How Many Cards do I Need in that Suit?

 Remember that when we make suit bids, our objective is to find an 8-card trump suit between our hand and our partner's hand. To accomplish that objective, we need to know how many cards in a suit a bid shows--both for our partner's bids and our bids. Let's start with opening bids.

Five-Card Majors

The system we are learning is based on five-card majors for opening the bidding. Simply put, if you open the bidding with one heart or one spade, you need five cards in that suit. If you have enough strength to open the bidding, don't have a five-card major, and your hand is not appropriate to open in no trump (see this post), you open your better minor suit. If your distribution is 4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2 with the 4-card suits being majors, you might find yourself opening a 3-card minor suit. Don't worry. First, your partner knows that. Second, you will probably get a second chance to bid. If you are unlucky, and your partner passes, the opponents are likely to have some strength and will probably enter the bidding. If your one club bid gets passed out, well, you only need 7 tricks, and there is no shame in going down. You aren't doubled.

Let's digress for a moment. Why don't we open four-card majors? In fact, in Goren's day that was the custom. There really isn't anything wrong with playing four-card major suit openers, as long as you and your partner are playing the same system. Today, however, five-card majors is more of the norm. Five-card major suit openers make it easier for you and your partner to find a 5-3 major suit fit, and it isn't any harder to find a 4-4 fit with the modern system. That's about all I have to say about the history.

You might also wonder why there is so much emphasis on finding a major suit fit, compared to a minor suit fit. The reason we favor the majors is that it takes one less trick to make a game in a major suit. Even in a part score, the same number of tricks in a major scores higher than in a minor. Minor suits aren't poison, though. It is much better to play in a good minor suit fit than a bad major fit.

Which Suit First?

Within the constraints of five-card major suit openings, you should bid your longest suit first. If you have equal length suits, it depends a little bit on where you are in the auction.

Opening bids

If you have two five-card suits, open the higher ranking one. You intend to show your second suit at your next turn. You will probably be bidding at the two level, then, and you want to give your partner the chance to show his preference at the two level. 

Suppose you have five cards in both majors. You open 1 spade. Partner responds 1 no trump. You rebid 2 hearts. Now, your partner can leave you at 2 hearts if he likes those better, or take you back to 2 spades if he likes those better. You stay at the two level.

What happens if you bid hearts first? You open 1 heart. Partner responds 1 no trump. You rebid 2 spades. If your partner likes spades better, you are OK, but if he prefers hearts he has to take you to the 3 level. Your bidding order is called a "reverse" and it shows a very strong hand. You might choose this bidding sequence if you had a sufficiently strong hand and had longer hearts than spades. We'll put off any further discussion of reverses until a later post.

If you have two 4-card suits, you are going to bid your better minor. It might not even be one of the 4-card suits. If both 4-card suits are minors, tend to favor bidding diamonds--the higher ranking suit, unless your clubs are notably stronger. You don't intend to show both minor suits, but future bidding might take you there. Bidding the higher ranking one will keep the bidding lower until you find a fit.

Responding to an opening bid

If you have suits of equal length when responding to your partner's opening bid and you are not going to support her suit, bid the cheapest one. For example, if partner opens 1 club and you have 4 cards in diamonds and spades, bid 1 diamond. Conversely, if partner opened 1 heart, you would respond 1 spade, because you can bid spades at the one level. You would need to bid at the 2 level to show your diamonds.

If you have two 5-card suits and you are strong enough to bid twice, it is usually better to bid the higher ranking one first. The logic behind this choice is similar to opening with two 5-card suits. You want to be able the let your partner show a preference at the two level after you show your second suit.

Responding to a Major Suit Opener

OK, partner has just opened one heart. Quiz time. How many hearts does she have? How many hearts do you need to contribute to get to an 8-card trump suit? Unless you skipped the first section, you know that your partner has at least 5 hearts. You need 3 hearts to make an 8-card trump suit. This is known as "adequate trump support." I'll sometimes abbreviate that as ATS.

Responding with adequate trump support

If you find yourself with adequate trump support, don't automatically respond with 2 hearts. The responses in your partner's suit show specific point ranges. A 2 heart response shows 6-9 points (with distribution) with ATS. If you have 10-12 points with ATS, you can bid 3 hearts. This bid is know as a "limit double raise." Make sure that you and your partner know that you are treating the double raise as a limit raise. Some pairs play the double raise as forcing to game, showing 13 or more points with ATS. The limit double raise is a part of the SAYC system, and that is how we are going to play it.

What if you have 13 or more points with ATS? You can't bid 2H or 3H. Those bids show weaker hands. A response of 4H shows something completely different. That bid shows 4 card support, less than 10 HCP, and a singleton or void. It is known as a "shutout bid," meaning that you want to keep the opponents out of the bidding, and you want your partner to pass. Let's not get into that, now.

The SAYC system uses a convention known as Jacoby 2NT for a forcing raise in a major. We won't get into that, now, either. Instead, bid a new suit. A new suit by responder is forcing for one round, so you will get another chance to bid. You'll know more about your partner's hand by then, and you can figure out what to do. Note that you might have to "invent" a suit to bid. If your distribution is something like 4-3-3-3 with 4 cards in hearts, you will need to bid a 3-card suit. That's a little bit of a lie, but you will get another chance to bid to get back to hearts. Choose to bid a 3-card minor rather than a 3-card major when you do this. This sort of bidding is known as "temporizing." If your partner is paying attention, she will figure out why you bid a new suit at your first turn, and came back to her suit at your second turn.

Responding without adequate trump support

Without 3-card support for your partner, you can bid a new suit, with some point-count restrictions. You will generally bid your longest suit first, but if you have equal-length 4-card suits, but the cheapest one first. I mentioned that in the first section. Never mind about the strength of the suits. Bid based on their length. Don't hesitate to bid the 2345 of spades if you have that.

You might choose to bid a good 4-card spade suit in preference to a crummy 5-card minor suit. In that case, just pretend that your minor suit is 4 cards. You might end up bidding it at your second turn.

One important point to remember is that if your new suit requires you to bid at the 2 level, you must have 10 points. Another important point to remember is that you MUST bid if you have 6 points. Your partner could be very strong with her opening one bid. Give her a chance to bid, again.

So what do you do if you have 6-9 points, can't support your partner's suit, and your suit would require you to bid at the 2 level? You bid 1 no trump. Your hand might not look too no trumpy, but that's what you need to bid. It shows 6-9 points, and denies 4 cards in any suit that you could have bid at the 1 level. That bid isn't forcing, so you may end up playing 1 no trump. It might work out.

Responding to a Minor Suit Opener

This time, partner opened one club. Quiz time, again. How many clubs does she promise? How many do you need to add to that to get to an 8-card trump suit? Your partner might have just 3 cards in clubs. If you are thinking of supporting her clubs, you need 5 to get to an 8-card trump fit.

Your partner is probably not that interested in hearing your support her minor suit. You should bid any 4-card suit that ranks above her suit. Bid the cheapest one first. Bid it, even if your holding is 2345. Your partner wants to know about your 4-card suits--especially major suits.

As with the major suit responses, you need at least 10 points to bid at the 2 level. That is only going to come up too often when your partner opens in a minor. If you don't have 10 points, don't have ATS, and don't have a 4-card or longer suit that you can bid at the 1 level. Bit 1NT.

Raises of your partner's suit follow the same point ranges as with major suit raises. A raise to the 2 level shows 6-9 points. A raise to the 3 level shows 10-12 points. With a stronger hand, bid a new suit. Remember that a new suit by responder is forcing for one round. You'll get another chance to bid. Also remember that you need 5 card support, since your partner might have just 3 cards in the suit.

You might also consider bidding 2NT in response to a minor suit opener. This bid is NOT Jacoby 2NT, like it would be if partner opened a major. The 2NT response to a minor suit opener shows at least 13 HCP and denies 4 cards in any unbid major. It is forcing to game.

Rebids

When you bid your suit a second time without getting support from your partner in that suit, you are showing one more card in that suit. For example, an auction like 1H-2C-2H (opponents passing at every turn) promises 6 cards in hearts. The opening bid showed 5. The second bid shows one more.

Recall that as responder, you only need 4 cards in your new suits, so an auction like 1H-1S-2C-2S would promise 5 cards in spades.

Opening a minor suit only promises 3 cards in the suit, but don't rebid a minor suit without 5 cards in the suit. That's sort of an exception to the one-more-card rule. Pretend that your opening bid showed 4.

Any new suit bid after the opening bid only promises a 4-card suit. For example, an auction like 1C-1H-1S only shows a 4-card spade suit for the opening bidder.

Should you choose to bid your suit a third time without support from your partner you are showing still one more card. Let's work through this example one step a time.

Opener: One heart (promises 5 cards)

Responder: One spade (promises 4 cards)

Opener: Two hearts (now promises 6 cards)

Responder: Two spades (now promises 5 cards)

Opener: Three hearts (now promises 7 cards)

These auctions don't happen too often, but it good to remember the principle that each time you bid your suit, again, you are showing one more card in length.

When you rebid your suit, you are also limiting the strength of your hand. A minimum level rebid in the original suit shows a minimum-strength hand. A jump in the suit shows a stronger hand. For example, in this auction, the opener is showing a minimum opening hand: 1H-2C-2H.

If the opener had 16 or more points, she should bid 3H at her second turn.

Overcalls

I'll just briefly mention overcalls, here. We'll explore them more in a later post. A simple overcall requires a good 5-card suit. You may find yourself with an opening hand and your right-hand opponent opens the bidding. Without a good 5-card suit, you might need to pass, even though you could have opened the bidding. It sucks, doesn't it?

If you have a weakish hand with a good 6-card suit, you can make a jump overcall. This bid shows a hand similar to an opening weak 2 bid.

Opening Bids of More Than One

We'll cover these bids in more detail, later, but briefly... 

An opening bid of 2 in a suit (except in clubs) shows a strong 6-card suit but not enough strength to open with 1 of the suit.

An opening bid of 2 clubs is artificial and shows a very strong hand. It says nothing about clubs, or any other suit for that matter.

An opening bid of 3 in a suit shows a 7 card (or longer) suit with less than opening strength and little value outside the suit.

Summary

Opening bids promise 5 cards in a major suit, 3 cards in a minor suit.

Support to partner's opening suit bid needs to guarantee an 8-card fit

Any new suit bid after the opening bid promises 4 cards in the suit.

A rebid in your suit without being supported by your partner promises one more card in the suit. (Exception: a minor suit rebid promises at least 5 cards in the suit, even though the opening bid only promised 3).

The Objective of the Bidding

When people begin to play bridge they often have pages of notes about what to bid with what holding. At every turn, they refer to their notes, and come up with a bid. Have you ever asked yourself, "Why do I need 13 points to open?" "Why do I only need 6 points to respond?"

Let's stop and think about what we are trying to accomplish with the bidding. Some of you might say, "to let my partner know what my hand is like." Well, that is true, but why does your partner want to know? The purpose of the bidding is, first of all, to decide whether your side should be playing as declarer or as defenders. If you and your partner decide that you should be playing the contract, you need to figure out where you have a good trump fit, or if you are better off playing in no trump. Finally, you need to figure out if you should stop in a part score, bid game, or bid slam. Let's examine these questions.

Should we take the contract?

Generally speaking, you want to take the contract if your side is stronger than your opponents. If you are the first to bid, it can be hard to figure this out. That is why it takes 13 points to open the bidding. There are 40 points in the deck, counting just high card points. That gives every player 10 points on average. When you have 13 points, you can expect that your hand is about 1 trick stronger than average. If your partner has an average hand, you can expect that your side will take one more trick than the opponents. That is a good enough reason to open the bidding.

Sometimes you will decide to take the contract even though you expect that your side has less than half the strength. These are pre-emptive bids such as an opening bid of 3 of a suit when you have a weak hand with a long suit. The object of these bids is to interfere with the opponent's ability to assess the strength of their combined holding. You hope that any penalty you incur for going set will be smaller than the positive score that your opponents would get for finding their best contract.

Finding a trump fit

Most contracts are played with a trump suit. Once you have decided that your side is stronger than the opponents, you want to find a good trump suit between your two hands. An adequate trump suit should have at least 8 cards between you and your partner. That leaves, at most, 5 trumps for the opponents. With reasonable breaks, your side should be able to pull the defender's trumps if you have 8 and they have 5.

OK, so you want to find an 8-card trump fit. How do you know when you are there? The key issue is knowing how many trumps your partner is promising with her bids.

If your partner opens with a major suit, you know she has 5 cards in that suit. Adequate support for her suit is 3 cards. If she opens with a minor suit, she might have just 3 cards. You need 5 cards in her suit to support her. Similarly, there are many bids that show a 4-card suit. To support that suit, you need 4.

Sometimes you will have a hand with adequate trump support for your partner's suit, but a good suit of your own. Should you show it? In general, if you have found a trump fit, you should be happy and let your partner know about the fit. There will be times when you should show your suit, instead, because of your point count. You will also prefer to show your 4-card major rather than supporting your partner's suit when responding to a minor suit opening. We'll cover those situations in a future post.  In the meantime, your mantra is, "When you have found a fit, be happy. Let your partner know you are happy."

Part Score, Game, or Slam?

I won't go into too much detail here, but as you go about the bidding, you should try to determine how many points your partner has and add your points to hers. If that total comes to 26 points, you should bid in a way that gets your side to a game contract. If you know that your side has less than 26 points, you should try to end the auction as soon as you have found a trump fit.

Sometimes, you don't have a good estimate for your partner's strength. For example, if she opens 1 heart, she might have a minimum opening hand of 13 points, or she could have 20 or more. That is why you respond with just 6 points. You want to give your partner another chance to bid, so she can give you a better idea of her point range.

We'll cover these topics in more detail in future posts.

No Trump Structure

 A bidding system has a certain structure to its no trump bids. It is important not to stray from this structure. Because these bids give your partner such a clear picture of your hand he will often know where the team belongs based on your one bid.

Opening the Bidding with a No Trump Hand

An opening no trump bid requires a specific distribution in the suits and a specific high card point range. Don't fudge these requirements--even by one point or one card. Your partner is counting on you to have this specific hand.

First of all, there is distribution. A no trump opening bid needs to have suits distributed as 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, or 5-3-3-2. Perhaps an easier way to remember these distributions is that you can have at, most, one doubleton and no singleton or void.

Second, there are high card points. These HCPs fit into nice 2 and 3 point ranges:

The first two are 3 point ranges

• 12-14 HCP: Open with 1 of a suit and rebid NT at the minimum level.
• 15-17 HCP: Open 1NT

The next two ranges are 2 point ranges.

• 18-19 HCP: Open 1 of a suit and jump in NT at your next turn
• 20-21 HCP: Open 2NT

In SAYC, they go back to 3 point ranges. I've played them a little differently, but let's stick with SAYC.

• 22-24 HCP: Open 2C and rebid NT at the minimum level
• 25-27 HCP: Open 3NT
• 28+: Should you ever see this in your lifetime, open 2C and see what happens from there.

 It is OK to forget that last one. You aren't likely to need it.

Players often ask if they should open in no trump if they hold a 5-card major. Today, I'll just give the short answer: yes. Opening one spade with 5-3-3-2 distribution and 16 points puts you in a difficult rebid situation at your next turn. You'll need to lie about the length of your suit, or the strength of your hand. I'll cover that situation in detail in a later post.

Responding to a No Trump Opener

Once your partner has described her hand so well with a NT bid, you can add your points to hers to decide if you should be in 

• a part score (<26 points combined)
• a game (26+ points combined)
• a small slam (33+ points)
• a grand slam (37+ points). 

Here is how to remember some of those point ranges: 

• Strength for a game is two opening hands. 
• For a small slam, 33 HCP means that you cannot be missing 2 aces. There are 40 HCP in the deck. Missing two aces would subtract 8 points, leaving your side with 32. Therefore, 33 HCP guarantees that your side is not missing two aces.
• For a grand slam 37 HCP means that you cannot be missing any aces. 

Responding in No Trump

If you are happy to let your partner play in no trump, you simply add your points to hers and let her know where you think the contract ought to be. For example:

• With 8 or fewer points, you know your side has at most 25 points (17+8). That's not enough for game. Pass.
• With 11 points, you know your side has at least 26 points (15+11). That is enough for game. Bid 3NT.
• In between, with 9 or 10 points, your side might have enough for game, but you can't be sure. Invite game by bidding 2NT. Partner will take you to game with 17 and pass with 15. With 16 she has a judgement call.

You might find that you have enough for a small slam. If you have 18 points, you know that your side has at least 33 points (15+18). Don't dilly dally. Just bid 6NT.

If you find yourself with 16 or 17 points, you add that to partners minimum of 15 and come up short of 33. However, if she opened with 17, you have enough for slam. Invite a small slam by bidding 4NT. Note that that is NOT the Blackwood ace-asking convention. It is just an invitation to be 6NT with a maximum 1NT opener. With a minimum opener, she will just pass 4NT.

Similarly, if you are sure that your side has 37 HCP, just sit right up and bid 7NT. If you need partner to have a maximum opener to reach a grand slam, invite grand slam by bidding 5NT. Partner will bid 7NT with a 17 point hand and bid 6NT with 15.

The same principles apply to 2NT opening bids. You add your points to partners, and decide where the contract belongs. The two-point range for an opening 2NT makes it easier for partner to decide what to do with a slam invitation. You can't invite game, because the next higher bid IS game. C'est la vie.

Jacoby Transfers

Your partner's opening no trump bid means that she probably has at least 3 cards in your best suit. If your best suit has 5 cards, you can expect to have an 8-card trump suit. That's why you bid a Jacoby transfer with a 5 card suit. You expect your partner to have 3 card support and she automatically bids the transfer suit. You may have been unfortunate and found her with a doubleton in your suit. If you are going to bid again, you need 6 cards to bid your suit. Otherwise you bid NT, giving her the chance to stay in no trump with a doubleton, or take you back to your suit if she has 3 or more. Here's an example:

Partner opens 1NT (15-17 HCP)

You have 11 HCP and a 5 card spade suit. You expect your partner to have at least 3 spades, so you expect to have an adequate trump suit. You know your team has enough strength for game.

You bid 2H. Partner bids 2S without thinking it over. That's the transfer part.

Now, you want to show your partner that you have enough strength for game, but want to give her the chance to stay in no trump if you happened to catch her with a doubleton spade. Bid 3NT.

Partner will pass with a doubleton spade and bid 4S with 3 or more.

If you held 6 cards in spades, you would bid 4S at your second turn. Partner will pass without thinking, because she has described her hand so well with her opening bid putting you in control.

Suppose you had only 9 or 10 points. Now, you don't know if your side has enough strength for game. The transfer works the same way. You bid 2H. Partner automatically bids 2S. Now, you invite game by bidding 2NT with a 5 card suit. Partner will end the bidding in a part score with 15 points, and take you to game with 17. With 16, she makes a judgement call. Let's say she has 15. If she has 3 spades, she will take you back to spades by bidding 3S. If she has only 2 spades, she leaves it at 2NT. If she has 17 points, she bids game--either 3NT with a doubleton spade or 4S with 3 or more.

Going back to your second bid, if you had a 6 card spade suit, you would bid 3S at your second turn to invite game. Partner will pass with 15 points and bit 4S with 17.

One more example. Partner opens 1NT. You have a very weak hand with a 5+ card spade suit. You bid 2H as a Jacoby transfer. Partner makes her automatic bid of 2S. You pass. That's an easy way to keep the bidding low when you just prefer to play in a suit rather than pass 1NT.

Should you have a medium to strong hand, but have only a 4 card major suit (or maybe both of them), you bid 2C as the Stayman convention. I'll expand on that another time.

What if the opponents interfere?

Your partner opens 1NT. You hold a 5-card spade suit, and intend to bid 2H as a Jacoby transfer. Your uncooperative right-hand opponent bids 2H before you get your chance. What then?

Generally, when the opponents interfere in the bidding, conventions are off. The example above is rather obvious. The opponent has taken your conventional bid. Suppose that the opponent had interfered with 2D. Your intended 2H bid is still available. No matter, Jacoby transfers are still off. Otherwise, you would have no way to show a hand with a long heart suit. Your partner is going to be confused about whether your 2H bid means a heart suit or a transfer to spades. That is, your partner will be confused unless you have this agreement. Transfers are off with interference.

When there is an interfering bid, all new suit responses by the responder are natural. They show at least 5 cards in that suit. 1NT - 2D - 2H means that responder has a 5-card heart suit.

There is one exception. If the interference is a double, it doesn't take away any conventional responses. The interference is transparent. Transfers are still on. So is Stayman.

There is a convention known as "cue bid Stayman." To use this bid you bid the same suit as the interference, asking your partner to show you if she has a 4-card major. It is forcing to game. An example would be 1NT - 2D - 3D. The 3D bid is Stayman.

Interference from the other opponent

Suppose your partner opens 1NT, the next player passes, you bid 2H telling your partner to bid 2S. Then, your uncooperative left-hand opponent bids 3D. Naturally, your bid hasn't changed its meaning, but your partner is no longer required to bid spades. She can if she wants to, but she isn't forced to bid. A 3S rebid by the opener would say, "I'm happy to play spades opposite your 5-card suit." This principle of a "free bid" also applies if the interference was a double. For example, in this auction:

1NT - pass - 2H (Jacoby transfer) - double

Opener can pass to show that she only has 2 cards in spades. Responder will have another chance to bid, so there is no risk of playing 2H doubled. If the opener makes the (previously automatic) response of 2S it means she has 3 card support for spades.

You might wonder what the doubler had in mind by doubling a bid that he knew wasn't going to be the final contract. Everyone at the table knows that 2H is a Jacoby transfer. His double means that he would like to see a heart lead from his partner once the contract is settled.