We open all balanced hands, even those with a 5-card major, according to the rules for balanced hands given under the System's No Trump Ladder, which you should read before continuing.
Although it is normal to prefer the balanced hand sequence for all balanced hands of 17+ hcp,
whether or not they have a 5-card major,
the System does allow a player to choose to open
with 1
or 1
for tactical reasons when a 5-card major is held
and the strength of the hand is 17-19 hcp.
This involves some complication that you can avoid by simply agreeing to open
all such hands with 1
.
But if you want the ability to make a tactical choice of a major suit opening on occasion,
refer to the link Opening One of a Major With a Strong Balanced Hand.
The remainder of this document assumes an unbalanced hand unless otherwise mentioned.
There is always some risk in opening a 10 hcp or 11 hcp hand in first or second position. You should open light, though, when you think that the rewards outweigh the risks. The rewards that can accrue from getting your bid in first are obvious. The risks are really limited to getting out of your depth when responder has a hand worth a minimum opening bid himself: Responder will believe that game values exist (an opening bid opposite a hand worth an opening bid usually provides play for a game contract) and may drive the bidding too high.
How can a light opener put the brakes on?
You should not open a light 1
unless you have a 6-card suit
(so that you can rebid 2)
or a 4-card spade suit on the side,
since a 1NT rebid is not available (it would show 17+ hcp).
But you can safely open an 11-12 hcp balanced hand with any other suit
since, if responder bids one of a new suit, a 1NT rebid by you shows 11-12 hcp,
following which you should be able to stop in a part score when responder has less than 14 hcp.
If responder bids 1NT over a major suit opening you cannot pass, much as you'd like to, because responder's 1NT is forcing.
Rebid a lower-ranking suit (which may be a 3-card suit),
and pass responder's next bid.
If responder makes a two-over-one game-forcing response, rebid 2NT,
which is non-forcing and can be passed by responder if he has minimum values.
The Double Club System enables you to open light with minimal risk in third or fourth position. Light opening bids in third position can be very awkward for the opponents, and should be made whenever possible. In fourth position, though, you should not open unless you think you will win the auction, since you don't want to go negative when you could have settled for a zero.
We use a form of the Drury convention to keep the bidding under control when the responder to a light opening bid has game-invitational or better values.
If the short suit is diamonds, open 1.
Rebid 1 over an artificial 1
response
(not 1, since it starts the Kokish Relay).
Obviously, you can support any other suit bid by responder.
If responder bids 1NT or 2,
both of which show diamond suits and 8-11 hcp,
you can pass or bid NT at the appropriate level, depending on your strength.
With any other short suit, open 1.
If responder supports diamonds or bids a suit you hold, there is no problem.
Nor will you have a rebid problem when clubs is one of your three suits,
since you can rebid 2 if there is nothing better to bid.
If responder bids 2, game-forcing, when clubs is your short suit,
you can rebid 2
(which, as partner has forced you to bid, should not be taken as promising more then a 4-card suit),
and wait for further information from responder.
The above approach is also suitable for 5-4-4-0 hands in which the 5-card suit is a minor. With a 5-card major you should open the major suit.
Open in your longest suit, choosing the higher of equal length. With clubs and spades you can choose either suit: clubs usually works best with a strong hand while spades might be better with a weak hand.
You will usually rebid your second suit if able. If unable, perhaps because the second suit would require a reverse and the hand is not strong enough, then rebid the first suit.
Open in your longest suit and rebid the suit if it is not supported. For suits other than clubs, a jump rebid of 2NT is conventional, showing values between a simple rebid and a jump rebid of the suit, in a single-suited and semi-balanced hand. This is often the bid to choose, and it leaves a jump rebid of the first suit to show a stronger and/or more distributional hand, which responder should only pass with an absolute misfit.
The Double Club System provides forcing bids
for all Game-Forcing Three-Suited Hands,
where you need little or nothing more than 4-card support
for one of your suits to make game a good bet.
You will open 1
if one of your three suits is clubs,
and you will be able to describe your hand without passing the two-level.
You will open 2
and rebid 3
if you have the other three suits.
Open 2NT, which responder will intially take as a weak hand with both minors. But when opener makes a voluntary rebid on the next round he then shows that he has game-forcing values with both minors.
If you have an expectation of 9 winners or more in your own hand and clubs is your longest suit,
open 1.
If responder bids 1 then
a jump to 2
or 2
shows game values and a 4-card side suit.
A jump to 3 is strong but non-forcing,
so stronger single-suited hands must rebid a conventional 2,
which requires responder to relay with 2,
allowing opener's next bid (essentially natural) to show opener's exact strength and hand type.
If you have an expectation of 9 winners or more in your own hand with a major as your longest suit,
open 2 and rebid your major suit.
This is exactly the same as in standard bidding.
If you have an expectation of 9 winners or more in your own hand with diamonds as your longest suit,
open 2.
If the hand is single-suited, rebid diamonds.
If the hand is two-suited, rebid three of your second suit,
which is conventional, showing diamonds as the longest suit and the bid suit as a shorter second suit.
Author: Chris Burton
Gravesend Bridge Club