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Theory

Beginner and above

Opening in first or second seat


This should be seen as the ‘normal’ situation.


Partner has not yet had the opportunity to bid - he may well hold hidden treasures either in the form of high card points or in the form of shape.

What he needs is an honest description of your hand - and so that is what you set out to give, usually in two bids.


When we come to opening in third seat the situation will be different - partner will be known to be limited (having passed) and you will have the opportunity to make life difficult for your opponents - but for the moment set out with your usual aim of describing the shape and the strength of your hand as accurately as possible.


Target audience


I am trying to cater for two different categories of reader on this page, hence the two sets of links below.


Following the links there are a number of general considerations which are relevant to both parts of the target audience.


Strength


My main emphasis when choosing an opening bid relates more to the shape of the hand than to the strength as measured in high card points.  However, it would be remiss of me not to start off with some sort of indication of the strength required when opening one of a suit in first or second seat.  This minimum requirement is both a matter of partnership agreement and of the regulations governing the particular context in which you are playing.

There is a short consideration of the regulations on the page ‘rules of 18, 19, and 20’.

Most of this site is written in the context of ‘the rule of 19’, slightly modified according to the box below.  Such an agreement is a sound starting point, and will keep you legal in most contexts.

If you have a fair idea of what you want to open on a particular hand but you would just like to read around it a bit and perhaps see some of the alternative possibilities available then follow these links to the opening bid in question.


Opening one of a suit


Opening two of a suit


Opening three of a suit


Opening four of a suit


Opening five of a suit


Opening a weak 2NT


Opening 3NT


Opening 4NT

If, on the other hand, you are far from certain as to what you should do then start by looking at the shape as defined by the length of the two longest suits and follow the links below, irrespective of the strength of the hand.

These links will lead you to the same places eventually, but with just a little more guidance along the way.


Note that these links assume my recommended starter system, which is based around weak twos in three suits and one strong artificial opening bid of 2♣.  Various alternative possibilities will come to light as you follow the links through.


Single-suited


Single-suited hands will feature a suit of at least six-cards with no secondary five-card suit.


Two-suited


Two-suited hands will be at least 5-5 in two suits.


Three-suited


Mainly the 4-4-4-1 shape, although you may wish to include 5-4-4-0 shape as well.


5-4 shape


Any other unbalanced hand will have 5-4 shape - usually 5-4-3-1 but it also includes those 5-4-2-2 hands which you have decided to treat as unbalanced.


5-3-3-2 shape


This hand shape was discussed at some length earlier in the context of balanced hands.

Usually you will open it as a balanced hand but you may agree to treat some hands in this category as single-suited.


General consideration


You may wish to reassess the strength of your hand in the light of strong or weak features.

If so, look at the page on fine-tuning the strength.


Planning your rebid


An important principle is that when you open one of a suit in first or second seat then you are promising to bid again if partner makes a change of suit response.  In this way both you and your partner will be guaranteed the opportunity to make two bids, thereby making it possible to show a wide variety of hand-types and strengths.


Your primary aim should be to show the shape of your hand with these two bids.

A secondary aim is to give some indication of the strength of the hand.


You will note as you follow the links that every recommended opening bid of one of a suit is accompanied by a suggestion for the intended rebid over a simple change of suit response.  It is important to develop this way of thinking as you plan your bidding.


If by any chance you cannot find a suitable rebid over a change of suit response then your choice of opening bid was incorrect.


The principle that

‘whatever you choose to open you should have a suitable rebid in mind facing partner’s lowest level change of suit’

overrides all other considerations in determining your best opening bid.

Beginner and above

This page last revised 31st Aug 2018

How strong should I be to open one of a suit in first or second seat?

A minimum ‘rule of nineteen’ provided that most of my points are in my long suits.

For a 5-4-2-2 shape there should be eleven points concentrated in the long suits (rule of twenty) together with an honest rebid.

For a 4-4-4-1 shape the hand should contain at least thirteen HCP.

Question

My guideline

Exceptions

Post-beginner and above

Context  -  Opening unbalanced hands.