Responding to major suit openings

All About Responding

When your partner opens the bidding you already have a pretty good idea of whether the partnership belongs in part score, game, or maybe even slam on the hand. You can also make some initial assessments about fit - being always on the lookout for that magic eight card major suit fit that determines your trump suit early on. You will be able to try out your judgement skills with the practice hands in the next few steps, where we will explore the initial bids that you should make with various types of hands in response to your partner’s opening bids.

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All About Responding

How high should you aim when your partner has opened the bidding? Do you have fit with partner’s suit? Watch this video and find out how to take an initial view on both questions.

Question 1/6

Penelope has opened 1♠. Based on what he knows so far, should Walter think of his hand as:

Explanaton: When your partner bids a suit at the one level, you should assume that they have around 12 to 14 points. They may have more, and they will let you know with their next bid if that’s the case. So adding his eight points to Penelope’s maximum of 14, Walter still can’t see 25 between them. On current information, they definitely don’t have enough for game, so his hand is weak.

Looking at that same situation, does Walter have fit with Penelope’s suit?

Penelope has opened one spade. In our five card majors system, this promises at least five spades. Walter has three spades in his hand, so they have an eight card fit between them. As they have found a major suit fit, this is the suit they will want to be trumps.

Here, Penelope has opened 1♦. First question - how should Walter assess the strength of his hand?

Again, assuming a typical range for a suit opening at the one level to be 12 to 14, Walter can see that if his partner’s hand is at the upper end of that range, they have the magic 25 points that means they should be in a game contract. But Penelope might well have only 12 or 13 points, in which case they don’t have enough. This means that Walter’s hand is invitational. He wants to invite his partner to go to game if they have more than the minimum.

Looking at the same situation, does Walter have fit with his partner’s suit?

An opening bid of 1♦ promises a minimum of four cards in the suit, and Walter also has four, so they do have an eight card fit. However, this is in a minor suit, so they are going to want to explore their options in major suits or NT because game in the minors is tougher to make and lower scoring.

This time, Penelope has opened 1♣. How should Walter think of his hand in terms of strength?

Walter has 14 points - a hand that would have been strong enough to open the bidding. He knows that the partnership has enough points for game because they have a minimum of 26 between them. He will bear this in mind as the bidding progresses, making sure that they don’t stop bidding below the level of game.

Does Walter have a fit with Penelope’s suit?

Penelope has opened 1♣. She might have a great club suit, but she might have a balanced hand with no other bid available and as few as two clubs (four cards each in hearts and spades, three diamonds and two clubs). Even if he had five cards in clubs this wouldn’t guarantee an eight card fit. Luckily, as clubs is a minor suit, we are less concerned with finding a fit early in the bidding, so this isn’t a problem.

There are no practice hands here, as it is just an introductory step. There will be hands for you to try in the next two steps, where you can practice responding to partner’s opening bid both with and without fit.