When your partner opens 1 of a suit, all you know about his hand is his minimum length in that suit (3+ cards for a 1C or 1D opening; 5+ cards for a 1H or 1S opening) and his minimum point count (at least 12-13). You don’t yet know if he has a balanced or an unbalanced hand, extra length in his suit, a second suit or extra points. Opener needs to hear from you before he can tell you more about his hand.
Partner needed at least 12-13 pts. to start the bidding, but you need only 6 pts. to bid back to him. Your response tells him the two of you have at least half the total strength (your 6+ and partner’s 13+ is about half of the 40 pts. in the deck).
A response, even with a bare 6 pts., will help you:
(1) Find the best trump suit (it may not be the suit partner bid, especially if he opened 1C or 1D).
(2) Find the right level (if partner has a very strong hand, you may be able to make a game).
(3) Make it more difficult for the opponents to bid.
If partner opens and the next player passes, always respond if you hold 6+ points. You can:
(1) Raise partner’s suit. A bid in the same suit partner opened (1H by partner, 2H by you) is called a raise. It says you have enough length to guarantee a combined fit of 8+ cards. Your raise also shows your point-count — the higher you raise, the stronger your hand.
If partner opens 1H or 1S, always raise his suit if you have 3+-card support. Showing a fit is more important than bidding any other suit.
If partner opens 1C or 1D, he may hold a 3-card suit, so you need 5-card length to raise. Raise a minor only if you have no 4-card major.
(2) Bid notrump. A notrump bid tells partner that you don’t have support for his suit and that you have no 4+-card major you can bid at the 1-level. Notrump bids also show points — the higher your bid, the stronger your hand.
(3) Bid a new suit at the one-level. A one-level bid in a new suit (partner opens 1C, you respond 1H) shows 4+ cards in your suit and 6+ pts. Unlike a raise or notrump bid, your bid of a new suit does not show an exact point range. Opener won’t know how strong you are, so he must bid again.
If you have two or more suits you can show at the one-level, always bid the longer suit. Length is more important than strength, so don’t worry about whether or not your suit has any honor cards.
If you have two or three 4-card suits — bid the cheaper major. If partner opens 1C and you hold 4 hearts and 4 spades, bid 1H. If you hold 4 diamonds and one or two 4-card majors, skip the diamonds to bid the cheaper major.
If you have two 5-card suits
— bid the higher-ranking suit. With 5 hearts and 5 spades, bid 1S first,
then 2H at your next turn.
See Which suit to respond? for more details on how to
show two-suited hands.
Note: If you have a minimum responding hand (6-9 pts.), do not go to the two-level to show a new suit. If you can’t show your suit at the one-level, respond 1NT to keep the bidding low. You can go to the two-level only if you're raising partner’s suit.
(4) Bid new suit at a higher level. If you make a non-jump bid of a new suit at the two-level (1S by partner, 2C by you), you promise at least 10 pts. and at least 4 cards in your suit. The only exceptions are:
If partner opens 1S, your response of 2H promises at least a 5-card suit.
A jump in a new suit (1C by partner - 2S by you) promises a long, strong suit and 19+ pts. This is called a jump-shift.
You should keep bidding until one partner has enough information to choose a final contract. To make this decision, one of you must know:
(1) How many cards you both hold in the agreed trump suit; and
(2) How many total points are in your two hands.
The partner who has this information first is the “captain” of the hand and places the contract. In many auctions, you or your partner will be able to make this decision fairly early, often before you've gone past the one-level.
Your first bid shows your minimum points, but may not show a maximum. As soon as possible, you want to give partner more exact information. The main ways you show points are:
Raising partner’s suit (1H-2H; 1C-1S-3S)
Bidding notrump (1H-1NT; 1C-1S-2NT).
Rebidding your own long suit (1D-1H-2D).
The level you choose for these bids will tell partner your exact point range.
When choosing a response, think of your hand as falling into one of the three ranges below. If your point-count falls in two ranges, use the higher range if you have a “good” hand — aces and kings instead of queens and jacks, support for partner, extra length in your suit.
With a minimum response (6-10 pts):
Never bid above the one-level unless:
You’re raising partner’s suit; OR
You’re rebidding your own long suit; OR
Partner has forced the bidding higher.
You always show minimum point range when you:
Raise partner’s suit one level (1H-2H; 1C-1H-1S-2S; 1C-1H-1S-2C).
Bid or rebid 1NT (1H-1NT; 1C-1D-1S-1NT). If partner opened a major suit, your 1NT response shows 0-2 cards in his suit and no new suit you can show at the one-level. This bid shows weakness; it does not promise notrump distribution.
Rebid your own long suit at the lowest level available (1D-1S-1NT-2S).
Jump to 4 of partner's major (1S-4S). This shows minimum point-count, but great playing strength (usually 5 trumps and a singleton).
With an invitational hand (10-12 pts.):
Plan to invite game by freely taking the auction to 2NT or 3 of a suit.
You show at least invitational point range when you make a non-jump bid of 2 of a new suit (1D-2C; 1S-2H).
Some of the ways you can show your exact invitational point range are:
Jump to 3 of opener’s suit (1H-3H; 1C-3C). This is called a limit raise.
Jump to 3 of opener’s second suit (a major — 1C-1H-1S-3S) = 10-11 pts., 4-card support.
Raise to 3 of opener’s second suit (a minor — 1D-1H-2C-3C) = 10-11 pts., 4+-card support.
Jump rebid of your suit (1D-1H-1S-3H) = 6+-card suit. This invites partner to bid to game.
Rebid of 2NT (1C-1H-1S-2NT; 1C-1H-2C-2NT) = 10-12 pts., with honor(s) in the unbid suits.
With a forcing hand (12+ pts.):
If you know your combined strength is at least 25 pts., don’t give partner a chance to pass below game level. It's your responsibility to get your partnership to a game contract.
New-suit bids force partner to keep bidding. He cannot pass until you show your exact point range (by bidding notrump, raising partner's suit or rebidding your own long suit). Keep forcing partner to bid until you've collected enough information to decide on the proper strain (a trump suit or notrump).
Here are examples of auctions where responder is showing forcing-to-game strength (your bids as responder are in bold type):
1D-3NT
1S-2C-2NT-3NT
1H-2D-2NT-4H
1C-1H-1S-3NT
1D-1H-2H-4H
1C-1H-1S-4S
1S-2D-2S-3C-3S-4S
1C-1H-1S-2D-3C-5C
1H-1S-1NT-2C-2D-3NT
1H-1S-1NT-2C-2S-4S