sayc-bridge

name

sayc-bridge

description

Comprehensive reference for the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC) contract bridge bidding system, including hand evaluation, all opening bids, responses, rebids, slam bidding, competitive auctions, conventions (Stayman, transfers, Blackwood/RKC, Jacoby 2NT, Michaels, unusual 2NT, negative doubles, Bergen, splinters, and more), defense to opponents' conventions, and opening leads and signals. Use this skill WHENEVER the user asks anything about bridge bidding, what to bid with a given hand, what a bid or auction "means", how a convention works, opening leads, defensive signals, hand evaluation / point count, or anything related to a bridge bidding app, convention card, or SAYC. Trigger even if the user does not say "SAYC" explicitly — any contract-bridge bidding, auction, or convention question should consult this skill rather than answering from memory or searching the web.

SAYC Bridge Bidding

This skill is a comprehensive, structured reference for the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC) bidding system plus the popular and expert extensions most players pair with it. It exists so you can answer bridge bidding questions accurately and without re-searching the web. Treat the references/ files as authoritative for this domain.

How to use this skill

1. Identify what kind of question it is (opening? response? competitive? slam? convention? lead?) and open the matching reference file below. Each file is self-contained and has a table of contents at the top.
2. For a fast bid→meaning lookup or to reason programmatically (e.g. inside a bidding app), use references/bid-tables.md, which holds the same information in compact, grep-friendly structured tables.
3. State the SAYC default clearly. Where a treatment has competing popular variants (weak-2 ranges, forcing vs semi-forcing NT, Blackwood vs RKC 1430 vs 0314), name the default and briefly note the major alternative so you can adapt to a different convention card.
4. Always show your reasoning in terms of HCP + distribution, fit, and the captaincy/forcing status of the auction — that is how bridge experts actually decide, and it lets you handle hands the rote tables don't cover.

Reference map

File	Use it for
references/hand-evaluation.md	HCP, distribution points, Rule of 20/15/22, quick tricks, losing-trick count, re-evaluation after a fit
references/opening-bids.md	All opening bids: 1-of-a-suit, 1NT/2NT/3NT, strong 2♣, weak 2s, preempts, 3rd/4th seat openings, choosing between suits
references/responses-1level-suit.md	Responding to 1♣/1♦/1♥/1♠: raises, new suits, NT responses, forcing 1NT, limit/jump raises, Jacoby 2NT, splinters, Bergen raises
references/responses-notrump.md	Responding to 1NT/2NT/3NT: Stayman, Jacoby & Texas transfers, 4-suit transfers, Smolen, quantitative raises, Gerber
references/rebids.md	Opener's and responder's rebids, reverses, jump shifts, fourth-suit forcing, new minor forcing, sequences to game
references/slam-bidding.md	Blackwood, RKC Blackwood (1430 / 0314), Gerber, control/cue bids, Grand Slam Force, quantitative slam tries, when to drive slam
references/competitive.md	Overcalls, takeout/negative/responsive/support doubles, cuebid raises, Michaels, unusual 2NT, balancing, the Law of Total Tricks, penalty doubles
references/defense-to-conventions.md	Defending opponents' 1NT (Cappelletti, DONT), defending weak 2s and preempts, defending strong 2♣, Lebensohl
references/more-conventions.md	Additional/detailed conventions: Flannery, full Gerber & king-ask, Lebensohl contexts, Drury follow-ups, two-way NMF, control-bid sequences, GSF, splinter follow-ups, maximal doubles, DOPI/ROPI/DEPO
references/leads-and-signals.md	Standard opening leads, attitude/count/suit-preference signals, defensive and discard carding
references/play-technique.md	Post-auction play: planning, counting winners/losers, NT & suit declarer play, finesses, entries, safety plays, endplays, squeezes, defensive technique
references/worked-auctions.md	Full annotated bidding sequences (start-to-finish) across constructive, notrump, slam, competitive, and preemptive auctions — for pattern-matching real auctions
references/bid-tables.md	Compact structured lookup tables (bid → meaning, point ranges, suit lengths, forcing status) for fast retrieval and app logic

Core principles (always in scope)

These are the SAYC fundamentals you can rely on without opening a file. Anything nuanced lives in the references.

• High card points (HCP): A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1. 40 in the deck. An average hand is 10. See hand-evaluation.md for distribution points and adjustments.
• Opening a hand: Open most balanced 12–14 with a suit; reserve 15–17 for 1NT. Open ~13+ HCP routinely; 11–12 with shape per the Rule of 20 (HCP + two longest suits ≥ 20). Game-going values start around 25–26 combined HCP for 3NT/4-of-a-major; slam around 33; grand slam around 37.
• 5-card majors: Open 1♥/1♠ only with 5+ cards. With no 5-card major, open the longer minor; with 3–3 minors open 1♣, with 4–4 minors open 1♦.
• Strong forcing opening: 2♣ is the only strong, artificial, game-forcing opening (22+ HCP balanced, or ~9+ playing tricks). All other 2-level openings (2♦/2♥/2♠) are weak (preemptive, ~5–11 HCP, good 6-card suit).
• 1NT opening = 15–17 balanced. 2NT = 20–21 balanced. 3NT = "gambling" (a solid 7-card minor) in SAYC.
• Notrump priority: Bid game in a known 8-card major fit over 3NT; otherwise prefer 3NT. Show majors before settling in notrump.
• Captaincy: When one partner's hand is narrowly defined (e.g. a 1NT opener, or a preemptor), the other partner becomes captain and places the contract. The defined hand obeys; it does not make further free decisions.
• Forcing logic: A new suit by an unpassed responder is forcing. A jump shift is strong/forcing. A reverse is forcing for one round and shows extra values. Raises and notrump rebids are limited (non-forcing) bids.

When a question goes beyond these basics — and most will — open the relevant reference file and quote the specific treatment, ranges, and follow-up auctions.