Preempt

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Preempt (also spelled "Pre-empt") is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A preemptive bid is usually made by jumping, i.e. skipping one or more bidding levels. Since it deprives the opponents of the bidding space, it is expected that they will either find a wrong contract (too high or in a wrong denomination) of their own, or fail to find any. A preemptive bid often has the aim of a sacrifice, where a partnership bids a contract knowing it cannot be made, but assumes that (even when doubled), the penalty will still be smaller than the value of opponents' bid and made contract. A preemptive opening bid is an opening bid on level 2 or higher, typically made with a weak hand containing a long, strong suit. Preemptive opening bids on level 3 and higher are common for most bidding systems in the world.