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With a Weak Balanced Hand
/ With a Weak Balanced Hand
When you have a balanced hand of 11-12 hcp and a 5-card major,
your only possible choice of opening bid is 1 or 1.
If you don't think that the suit quality or hand quality warrants an opening bid, then pass.
When a weak balanced hand has a 5-card major then its main feature is the 5-card major, so it makes sense to show the major suit.
If you opened 1
and partner bid 1,
at your next turn you can rebid 1NT (showing 11-12 hcp).
If partner made a forcing 1NT response then you must now bid a 3-card minor and pass whatever partner bids next (unless he makes a forcing bid). If partner had previously passed then his 1NT is no longer forcing, so you can pass it.
If partner made a Game-Forcing Two-Over-One response, at your next turn you can rebid 2NT (showing 11-12 hcp). This rebid is weak and it cancels the Game-Force. If responder has less than 14 hcp then he can pass 2NT or convert to three of his suit (to play). But if responder makes any other bid, including a delayed raise of your major suit, then the Game-Force is restored.
If you and your partner play the Kaplan Interchange
(which swaps the 1 and 1NT responses to a 1 opening bid),
then over a 1NT response (which shows a 5-card spade suit)
you should "raise" to 2
if you have 3-card support for spades.
Otherwise, over either a 1 or a 1NT response,
rebid a 3-card minor just as you would over a standard 1NT response.
When you have a balanced hand of 13-16 hcp, even if it has a 5-card major, you should open 1NT. You may leave yourself without a sensible rebid if you fail to do so.
It is true that, if your partner is too weak to invite game, it is possible that you might miss a 5-3 or a 5-4 fit in your major suit. But that is the only disadvantage, and it doesn't always cost you. Many times I have played in 1NT and noticed that we have missed a major suit fit, but on many of those occasions the opponents have a fit in the other major. If we had found our fit, they would have found theirs and might have outbid us.
If partner is weak with a suit of his own, your 1NT opening bid will ensure that he can transfer you into his suit for a safer part score. While if partner has game-invitational values or stronger then, by using 5-Card Stayman, you can easily find any major suit fit that your side might have.
So with a balanced hand of 13-16 hcp, open 1NT
even if you have a 5-card major.
The 1NT opening bid is so descriptive that it puts your side at an advantage throughout the auction.
It would be silly to distain that advantage
by opening with 1 or 1.
Not to mention that doing the latter would leave you poorly placed on the next two rounds of the auction,
since you have no way to show a balanced hand of 13-16 hcp
other than by opening 1NT in the first place.
with a 17-22 hcp Balanced Hand
In the Double Club System it is usually best, and certainly simplest,
to open 1
when you have a balanced hand of 17-22 hcp,
preparing to follow with a 1NT rebid (possibly via the Kokish Relay or not).
You should plan to do this even if you have a 5-card major.
You may leave yourself without a sensible rebid if you fail to do so.
However, you do have the option of opening with your major suit, but don't try this unless you and your partner know how to develop the later auction...
/ With a Strong Balanced Hand
When you have a balanced hand of 20-22 hcp and a 5-card major,
you should certainly open with 1,
since otherwise you run the risk of partner's passing when we hold sufficient values for game.
When you have a balanced hand of 17-19 hcp and a 5-card major,
it is normal to open with 1
and rebid 1NT at your next turn.
This shows your strength and shape, although it doesn't show the 5-card major.
But responder can enquire about that if he is interested, of course.
But when you have a hand as strong as 17+ hcp, you will not have any rebid problems.
You can safely open with 1 or 1,
since you are strong enough to invite game even opposite what may be a weak response by partner,
so you can make a later bid of 2NT or 3NT to show your powerful balanced hand
without ank risk of driving your side too high.
But just because you can safely open 1 or 1
when you have a balanced hand of 17+ hcp with a 5-card major
doesn't mean that you should.
You need to take some care with finding an appropriate rebid,
and you might also want to consider the following factors.
Opening Bid
and rebid 1NT
we can easily reach a 2 contract,
since responder knows that we have at least 2 spades.
We couldn't reach that contract after a 1 opening bid,
which will be disadvantageous if responder has a singleton or a small doubleton heart.
/ Opening Bid
/ With a Strong Balanced Hand
When you have opened a balanced hand of 17+ hcp and a 5-card major
with 1 or 1,
you need to be aware of how to bid on the second round.
You may not be able to rebid NT on the second round for various reasons that we will now look at.
, 1
Rebid 2NT with 17-18 hcp, rebid 3NT with 19+ hcp.
Note: A rebid of 1NT would show 11-12 hcp.
/, 1NT
Rebid 3NT if you have 19+ hcp.
If your partnership does not use the Meckstroth Adjunct, rebid a natural 2NT if you have 17-18 hcp.
If you do use the Meckstroth Adjunct,
with 17-18 hcp rebid a 3-card minor suit and then follow with a natural 2NT.
Note: You must not raise responder's 1NT to 2NT, since that is the Meckstroth Adjunct and is an artificial game force.
Raise responder's suit if you have 3-card support.
Otherwise rebid 3NT, showing 17+ hcp with 5-3-3-2 shape
and a doubleton in responder's suit.
After this descriptive rebid, responder will usually know whether to pass or continue.
Note: Do not rebid 2NT, since that shows 11-12 hcp and is passable by a minimum responder.
Author: Chris Burton
Gravesend Bridge Club