Quick summary

Reflect on everything you've learned:

Then act:

If game or slam could be on, keep the bidding going, using things like

If you can see that game is obvious, and in what denomination, make a closing bid at that level.

If the opposition are interfering, calculate the cost of any sacrifice on their part, or yours

spadeheartdiamondclub

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Bridge Venue

Example Deal


«  0060  »

Responder rebids. The general idea

Work it out in your head

Oh dear ! By now there have already been three bids involving you and your partner, and the number of possibilities that these 3 bids can describe is enormous. Far too many to list individually. But the good news though is that you now have a lot of information, so you can now quite simply work out what to do next.

Your partner has bid twice. If he bid a new suit, you now know he has 5 cards in the first suit, so you can now support him with a 3-card suit. The same is true if he bid the same suit twice. It is only if he rebid NT that his first suit contains 4 cards.

And you know a lot more too. By now you will know his strength, his balance, his shape, and maybe his second best suit as well as his first. Assemble this information, put it alongside your hand. All you have to do is to decide whether, together, you are (a) too weak for game, (b) possibly strong enough for game, or (c) very strong. Then tell 'im.

There are three basic and common situations:

  1. you are weak (9 or less) and partner is weak (12-15): best to stop (ASAP)
  2. you are weak (9 or less) and partner is strong (16-18): enough to "invite to game"
  3. you have 10+, enough to bid at the two level, or 13+: usually enough for game

There's also the much rarer situation where one of you is very strong (partner 19+, or you 16+), in which case you should be investigating Slam.

1 Both weak

No chance of game, so try to end the auction as soon as possible. Options are:

  • show your preference if partner has bid 2 suits (see Deal 1 & 2 below)
  • only rebid your suit if it's long (6-cards) and strong (see Deal 3)
  • pass, if he has rebid his first suit
  • bid NT at the one level if there's no fit (see Deal 4)

2 You weak, he strong !

Game could be possible, so invite to game where possible. Generally, your partner's strong second bid will be forcing. In other respects, your reply will be similar to the above

  • show your preference if partner has bid 2 suits
  • only rebid your suit if it's long and strong
  • with 8/9 HCP you should head towards game

3 You are strong

With 10-12 HCP game is not certain, so you can "invite to game", in various ways, depending on what is appropriate:

  1. bid at the 3 level in a suit
  2. raise to the 2 level in No Trumps
  3. use "4th Suit Forcing" at the 2 level only, see below

With 13+ game should be certain:

  1. bit at the game level if you have a suit match
  2. raise to the 3 level in No Trumps if you have a stop in the unbid suit
  3. use "4th Suit Forcing" at any level, and keep bidding afterwards, see below
  4. rebid in a new suit at the 3 level (that's forcing)

Fourth suit forcing, FSF

The "4th Suit Forcing" technique has two different main uses

  • NT or suit? If 3 suits have been bid, and you are still not sure which suit is right for the contract, use FSF to try to get to 3NT
  • Minor game? If responder is strong and interested in game in a minor, his partner is allowed to ignore his minor suit rebid at the 3-level. But his partner cannot ignore an FSF followed by a rebid of three in the minor.
    • After the 3 diamond rebid, the opener will assume responder has 10-12HCP and can pass.
    • WNES
      1club pass 1diamond pass
      1heart pass 3diamond pass
      pass pass    
    • Instead, with the same cards, responder can bid the 4th suit, obliging opener to reply (and incidentally to give an answer to the question of course, in this case the answer being "I don't have spades"). The subsequent rebid of 3 diamonds by responder shows a strong hand, and is game forcing, asking the opener to decide between NT and the minor.
    • WNES
      1club pass 1diamond pass
      1heart pass 1spade pass
      2club pass 3diamond pass
      5diamond

Your second suit

If a game bid is possible, though not certain, and the suit is not yet obvious, you could try a second suit or re-bidding your first, making sure you also indicate your strength by going through the "responder's barrier" if you have 12+ HCP. Bidding a second suit is only allowed if partner has re-bid his first suit, or bid NT on the second bid (since otherwise it will be interpreted as "4th Suit Forcing").

You may have a choice of two 5-card suits, or a choice of two 4-card suits, which you should have thought about at the time of your first bid.

Responder's second suit - it is forcing ?

WNES
1club pass 1spade pass
2club pass 2heart pass
?      
 

Is East's bid forcing ? Or does it show a weak hand with possibly 5-5 in the majors ? If it is forcing, is it to 2NT or for one round ? These days it's considered to be forcing for one round, allowing West to stop at 2spade, but not 2heart.

False preference

If there's no match, and you end up in a 7-card suit, it's generally better to end up in a 5-2 split rather than a 4-3 split. So, if you have a 2-3 distribution in the two suits bid by your partner, you might want to show preference for the shorter 2-card suit.

Very strong

If you have 16+ points, you may not yet have shown your partner how strong you are, because you sensibly kept the bidding low in your first forcing bid. Now is the time to reveal your strength, one way or another. In addition to the techniques mentioned above, you might want to use The Losing Trick Count method to work out if you should bid higher in a suit.

Assemble the information, put it alongside your hand, and try to decide if Slam could be on in a suit or NT. If the answer is positive, use Slam bidding techniques, including cue bidding if appropriate (assuming you both know how to do it). If Slam is not on, but game is clear and obvious, then put an end to the bidding by closing off at the "game" level, usually 3NT or 4 of a major suit, spadeheart.

Example Hands

Deal 1
S 9  W     E  S J 5 4 3  

The bidding has gone 1heart-1spade-2C. What next ?

Since opener's rebid showed < 16 HCP and was not forcing, it's best to pass, giving preference for club over heart.

H K Q 5 4 3 H 2
D A 6 2 D J 10 6 5 4
C K Q 5 4 C A J 3

Deal 2
S 9  W     E  S J 5 4 3  

Again, the bidding has gone 1heart-1spade-2C. What next ?

Since opener's rebid showed < 16 HCP and was not forcing, you can pass, but you shouldn't ! Hearts with a 5-2 split is a better suit than Club which are split 4-3, so bid 2heart. ("False preference").

H K Q 5 4 3 H J 2
D A 6 2 D J 10 6 5
C K Q 5 4 C A J 3

Deal 3
S 9  W     E  S Q J 10 8 5 4  

Again, the bidding has gone 1heart-1spade-2C. What next ?

Since opener's rebid showed fewer than 16 HCP and was not forcing, you can pass, but you shouldn't ! Your hearts are so long (and good), that this is likely to be the best suit. Bid 2spade

H K Q 5 4 3 H 6 2
D A 6 2 D K 5 4
C K Q 5 4 C 3 2

Deal 4
S 8 2  W     E  S A 10 9 5  

The bidding has gone 1club -1diamond-1heart. What next ?

East is able to bid 1NT to show that he has 6-9 HCP.

H K 5 4 3 H 10 7 2
D Q 2 D K J 4 3
C A K 10 3 2 C 6 5

Deal 5
S Q 2  W     E  S 9 8 4 3  

The bidding has gone 1club -1heart-2diamond. What next ?

West's reverse forces East to bid again. With only 6 HCP, East should show simple preference, bidding 3club.

H 7 5 H Q 8 6 4 2
D A K 4 2 D Q 5
C A K 10 7 6 C Q 5

Deal 6
S Q 2  W     E  S K 10 9 3  

Again, the bidding has gone 1club -1heart-2diamond. What next ?

Again, West's reverse forces East to bid again. This time with 9 HCP opposite a strong hand, East can bid 3NT, knowing that there are 26 HCP.

H 6 5 H Q J 10 4 2
D A Q 4 2 D K7
C A K 10 7 6 C Q 5

spadeheartdiamondclub


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