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The power of the Unusual Notrump
Some are disciplined, others not
Use caution when the air gets thin
The opposition have their bag of tricks, too
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Do you need a
minimum bid to make an Unusual Notrump? I was under the impression you
needed 10-15?
First, with
two-suited overcalls such as the
Unusual Notrump, Michaels Cuebid, etc., do not necessarily require a
specific point range such as 10-15 points. However, some partners do
have agreements based on ranges for these bids. One popular treatment is to
use a "bi-nodal" range, either less than 12 HCP or more than 15 HCP.
They figure with the in-between range of 12-15, the player should bid the
higher suit naturally and rebid the lower suit later -- assuming the player
still gets the chance on their next bid. Incidentally, a variation of
Unusual Notrump incorporates the
Tops and Bottoms Cuebid,
promising an "anchored" lower suit - no ambiguity for those players.
However, most
players do not have such a point restriction and some even bidding
two-suited hands with perhaps only 4 cards in the higher suit.
Most partners
would agree not to make a two-suited bid without adequate values and
unfavorable vulnerability. Let's say the bidding goes something like:
P - (1S) - 2N
The Unusual
Notrump bidder commits the partnership to the 3 level. When vulnerable and
the partnership has a misfit, this could spell certain disaster.
Advanced opponents use counter-conventions such as the
Unusual Versus Unusual
convention to severely penalize opponents who make unwise bids such as this
one. |
