Overcall

In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A direct overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e. next in the bidding rotation; an overcall in the 'last seat', i.e. by the player to the right of opener, which is made after two intervening passes, is referred to as a balancing overcall.

Objectives

The overcaller has one or more of the following objectives:

Suit overcalls

In most bidding systems, an overcall in an unbid suit is natural denoting length and strength in the suit bid. The common requirements include: