Preempts

What a preempt is actually for

You hold seven spades and 7 points. Your side is not making game. The opponents almost certainly are — they have most of the high cards and, given a normal auction, they will find their fit and bid it accurately.

Opening 3♠ removes the entire one and two level from them.

The player who would have opened 1♥ and heard a quiet 1♠ response now has to start at the three level with no information. Sometimes they will get it wrong: miss a game, play the wrong strain, or double you when they should have bid.

You will pay for this occasionally. That is the trade, and the whole skill of preempting is judging the price.

The rule of 2 and 3, with the arithmetic

The rule says: preempt to a level you can make within two tricks when vulnerable, and within three when not vulnerable. It sounds arbitrary until you look at what the numbers are being compared to.

Suppose the opponents can make a vulnerable game — say 4♥ — worth 620 to them. If your preempt pushes them out of it, you have gained 620. If they double you instead:

• Not vulnerable, down three doubled: 500. Less than their 620, so the sacrifice was worth it.
• Not vulnerable, down four doubled: 800. More than 620 — a bad trade.
• Vulnerable, down three doubled: 800. Already too much.
• Vulnerable, down two doubled: 500. Acceptable.

That is the entire rule. It is not superstition — it is the point at which the penalty you concede exceeds the game you prevented. This also explains why vulnerability changes preempting so much more than it changes most bidding decisions.

What makes a good preempt

• Suit quality matters more than point count. The points should be in the long suit. Honours outside it are defensive values, and a preempt is a bid that gives up on defending.
• Avoid four cards in the other major. If you hold seven diamonds and four spades, preempting may talk your side out of a spade fit.
• Avoid a void in most styles — a two-suited hand has better bids available, and partner cannot judge a preempt that might be two-suited.
• Do not preempt with an opening hand. If you have 12 points, open one of the suit. A preempt with a strong hand is the one error partner cannot recover from, because they will pass hands that were worth game.

Seat position changes everything

• First and second seat: be disciplined. Partner is still unknown and may hold a strong hand; a wild preempt in front of them costs your own side.
• Third seat: be aggressive. Partner has passed, so your side is not making game, and the only player who can be hurt by an undisciplined preempt is an opponent. A six-card suit at the three level is normal here.
• Fourth seat: do not preempt at all. Everyone has passed — if you do not want to play the hand, pass it out. A fourth-seat weak two should show a hand you actually expect to make.

Responding to a preempt

This is where partnerships lose the points a preempt earned. Partner has described their hand almost completely — a known suit, a known narrow strength, so you are the captain and the decision is entirely yours.

1. Do not raise on high cards. A raise of a preempt is itself preemptive: you raise on trump length, to make life harder for the opponents, not because you think you can make it.
2. Count to the level of the fit. With three-card support opposite a seven-card preempt you hold ten trumps between you, and bidding to the four level is usually right regardless of your points.
3. A new suit is forcing and shows a real hand with a real suit.
4. 2NT asks. Over a weak two, it asks opener to describe. Two common schemes: Ogust, where opener shows suit quality and hand strength as a 2×2 grid, and feature, where opener names an outside honour. Agree one.
5. Bid game when you can count it, and do not bother inviting. Partner has already told you everything; there is nothing to ask.

Defending against a preempt

When they preempt you, you are the one with no room. The main thing is to accept that precision is gone and to bid on judgement:

• A double is takeout at the three level and below, showing an opening hand and support for the unbid suits.
• An overcall shows a real suit and real values — you are at the three level with no help from partner.
• Do not let them steal it. The preempt worked if you pass with a good hand. Bid something.