Basic Acol

Ben Cowling

November 27, 2001

1 Introduction

To bid well in a partnership, it is necessary to have a good understanding

of what your partner’s bids mean! Not only that, but it is also necessary
for you to know that your partner has a good idea of what your bids mean
(and so on). This is best achieved by agreeing in advance on a particular
bidding ‘system’. Acol is a very well known English bidding system, and the
following sections describe the main features.

We will look at:

• The Weak 1NT.

• 4-card Majors (and opening 1-suit).

• Acol 2 Bids.

• The 2NT Opening.

• Weak 3-Bids (and higher ‘pre-empts’).

• Competitive Bidding (‘takeout’ doubles)

• Competitive Bidding (overcalls)

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2 Hand Evaluation

Before we start, the hand-evaluation scheme should be mentioned. For the

purposes of this system, we will use the common ‘HCP’ (High-Card Point)
evaluation of a hand. In this, we assign a point value to each picture card in
the pack, and then add up how many of these points are in our hand.

A = 4 HCP

K = 3 HCP

Q = 2 HCP

J = 1 HCP

In addition, you may add on extra points for good distribution (add a point
for the 5th, 6th, 7th etc. card in one suit).

As a guideline, between you and your partner you need about:

25 HCP to make a game

33 HCP to make a slam

37 HCP to make a grand slam

Remember, a game is 3NT, 4♥ 4♠ 5♣ or 5♦.

A slam is bidding and making 12 tricks in a suit or NT.
A grand slam is bidding and making all 13 tricks in a suit or NT.

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3 The Weak 1NT

Opening 1NT promises between 12-14 HCP, and a balanced hand (no single-
ton, and not more than one doubleton).

This bid is the cornerstone of our Acol system – it is very accurately defined
(so partner has a good idea of our hand, if we open 1NT). Additionally if
we do not open 1NT (but perhaps bid something else), our partner will have
the inference that we do not have a balanced hand with 12-14 HCP.

3.1 Responding to 1NT

For now we’ll keep it simple.

Responder should pass with a balanced hand and less than 11 HCP – he
knows the partnership cannot have enough HCP for game, and there is no
clear 8-card trump fit, so 1NT is the best contract.

2♣, 2♦, 2♥ and 2♠ responses are weak takeouts. Responder believes that
this contract will ‘play better’ (have more chance of making than 1NT, or at
least should not go off as far as 1NT). The bid would show at least a 5-card
trump suit, but less than 11 HCP.

A 2NT response shows exactly 11 HCP – with more, responder could go

directly to game (3NT), but with 11 HCP he is not sure whether the part-
nership has enough points for game. So he is ‘inviting’ game – opener should
pass if he has only 12, but bid 3NT if he has 14 HCP. With 13 HCP he can
do either.

3♣, 3♦, 3♥ and 3♠ responses are all natural, and strong. The partnership
cannot stop bidding below game. 3♥ and 3♠ are particularly important,
they show exactly 5 cards in hearts/spades respectively, and opener should
raise if he holds 3-card support, otherwise just bid 3NT.

Responder can jump directly to game if he is strong enough.

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4 4-Card Majors and 1-Level Openings

Acol is based around the principle that (almost always) bidding a suit promises
at least 4 cards in that suit. So when we open the bidding at the 1-level, we
must bid a suit in which we have at least 4 cards.

So openings of 1♣, 1♦, 1♥ and 1♠ all promise at least 4 cards in the suit
bid, and also promise at least 12 HCP. There is an upper limit of about 20
HCP for these openings, which we’ll talk about later.

There are some useful rules about which suit to open:

• Always open your longest suit.

• With two 5-card suits, open the highest-ranking.

• With two 4-card suits, open the lowest-ranking.

• With a 4441 hand, think about your rebid.

4.1 Responding

Everything responder bids is natural. He needs 6 HCP to bid at the 1-level,

and 10 HCP to change the suit at the 2-level. Raises are limit bids,

• Raise to 2 shows at least 4-card support, and 6-9 HCP.

• Raise to 3 shows at least 4-card support, and 10-11 HCP.

• Raise to 4 shows at least 4-card support, and 12+ HCP.

And bidding NT also limits his hand,

• 1NT shows 6-9 HCP and denies 4-card support.

• 2NT shows 10-11 HCP and denies 4-card support.

• 3NT shows 12+ HCP and denies 4-card support.

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4.2 Rebidding

Opener should try to rebid NT if he has a balanced hand, unless he discovers

a fit with his partner. Rebidding the suit he opened promises 5 cards in that
suit, and rebidding a different suit also promises 5 cards in openers first suit,
and 4 cards in his second. If opener has a very strong non-balanced hand
(16+ HCP), he should try to jump a level to show this.

NT rebids are particularly well defined, if 1NT is available, then:

1NT rebid shows 15-16 HCP and a balanced hand

2NT rebid shows 17-18 HCP and a balanced hand

3NT rebid shows 19 HCP and a balanced hand

If 1NT is not available (i.e. responder has bid at the 2-level), then

2NT rebid shows 15-16 HCP and a balanced hand

3NT rebid shows 17-19 HCP and a balanced hand

4.3 Continuing the Auction

This is the most difficult area to write down. Time for some examples. . .

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5 Example hands

A. Your partner opens 1♥. What do you respond with these hands?

♠ AK32 1♠ – 6+ HCP and 4+ spades.

♥ 53
♦ 765
♣ K954

♠ K74 1NT – 6-9 HCP and a balanced hand.

♥ J53
♦ T963
♣ QJ4

♠ K74 1NT – 6-9 HCP and a balanced hand again.

♥ J53
♦ QJT96
♣ Q4

♠ K74 2♦ – 10+ HCP and 4+ diamonds. You could

♥ A53 bid 3NT directly, but in fact 4♥ may be the
♦ KQJ63 better contract (if opener has 5 hearts) so bid
♣ Q5 2♦ and see what opener does next.

♠ K74 3♥ – limit raise, 10-11 HCP, 4-card support.

♥ KJ53 You could bid 2♦ and then support hearts
♦ QJT96 next time, but that would suggest only 3-
♣ 4 card heart support.

♠ K743 2♦ – 10+ HCP and 4+ diamonds. You

♥ KJ3 should probably prefer to bid diamonds (your
♦ QJT96 longest suit), although 1♠ would be alright.
♣ 3

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B. You open 1♥ and your partner responds 2♣. What do you rebid with
these hands?
♠ K53 2♦ – Prefer to show your second suit rather
♥ AJ852 than just rebidding your hearts.
♦ KQT7
♣ 4

♠ 53 3♣ – Support your partner with 4-card sup-

♥ AKJ32 port – he will realise you must have 5 hearts
♦ 76 too.
♣ K954

♠ AK97 2♠ – Again you want to show your second

♥ KQJ53 suit.
♦ A3
♣ 87

♠ K74 2NT – 15-16 HCP and a balanced hand.

♥ KJ53
♦ AK6
♣ Q94

♠ AQ4 3NT – 17-19 HCP and a balanced hand.

♥ KJ53
♦ AK6
♣ Q94

♠ K43 3♥ – 16+ HCP and 5+ hearts. You want

♥ AKJ973 to jump here since your hand is so strong.
♦ JT6 Bidding just 2♥ would show a weaker hand,
♣ A but you can’t be sure 4♥ is the best contract
(so you just bid 3♥).

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C. Finally a few example auctions, hopefully bidding to the correct contract,

with opponents remaining silent. Note that opponents are rarely silent in
real life.
♠ K53 ♠ QJ98 1♥ 1♠ Responder shows his suit, then
♥ AJ852 ♥ K76 2♦ 2♥ corrects opener back to his first
♦ KQT7 ♦ 54 suit (hearts). There are not
♣ 4 ♣ JT73 enough HCP for game.

♠ K73 ♠ AQ98 1♥ 1♠ Now responder knows there are

♥ AJ943 ♥ KQ6 2♦ 4♥ enough points for game, and an
♦ KQ65 ♦ 54 8-card heart fit.
♣ 9 ♣ JT73

♠ Q43 ♠ AQ98 1♥ 1♠ Responder knows there are

♥ AJ852 ♥ K6 2♥ 3NT enough points for game, but no
♦ KT7 ♦ Q54 8-card major suit fit.
♣ A4 ♣ JT73

♠ K43 ♠ QJ9 1♥ 1NT Opener has no reason to bid over

♥ AJ852 ♥ K9 1NT, there are not enough HCP
♦ KT7 ♦ J54 for game.
♣ A5 ♣ JT73

♠ 3 ♠ AQ8 1♥ 2♣ Although they have a club fit,

♥ AJ852 ♥ Q6 3♣ 3NT 3NT should be an easier game to
♦ KT8 ♦ Q54 make (only requiring 9 tricks).
♣ A984 ♣ KJT73

♠ 3 ♠ 984 1♥ 2♣ Now responder’s hand is more

♥ AJ852 ♥ 6 3♣ 5♣ suited to a trump contract, and
♦ KT8 ♦ AQ4 there are enough HCP for game.
♣ A984 ♣ KQJT73 Note that in fact 6♣ is on.

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6 The Strong 2-level Openings

It is useful to have specialised bids to describe very strong hands. In Basic

Acol, we have all the 2-level openings reserved for this purpose. The 2♦, 2♥
and 2♠ openings all promise length in the suit bid, but the 2♣ bid is slightly
different, as we will see. We’ll look at the 2NT opening later.

One quick note – below, we use the ‘playing tricks’ evaluation of a hand. In
this scheme, we basically count how many tricks we expect to make, opposite
a fairly balanced but very low HCP responder. For example, this hand

♠ AKQT93 is worth 8 21 playing tricks – 6 spades, 2 hearts

♥ AK and 12 a diamond.
♦ K7
♣ Q74

6.1 The Acol 2♣ Opening

The 2♣ opening is basically a force to game. Opener has an abundance of

high cards, and probably some uncertainty as to what the best contract will
be. Even if responder has very little, game will still be on, but perhaps only
in the best trump fit. For example, opener could hold

♠ AKQ52
♥ AKQ2
♦ A
♣ QJ2

Now, game is almost certain in one of the majors, but opener wants to be
in the best trump fit. In addition, if responder holds as little as the king of
clubs, and support for one of the majors, a slam may be on. Or if responder
holds 6 or 7 clubs headed by an honour, 6♣ may be on.

So, we define the 2♣ opening as follows:

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• any hand with 23+ HCP,

• or any hand wishing to play in at least game, even opposite the weakest
responder. (more than 9 playing tricks).

Responder has one conventional response available, to show an absolutely

minimum hand, while all other bids are in essence natural:

2♦ 0-7 HCP ‘negative’, minimum hand

2♥ 7+ HCP, 4+ hearts

2♠ 7+ HCP, 5+ spades

2NT 7-10 HCP and a fairly balanced hand

3♣ 7+ HCP and 5+ clubs

3♦ 7+ HCP and 5+ diamonds

3NT 11-13 HCP and a fairly balanced hand

Jump responses like 3♥ and 3♠ are very strong bids, showing a solid suit,
and suggesting it may be worth looking for a slam.

6.2 The Acol-2 bids

The 2♦, 2♥ and 2♠ openings are known as Acol 2s. They show a hand
which is just short of having enough for game, but still very close. Perhaps
something like

♠ AKQT95
♥ KQ2
♦ A97
♣ 3

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Now opener needs very little for 4♠ to be a good contract (the ♦K and a
trump fit would probably be enough, for example). He cannot risk opening
just 1♠, and responder passing with less than 6 HCP, but 4♠ still being a
good contract.

In addition, the closely defined nature of the Acol-2 openings also gives the
partnership a good start to the auction if a slam is possible. When starting
with an Acol-2, opener is announcing that he has plenty of tricks, it is just
a few Aces and Kings which he is missing.

We define the Acol-2 opening as showing between 8-9 tricks, with opener’s
long suit as trumps.

Opener may have two long suits (like 5-5 or 6-5 shape), and he does not
necessarily have a lot of high cards (although he must have some defensive
strength – 15 HCP is about the minimum allowed).

The Acol-2 opening is forcing for one round, and responder has one conven-
tional bid to show a minimum hand. All other bids are in essence natural:

2NT 0-7 HCP ‘negative’, minimum hand.

others natural and ‘positive’, with 7+ HCP and length in the suit bid.

Note that opener will not stop below game if responder gives a ‘positive’
response, so a fairly commonly-known (and very sensible) principle, known
as ‘fast arrival’, applies here.

The Principle of Fast Arrival – when a partnership is in a

game-forcing auction, jumping directly to game in an agreed
trump suit is a weak action

One implication of this rule is that raising an Acol-2 bid directly to game
is a weaker action than raising the bid by just one level. In the latter case,
the auction is still not going to stop below game, but there is more space to
investigate the possibility of slam.

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6.3 The 2NT Opening

We use the 2NT opening to show a strong balanced hand, more specifically,
a balanced hand with 20-22 HCP.

Responder should pass with less than 4 HCP, with more HCP, he will want
the partnership to be in game.

Responses to 2NT:

3♣ Strong with 5+ clubs. Possibility of slam being on.

3♦ Strong with 5+ clubs. Possibility of slam being on.

3♥ 5+ HCP, with exactly 5 hearts. Opener should raise to 4♥ with 3-card

support, otherwise bid 3NT.

3♠ 5+ HCP, with exactly 5 spades.

3NT fairly balanced with between 5 and 10 HCP.

games enough for game, with at least a 6-card trump suit.

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7 Pre-emptive Openings

We will use all higher openings to describe weak hands. For example, consider
the hand

♠ 5
♥ KQJ97654
♦ Q97
♣ 2

This hand is almost worthless unless the trump suit is hearts. Opening this
type of hand 4♥ will serve two purposes:

1. It will notify partner that your hand is worthless unless the trump suit
is hearts (so he will not be tempted to look for a different trump suit).
Your hand will be worthless to him, played in another trump suit, but
if he has some top cards (aces and kings), they will be useful to you
playing in hearts.

2. It will make it very difficult for the opponents to come into the auction,
and even if they do, they may bid to the wrong contract, either too
high or too low, or in the wrong suit.

A good rule for pre-emptive openings is the rule of 500. Non-vulnerable,

going 3-off in a doubled contract will cost 500. Vulnerable, going just 2-off
in a doubled contract will cost 500. So our rule for choosing when to make
pre-emtive openings can be briefly stated as:

The When considering opening with a pre-empt, only open

if you are sure you can hold your losses to at most -500

Pre-emptive openings should never hold much in the way of defensive strength,
9HCP is about the maximum allowed.

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8 Revision of Opening Bids

8.1 Opening plan for balanced hands

Balanced hands are those with distribution 4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2 (and those 5-
3-3-2 hands without a strong 5-card suit). To tell partner that your hand is
balanced you must plan to bid NTs as one of your first two bids.

Table 1: The No-Trump Table

Hand Opening Bid Rebid

Balanced 12-14 1NT –

Balanced 15-16 A 4-card suit at the 1-level 1NT (or lowest NT bid
possible)

Balanced 17-18 A 4-card suit at the 1-level 2NT

Balanced 19 A 4-card suit at the 1-level 3NT

Balanced 20-22 2NT –

Balanced 23-24 2♣ 2NT

Balanced 25-26 2♣ 3NT

This scheme of bidding is designed to describe all the types of balanced

hands you will meet. Both opener and responder need to be fully aware of
this scheme if it is to work!

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8.2 Plan for distributional hands

Distributional hands are basically those which are not balanced. Hence we
need a different approach to bidding them as we now need to describe more
about our shape as well as our strength.

Balanced hands will fall into two categories

• 1-suited hands (e.g. shape 6-3-3-1)

• 2-suited hands (e.g. shape 5-5-2-1)

• 3-suited hands (all 4441 shapes)

8.2.1 Single-suiters

With a 1-suited hand, we must stress to partner that we have only one suit, so
our plan will be to bid our suit twice. The level of the opening and the rebid
will determine the strength of the hand, hence completing the description
of shape and strength. Although HCPs are still a useful tool in judging the
strength of a hand, we also know that having a lot of trumps can devalue the
opponents high cards (since we can ruff them). Hence with distributional
hands we must consider other factors as well as HCPs when deciding our
strength.

Example: We have a 6-card Spade suit and no other 4-card suit. Our plan
is to bid spades twice in the following scheme:

Strength Opening Bid Rebid

Weak hand (11-15) 1♠ 2♠

Strong hand (15-19) 1♠ 3♠/4♠

Very Strong (18-22) 2♠ –

Very Very Strong (21+) 2♣ 2♠/3♠

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8.2.2 Two-suiters

A great deal of the time you will find yourself bidding 2-suited hands. A
great deal of the time you will not be satisfied with your description. There
are far too many details to go into here, so the following are general principles
to be applied when planning your bids:

You are looking for a fit with partner (a suit you have at least 8 cards in
between you).

You must open your longer suit first!

If your hand is weak, only bid your other suit if partner can give a preference
without raising the level. If your hand is strong, jump a level with your
second suit or reverse the weak situation (you don’t mind so much if partner
has to raise the level to give preference to your first suit).

If your hand is weak you must be more prepared to adapt your plan according
to partners response, be careful of getting too high.

8.2.3 4-4-4-1 Hands

Much discussion has been given to the way to bid hands of this shape and
opening strength. They are not balanced (we have a singleton) but not
distributional (no 5-card suit) either. They will play well if they find a fit
(at least 4-4) with partner, so our main objective is to find a fit!

With singleton Opening Bid

Spade Open 1♣ with 15-19, open 1♦ with 12-14

Heart 1♣

Diamond 1♣

Club Open 1♦ with 15-19, open 1♥ with 12-14

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