The Rule of 14 is a bridge bidding convention used on the Acol Bridge. It is used by the responder when responding to their partner’s opening offer.

When opener has opened with a one suit bid and responder has a weak hand with a suit that can also be bid at the one level, it is usually correct to do so instead of making a 1NT bid. However, if a suit exchange response would take us to level two and we are down to 9 points, then that is when we would normally bid 1NT. It does not mean that we have a balanced hand, it just means that there are no other offers available to us and we have more than 6 points and therefore we should not check.

Here is an example:

(Our hand) South

Spades: 5 2

Hearts: K 9 8 6 3

Diamonds: J 10 5 3

Clubs: Q6

The companion opened with an offer of a sword. We only have 6 points and we don’t have enough swords to support the partner’s sword offer. Ideally, we’d like to offer our hearts on one level, but we can’t. We don’t have enough points to bid at level two, so we are forced to bid 1NT. This doesn’t show a balanced hand, it just tells partner that we have a weak hand and don’t have enough spades to support.

How can we decide if our hand is strong enough for a response at level two? This is where the Rule of 14 comes in.

Using the rule of 14

Start by adding up the number of high card points you have. Then add to that the number of cards in the longest suit. If the total is 14 or more, the hand met the Rule of 14 and we can bid at the two level. If the total is less than fourteen then we should bid 1NT.

Here are some more examples:

Example 1

South

S: 10 7 2

high: 8 5

D: A 9 5

C: KJ 9 7 3

The partner has opened with a bid of 1 heart. We can’t auction off our clubs without going up to level two. Using the Rule of 14 we have 8 high cards and 5 cards in our longest suit. This gives us a total of 13, so we must respond with a 1NT offer.

Example 2

South

S: 8 7 6

tall: 8

D: P 9 2

C: AQ 10 6 5 2

The partner has opened 1H. As in the previous hand, we want to auction clubs, but this would mean going up to level two. We have 8 high card points, but this time we have 6 cards in our longest suit. Adding these two gives us a total of 14, so we can auction 2 Clubs.