As soon as the OPENER makes an opening bid in a SUIT, the partner becomes the RESPONDER. The responder immediately knows the opener's point count range and the minimum number of cards the opener's suit. The responder makes one of three types of bids:
• SUPPORT bid (agreement to play a contract in the opened suit)
Add distribution points
Jacoby 2NT response
• PROPOSE another suit
1-over-1 restrictioon
• PASS - Not enough points to make a response bid
Support Bid for the Opened Suit
The point count value of the supporting hand is likely higher than the point count value of the opening hand. The support hand can add distribution points to increase its point count value. These distribution points are Extra Trump Suit Points and Short Suit Points (voids / singletons / doubletons). This increased point count value is used to determine the appropriate support response bid.
Distribution Points for a Support Hand
When playing a suit contract, having extra trump cards add value to the hand. They reduce the number of trump cards held by the opponents, and potentially enable the offense to win more tricks using the extra trump cards as "wild cards". The support hand must hold at least 3 trump cards.
Extra Trump Suit Points (only in the trump suit)
Trump Suit Length
Pts
3 cards
0
4 cards
1
5 cards
2
6 cards
3
When playing a suit contract, having short suits (in the non-trump suits) add value to the hand. They can enable the offense to use trump cards to take tricks with a void, or when a short suit is depleted.
The Point Count Value of the support hand = HCPs + Extra Trump Suit Points + Short Suit Points.
Propose New 4+card Suit
In order to propose a new 4+card suit, the 4+card suit must not be subject to the 1-over-1 restriction.
The 1-over-1 Restriction
" The responder with 6-9 HCPs can only propose a new 4+card suit at the 1-level "
Every bid must be made at a higher level of hierarchy than the previous bid. The 1-over-1 restriction applies a barrier to bidding when the responder has only 6 to 9 HCPs. The responder with 6-9 HCPs can only propose a new 4+card suit at the 1-level. This affects the proposal bid as follows:
● When the opening bid is 1 ♠ and the responder cannot support the spades, the responder with only 6-9 HCPs can not propose another 4+card suit. All new 4+card suit proposals must be 2-level bids which are forbidden by the 1-over-1 restrition.
The responder should bid 1 NT indicating 6-9 HCPs and nothing about the other three suits. This is an ARTIFICIAL bid indicating points, not a desire to play a No Trump contract. The responder must NOT PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the opener.
The responder must have at least 10+ HCPs to bid a new 4+card suit at the 2-level. In this case the responder proposes 2♣ , 2♦ , or 2♥ . The proposer of a new 4+card suit keeps the bidding as low as possible so the partner has room to bid something else.
● When the opening bid is 1 ♥ and the responder cannot support the hearts, the responder with 6-9 HCPs can only propose only a new 4+card spade suit with a bid of 1 ♠ . This new 4+card spade proposal is at the 1-level which is not forbidden by the 1-over-1 restriction. The responder cannot propose a new 4+card minor suit because they require 2-level bids, which are forbidden by the 1-over-1 restrition.
The responder with 6-9 HCPS and no major suit support must bid 1 NT . This is an ARTIFICIAL bid indicating points, not a desire to play a No Trump contract. The responder must NOT PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the opener.
The responder must have at least 10+ HCPs to bid a new 4+card minor suit at the 2-level. In this case the responder proposes 2♣ or 2♦ . The proposer of a new 4+card minor suit keeps the bidding as low as possible so the partner has room to bid something else.
• When the opening bid is 1 ♣ , the responder has no restrictions since all proposing bids are at a higher level of hierarchy. The responder can propose any new suit with a bids of:
1 ♦ ,
1 ♥ , or
1 ♠ . These new suit proposals are all at the 1-level. If the responder does not have a 4-card suit to propose, the responder bids 1 NT , an artificial bid indicating 6 to 9 pts and no 4-card suit to propose. The responder must not PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the partner.
•
When the opening bid is 1 ♦ , the responder is restricted to proposing a new major suit with bids of
1 ♥ or
1 ♠ . These new suit proposals are at the 1-level. The responder can not propose a new club suit with a bid of 2 ♣ because it requires a 2-level bid, which is forbidden by the 1-over-1 restrition.
The responder can bid 1 NT , an artificial bid indicating 6 to 9 pts and no 4+card major. The bid indicates nothing about the length of a club suit, since the 1-over-1 restriction prohibits bidding it. The responder must not PASS since that would indicate a lower point hand and would provide wrong information to the partner.
The selection of the bid depends upon the opened suit and the strength of the responder's hand. For more information on the appropriate response bid, go to one of the following four web pages: