My partner opened 1 of a major. What should I be thinking?

 Last week we explored what you should be thinking about when your partner opens with a one bid in a minor suit. In that situation, supporting your partner's suit was sort of a last resort. When your partner opens a major suit, supporting your partner's suit should be your first consideration. You might have a long suit of your own, but if you have adequate trump support, you have found a major suit fit. Be happy about it.

When you have adequate trump support

Let's review what adequate trump support (ATS) is. You have ATS when you can be sure that your side has at least 8 trumps. Your partner's opening bid shows a 5-card suit, so you need 3 cards to support it.

If you have ATS, your responses are well defined. Count your high-card points and distribution points in your short suits. Your hand will fit into one of these categories:

0-5 points: Pass. You are going to pass with less than 6 points, no matter what.

6-9 points: Make a minimum raise to 2 in partner's suit.

10-12 points: Make a jump raise to 3 in partner's suit.

13-18 points: Bid a new suit. You'll show your support on a later round. 

19+ points: Jump in a new suit. This bid is called a "jump shift."

Note that sometimes you will need to "invent" a new suit to bid. You might have nothing longer than 3 cards in every suit other than your partner's. No problem. Your new suit bid is forcing for one round. A jump shift is forcing to game. You will have another chance to bid. You can bid your partner's suit, then. You won't get stuck in your 3-card suit. Choosing a minor suit as your "invention" is better than lying about the other major. It is less likely that you will need to discourage your partner from continuing in your invented suit after you come back to support the opening suit if you lied about a having a 4-card minor.

 When you don't have adequate trump support

When you don't have ATS, your responses are similar to how you bid when your partner opens with a minor suit. You bid your 4-card suits "up the line." That is, you bid the cheapest one first. Remember, though, that you need 10 points to bid a new suit at the 2 level (known as a "2 over 1" response.) Since your partner opened either 1 heart or 1 spade, there are limited choices for your bids with less than 10 points. If you have 6-9 points, and can't bid your suit because it will take you to the 2 level, bid 1 no trump. You make this bid even if your hand doesn't look too much like a no trump hand. Your partner knows this, although he might still pass.

If you have 10 points, go ahead and bid your suit. Bid the longest one first. With equal length 4-card suits, bid the cheaper one first. With two 5-card suits, bid the higher ranking one first. You may have an opportunity to show your second suit on a later round, and you want to give your partner a chance to come back to your first suit without raising the level of the bidding.

When you have more than adequate trump support

If you have 4 or more cards in partner's suit, you have another option. First of all, you can count more points for distribution in your short suits because you have extra trump support. Count 3 points for a singleton and 5 points for a void. A doubleton is still worth just 1 point.

OK, that little side note just tells you where you fit on the scale for raising your partner's suit. I promised you another option. There is a "shutout" raise where you jump to 4 in partner's suit. This bid sounds strong, but it really isn't. It is a special bid for when you have all of these requirements:

1. At least 4-card support for partner's suit
2. A singleton or void
3. Less than 10 high card points (don't count distribution)

Your bid requests partner to pass. You expect to make the bid, but the opponents are marked with some strength, because of your lack of high cards. You want to keep them out of the bidding.