The Law of Total Tricks is a fairly complex set of principles that experienced bridge players use to decide how high to bid in competitive auctions. Two entire books are devoted to "The Law" (To Bid or Not to Bid and Following the Law by Larry Cohen), but there are some basic elements of the Law that beginners can adopt.

Described here is a simplified version of a guideline you can use to decide if you should pass and let the opponents play in their partscore, or if you should bid one level higher in your suit. It operates on the principle that "trumps are (almost) everything" and high-card strength is not critical. In its simplest form, the rule is:

In practice, this means that if you and partner have only an 8-card fit, you should usually stop at the 2-level. If you have a 9-card fit, you can safely bid 3 of your suit if the opponents try to force you one level higher.

In Auction (1), partner should take the "push" to 3♥ only if he has a sixth heart, even if he has a bare 11-12 pts. If partner passes, he's showing a minimum opener with only 5 hearts -- when this auction comes back to you, you will bid 3H only if you have an extra trump (4 hearts instead of the 3 you've promised). Again, points don't matter -- if you have 4-card heart support, bid 3♥, even with a weak hand

 ♠ 43 

♥ 10854

♦ AJ94

♣ Q86.

In Auction (2), partner should never be the one to bid 3S because he can't have an extra trump (the auction has told you he holds a minimum opener with exactly 4 spades). The decision is up to you. If you have the high-card strength to make a game, go ahead and bid 4♠. But if it's a partscore deal (one where you have a weaker hand of 6-10 pts. and wanted to stop in 2♠), you should bid 3♠ now only if you have a 5-card suit (one more than you showed with your 1♠ response). You would bid 3♠ here with :

♠ J10843

♥ K4

♦ 654

♣ QJ2

You should pass with

♠ QJ43

♥ K64

♦ J54

♣ QJ2

Note: In competitive auctions like those above, the partner who bids at the 3-level is not inviting game nor showing extra points. He is merely competing, and the other partner should always pass. If you have extra values and want to invite game, you must show a second suit OR cue bid the opps’suit.

There are a few special cases where you might want to violate this rule and bid to a level higher than the number of trumps you hold. You would only do this if your hand has a good combination of the following features:

• A strong trump holding -- K107 instead of 643.
• Honour strength or length in a side suit partner has bid -- in Auction (2) above, help in the opener’s second suit (a holding of Kx, QJx, Jxxx, etc.) would be an asset.
• No honour wastage in the opponent's suit -- if you hold lower honors (jacks, queens, kings) in the opponent's suit, they may be valuable only if you're defending.
• Shortness in the opponent's suit -- best is a singleton or void, but even a doubleton may provide a ruffing value.
• Unbalanced distribution -- something better than 4-3-3-3.