Responding to minor suit openings

Responding to Minor Suit Openings with 4+ Cards in a Major

When your partner opens one club or one diamond your priorities are quite different from when they open with a major suit. In these situations, if you have a major suit of four or more cards, it’s important to show that, rather than focus on the minor suit, even if you have a fit in the minor. Watch the video to find out why, then try the quiz and the practice hands to see how much you remember.

Try some hands

Hand 1

Once you have chosen the best response to your partner’s opening bid, they will raise your suit, so you know that this should be your trump suit. As your partner raising by one level puts them at 12-14 points, think about your combined point count and decide whether to raise to game or stop in part score. In the play, see if you can discard a club loser before quickly before losing the lead.

Hand 2

Your response to the opening bid will again elicit a raise of your suit from partner. You can use this information to decide whether to bid game, or pass on your next bid and play in a part score.

Hand 3

Again, partner will raise the suit in which you respond and you can decide whether to bid game or play in part score. A useful long suit in dummy will allow you to get rid of some losers.

Hand 4

Same again here. Make sure you choose the right response and then how to continue from there. You will be surprised at how many tricks you can make!

Back

Responding to Minor Suit Openings with 4+ cards in a Major

The fruit, and their hypothetical opponents, the vegetables, will outline this principle for you.

Question 1/4

Penelope has opened 1♦ and Walter has lovely diamond support in his invitational hand. How should he respond?

Because Penelope might well have four hearts in her hand (she can’t open 1♥ unless she has five), Walter should start by showing his major suit so that the partnership has the best chance of finding the major suit fit if it is there.

Here, Penelope has opened 1♣. Walter loves his club suit! What should he bid?

I hope you didn’t fall into the trap we set by making the club suit so good and the spades quite poor! The principle still holds: When partner opens a minor, you should show a major suit of four or more cards if you have one, even if it doesn’t contain any high cards. Walter should show his spade suit. If Penelope also has four spades, she will be delighted to see this bid.

On this hand, Penelope has opened 1♦ and Walter has two four card majors. Which one should he bid?

With two four card the majors, you should always bid the lower-ranking suit, hearts, first. Think ‘four on the floor’ to help you remember. So even though his spades are much stronger, Walter should respond 1♥.

Penelope has opened 1♣ and again, Walter has two major suits in his hand. Which one should he bid this time?

With two five card majors, we do the same as if we had this shape as an opening bidder - we bid the higher-ranking one first. Think ‘high fives’ to help you remember. You don’t need to worry about why we do this, but it makes the subsequent bidding easier.

The links will take you to the Bridge Training website, where you can have a go at choosing the best response to your partner’s opening bid. Because there are aspects of bidding that you have not yet covered, we have given you some notes on each hand that will tell you what to do if you have to make more than one bid. You will then be able to play the hands and see if you can make your contract. Have as many goes as you like if you don’t succeed the first time.