A MODIFIED MONTREAL RELAY
Simple Overcalls


Overcalls - Defensive Bidding     You can probably skip this and continue using whatever overcall agreements you and your partner prefer because most of my casual partners tell me this is off-the-wall and will not even listen.  Happily, for me, my regular partners are enthusiastic about these unusual bids.

Overcalls at the 2-Level
In the long-ago jump overcalls showed very strong hands, and then in the 1960's when weak-two bids were introduced players decided to use single jump overcalls to show preemptive 6-card suits.  Most players agree that they show about the same values as a weak-two opening bid, although aggressive players are very loose about that.  The change was devastating to old-time players who hated them, but these days even rookies play weak jump overcalls.  Also, modern players have learned to defend against such preempts and are no longer concerned much about them.  In the history of the game, it was the change to 5-card majors and weak jump overcalls that produced negative doubles, perhaps the best defense to weak jump overcalls.
    No Weak Jump Overcalls!
    We play overcalls at the 2-level, whether a jump or simple overcall, as Intermediate Value Hands.  That's an opening hand with at least a 5-card suit and at least 12 points.Jump bids at the 3-level are preemptive.
Overcalls at the 1-Level
Since jump overcalls show an opening hand, then simple overcalls generally have fewer than 12 points.  To have an agreement, let's say 8-12 with an unpassed partner, but can be fewer after partner has passed.

Further, we freely overcall with 4-card suits at the 1-level.  These bids are not particularly lead-directing, either, if partner has a reason not to lead the suit.  Most players use responder's cue bid as a limit raise, but since our 1-level overcall is so limited we need to use the cue-bid to show a very good hand.
    Do not raise your partner's 1-level overcall unless you have at least 4-card support and distributional values!

Two-Suited Hands
Both the Unusual Notrump and a Michaels Cue Bid show two suits and these conventions are used by most players, but few partnerships have a method to show the top and bottom suits.  There are a couple of methods to do this, but most have drawbacks that players dislike.  Below are two method that will work, though.

Top and Bottom Two Suits
Your RHO opens 1 and you are staring at this hand:  Good spades, but better clubs.  How do you show both suits?  To be honest this is not a difficult bid... many players will solve it by overcalling in one suit and then jumping in the other.  But if your next chance to bid is at the 5-level over a 5 contract you might be shooting in the dark.  It's a lot easier if you can show partner both of your suits immediately.

   K Q J 7 6
   7
   3
   A K J 8 4 2
    Jump to 3 or 3
    If we give up preemptive minor bids we can use a jump to the 3-level in clubs or diamonds to show the bid minor and the highest unbid suit.  At least if your partner forgets this agreement you will be playing in a suit that you actually have.

    New Meaning for 1NT
    A second method is to give up 15-17 notrump bids so they can show the top-and-bottom suits.  Danny Kleinman, who wrote The Notrump Zone, has said that a normal notrump overcall can be very dangerous, so it really isn't much of a disadvantage to give it up.  You can always double with 15-17 points.

More on Michaels
Traditionally a Michaels cue bid has always promised 5-5 in two suits, and most players will tell you it also has a limit at most of 15 points, but we don't have to be constrained by those definitions.  Occasionally you have a decent hand with 5-4 pattern and want to show both suits, (The late Max Hardy was a strong advocate for competing with 5-4 hands) or sometimes you have more than 15 points with two suits and bidding one of them will hide the other one.  This is our agreement:
    Since both suit are known responder can ask for more information by bidding 2NT.  These are suggested rebids:
    • A rebid of the cheapest promised suit shows a hand with 8-12 points and at least 5-5 in the two suits
    • A rebid in the higher promised suit has 12+ points and may be 5-4 in shape
    • A rebid in one of the suits not promised shows a good hand with 15+ points and either a singleton or a void in the bid suit

Our Notrump Overcalls
It's probably easiest to use a standard meaning for a 1NT overcall, but we don't have to use the standard responses.   As responder we do not use 2 as Stayman nor do we use Jacoby Transfers at the 2-level.   All responses at the 2-level are natural and non-forcing, and 2NT is simply invitational.  A cue bid is forcing, of course, and the notrump bidder should show a 4-card major as a rebid.  There are two different methods you can use for jump bids at the 3-level:  Either natural and forcing or Jacoby Transfers.  If you use the second method, then a jump to 3 is a transfer to diamonds since a cuebid is Stayman.  My preference is treat 3-level bids as natural.
    Why?
    Partly it's the mathematics involved... If you open 1NT, say with 16 points, that leaves 24 points for the other three players and your partner's average hand will have about 8 points.  But if your RHO opens with 12 points and you have a 16 point notrump overcall, then that leaves only 12 points for the other two players.  Your partner will usually have about 6 points.  If you continue to play Stayman and Transfer bids you will find that there is often only one of the three remaining suits that you can play at the 2-level.  It seems better to be able to play any of those suits at a lower level since your partner usually does not have enough for game!  (And if the opening bidder has more than 12 points the problem is worse.)

Overcalling Their One Notrump
Bridge players recognize that generally one shouldn't be competing against a 15-17 point hand unless they either have a two-suited hand or a very distributional one-suited hand, but they seem to be in two camps as to whether to double with a similar hand or not.  I belong to the side that avoids doubling to show a balanced 15-17 after an opponent also shows that strong a hand.

    Here are two simple but very effective methods - a description of the Blooman convention and a modified version of Brozel.   Blooman vs Notrump         Modern Brozel