Responder's second bid

Responder’s Second Bid after Forcing Rebids

You have seen in the video about opener’s second bid that some rebids are forcing. In this step, we look at this situation from the other side of the table, and discover how to give your partner the most helpful information you can. Once you have completed this module, you are equipped with the fundamentals of all auctions, and are ready to add a few more advanced bits of system to your toolkit.

Try some hands

Hand 1

After your partner shows a big hand, you need to decide the best bid. You should make sure you play your club suit correctly to collect as many tricks as possible!

Hand 2

Your partner shows a big hand and you’re a little stronger than they might expect. How are you going to take advantage of all of these points? And can you figure out the best way to play the diamond suit?

Hand 3

After your partner shows their second suit, you have to try and find the best bid to show your hand. But will you be able to take full advantage of your long club suit?

Hand 4

Your partner reverses again, and this time you have support. How will you show it? And when the contract looks to be in danger, can you find the best way to play the heart suit?

Back

Responder’s second bid after forcing rebids.

Question 1/9

Penelope has opened 1♦ and then jumped to 3♣ after Walter’s 1♠ response. What should Walter bid now?

By jumping to 3♣ when she had a 2♣ bid available to show clubs as her second suit, Penelope is promising 18+ points and forcing to game. All jump rebids in a new suit by opener are game forcing. As she has opened with a suit bid and then rebid another suit, she must have an unbalanced hand (if she had 4 diamonds and 4 clubs in a balanced hand she would rebid 2NT) so she has 5+ diamonds and 4+ clubs.

Walter can see that with his four nice clubs, that is the better trump suit, so he wants to raise clubs. The way to show a minimum hand in a game forced auction is to go straight to game, so he should bid 5♣.

3NT could be very unwise, as there is no indication that Penelope has a heart stop (at least 9 of her cards are in the minor suits) and Walter does not have one either, so 5♣ looks like the safer game.

This is the same start to the auction, but this time Walter has a better hand - 11 points. What should he bid here?

Walter has 11 points this time. Added to Penelope's minimum of 18, that may give them enough combined strength for slam. Bidding 5♣ (going straight to game in a game forced auction) would show a minimum hand, and he is definitely too good for that, so he can show a better hand that wants to play in clubs by bidding 4♣ instead.

Again, the same start, but Walter has another different hand. What do you think is his best bid now?

Walter wants to convey that his hand is minimum, so going straight to game will do that. He does have three diamonds, and so he could bid 5♦ but he also has a heart stop, and making 9 tricks in NT should be easier than making 11 in diamonds. Repeating his spades would show 6+, so 3NT seems like the best option. 5♦ is not wrong, just sub-optimum, so give yourself half a point if you went for that option.

A new auction now. Penelope has opened 1♠ and then jumped to 3♦ after Walter’s 1NT response. What should Walter bid now?

Walter didn't have quite enough to make a 2 over 1 response in hearts but he does have a nice hand opposite Penelope's minimum 18 points. With 6 good hearts, he will want to play in the major suit game if Penelope has two hearts (she might even have three if she has a 5,4,3,1 shape). By bidding 3♥, rather than going straight to game, Walter shows a non-minimum hand and keeps the discussion open.

Penelope has opened 1♥ this time, then made a game-forcing jump to 3♦. Walter can see quite a lot of points between them now! What should he bid?

Walter chose to show his nice spade suit initially, rather than raise hearts straight away. Once he knows that his partner has 18+ points, he is very interested in the possibility of a slam in hearts. By bidding 3♥, choosing hearts but not going straight to game, he shows a better hand and agrees the trump suit at the same time

Penelope’s 2♥ rebid is a reverse (Walter would have to go to the 3 level to show preference for her first suit) and this is forcing for one round. What should Walter bid now?

Penelope's reverse into hearts promises an unbalanced hand as well as 16+ points. She must have at least 5 clubs and 4 hearts to bid this way. Sadly, Walter does not have fit with either suit but he does have that nice diamond suit of his own to show. Bidding 3♦ right away would show a non-minimum hand, because Walter has the option, after a reverse, to make a runout bid of 2NT, asking his partner to bid 3♣. Because he has a minimum hand, this is what Walter should do, planning to bid 3♦ over partner's 3♣ bid, and thereby showing a minimum hand with long diamonds.

Same start to the auction, and Walter’s hand is the same shape, but quite a lot stronger. What should he bid this time?

When Walter bids 3♦ Penelope will know that he has a non-minimum hand because he did not start with the runout bid of 2NT, so there is no need for him to jump to 4♦. This bid can have two meanings from Penelope's side of the table: Either Walter has diamonds or he is making a fourth suit forcing bid, asking her to describe her hand further, so Walter may need to bid diamonds again to convince her that he has them!

Same start again, but this time Walter has fit with Penelope’s second suit. What should he bid?

Walter has responded with his five card spade suit initially, but he is happy to hear Penelope show hearts as her second suit. He wants to let her know that they should play in hearts, but he also wants to show that his hand is minimum. By bidding 2NT first, then raising hearts after Penelope bids 3♣, he can show his weak hand with fit. Raising hearts straight away would show a better hand.

How about this time, where he has a better hand?

This time, with both heart fit and 10 points opposite his partner's minimum 16, Walter knows that they have enough for game. By bidding 3♥ directly, rather than via the 2NT-3♣ sequence, he shows a better hand as well as settling the trump suit question.

The links will take you to the Bridge Training website, where you can have a go at bidding some hands to practice your rebids. 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.