10. Responding To Minor Openings¶
If using this chapter as a reference, be sure you’ve read Notation and Nomenclature and review Classifying Your Hand to classify your hand as weak, competitive, invitational, game-going, or slam interest.
The Problem With Minor Auctions¶
Opening a minor and opening a major lead to very different auctions. If you open a major and partner has a fit for your suit, we’re going to play in that major. If you open a minor, our priority is still finding a major fit, and failing that, to play in notrump; we play in our minor suit only when that is the only feasible thing, or if we have a minor slam.
So minor auctions have problems:
Over 1♣︎, there is no immediate game-forcing bid at all. Over 1♦︎, 2♣︎ is the only new suit we can bid at the two level without jumping, so it is our only 2/1 game-forcing bid.
We don’t want to raise partner’s minor, even if we can, if instead we can show a major. Over 1♣︎, we usually skip over 1♦︎ to show a four-card major unless the major is very bad and the diamonds are good.
We want to play 3N as our game if it will make, only going past it in the minor if we have to or think we can make 6m or we have a clear flaw for 3N.
When we do have a minor fit, we need to exchange a lot of information if we are trying for 3N, and there isn’t a lot of room.
To raise our partner needs 5 (or more) cards in the minor, because opener might have only three. With four good diamonds you can raise if that’s the best choice, since 95% of the time opener has at least four of them.
Rules For Choosing Your Response
Choose your suit by length first, not strength:
Choosing between suits of unequal length, you choose the longer. Possible exception, see Walsh when partner has opened 1♣︎.
Choosing between 5 (or more)-card suits of equal length you choose the higher-ranked suit.
Between two four-card suits choose the lowest-ranked suit.
Responding As An Unpassed Hand With No Interference¶
Responding With A Weak Hand¶
With a weak hand just pass. With 5 (or more) of partner’s suit, however, you can bid 3m! (preemptive raise) with 0-6 HCP.
Responding With A Competitive Hand¶
If you have 6 to 10- points, you have to bid something. Your partner could have as many as 21 points, so a game is not ruled out.
You have to stay at the one-level. Bid your longest suit, or if you don’t have one you can bid at the one-level, bid 1N. The 1N response shows 6-10 HCP. It is natural and not forcing (unlike the forcing 1N over a major), and does not promise a balanced hand. For opener’s rebids, see The Auction 1m – 1N.
Example:
♠Q654
♥754
♦8
♣KQJ42
Partner opens 1♦. You have a competitive hand with 8 HCP. You’d like to bid 2♣, but that’s out. So you look for the longest suit among the ones that can be bid at the one level. That’s spades, so you reply 1♠.
Now change the hand to:
♠Q543
♥8754
♦8
♣KQJ4
Now you have two four-card suits you can bid at the one-level, so you choose the cheapest, hearts. Even though your hearts are worse than your spades, you bid 1♥. Maybe partner can bid spades next.
Finally, let’s suppose the hand is changed again and partner opens 1♦:
♠Q54
♥875
♦84
♣KQJ42
Now you cannot bid clubs (need to be game-forcing for that) and you don’t have a four-card suit to bid, so you bid 1N.
Responding With An Invitational Hand¶
With 10 to a bad 12 (10-12-), we have an invitational hand. Over a minor we are usually aiming for 3N rather than 5m, so we may need solid values for 3N. That is why a bad 12 is still only invitational.
Our primary goal is to show a major if we have one, and lacking that to raise if we can:
Bid 1M if you have a 4 (or more)-card major.
Raise to 2m! (Inverted Minors) if you have a fit.
Over 1♦, with 6 (or more) clubs, you can bid 1♦ – 3♣ (see Two Over One: 1♦ – 2♣).
Otherwise, bid 2N to show 11 or 12 with no four-card major. With exactly 10 points you can treat the hand as a competitive hand and bid 1N.
Inverted Minors
The Inverted Minors convention we are using simply makes a single raise a better hand than a double raise. 1m – 2m! requires 10+ points, and denies a four-card major. The 1m – 3m! raise is preemptive, so we have “inverted” the 2m and 3m bids to make the 2m the stronger, leaving more room to check on stoppers.
The inverted raise is unlimited: it covers both invitational and game-forcing hands with a fit. It is forcing for one round and must be alerted. Technically the alert should say “10+ HCP” but often players say just “Inverted”.
After the raise, the partners bid stoppers up-the-line; see Showing Stoppers.
Opener cannot bid past 3m with a minimum, since responder has only promised 10 points.
The first party that knows we have stoppers in the other three suits bids 2N, or a responder with a game-forcing hand can go directly to 3N. “He who knows, goes”, as Marty Bergen says. If 3N or 6m is not possible we will head for 5m. Stopping in 4m is possible, when responder shows a stopper past 3m and opener doesn’t have the last one, but if 3N makes expect a score of 0%.
Looking For Slam¶
Bidding minor slams is awkward. Until you have agreed on a suit, 4N is not Blackwood (an Ace-asking bid). Jumping to five of the minor is not inviting to slam, it is just shutting down with a distributional hand. All you can do is bid as if you seek only game, and then keep going if you’re positive a slam is likely. Going past 3N is crossing the Rubicon.
For the same reason, 1m – 4m is a slam try, not a preempt or a game invitation: we bid it only when we are seriously interested in 6m. See Slam Bidding. This holds in all cases where the 4m bid is a double-jump.
In most cases if the slam is not clear-cut most of the field is not going to know how to get there so there is less pressure to bid it.
Walsh Style over 1♣︎¶
Over 1♣︎, bypassing a diamond suit to show a major with less than game-forcing values is a style of bidding called Walsh. This book recommends this style.
♠T4
♥Q876
♦KQ762
♣97
Partner opens 1♣. You bid 1♥. (If you had four spades as well, you’d still bid hearts, up the line.) The problem is that you can’t bid 1♦ and then try to show hearts later; that would be a responder reverse and show a game-forcing hand.
You have plenty of time in a game-forcing auction to mention your major. As a consequence, if we do bid a diamond over a club, and later bid a major, it is game-forcing.
Responding With A Game-Forcing Hand¶
With a balanced, game-forcing hand of 13+ points, and stoppers in the other suits, lacking a four-card major or the ability to raise opener, bid 3N.
We use the same rules as for an invitational hand, except:
1♦ – 2♣ is now available as a game-forcing bid if we have five clubs; and
1m – 3N is bid rather than 1m – 2N.
Since bidding a new suit or 2♣ is forcing, you’ll always get another turn to show your game-forcing strength, using the checkback tools if needed to force again.
Two Over One: 1♦ – 2♣¶
As an unpassed hand and without interference, 1♦ – 2♣ is forcing to game and promises 13+ HCP and 5 (or more) clubs. Opener can bid 2M without it being a reverse.
One variant of 2/1, not recommended here, is to play that bidding 1♦ – 2♣ and then repeating 3♣ on the next round cancels the game force. That kind of loses the 2/1 spirit, in my opinion.
If you cannot get to 3N you may need to stop in 4m or 5m; 5m has to usually include around 29 points.
If we have 6 (or more) clubs and invitational values we can bid 1♦ – 3♣. The opener can force to game but should not bid 3♦ to try to improve the part-score.
The 1♦ – 3♣ bid being invitational rather than weak is a consequence of 1♦ – 2♣ being a game force.
Other jump shifts by an unpassed hand are weak. For example, 1♣ – 2♠! (preemptive). See All About Jump Shifts.
Opener’s Rebid¶
Opener’s second bid is called his rebid. Choosing it depends on what responder did. It is opener’s turn to classify his hand (after revaluing it considering partner’s response):
up to 14 is a “minimum” hand; we don’t have a game if partner has less than invitational values.
15 – 17 is game try territory. We might have a game. More about that later. But note that opener must be unbalanced or they would have opened 1N.
18 – 19 is almost enough for game even if responder has a minimum.
20-21 is game forcing. We might even be in a slam hunt.
Minor openings often lead to the following scenario: responder bids a major, and opener rebids 1N or a third suit. Responder has promised four cards in his major, but he might have five, and opener might have three-card support; or there might be a four-four fit in the other major. Finding out if we have a major fit is our most important goal.
Responder’s conventional second bids that ask about opener’s major holdings are called checkback bids. The two basic ones are Fourth Suit Forcing when opener has rebid a new suit, and New Minor Forcing when opener has rebid 1N or 2N. Those are detailed in the next chapter, Basic Checkback. To make those bids responder will have to be invitational or better.
The Auction 1m – 1M
If responder has bid a major M, and opener has four in that major, he will raise. Responder has an unlimited hand; all we know is that he has six or more points. So opener can raise to 2M at least, and 4M if he has 18/19+ points (because 19 + 6 are 25). The 3M bid says, partner, if you’ve got something more than six, say nine, take us to game or start looking for slam if appropriate. Opener has a good 15 to 17/18 points.
With an unbalanced hand that does not have four of partner’s major, opener should bid 1♠ over 1♥ with four spades, bid an unbid suit, or rebid his opening suit. The unbid suit might not be possible if it is a reverse and opener does not have sufficient strength. For example:
♠92
♥87
♦AKT7
♣KQJT4
After 1♣ – 1M, opener cannot bid 2♦ lacking the 17+ points a reverse would require. So he bids 2♣, knowing partner will usually expect six clubs or more. This is why some choose to open such a hand 1♦, and then rebid 2♣.
If responder has bid a major and we have three of them and either a singleton or no other good bid, we can raise. Mike Lawrence gives this example:
♠ 52
♥ QJ9
♦ AJ763
♣ KQ4
After 1♦ – 1♥, he recommends 2♥. “If you bid 1N expect a spade lead and your goose may be well done,” Lawrence says. “That diamond suit does not merit a rebid.”
Once opener has made a three-card raise, which responder thinks is a four-card raise, opener can bid NT at his next bid, if he gets one, to show this. Playing in a 4-3 fit is not the end of the world.
So, to sum up, with an unbalanced hand, after 1m – 1M the priorities are:
Raise partner;
Bid 1♠, forcing unless partner is a passed hand;
Bid a second suit of four cards or longer; or,
Rebid your suit if you don’t have the strength for that;
Jump-rebid your suit with 15-17 points
Jump-shift with 18-19+. (Jump-shifts by opener are never weak). Game forcing.
With a balanced hand, opener will rebid 1N with a minimum if he cannot raise or bid 1♠. He doesn’t make a three-card raise, because if responder has invitational or better values and really does have five cards in M, he will checkback with New Minor Forcing. NMF also works after the 2N rebid.
Important
If opener rebids 1N he promises a balanced hand. Never rebid 1N with a singleton or void.
This rule, which I jokingly call the Prime Directive, is so important because of the conclusions partner can draw. For example, suppose responder has six hearts and hears opener rebid 1N. Responder now knows he has an 8- or 9-card heart fit. An opener who is 4=1=4=4 is going to be shocked to hear a 4♥ bid.
The priorities therefore are:
Raise partner;
Bid 1♠, forcing if unbalanced;
Bid 1N with a balanced minimum hand (12-14 HCP);
Bid 2N with a balanced 18-19 HCP. This is not forcing. It does not deny any major you may skip over:
1♦ – 1♥ – 2N does not deny having four spades
1♦ – 1♠ – 2N does not deny having four hearts
Note: Opener rebidding 2N always shows this strength of 18-19, including the auction 1m – 1N – 2N. Of course, we are denying a fit if responder bid a major, but we’re not denying four in the other major.
Bid 3N with a balanced 20-21 points.
Note
The system we use after opening a notrump does not apply after we rebid 1N and likewise the system after we *open* 2N does not apply after a 2N rebid. Those systems only apply when we open or overcall in notrump.
Bypass 1♠?
Is it ever ok to rebid 1N rather than 1♠, if your hand is balanced? Experts sometimes do. Gavin Wolpert gives two cases where he would. First, he’s 4=3=3=3. Second, he has a hand that is say 4=2=3=4, with say ♦AQJ. After 1♣ – 1♥ he bids 1N thinking that if he bids 1♠, partner won’t be able to bid 1N with no diamond stopper. In both cases, Gavin says he is willing to lose the spade suit when his partner is not strong enough to check back, in order to get to a 1N contract when it is right.
The downside is that the responder with four spades will never believe we have a fit. Your partner, like one of my partners, may say they never want this to happen.
The Auction 1♣ – 1♦ – 1N
This auction is special because opener should bid 1N even though they have a four-card major. The reason is that if responder bids a major now, it is game forcing. With a less-than-game-forcing hand, responder would have skipped over 1♦ to bid the major. Remember Walsh?
So we’re basically done unless responder has an invitational or better hand. Responder can bid a suit preference to clubs, bid 2♦ with five of them, or pass; invite with 2N; or bid 3N as appropriate.
The Auctions 1m – 1M – 1N
Over a 1N rebid, responder’s natural second bid is not forcing. The auction:
1m – 1♠ – 1N – 2♥
is drop dead, one of the surprising exceptions to “a new suit is forcing by an unpassed hand”. Also drop dead are 1m – 1M – 1N – 2M. If responder bids 2♠ after 2♥, that’s just agreeing to play spades rather than hearts.
More of these kinds of auctions are discussed in New Minor Forcing.
The Auction 1♦ – 2♣ Game Forcing
Partner has made a game-forcing bid promising five clubs. We’re looking for 3N initially. Notice that responder will only have a four-card major if they have longer clubs. What follows is the scheme suggested by Gavin Wolpert. Opener’s rebids are:
2♦ shows 5+ diamonds, any strength. Does not deny a four-card major. If partner has one we will hear about it next and can raise it.
2♥ or 2♠ shows a 4-card major, denies five diamonds. Because we are in a game-forcing auction, this is not a reverse, so does not require extra strength.
3♣ shows 3+ clubs. This doesn’t settle the question of strain: we still wish we could find 3N rather than 5♣. Time to show stoppers.
3♦ shows 6+ diamonds, at most one loser in diamonds, and 16+ HCP.
3♥, 3♠ are splinter bids, with 4+ clubs.
2N is natural, balanced with 12-14 or 18-19 HCP.
Of course, all these are forcing to 3N or 4 of a minor.
Notes:
The only auction where 2♥ is unbalanced is when opener’s hand is 4=4=4=1.
Opener’s splinters show a nine-card fit but do not show extra values. This is also a general principle of 2/1 auctions. We will discuss more of these principles in the section on 2/1 auctions for a major.
Some may be more comfortable as opener bidding their four-card majors up the line, bidding 2♦ only if they don’t have a major and can’t support clubs. I think the concern with this is possibly losing a diamond fit. However, this auction is rare and possibly not worth a lot of extra memory work so this is ok.
The Auction 1m – 1N
After 1m – 1N, responder sometimes has a bad 6 HCP, so with 18-19 bid 2N rather than jumping to 3N. Otherwise, a reverse or jump-shift here is forcing for a round.
Showing Stoppers
When opener is unbalanced, the responder must make sure we get to game if we have the values. If we agree on a minor suit, the usual issue is, do we have stoppers for an NT contract. The same rules apply after an inverted raise:
With three unknown suits, bid stoppers up the line; each bid shows a stopper.
When there are two unbid suits, bidding one SHOWS a stopper and denies a stopper in the other; while bidding NT shows stoppers in both.
When there is only one suit left to worry about, a bid of that suit denies a stopper and asks partner.
For example:
1♣ – 2♣! (inverted)
2♠ – ?
2♠ denies a heart or a diamond stopper because we skipped over those suits. A bid of 2N now would promise both, and show an invitational hand.
1♦ – 2♦!
2♥ – 3♣
3♣ shows a club stopper and denies a spade stopper; opener can bid 3N to show he has the spade stopper, or 3♦ to show he doesn’t. Or, opener with extras could bid 4♦; any bid above 3♦ would be forcing because responder might have only 10 HCP. With a spade stopper and some slam interest, you can go past 3N and later bid notrump as the final contract, but you can’t bid 4N because that asks for keycards in diamonds in this example. Minor slams are just awkward without some advanced tools such as Minorwood.
Responding As A Passed Hand¶
Inverted Minors is on by a passed hand, so without interference a passed hand raises just as an unpassed hand does.
The change is 1♦ – 2♣. A passed hand can bid it with 10+ HCP and 5 (or more) clubs; it is not forcing. Lacking that, bid 1N.
As after a major, a new suit by a passed hand is not forcing; neither is the inverted 2m.
Responding After Interference¶
A minor is so easy to overcall, it happens a lot, so we must be prepared. When they double or overcall:
Inverted Minors is off. 2m is a simple raise, 6-10-, with 5 (or more) of partner’s minor, and a jump raise to 3m is preemptive.
A new suit at the one level is natural, 6 (or more) HCP, and forcing.
After A Takeout Double¶
If they double:
2N! becomes an artificial bid showing a limit raise or better (Jordan 2NT). Over a minor, it shows 4 (or more) of partner’s minor. Some partnerships prefer to agree on 5 (or more).
XX is a Going For Blood redouble, 10+ HCP.
Since strong hands start with a redouble, a new suit at the 2-level after the double is limited, 6-9 HCP, with 5 (or more) cards. It is not forcing.
After An Overcall¶
The limit raise or better is shown with a cue bid, a bid of their suit, such as 1♣ – (1♥) – 2♥. That has the same meaning as the inverted raise 1♣ – 2♣!.
At the three level, a cue bid is Western Cue, asking partner to bid 3N with a stopper in their suit. A Western Cue bid says, “We have the points for game, partner, but I do not have a stopper.” Partner likely has enough in the opener’s suit to believe it is a source of tricks.
Worst case is they have a nine-card fit in a major suit. Without two good stoppers 3N will be a very poor contract.
A non-jump new suit at the two level is natural and forcing, and shows at least 10 HCP; 1♦ – (overcall) – 2♣ shows 10+ HCP and 5 (or more) clubs.
We’ll learn the details about negative doubles later.
After A 1N Overcall¶
As after a major opening, the standard meaning of a double of a 1N overcall is penalty, and shows 10+ points; see Is That Penalty?. Otherwise, your normal defense to a 1N opener that you play is in effect.
After A Two-Suited Overcall¶
When the opponents make a two-suited overcall, such as a Michaels cue bid or an Unusual 2N, see General Defense to Two-Suited Bids.
Passed Hand And Interference¶
A passed hand with a limit raise or better uses the same bids as an unpassed hand: Jordan 2NT or the redouble after a double, and a cue bid after an overcall. You can make the Going For Blood redouble even if you are a passed hand because it only requires 10 HCP. A passed hand’s non-jump new suits are not forcing.
Summary of Responses To 1m¶
What’s My Limit Raise?¶
As over a major, in any situation there is one and only one bid that shows a limit raise (or better): the inverted raise 2m! without interference, whether or not you are a passed hand; Jordan 2NT after a takeout double; and a cue bid of their suit after an overcall.
Summary Tables¶
The summary tables for these responses are in Responses To 1m in the Summary Charts chapter.