When your partner makes a bid, it is important to ask yourself whether the bid shows a wide point range or a narrow one. If it is a narrow point range, like 10-12, you should assume control of the bidding. Add your points to your partner's and decide whether you should stop in a part score, bid a game, or try for a slam. Sometimes you need to know if your partner is on the high end or low end of that narrow range. In those cases, you should make a bid that invites your partner to bid on if she is on the top of the range, or pass if she isn't.
When your partner makes a bid that shows a wide point range you should be inclined to keep the bidding open for your partner to bid again. For example, an opening bid of 1 spade could be just 13 points or it could be over 20 points, but just shy of the requirements for a strong 2 club opener. That's why you must respond with just 6 points. You want to give your partner a chance to narrow down her point range. You might have the opportunity to show a narrow range with your own hand with your response. If you have adequate trump support (3 or more cards), a single raise shows 6-9 points and a double raise shows 10-12.
So, what sorts of bids show wide ranges and what sorts of bids show narrow ranges? In general, when you bid a suit that has been mentioned before by you or your partner, your bid will show a narrow range. The same goes for when you bid no trump. When you bid a new suit, your point range is usually pretty large.
Wide Ranges
As I just mentioned new suit bids generally show wide point ranges. Some examples are:
- Opening one bids
- New suits by responder
- New suits rebids by opener
When your partner makes one of these bids, you will often want to bid again to give your partner a chance to better describe her hand. Let's look at each one in turn.
Opening One Bids
The opening one bid could be anything from 13 to 21 points. That's why you MUST respond if you have at least 6 points. You don't want to miss a game bid if your partner is on the high end. If your partner opens with 1 spade and you have at least 6 points, but fewer than 10, your options are rather limited. You can't introduce a new suit at the 2 level with fewer than 10 points, so your only choices are 2 spades and 1 no trump. Don't worry if your hand looks ill suited for no trump. Your partner knows that that is a possibility. You are just telling her that you do not have adequate trump support and that you have 6-9 points. And guess what? You just limited your hand. That should make her bidding a little easier.
New Suit by Responder
When you open one of a suit and your partner responds in a new suit, she could have as few as 6 points (if the new suit is at the one level) or as many as 18. Not only should you bid. You are forced to bid for this round. You might be wondering, "Six points is a forcing bid?" Well, yeah, but it could be 18. That's why it takes 10 points to introduce a new suit at the 2 level. The 1-over-1 new suit bid will only force the opener to bid at the 2 level as a worst case. The 2-over-1 response might make the opener bid at the 3 level.
New Suit Rebids by Opener
There are some sequences where it seems that neither player wants to limit their hand. Something like
Opener: 1 club
Responder: 1 heart
Opener: 1 spade
That's a perfectly normal sequence, but neither player has narrowed their possible strength ranges. The opener didn't make a jump-shift, so at least we know that she doesn't have 20+ points. Responder can pass with a minimum 6 points if he is happy playing in spades. The players are running out of new suits to bid, so it is likely that one or the other of them will limit their hand on the next bid.
Narrow Ranges
Bids that show narrow ranges are
- No trump bids
- Raises of partner's suit
- Rebids of your own suit
These bids generally show 3 point ranges, although sometimes a point more or a point less. Let's look at each one,
No Trump Bids
Opening no trump bids show very specific types of hands with either 2 or 3 point ranges. A detailed discussion of no trump opening bids is discussed in an earlier post.
Responding to an opening one bid in no trump shows a specific point range as follows:
- 1NT: 6-9 points
- 2NT: 13-15 points
- 3NT: 16-18 points
The no trump responses also deny adequate trump support for a major suit opener, and usually deny 4 cards in a major suit that could have been bid instead. It is probably a good idea to avoid the 2NT response to a major suit opener. The SAYC system uses that bid as the "Jacoby 2NT" convention--a conventional forcing raise. We haven't discussed that, yet. It's a little too advanced for now.
No trump rebids by opener also show a specific point range. Minimum rebids in NT show minimum opening hands (13-15 points). Jump rebids in NT show 16-18 points. Here are some examples:
Opener: 1 club
Responder: 1 heart
Opener: 1 NT (13-15 points).
Opener also implies the lack of a 4-card spade suit or 4-card support for his partner's hearts
Opener: 1 club
Responder: 1 spade
Opener: 2 NT (16-18 points)
Opener implies lack of 4-card support for his partner's hearts, and probably doesn't have 4 hearts, either. With 4 hearts, opener might have bid 2H as a reverse to show the extra strength. See my
earlier post on reverses if you are unclear on that concept.
Opener: 1 spade
Responder: 2 hearts
Opener: 2 NT (13-15 points).
This is a minimum rebid in NT. It shows a minimum strength opener.
Opener: 1 spade
Responder: 2 hearts
Opener: 3 NT (16-18 points).
Responder's 2-over-1 response promises 10 points, so opener can confidently bid game. This is not a shut-off bid. Responder could be much stronger than 10. His bid has a wide range. He should investigate slam if his points added to opener's possible 18 could add up to 33.
Raises of Partner's Suit
Direct raises of the opener's suit should be well-known to you by now. A single raise shows 6-9 points. A double raise shows 10-12 points.
When the opener supports her partner's suit, it shows a specific point range, also. A minimum raise shows a minimum hand (13-15 points). A jump raise shows 16-18. An immediate raise to 4 shows 19+.
This last bid merits further discussion. Consider this sequence:
Opener: 1 club (13-21 points)
Responder: 1 spade (6-17 points)
Opener: 4 spades
For all that the opener knows, her partner might have just 6 points. She just jumped to game. She would like to have 20 points to do that. I wouldn't blame her for just jumping to 3 with 19, but 19 and some reason to be optimistic is enough to jump to game.
Now, consider the responder's rebid. He might have far more than 6 points, and his partner has just jumped to game based only on his promise of at least 6. Responder does the math and expects his partner to have 20 points. If responder has 12 or more points, he should consider a slam try.
Rebids of Your Own Suit
The same ideas apply when you rebid your own suit. Minimum rebids show minimum hands. Jump rebids show 3-6 points more than a minimum hand. Here are some examples:
Opener: 1 heart
Responder: 1 spade
Opener: 2 hearts (13-15 points)
Opener: 1 heart
Responder: 1 spade
Opener: 3 hearts (16-18 points)
It's a little bit different for the responder. In the sequences above, the opener was forced to rebid. The responder can pass his rebid, so any bid shows a little bit more than a minimum. Consider this sequence:
Opener: 1 club
Responder: 1 heart (6-18)
Opener: 1 spade (13-19 with 20+ she would jump shift)
Responder: ?
With a mere 6 points, if partner wants to rebid hearts, it's too bad. He needs more strength to advance the bidding. He can bid 1NT or pass. With something like 5 clubs and 3 spades, he can take his partner back to clubs, but those are about all of his options.
With a 5-card heart suit and 10-12 points, he can rebid his hearts. If he has 13+ points and 5 hearts, he can make a single jump to 3 hearts. This bid doesn't limit his hand too much, but jumps by responder at this point in the bidding are forcing to game.
Summary
- Bidding a suit for the first time generally doesn't limit your hand strength to a narrow range.
- Bidding a suit that has already been mentioned by your side generally does.
- Bidding no trump at any point in the auction usually limits your strength to a narrow range.
