that a responder can offer:

Points	Support	Bid
6-7	3 or more	Forcing 1NT, then support at the two level
8-9+	3 or more	Direct Raise of openers major
10-12	Exactly 3	Forcing NT, followed by a jump raise of openers suit
10-12	4 or more	Jump raise of openers suit to the 3-level
13-16	4 or more	3NT (Forcing jump raise)