Third Seat Openings: Practical Aggression

Many players take liberties in third seat, thinking they can and should open with weak hands, to get in the way of the opposition. This is based on the notion that partner is a passed hand and that the opponents probably have a contract on, maybe game.

 My opinion is that generally this has gone too far. When you don't have enough points for a normal opening but are considering to nevertheless open in third seat, I propose two guiding principles.

1. (this is a general bridge principle) Try to be as normal and simple as possible, nothing fancy. So when in doubt, just pass simply.

2. Bid for a purpose, don't just open for the sake of it. 

Regarding point 2, what are some worthwhile purposes? Good suits are one of the main ideas. Lets look at some examples and discuss why that is important. 

Throughout you are south and the bidding will start with two passes.

Example 1

Should you open 1♥? I would say it is a bad idea. Your suit is very poor. Partner will almost be certainly leading your suit, while in reality it is probably going to be the worst suit for partner to lead, especially when the opponents end up in a spade contract. Consider the "lead directional" value of your bid. Lets clarify this idea with further examples

Example 2

This hand has a high quality heart suit, and very little or  no values in the side suits. It should be clear from your point of view that if partner has a choice of leads, hearts will be best. Opening 1♥ has much more purpose you might be encouraging the only lead that will beat their eventual contract. Opening 1 ♥  or 2 ♥  on this hand looks fine. If you open 1 ♥ in third seat, partner should be aware that you might not have full values and should not be terribly mislead. 

Example 3. 

This hand has several factors going for it in favour of a bid. Firstly the lead directional factor. Secondly, your side might have a big minor suit fit, in which case the favourable vulnerability (you are Not Vul, opponents are Vul) is fertile time to be bold and aggressive in the bidding, even the possibility of bidding 5 of a minor over their major game. I would open 1 ♦  and plan to rebid 2 ♣  or even 3♣ if 2♣  is not available. (the vulnerability made me do it).

Example 4 - Watching a world class expert with this hand. 

The South opened 1♦! His partner ended up on lead against 4♠ , and unsurprisingly the diamond was the only lead to hold it to 10 tricks, for an excellent matchpoint score. 

In summary

If you don't have the points for an opening hand, but are thinking about nevertheless opening in third seat, make sure there is a purpose. Lead directional bids are often a reasonable idea, whereas leads that will get your partner off to a bad lead are usually  not a good idea.  Also sometimes you will have hands which might have potential if partner has a fit, even if you don't have many high card points, like in example 3. 

Otherwise, when in doubt just do the 'normal' thing and pass when you don't have much to say. If you pass sometimes, when you actually bid it will have a stronger effect. If you just bid all the time, partner will start to realise that you're randomising, and might be second guessing whether they can trust your bids.

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