Bridge lessons · Lesson 20 of 26
Preempts
Updated 16 October 2026
A preempt opens high on a weak hand with a long suit. The opponents usually hold most of the points, and a jump to the two or three level leaves them little space to find their best contract. The risk is a penalty double when the suit does not deliver enough tricks, so the vulnerability decides how far you can go.
Weak two bids
An opening of 2♦, 2♥ or 2♠ is a weak two. It shows a good six-card suit and 5 to 10 high card points, too little to open one of a suit. Most of those points should sit in the long suit, ideally two of the top three honors. A suit like KQJ974 is ideal. A suit like Q86532 with the points scattered elsewhere is not, because the hand will take few tricks if partner has nothing in it.
There is no weak 2♣. That bid is taken by the strong 2♣ opening from the last lesson, so a weak hand with six clubs simply passes, or opens 3♣ with seven.
Opening at the three level
With a seven-card suit and a weak hand, open at the three level: 3♣, 3♦, 3♥ or 3♠. The extra card makes the hand worth one more trick, so it can afford one more level.
Opening so high with so little takes away bidding room. When you open 3♥, an opponent who wanted to start with 1♠ and hear what partner has must now begin at the three level, guessing. The opponents often hold most of the points when you preempt, and the less room they have, the more often they land in the wrong contract or miss one altogether.
The risk is a penalty double. To keep it small, count the tricks your hand can take with your suit as trumps, and compare with the contract. A simple guide is the rule of 2-3-4. When you are vulnerable and they are not, open only within two tricks of your contract. At equal vulnerability, three tricks short is fine. When you are not vulnerable and they are, you can be four short. These counts assume partner adds a trick or two, so the real penalty usually stays below the value of the opponents' game.
When partner preempts
A preempt describes the hand within narrow limits, so you are the captain. Count the tricks your hand adds to partner's long suit rather than adding up points, since partner's points are few and mostly in one suit.
- Raise to block. Holding three or more cards in partner's suit and a weak hand, raise one level (2♠ - 3♠). It is not an invitation. It takes even more room away from the opponents, and partner passes.
- Bid game with enough tricks for it, usually with a fit and a good hand. Opener passes.
- A new suit shows a good hand with a long suit of your own and is forcing for one round. Opener raises with support or rebids the long suit.
- 2NT over a weak two is an asking bid for a strong hand thinking about game. Opener rebids the suit at the three level with a minimum and bids something else with a maximum.
With a weak hand and no fit, pass. Partner's suit is a better spot than anything you can offer.
Watch it in a deal
You are South with a weak two. Watch how North uses your description to bid game.
You open 2♥ with six good hearts and 6 points, and North holds 18 points with three hearts. Your suit should give six tricks with North's ace, and North's four top cards in spades and diamonds make ten, so North bids game. East, with six good clubs, never gets a cheap chance to show them. West leads the ♠Q.
What to keep from preempts
Open a weak two with a good six-card suit and 5 to 10 points, and go to the three level with seven cards. Count your tricks against the vulnerability before you jump. When partner preempts, count the tricks you add, raise to block with a fit and a weak hand, and bid game when the tricks are there.
For the finer points of answering partner's weak two, see weak two bids, and for preempts at every level, see preempts.
Practice: preempts
Eight quick questions on what you just read.