Responding to 1 of a Minor

When your partner opens 1 of a Minor, how should you respond? Remember your main goal is to find a "Golden Game", which is an 8 card major fit, and 26 points.

Here's how to think through your responses.

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With Less Than 6 Points
If you have less than 6 points, you almost certainly don't have game, so just pass so the bidding doesn't get too high.

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With a Major (6 or more points)
If you have at least 4 cards in a major bid it at the one level. If you have both majors, bid the longer one. If they are the same length:

• With 4 each - bid 1H
• With 5 or 6 each - bid 1S

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Without a Major

With 6-10 Points
You want to let partner you have some points, but not too many. If your partner opened clubs, and you have diamonds (at least 4 of them), you can bid 1D. If you have support for your partner's minor (at least 4 cards, preferably 5 or more) you can bid 2 of your partner's suit. Otherwise bid 1NT.

Just like over a major:

Do not bid a new suit at the 2 level without at least 10 points!

With 10-12 Points
Again, if your partner opened clubs, and you have diamonds (at least 4 of them), you can bid 1D. If your partner opened diamonds, and you have clubs (at least 4 of them), you can bid 2C. If you don't have any other 4 card suit, you must have support for your partner's suit, so bid 3 of your partner's suit.

With 13+ Points
If you have a balanced hand, bid 2NT. If not, you can bid 1D with diamonds (if partner opened clubs), and 2C with clubs (if partner opened diamonds). If none of these apply, you can bid your partner's suit at the 4 level. (though, in this case it is usually better to lie, and bid one of your other suits at a low level, to keep the bidding low while you explore).

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Examples
For all of the following examples, assume that your partner opened 1D.

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K8532

43

987

642

With less than 6 points, just pass.

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AK532

43

987

642

You have a major, so bid it: 1S.

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AK53

T4

A9832

42

Even though you have support for diamonds, show your major first: bid 1S.

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AJ987

5

43

AKQ65

You have two 5-card suits, bid the higher one: 1S.

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AKJ9

AQ53

43

Q65

You have two 4-card suits, bid the cheaper one: 1H.

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75

432

AK653

654

With no 4 card major, and diamond support, show your diamonds. Bid 2D.

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Q54

KJ6

AJ765

43

With no 4 card major, and diamond support, show your diamonds and your points. Bid 3D.

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AQ4

KJ6

AJ765

43

With no 4 card major, a balanced hand, and 13+ points, show your points and your distribution. Bid 2N.

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754

43

64

AQ6532

Your longest suit is clubs, but since you have less than 10 points you can't bid them at the 2 level. With no suit to bid at the one level, bid 1NT.

Opening 1 of a Minor

Requirements for Opening 1 of a Minor
(clubs or diamonds)

• 13+ points
• longest suit -or- no 5 card major

Other Considerations
If you have two 5-card suits (or 6 card suits) that are the same length, open the higher one. i.e. Prefer spades to hearts to diamonds to clubs.

If you have no 5-card major, and your minor suits are the same length, open 1 diamond if you are 4-4 in the minors, and open 1 club if you are 3-3 in the minors.

Examples
In all the examples the suits are ordered, from top to bottom, spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs. A number means a card with that number, A = ace, K = king, Q = queen, J = jack, and T = ten.

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Q74

AT5

63

AK532

With 5 clubs and 14 points (don't forget to count the 1 distribution point for the fifth club), open this 1C.

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Q74

AT5

63

K7532

With less than 13 points, just pass.

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AK53

K74

KT43

63

You have 13 points, but you don't have a 5 card major, so open this one 1D.

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53

9

AK532

AQ743

You have enough points to open, and two 5 card minors, so open the higher one:  1D.

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532

96

AK53

AQ74

You have enough points to open, and two 4 card minors, so open the higher one:  1D.

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9532

943

AK5

AQ7

You have enough points to open, and two 3 card minors, so open the lower one:  1C.

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Q532

A784

AK5

AQ

You have enough points to open, but no 5 card major, so open the longer minor:  1D.

Responding to 1 of a Major

When your partner opens 1 of a Major, how should you respond? Remember your main goal is to find a "Golden Game", which is an 8 card major fit, and 26 points.

Here's how to think through your responses.

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With Less Than 6 Points
If you have less than 6 points, you almost certainly don't have game, so just pass so the bidding doesn't get too high.

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With Support
If you have at least 3 cards in your partner's major, you know you have an 8 card fit, so you have found a fit. Now your only question is how high to bid.

With 6-10 Points
You want to let partner you have some points, but not too many. Just bid 2 of your partner's suit.

With 10-12 Points
This is considered "invitational strength", since all it takes is for partner to have a little bit beyond a minimum opener for your side to have the 26 points required for game. Bid 3 of your partner's suit to invite to game.

With 13+ Points
You know that 4 of your partner's suit is almost certainly the best place to play. However, you don't have to go right there. Bid something else (2NT with a balanced hand, or a new suit, otherwise), and let your partner redescribe their hand with another bid. This may give you enough information to determine if you should bid slam.

Remember, in this situation, your partner doesn't know that you have the major fit yet. All of the possible bids you could make is beyond the scope of this post. If your next bid is 4 of the major, your partner will now know what you were doing.

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Without Support
If you don't have support for your partner's major then you still have to find what suit is best for your partnership. In general, your best bid here is your longest suit, at the cheapest level that you can.

Suits of the same length
If you are have two suits that are the same length that you are choosing between, the rule is:

• If the suits are 4-4, bid the cheapest suit. (i.e. whichever one comes soonest in the bidding sequence)
• If the suits are 5-5 or 6-6 bid the highest suit. (i.e. prefer spades to hearts to diamonds to clubs)

Weak Hand
The caveat to the above rules is:

Do not bid a new suit at the 2 level without at least 10 points!

So, if you do not have a new 4 card or longer suit that you can bid at the 1 level, and you have less than 10 points, then you should bid 1NT.

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Examples
For all of the following examples, assume that your partner opened 1H.

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K8532

43

987

642

With less than 6 points, just pass.

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AK532

43

987

642

You don't have enough hearts to support, so bid your longest suit: 1S.

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AK532

643

98

642

You have support for your partner's hearts. Show that by bidding 2H.

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AK53

43

A987

642

You have two 4-card suits. Since 1S is a cheaper bid than 2D, bid 1S.

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AK53

T432

A98

42

You have support for hearts, and enough points to invite, bid 3H.

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AJ987

5

43

AKQ65

You have two 5-card suits, bid the higher one: 1S.

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7543

43

AK652

64

Your longest suit is diamonds, but since you have less than 10 points you can't bid them at the 2 level. Bid 1S since you have 4 of them.

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A5432

KQ6

AJ76

4

You have support for hearts, and enough points to go to game. However, with this many points you don't have to go straight there. Just bid 1S for now. You can always bid 4H on your next bid.

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754

43

AQ6532

64

Your longest suit is diamonds, but since you have less than 10 points you can't bid them at the 2 level. With no suit to bid at the one level, bid 1NT.

Opening 1 of a Major

Requirements for Opening 1 of a Major
(hearts or spades)

• 13+ points
• 5+ in that major

Other Considerations
If you have a longer suit, open that. i.e. with 6 diamonds and 5 hearts, you would not open 1H, but rather 1D.

If you have two 5-card suits (or 6 card suits) that are the same length, open the higher one. i.e. Prefer spades to hearts to diamonds to clubs.

Examples
In all the examples the suits are ordered, from top to bottom, spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs. A number means a card with that number, A = ace, K = king, Q = queen, J = jack, and T = ten.

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AK532

Q74

AT5

63

With 5 spades and 14 points (don't forget to count the 1 distribution point for the fifth spade), open this 1S.

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K7532

Q74

AT5

63

With less than 13 points, just pass.

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AK53

K74

KT43

63

You have 13 points, but you don't a 5 card major, so open this one 1D.

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AK532

AQ743

53

9

You have enough points to open, and two 5 card majors, so open the higher one:  1S.