Filling In Your Convention Card Together
Completing a convention card side by side shows the gaps and contradictions in your agreements before they cost you a board.
A convention card isn't just for the opponents. Filling it in together is the quickest way to find agreements you've never discussed, and ones you each think are different.
Work through it section by section
General approach: Acol with a weak no-trump? Four-card or five-card majors?
1NT opening: range, and what you do over interference.
Two-level openings: weak twos, Benjamin, or strong twos?
Responses: Stayman, transfers, limit raises.
Competitive bidding: overcalls, take-out doubles, negative doubles and their limits.
Slam bidding: Blackwood version (4NT, Roman Key Card), cue bidding.
Leads and signals: see "Agreeing Your Opening-Lead Methods" and "Agreeing Your Signalling Methods".
Look for contradictions
Common clashes:
You play transfers over 1NT but haven't agreed whether they apply after an overcall.
Your card says "negative doubles to 2♠" but one of you thinks they stop at 2♥.
One of you plays 4NT as Roman Key Card Blackwood and the other as simple Blackwood.
When you find one, agree the answer and write it down.
Keep it current
If you change an agreement, update the card straight away. On Bridge Coach a linked partnership shares one card, and both partners are told when it changes.
Key takeaways
Fill in the card together, not alone.
Use it to find gaps and contradictions.
Update it whenever you change an agreement.