M J Bridge

Responders rebid

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Partner rebid in a new lower-ranking suit


Let me start by recapping what we already know about the deal.

Partner has at least five cards in his first suit, at least four cards in his second suit, and something like eleven to eighteen points.


You have shown a strictly limited range, typically six to nine points (or ten according to partnership agreement), and you have denied as many as four cards in any major which might have been bid at the one-level.

5

7 6 3 2

K Q 6 2

J 5 4 3

You have a clear preference in a minimum hand.

Pass.

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?





5 3

7 6 3 2

K Q 6 2

J 5 4

Prefer the 5-2 fit to the 4-3 fit, even on this minimum hand.

There is also a good chance that the spade contract will score better.

Bid 2.

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?






Very occasionally such a bid at the two-level might be the best action on a five-card suit, but this will be the exception.  The assumption should be that it is six-card.

4

7 6 5 4 2

K Q 6 3 2

Q 3

OK - so I might just let you bid 2 or 2 on this one, but don’t think I’m happy about it.

Some would recommend 2.

Alternatively make a first response of 2 planning to rebid 3, but partner will expect more, and I doubt if you will allow him to stop at that point.

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?





Preference


All of which brings me back to your most common action of returning to partner’s first suit.

The following assumes that you have chosen not to make one of the (comparatively rare) bids above.


With no better bid available you will ‘correct’ to partner’s first suit.


Note that even with two cards in partner’s first suit and three in his second a simple preference will be the correct action - the 5-2 fit is likely to play better than 4-3, and might well score better as well.

Such a bid is known as ‘mere preference’ and promises no additional strength.


Raise to three of partner’s second suit


A raise to three of partner’s second suit will suggest four-card support with a good seven to nine points.

4

7 6 2

K Q 6 5 3 2

Q 5 3

Bid 2.

Having already limited your hand this is no more than a choice of final contract based on a six-card suit.

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?





4

6 4

K Q 9 7 6 3 2

J 7 3

Perhaps you should have bid 2 first time?

But 3 now describes the hand perfectly, and is likely to be the best contract.

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?





New suit which could not have been bid at the one-level


Once in a while you may be able to escape into a long suit which you were not strong enough to show on your first response.

Such a suit should be at least six-card at the two-level and will usually be seven-card at the three-level.


This bid is always weak and non-forcing, and denies as many as three cards in opener’s first suit.

Post-beginner and above

5

7 6 3 2

K Q 6 2

Q J 5 4

Bid 3.

You have already limited your hand, and so this bid must show a maximum (say eight or nine points) and at least four clubs.


LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?





Post intermediate and above

The impossible major


There is one rather obscure possibility, and that is that you rebid in a new suit in which you cannot possibly hold four cards as you failed to bid it when you had the opportunity at the one-level.


Such a bid is clearly forcing and must promise a maximum holding.


It can be given any meaning which you choose to agree.


The suggestion is that it should show a maximum raise of partner’s second suit - even stronger than a simple raise to the three-level.

You might be quite hard-pressed to come up with such a hand, but typically it would show at least four-card support, nine points, some good reason for not responding in that suit at the first opportunity, and almost certainly a void or singleton somewhere.


When partner’s first suit is spades a rebid of 2NT by you (in a hand already limited by the initial 1NT response) can be used in the same way.

Beginner and above

Opener’s rebid

This page last revised 19th Jan 2020

Context  -  Responder’s rebid - partner opened one major - you responded 1NT - natural methods.

T 8 3

4 3

K 6 5

A 9 6 4 2

Partner has shown at least five hearts and four diamonds with anything from about eleven to eighteen points.

You have shown six (five) to nine points with no available suit response.

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2








A number of principles follow immediately from these observations:-


i)   nothing you do now, including a bid of 2NT or a bid at the three-level, will suggest that you have ten (eleven) or more points;

ii)  nothing you do now will suggest that you hold four or more cards in a suit which you could have bid at the one-level (this includes a bid in such a suit);

iii)  if you now choose to pass with seven or more points there is a possibility that a game may be missed facing partner’s maximum holding of about eighteen.


By far your most common action will be to ‘show preference’ to partner’s first suit by reverting to his suit at the two-level, but first I shall look at the alternatives.


Pass


This should be a rare bid.

It will only be made on a seriously minimum hand, say six (five even) or a poor seven, and with a clear preference for partner’s second suit.

Typically you will hold a singleton in partner’s first suit and at least three cards in his second suit.

The old guideline - that you will pass only with six or a miserable seven points, and even then you should hold at least two more cards in the second suit than in the first suit - remains an excellent rule of thumb.

Post-beginner and above


False preference


At the top end of your range (eight or nine points say) this simple preference will frequently be the correct action even when the fit in the second suit is clearly superior.


Such a bid is known as ‘false preference’.


You would make such a bid when it is the only way to keep the action alive and there is the possibility that partner is hoping to bid again with seventeen or eighteen points.


At worst, a five-one fit will frequently lead to a playable contract, and even facing a minimum opener there is a fair chance of scoring as well as in a minor suit part-score.


This stratagem won’t always lead to your best part-score in pairs scoring, but at teams or rubber scoring it is essential as you ensure that you won’t miss any makeable game contracts.

7

Q 6 3 2

K Q 6 4 2

Q 5 4

With nine points you must strive to keep the bidding open.

Make a ‘false preference’ bid of 2.

(Note that 2 would promise a six-card suit in a minimum hand.)

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?






Of course, partner won’t know if the preference is real or false.


That doesn’t matter.

If partner has no more than a basic opener then he will pass and your extra points will usually prove sufficient for him to scrape through.


If by any chance he holds seventeen or eighteen then he will make a further bid.


Typically he will:-


raise his first suit with six cards;

rebid his second suit with 5-5 shape;

bid 2NT with 5-4-2-2 shape (balanced within the context of the 5-4 shape already shown);

and bid a three-card suit with 5-4-3-1 shape (forcing for one-round),


following which you should be able to choose the optimum final contract.

Intermediate and above

Three of partner’s first suit


If we can raise partner’s second suit to the three-level with support and a maximum it would seem logical that we should also be able jump to three of partner’s first suit with three-card support and a maximum.


There is nothing wrong with this line of thinking, but the truth of the matter is that most partnerships will not add this twist.

It is worth pointing out that raising partner’s second suit may be the only honest way of keeping the auction open, whereas a return to the first suit at the two-level achieves the same aim.


I shall look a little deeper into the matter in the following, but if your return to partner’s first suit is always at the two-level it will be rare in the extreme that you will miss a game contract.


Three cards in partner’s first suit


However, if your choice is to retain the option of jumping to three of partner’s first suit then your strategy should take into account your agreed policy relating to an immediate raise of partner’s opening one of a major to the two-level.


Your agreement is that you can raise on three-card support


If you are happy to raise partner to the two-level at your first opportunity with just three-card support (as is the more modern approach) then it will be unlikely that you will hold as many as three cards in partner’s first suit for the sequence presently under discussion.

It is of course not impossible, but there will be some reason why you preferred 1NT at your first opportunity - the most likely reason being that you hold a 4-3-3-3 hand (and lacking a four-card spade suit over a one heart opener).


Clearly such a hand is not an offensive holding and you may well be reluctant to over-encourage.

I haven’t come across the following thought elsewhere, but it seems to me that you might agree to jump in partner’s first suit with precisely nine points in a 4-3-3-3 shape.


It should at least make it relatively easy for partner when he holds exactly sixteen points, and it may well lead to a good 3NT contract when holding a 5-3 major suit fit but with no ruffing potential in the short hand.

7 6 5

J 3 2

K Q 2

Q J 5 4

Bid 3 if you have adopted the distinction above.

This bid shows precisely nine points with three-card support in a flat hand.

However, you will not be alone if you bid 2 promising up to nine points.

LHO

Pard

RHO

You


1

-

1NT

-

2

-

?






Your agreement is that you must have four-card support


In this rather dated method it is quite likely that you will still hold three-card support for partner.

With this thought in mind there is much to be said for letting partner know the good news if you happen to hold a maximum hand with three-card support.


This time my suggestion differs significantly from the one above.

Jump in partner’s first suit with eight or nine points and three-card support in an unbalanced hand (thereby having some offensive potential).


A simple return to two of partner’s first suit may of course have less than three-card support, or may be minimum with three cards, but the auction will still be open for partner to bid again with a maximum.


But, I must repeat -


many partnerships will not include such a bid in their repertoire, and some of the thoughts above are my own and have not been tested in serious competition.