In the card game

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...

, a forcing bid is any that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's

bidding system A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...

or a

bridge convention A bridge convention is an agreement about an artificial or a set of related artificial calls. Calls made during the auction phase of a contract bridge game convey information about the player's card holdings. Calls may be "natural" (that is, are b ...

, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, thereby preventing his left-hand opponent from ending the auction with a pass and enabling the "forcing bidder" to bid further. A forcing bid that creates no further obligation is called ''forcing for one round''. A bid that is ''forcing and promises a rebid'' creates an obligation on the forcing bidder next round (typically, up to some level of the auction). A ''game forcing'' bids creates a mutual obligation to continue bidding at least to game level, or to double the opponents. All bridge bidding systems use forcing bids. For instance, one over one and two over one responses to one-of-a-suit opening bids are treated as forcing in almost all bidding systems. Also, introducing a new suit at three level is generally treated as forcing provided this bid is made in a non-limited hand. The main reason it is necessary to have certain bids in the system designated as ''forcing'' is to allow the partnership to start a dialogue exploring for the right contract. Partnership agreement on which bids are forcing is essential. This is no easy territory, as is exemplified by the fact that in certain auctions even a pass can be forcing. In particular, the following bidding situations require agreement as to their forcing character, i.e. non-forcing, round forcing or forcing to a specified level: * responses to preempts * responses to

overcall In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...

s * various responses to a reverse bid of opener * 2NT in competitive bidding situations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forcing Bid Contract bridge bidding

See also

References