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| style="background:#ffcc00;" |  <center> <big> <big> ''' First-round Principles of Simplex Bidding ''' </big> </big> </center>
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* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 0:'' '''Always open, overcall and respond with your clearly longest suit. </big>
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 1:'' '''An opening bid or response of 1 of suit always guarantees five or more cards and 8-16 HCP.''' </big>
** The hand must also satisfy the Rule of 18 &mdash; i.e. total HCP plus the combined length of the two longest suits must equal or exceed 18.
** One important corollary is that you cannot respond 1 of a new suit with a four-card suit.
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 2:'' '''An opening bid or response of 2 of a suit always guarantees six or more cards and 3-16 HCP.''' </big>
** So, for example, you cannot respond to 1NT with 2 of a suit, part from 2{{Cs}}, unless you have six cards in that suit.  And you cannot bid a natural overcall over 1NT with just five cards in the suit.
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 3:'' '''A 6+ card suit can also be opened at the one-level if it satisfies the criteria for such a bid.''' </big>
** This overlap in the ranges for an opening bid helps to keep the bidding low while the partners search for a fit.  In practice this means that a two-level ''opening'' bid will contain 3-8 HCP, because on any more, the hand would satisfy the criteria for a one-level opening. Two-level ''overcalls'', on the other hand, occupy the full range 3-16 HCP, because opposition bidding will often force a two-level bid.
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 4:'' '''There is no difference in the requirements for opening bids and overcalls.  They share the same point-count range and the same suit-length requirements.''' </big>
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 5:'' '''1NT, whether bid as an opening, overcall or response, does not claim a stopper in any suit bid by the opponents.''' </big>
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 8:'' '''If you have 11-16 HCP and no suit longer than four cards, always open or overcall 1NT, even with a 4-4-4-1 shape. ''' </big>
** 1NT as a response promises the same distributional restrictions but 8-16 HCP.
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 9:'' '''Simplex is a fundamentally natural bidding system. The only gadgets used are 2{{Cs}} Redshift, 4NT Blackwood, and 2NT.''' </big>
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 10'': '''Hands with trump support but less than 10 HCP bid immediately to their total trump level.''' </big>
** For example, after a 1{{Hs}} opening by partner, a hand containing 6 HCP and four cards in the heart suit would immediately raise to 3{{Hs}}. (Partner is known to have at least five hearts.  Add those five to the four that responder has makes nine.  Take six from nine means a raise to the 3-level.)
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 11'': '''If a bidder cannot make the first-round bid his hand merits (because the opposition have already taken the auction too high), the bidder simply doubles, with an implied message to partner: "RHO has just taken my opening bid away, and I believe it is safe for you to bid at this or one level higher." </big>
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 13'': '''Ignore first-round doubles by the opponents. Carry on and make the bid you would have made if the opponents had passed.''' </big>
* <big> ''PRINCIPLE 15'': ''' There are no suit quality requirements for opening bids and overcalls. ''' </big>
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