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Bidding Over Their 1NT

There are lots of conventions out there for bidding over the opponents’ 1NT: DONT, Meckwell, Landy, Cappelletti, etc. Having an understanding of at least one of these conventions is very useful. But just as important as understanding how these conventions work is knowing when to use them.

 

There is a big difference between bidding over a strong notrump and a weak notrump. I like to define a strong notrump as any range that includes 16. So 14-16, 15-17, etc. are strong, whereas 12-14, 13-15, etc. are weak.

 

After a strong notrump, our goals are primarily to get in the way and compete for the partscore. We want to come in as often as we can to disrupt things. However, entering a notrump auction is inherently dangerous, which is why these conventions exist to let us show two-suited hands, which can be safer to bid with due to their higher ODR.

 

Vulnerability plays a huge role. Think of these bids a lot like preempts. You need to be very solid vulnerable, especially at unfavorable vulnerability; you can be friskier non-vulnerable, especially at favorable vulnerability.

 

Vulnerable you should be at least 5-5 in your suit; non-vulnerable you can be 5-4. Suit quality is more important than overall strength, though when you’re at unfavorable vulnerability you want a good hand to come in.

 

♠ QJ984 ♥ JT54 ♦ 654 ♣ 3

 

I wouldn’t dream of bidding with this hand when vulnerable. But I definitely would non-vulnerable.

 

♠ KJT65 ♥ AQ984 ♦ 9 ♣ 65

 

A solid overcall at any vulnerability.

 

 

Bidding is quite different over a weak notrump. Opener is only showing a minimum opening hand, so chances our side has a game increase considerably. It’s still most likely a partscore hand, but our priorities are not entirely obstructive; we want to compete effectively for the partscore, as it could well be our hand.

 

You want a full opening bid to come in over a weak notrump. Think of it like a 2-level overcall. You can use artificial systems to show some two-suiters. But you want to make sure your system includes a penalty double. A penalty double of a weak notrump shows a strong notrump hand or better. If you have a good suit to lead against 1NT, you can be a little lighter.

 

♠ KQT4 ♥ AQ4 ♦ QJ87 ♣ A4

An easy double.

 

♠ 65 ♥ AJ4 ♦ KQJT84 ♣ K3

With a good suit to lead, you can double on this hand with only 14 HCP.

 

 

If responder passes the penalty double, usually advancer will simply pass and go for a penalty. With a very weak or very shapely hand, advancer can pull the double. Bids are natural. Jumps show a good hand.

 

If responder bids over the double, we are in a forcing auction through 2♠. This means we cannot let them play at 2♠ or below undoubled; either we have to double them or outbid them. So a pass is forcing. The standard way to play is that after the penalty double, if they run our side’s next double is takeout; all subsequent doubles are penalty. So if they bid 2♥, natural, and you hold:

 

♠ Q4 ♥ AQT5 ♦ 98743 ♣ K3

You pass, and partner will probably double – a takeout double in the balancing seat – and you can convert that to penalty.

 

 

Landy

One of the oldest and simplest defenses against the opponents’ strong 1NT opening is Landy, which defines a 2♣ overcall as showing both majors. A double is for penalty, and every other bid is natural. (2NT shows the minors, of course.)

 

Overcaller could be 5-4 or longer in the majors when he bids 2♣. Responder can use an artificial 2♦ to ask which of overcaller’s majors is longer/better. That’s basically it. The 2♣ and its 2♦ response are alertable.

 

I really like Landy. It’s simple and gets across the most important hand-type: both majors. Since it includes a penalty double, it’s especially effective against a weak notrump. Many pairs play one system that does not include a penalty double – like DONT or Meckwell – against a strong notrump and a system with a penalty double, like Landy, against a weak notrump. That’s why there are two columns in the Defense vs. Notrump section on the ACBL convention card.

 

 

There are several other modifications of Landy that add the ability to show other two-suiters. They retain the basic element of the 2♣ overcall showing the majors, but add some twists.

 

 

Multi-Landy

A 2♦ overcall shows a one-suiter in either major.

2♥ and 2♠ shows that suit plus a minor.

 

After the 2♦ bid, advancer bids just as responder does after a Multi 2♦ opening bid:

 

Bidding either major at the 2- or 3-level is pass or correct. You would do this in the major in which you had the worst fit. For example:

 

♠ Q8 ♥ KJ52 ♦ 9874 ♣ J43

 

Partner’s suit is probably spades, so you bid 2♠. If he miraculously has hearts, you’re more than willing to bid up to the 3-level or higher.

 

2NT is an asking bid. You can define any sort of answers you want, but overcaller will generally show which suit he has and how good his hand is. A simple scheme would be:

 

3♣ = minimum with hearts

3♦ = minimum with spades

3♥ = extras with hearts

3♠ = extras with spades

 

3♣ and 3♦ are natural and non-forcing

 

4♣ says transfer to your major (advancer wants to declare)

4♦ says bid your major (advancer wants overcaller to declare)

4M is to play (whether it’s overcaller’s suit or not)

 

 

Woolsey

Woolsey is a slight modification of Multi-Landy, where double is used to show a 4-card major and a longer (5+) minor. Usually this would only be used against a strong notrump, and you would use regular Multi-Landy against a weak notrump.

 

After overcaller’s double, 2♣ is pass or correct for overcaller’s minor, 2♦ asks for his major, 2M is natural. Pretty simple.

 

 

Transfer Landy

As you might guess from the name, this adds Transfers to the basic Landy structure. So 2♦ is a transfer to hearts and 2♥ is a transfer to spades. This is especially effective in the direct seat, as the transfer puts the opening notrump bidder on lead. With a two-suiter, overcaller can bid again after the transfer is accepted (which advancer is expected to do most of the time).

 

2♠ shows 4 spades and a longer minor, 2NT shows 4 hearts and a longer minor. 3♣ is pass or correct for the minor.

 

 

Meckwell Landy

2♦ shows diamonds and a major, like in Meckwell or DONT. Everything else is just like regular Landy.

I like Landy and its variations a lot. The 2♣ bid showing the majors is one of the few things I insist upon with my expert partners. I love having the 2♦ bid by advancer to find out which of overcaller’s majors is longer/better. Plain old Landy or Meckwell Landy are sufficient, but the more complicated versions are great as well. Most of my expert partnerships use Woolsey or Transfer Landy.

 

 

Meckwell

Meckwell is a system to use over the opponents’ strong 1NT opening. It is very similar to DONT. Here’s how it works:

 

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1NT Dbl

 

 Both majors or single-suited hand with a minor
2♣

 

 Clubs and a major
2♦

 

 Diamonds and a major
2♥

 

 Natural
2♠

 

 Natural
2NT Both minors

 

 

 

There are only two small differences between Meckwell and DONT. The main one is the swapping of meanings between the 2♥ bid and double. In Meckwell, 2♥ is natural and to show the majors you double; in DONT, 2♥ shows both majors and to show just hearts you double. The change is mostly cosmetic, as you can still show both types of hands. It’s just a philosophical thing: would you rather be able to show your two-suiter with both majors or your single-suiter with hearts immediately? I prefer DONT, because the two-suiter is both more common and more effective.

 

The second difference is the 2♣ bid shows clubs and a major in Meckwell; in DONT it could also be clubs and diamonds. The idea is that with both minors you can bid 2NT. I don’t really feel strongly about this. You can agree to play Meckwell but have 2♣ show clubs and another suit, as in DONT.

 

 

Advancer’s bids are virtually identical to DONT. After a double she is expected to bid 2♣, and overcaller will show his hand: pass shows clubs, 2♦ shows diamonds, 2♥ shows both majors. After 2♣, advancer passes if she prefers clubs or bids 2♦ to ask for overcaller’s major. After 2♦, advancer passes to select diamonds or bids 2♥ to ask for overcaller’s major. If responder bids and advancer wants to know overcaller’s suit or hand-type, she doubles.

 

 

Defense to Strong 1C opening

Many pairs play some form of Precision, where the 1♣ opening is strong and artificial: at least 16 HCP and virtually any shape. These pairs all use a 1♦ response to this strong 1♣ as an artificial bid, usually a negative bid showing 0-7ish HCP.

 

It’s good to have some agreements about what you do over this strong 1♣ opening. The main downside to Precision is that the 1♣ opening is very susceptible to preemption, since nothing is known about the opener’s shape. You want to exploit this weakness by getting into their auction as often as possible. The more sophisticated their system, the more it tends to be disrupted by interference, particularly at a high level.

 

Much like coming in over a strong notrump, interfering after a strong 1♣ opening has danger, as one opponent has announced a strong hand. Two suiters are the safest and most common hands with which you want to enter the auction.

 

Several conventional systems for bidding over their strong 1♣ exist, each with varying levels of artificiality and complexity. All of these systems have several things in common:

 

  • They apply both directly over the 1♣ opening and by fourth seat after a 1♦ response.
  • They suggest a merely preemptive or competitive hand.
  • Stronger hands start by passing and come in on the second round of the auction.
  • Two-suiters can be 5-4 or longer.

 

Here are some of the more common systems.

 

Mathe

The most common and simplest strong-club defense is Mathe (pronounced math-ee), named for Lew Mathe. In this system, a double shows both majors and 1NT shows both minors. Everything else is natural. Jumps are preemptive.

 

This is a simple and effective system, and it’s what I recommend for most partnerships. You won’t face a strong-club system that often, and simple agreements like Mathe are adequate. If you are a regular partnership and face a strong club often, you might consider one of the other methods described below.

 

 

CRaSh

CRaSh stands for Color, Rank, Shape. Its aim is to show all possible two-suiters immediately. Natural bids in the majors are preserved, but double, 1♦, and 1NT are used to show the three possible types of two-suiters: color – either the red suits (hearts and diamonds) or the black suits (spades and clubs); ranks – either the majors (hearts and spades) or the minors (clubs and diamonds); or shape – either the round suits (hearts and clubs) or the pointed suits (spades and diamonds).

 

Double shows two suits of the same COLOR

1♦ shows two suits of the same RANK

1NT shows two suits of the same SHAPE

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1♣ Dbl Color

 

 

♠ QJ984 ♥ 3 ♦ 87 ♣ K9854

♠ 9 ♥ QT542 ♦ AJ984 ♣ 98

 

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1♣ 1♦ Rank

 

 

♠ AT983 ♥ QJ653 ♦ 98 ♣ 3

♠ 98 ♥ 42 ♦ QJ987 ♣ AQ65

 

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1♣ 1NT Shape

 

 

♠ AJ987 ♥ 982 ♦ KQ54 ♣ 3

♠ 92 ♥ AQ985 ♦ 9 ♣ JT984

 

 

After (1♣) Pass (1♦), you can play that the three CRaSh bids are double, 1NT, and 2♣, so:

 

Double = Color

1NT = Rank

2♣ = Shape

 

Or you can just agree to not play CRaSh after the 1♦ response. You could revert to Mathe, or just play natural.

 

 

Suction

Suction plays on the idea that not knowing what type of hand overcaller has can make life more difficult for the opponents. So every bid shows one of those types of hands:

 

  1. A single-suited hand in the suit directly above the bid made
  2. A two-suited hand with the two suits two above the bid made

 

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1♣ Dbl

 

 Either A. Diamonds or B. Hearts and spades
1♦

 

 Either A. Hearts or B. Spades and clubs
1♥

 

 Either A. Spades or B. Clubs and diamonds
1♠

 

 Either A. Clubs or B. Diamonds and hearts

 

 

This applies at all levels, so 1♣ (3♦) also means hearts or spades and clubs. Notrump bids show the non-touching suits (which happen to be the suits of the same shape) – either clubs and hearts or spades and diamonds.

 

Advancer bids one of partner’s suits at the highest level at which he is comfortable, assuming the worst case scenario.

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1♣ 1♦ Either A. Hearts or B. Spades and clubs

 

 

♠ QJ98 ♥ 54 ♦ QJ987 ♣ 54

You have to assume partner has hearts, so just bid 1♥.

 

♠ QJ98 ♥ 854 ♦ QJ987 ♣ 4

Now you have a fit whichever hand partner has – either in hearts or spades. You can jump to 2 or 3♥, depending on vulnerability. If partner has the black suits, he will correct to spades.

 

 

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1♣ 1♠ Either A. Clubs or B. Diamonds and hearts

 

 

♠ 98 ♥ 4 ♦ QJ983 ♣ J8743

Whatever partner has, you have a huge fit. Jump to 4 or 5 ♣, and partner can correct to diamonds if he has the two-suiter.

 

 

The idea with any of these strong-club defenses is to raise the level of the auction as high as possible as quickly as possible when you find a fit. I like Suction a lot, because you can often be sure of a fit with one of overcaller’s hand types.

 

 

Psycho-Suction

Psycho-suction turns the concept of suction up to 11 by making the initial bid either natural – you have the suit you are bidding – or the next two suits. This is quite dangerous, of course, as advancer might pass when overcaller has the two-suited hand. But it makes life very difficult on the opening side, as responder can’t pass and see what happens, since the bid might well be passed out. If you’re going to try psycho-suction, you should only employ it non-vulnerable.

 

Opener Overcaller  
     
1♣ 1♥ Either A. Hearts or B. Spades and clubs

 

♠ 98 ♥ QJ654 ♦ A98 ♣ 987

♠ J9873 ♥ 4 ♦ 983 ♣ AKJ3

 

 

Notrump Systems

For simplicity and ease of memory, you can also play your system over a strong notrump. I think it’s best to play suits are natural at the 1-level and use your notrump systems at the 2-level. So if you play DONT, double would show clubs, 1♦, 1♥, and 1♠ would be natural, 1NT shows the minors, 2♣ clubs and another suit (probably a major, since you didn’t bid 1NT or 2NT), 2♦ diamonds and a major, 2♥ both majors, 2♠ natural, 2NT minors (more shape than 1NT).

McCabe

Consider this situation:

 

Partner RHO You LHO
       
2♠ Dbl ?

 

 

♠ J53 ♥ 65 ♦ 874 ♣ AQJ43

 

You want to raise to 3♠. But you also want to tell partner to lead a club. Advancer is very likely to become the declarer, meaning partner will be on lead. Which is more important?

 

McCabe was invented to let us have our cake and eat it too in this auction. After a weak-2 opening and a double, McCabe defines bidding a new suit as lead directing with a raise of opener’s suit. Perfect for this hand.

 

That’s all there is to it. Opener will just go back to his suit if responder’s McCabe bid gets passed around to him. You should never pass it, even if you have a fit; responder could have been asking for the lead without a real suit. For example:

 

♠ Q83 ♥ 873 ♦ 7543 ♣ KQJ

 

You’d like a club lead, even though you don’t have a real suit. You wouldn’t normally make a lead-directing bid or double with a suit like this – it’s too dangerous. But when you have a known fit elsewhere, it’s perfectly safe.

 

You might even bid with a void! Consider a hand like this:

 

♠ 8743 ♥ 873 ♦ J87432 ♣ —

 

They’re likely headed for slam in hearts, and you want a club lead.

 

 

What is Redouble?

There are two common meanings for redouble in this sequence. The standard one is that it is penalty oriented: responder has a strong hand and wants to suggest penalizing them. Opener is encouraged to double any contract where he has a suitable trump holding. You might have a hand like:

 

♠ 3 ♥ AQ65 ♦ AK984 ♣ QJ4

 

But you might also hold a hand like this:

 

♠ — ♥ 984 ♦ QJ98654 ♣ 984

 

You can see where this auction is going:

 

 

Partner RHO You LHO
       
2♠ Dbl Pass Pass

 
Pass

 

 

And you’ll be lucky if partner holds it to -800. 3♦ would almost certainly be a better contract, but there’s no good way to get there, since 3♦ would be McCabe.

 

The answer is to use redouble as a rescue bid. It basically says responder wants to run to her own suit. Opener is required to make the cheapest bid, which responder will either pass or correct to her suit. In this case, opener would bid 2NT, and responder would bid 3♦.

 

Both uses for redouble have their moments. It’s a matter of style which you choose: do you prefer having the ability to go for the jugular or to escape when you’re in trouble?

 

 

Responding to a Weak-2 Bid

As responder to a preempt, there are generally only two reasons for you to bid:

 

  1. Extend the preempt
  2. Look for game

 

Extending the Preempt

Your average holding in partner’s suit when he preempts is a doubleton; when you have more than that you can raise and extend the preempt. This is based on the Law of Total Tricks: partner has 6 cards in the suit for his preempt, you have 3; with 9 trumps you can compete to the 3-level.

 

The basic rule in raising a weak-2 is you can compete to the 3-level with 3-card support and the 4-level with 4-card support. There are some caveats, though.

 

Vulnerability matters. Partner has already taken this into account with his opening, but you need to as well. One of my rules is don’t raise a non-vulnerable preempt on three cards without an honor.

 

Also, beware of raising on 4333 hands.

 

The weaker your are, the more you should want to raise partner and extend the preempt; the opponents are more likely to have a game, or even a slam, and you want to make life as difficult for them as possible.

 

Looking for Game

There are two ways you might look for a game after partner’s weak-2 opening: bidding your own suit, which is forcing for one round, and asking about opener’s hand with an artificial 2NT. The partnership can define this 2NT bid any way it chooses. The standard way is the Feature Ask, but the more common way among experts is some variation of Ogust.

 

With no fit for opener and a suit of your own, you simply bid it. Opener will raise with support – including honor-doubleton – and otherwise bid as naturally as possible. He won’t generally have a second suit, so if he bids a new suit it might just be somewhere he has some values. For example:

 

Partner RHO You LHO
       
2♥ 2♠ ?

 

 

♠ 5 ♥ KQJ943 ♦ QJ5 ♣ 873

No spade support, but too good a hand just to retreat to 3♥. Bid 3♦, showing some values there; with clubs under control, maybe partner can bid 3NT.

 

If opener jumps in response to responder’s new suit bid it is a splinter. This is a rare situation where a splinter can be made with 3-card support, since the preemptor isn’t expected to have a side 4-card major.

 

 

Law of Total Tricks

The Law of Total Tricks (LOTT) is not really a law, just an observation that has been found to work well in practice as well as in theory: the total number of tricks available in each side’s best contract is usually equal to the total number of trumps held by both sides. That sounds a little convoluted, but here’s what it means: if we have a heart fit and the opponents have a spade fit, the number of tricks we can take playing in hearts plus the number of tricks they can take playing in spades will usually equal the number of hearts we have plus the number of spades they have. So if we have a 9-card heart fit and they have an 8-card spade fit, the LOTT predicts that there will be a total of 17 tricks available between our heart contract and their spade contract. This could be split in any number of ways: we could have 10 tricks and they 7, we could have 9 and they 8, we could have 8 and they 9, etc. The point is that the total number of tricks both sides can take on a given deal is dependent upon the total number of trumps held by both sides. If you want to test it, grab a hand record from a club or tournament; look at what Deep Finesse says each side can make, and compare that to the total number of trumps. It’ll blow your mind!

 

The LOTT is especially valuable in making competitive decisions — should I bid, pass, or double? Here is the most valuable rule to come from study of the LOTT: It is generally correct to compete to the level corresponding to your trump fit. So if you have 9 trumps, you can compete to the 3-level (where you are contracting to take 9 tricks). With only 8 trumps, stay at the 2-level. There is an equally important corollary: Do not allow your opponents to play at the 2-level when they have a fit. If it’s right for you to be at the 2-level with eight trumps, it’s also right for the opponents. That means it’s wrong for you to let them play there!

 

Knowing when and how high to compete in partscore auctions is one of the most difficult skills to learn in bridge. The LOTT is not a panacea, but it is a helpful guideline: compete to the level of your fit, don’t let your opponents play at the 2-level in an 8-card fit. Many of our preemptive actions take this into account. Partner opens 1♠ and RHO doubles. We want to make a preemptive jump to 3♠; how many trumps does this show? Four. Coincidence that this gets us to the level of our fit — 9 tricks, 9 trumps? Not a bit. If we had 5 spades, we’d bid 4♠ — 10 trumps, 10 tricks. When we make a preemptive opening bid, we assume partner has a doubleton — the statistical average. So with a 6-card suit we preempt at the 2-level — 6+2 = 8. With 7 at the 3-level… As responder, when partner preempts and we have more than a doubleton, we are encouraged to “extend the preempt” by raising — this is just getting us to our trump level.

 

 

Feature Ask

In response to a weak-2 bid, responder often wants to find out more about opener’s hand. The Feature Ask allows her to get a specific piece of information: does opener have an ace or a king outside of his suit?

 

It’s very simple: a 2NT response to a weak-2 bid is artificial and forcing, asking opener to show a feature if he has one. A feature is defined as an ace or a king outside of his suit. With a feature, opener bids that suit; without one, he rebids his suit. Simple.

 

Sometimes opener’s hand is so bad he suppresses the feature and just rebids his suit. For example, say you’re in first seat none vulnerable and have opened 2♥ with:

 

♠ 65 ♥ Q87432 ♦ K ♣ 5432

 

Maybe that’s not your style, but regardless, it’s a pretty poor hand for the preempt. Rather than show your measly singleton king of diamonds, you can just rebid 3♥.

 

 

Ogust

When you play a wide-ranging preempt style, as is the modern trend, you often need to know more about a weak-2 opener’s hand than an outside feature. The Ogust convention instead uses responder’s 2NT bid to ask opener two questions: How good is your overall hand and how good is your suit? Opener responds in steps:

 

  • 3♣: Bad hand, bad suit
  • 3♦: Bad hand, good suit
  • 3♥: Good hand, bad suit
  • 3♠: Good hand, good suit

 

Overall hand quality is most important, so that comes first; suit quality is secondary. Just what qualifies as a “good” hand or a “good” suit is subjective, and will vary widely based on opener’s seat and vulnerability. What constitutes a good hand at favorable vulnerability might be a bad hand – or not even good enough to preempt with – at unfavorable vulnerability.

 

Since these definitions of good and bad are pretty murky, there are many cases where no answer really fits. For example, say you’re in first seat at favorable vulnerability and open 2♠ with:

 

♠ KT9843 ♥ K54 ♦ 53 ♣ 32

 

Partner asks about your hand with 2NT; what do you tell her? Your hand isn’t particularly good, but it’s not bad, either; you could have a lot worse at this vulnerability. Your suit definitely isn’t “good,” but again it could be a lot worse; those spot cards are very very good. Since a preempt could be so rotten in this position, you don’t want to bid 3♣ and scare partner that you have an absolute piece of garbage. But which do you call good, your hand or your suit?

 

A modification of Ogust that I prefer simplifies things considerably. You simply rate your hand on a scale of 1-4; 1 is the worst preempt you could have given the seat and vulnerability, 4 is the best. Then you just answer in steps. 3♣ shows a 1, 3♦ a 2, etc. So the above hand we’d call a 2 and bid 3♦. Not the worst you could imagine, but nothing special. Again, remember that this is incredibly dependent on seat and vulnerability; it’s not based on the whole spectrum of weak-2s, but rather on the spectrum partner should expect given the seat and vulnerability.

 

 

There are lots of other Ogust modifications out there. If you like to open with 5-card suits, here’s one for you: 3♣ shows a 5-card suit, and 3♦, 3♥, and 3♠ rank your hand from 1-3.

 

If you often open with a 4-card major, here’s one for you: bidding a major is natural, the other bids rank your hand 1-3 (1-2 in the case you have opened 2♦).

 

 

My preference is the simple rate your hand 1-4. Go with whatever you’re comfortable with, though. Some people use Ogust when non-vulnerable and Feature Ask when vulnerable, since you should always have a pretty good suit for a vulnerable preempt. If you like that idea, go for it. There’s no right or wrong here, just personal preference and partnership agreement.

 

 

Semiforcing 1NT

Playing a 1NT response to 1M as forcing isn’t necessary playing 2/1. In fact, it has a lot of downsides:

 

  • We can’t play 1NT, which is one of my favorite contracts and often our best spot.
  • Opener has to rebid a three-card suit too often.
  • We can get too high when opener has a balanced minimum and responder has a maximum.

 

Most experts nowadays play responder’s 1NT bid as “semiforcing.” This basically means that, like a “forcing” 1NT, responder could have an invitational hand. But he cannot have more than an invite, which means that with a balanced minimum, opener can pass 1NT.

The best hand responder can have when he bids 1NT is the 3-card limit raise. The biggest objection I hear to playing 1NT as semiforcing is that if responder happens to have that hand and opener passes 1NT, we have missed our major-suit fit. That’s absolutely true, and occasionally that will burn you, especially at matchpoints, where your +90 or +120 won’t score well compared to others’ +140s. But opener’s hand is always poor enough that he would not be accepting the game try — that is the number one criterion for passing 1NT. So we’re not worried about missing a game in our major, just a partscore. And responder was going to have to jump to the 3-level to show limit-raise values. When opener has a hand poor enough to pass 1NT, often 3M is in jeopardy. It’s pretty rare that 3M will make but 1NT will go down, but it is not uncommon at all for 1NT to make and 3M to go down. For all the times your +90 loses matchpoints to the -140s, there are at least an equal number of times that it wins matchpoints to the -50s in 3M.

 

 

What Hands Pass 1NT?

The first rule here is that opener cannot pass 1NT if he would have accepted a 3-card limit raise (responder’s best possible hand). To pass 1NT, opener will typically have a minimum (12 or 13 HCP) 5332 hand. Hands with a second suit (5-4) are usually best handled by showing your second suit.

Opener almost never rebids a 3-card suit. If you have a 5332 hand strong enough that it would accept a limit raise, you should have opened 1NT in the first place. For example: ♠KQT83 ♥KQ6 ♦72 ♣A84. Because of the 5-card suit you should open this hand 1NT; that extra spade is worth a lot more than an extra jack somewhere. If you find yourself scared to pass because your 5332 hand is good enough you might miss a game opposite an invitational responder, you should have opened 1NT to begin with.

The one hand that might actually bid a 3-card suit is a 5431 hand with 5 hearts and 4 spades that is not strong enough for a reverse. For example: ♠AJ83 ♥AJ742 ♦ 5 ♣KQ6. Passing 1NT can’t be right, especially since you are strong enough to accept an invite. So you have to rebid 2♣.

 

 

Responder’s Continuations

Not much changes for responder playing a semiforcing 1NT. Weak hands either take a preference to partner’s first suit or bid their own suit naturally. Invitational hands bid 2NT, raise partner’s major to the 3-level, raise partner’s second suit, or jump in a new suit at the 3-level (eg 1♠-1NT; 2♣-3♦). The big difference is that you know that when he bids a second suit it is almost always 4+ cards, which allows responder to pass or raise opener’s second suit much more liberally.

 

Examples:

1♠  –  1NT

 

♠ AKJ83 ♥ 85 ♦ QJ6 ♣ Q96

Pass. You have a balanced minimum. 1NT will be at least a reasonable contract. You would not accept any invitational bids partner might make. Don’t worry about the two small hearts.

 

1♥ –  1NT

 

♠ J5 ♥ KQ984 ♦ Q7 ♣ A873

2♣. A relatively balanced minimum, but with 5-4 shape it’s usually best to bid your second suit rather than pass 1NT. If partner has heart support, the hand will probably play much better in hearts.

 

1♠ –  1NT

 

♠ AQJ74 ♥ A8 ♦ KJ8 ♣ K43

2NT. Nothing changes here; raising to 2NT shows a balanced 18-19.

 

1♠  –  1NT

 

♠ QJ873 ♥ AQ ♦ 8743 ♣ KJ

Pass. With such a weak second suit and so much strength in your doubletons, make an exception here and pass 1NT.

 

1♥  – 1NT

 

♠ QJ87 ♥ AQ874 ♦ KQ4 ♣ 2

2♦. Not wild about bidding a 3-card suit, but what else?

 

1♠  – 1NT;  2♣ ?

 

♠ 74 ♥ Q98 ♦ K873 ♣ Q542

Pass. Playing 1NT Forcing, you would bid 2♠, since opener’s 2♣ rebid is so often a three-card suit. Playing 1NT Semiforcing, opener almost always has four clubs, and with a two-card discrepancy in length you can choose his second suit.

 

1♥  –  1NT;  2♦ ?

 

♠ A8 ♥ KJ6 ♦ QJ98 ♣ 8743

4♥. You were planning on showing a three-card limit raise, but when partner shows a diamond suit the double fit makes your hand worth insisting upon game. The fact that opener almost always has four diamonds playing 1NT Semiforcing makes this easier, as you know it’s a real suit.

 

1♠  –  1NT; Pass

 

♠ QJ5 ♥ K984 ♦ KQ54 ♣ 73

Don’t be worried or upset about missing your spade fit. 1NT should play just fine. Partner wasn’t accepting your invite, and 3♠ might have gone down; be glad to be at the one-level.