More Rebids by Responder

Let's try another one of those rebids by Responder.

This is my hand:

Hand
♠KQJ7
♥AJ2
♦AQT9
♣K6

Partner opened 1♦. My turn to bid. What do you think I will bid?

I count my HCP. I have 20 HCP. Right away I tell myself that we will be going to the 6 level at least. My Partners always have a good opening bid. But first I need to figure out what is the best place to play. What will I bid?

Here I will bid 1♠.

All those points and I am not bidding any higher?!?

First of all let me remind you that I DO intend to get to a slam. I told you that. I just need to find out if we have a 4-4 major suit fit or if we should play in NT. Who knows what Partner has though. Let's find out. Partner will probably limit their hand right now. In any case I'm just going to keep making forcing bids until I figure things out. 1♠ is FORCING.

So over our 1♠ bid Partner bids 2♠. What is my bid?

Well, what does Partner show for that bid? They show a fit for ♠ (so they have 4 of them) and they show a minimum opening hand. About 13 to 16 points. So I know we have enough for a small slam, I know we don't have enough for a grand slam, I know we have a fit in ♠, I'm just going to bid 6♠.

Why bid so high so fast?

Well I need to make forcing bids. If I bid any number of ♠ Partner can Pass. We should have enough for 6♠. We shouldn't have enough for 7♠. Why take time in the bidding to get to where I know I want to go?

Let's try another response.

This is my hand:

Hand
♠KQJ7
♥AJ2
♦AQT9
♣K6

Partner opened 1♦. I bid 1♠.

Now Partner bids 3♠. What will I bid?

Well, Partner is showing a fit for ♠ (4 of them) and about 17 or 18 points. I have 20 points. That's enough for a grand slam. I bid 7♠. Again, why do anything else? I know where I want to be.

Let's try another response. This is my hand:

Hand
♠KQJ7
♥AJ2
♦AQT9
♣K6

Partner opened 1♦. I bid 1♠.

Now Partner bids 1NT. What will I bid?

Well, Partner does not have a fit for ♠ (or they would have raised my ♠) and they have about 13 or 14 points with a balanced hand. I know they have a balanced hand because they rebid NT. I know they have 13 or 14 points because with 15 to 17 and a balanced hand they would have opened 1NT. With 18 or 19 and a balanced hand they would have rebid 2NT.

So over Partner's 1NT bid I will bid 6NT. Told you we'd get there.

I hope you didn't bid 2NT. That would be a non-forcing bid. Partner could Pass and you've just missed a small slam.

I hope you didn't bid 3NT. That is a cut off bid. Partner will Pass and you've just missed a small slam.

I hope you didn't bid 4NT. That would be a non-forcing bid. Partner could Pass and you've just missed a small slam. It does show interest in a small slam but you are still allowing Partner a chance to Pass.

Let's try yet another response.

This is my hand:

Hand
♠KQJ7
♥AJ2
♦AQT9
♣K6

Partner opened 1♦. I bid 1♠.

Now Partner bids 2NT. What will I bid?

Well, Partner does not have a fit for ♠ (or they would have raised my ♠) and they have about 18 or 19 points. With 20 or 21 points they would have opened 2NT right away.

So over Partner's 2NT bid I will bid 7NT. If I bid any number of NT Partner either can or will Pass. I need to bid the grand slam myself. Partner has no idea I have 20 HCP in my hand.

What other responses could Partner make?

This is my hand:

Hand
♠KQJ7
♥AJ2
♦AQT9
♣K6

Partner opened 1♦. I bid 1♠.

Now Partner bids 2♣. What will I bid?

Well, Partner does not have a fit for ♠ (or they would have raised my ♠) and they have both ♣ and ♦. Their ♦ should be longer because they opened them first. (You'll find out later that might not be as true as it should be.)

So they should have 5 ♦ and 4♣. They are not showing much more than an opening hand but could be stuck with more than a minimum with no way to show it.

Back to my bid.

Probably the easiest thing to do is bid 6NT on the hand. I do know we have a ♦ fit but NT scores more points and I am not worried about the major suits -- I have them well stopped.

How about another response Partner could make?

This is my hand:

Hand
♠KQJ7
♥AJ2
♦AQT9
♣K6

Partner opened 1♦. I bid 1♠.

Now Partner bids 3♣. What will I bid?

Well, Partner does not have a fit for ♠ (or they would have raised my ♠) and they have both ♣ and ♦. Their ♦ should be longer because they opened them first. (You'll find out later that might not be as true as it should be.)

So they should have 5 ♦ and 4♣. They have a hand that wants to force to game if I have a minimum 6 HCP. That must mean they have about 20 points in their hand. WOW!

Back to my bid.

Probably the easiest thing to do is bid 7NT on the hand. I do know we have a ♦ fit but NT scores more points and I am not worried about the major suits -- I have them well stopped. Plus Partner's 20 points and my 20 HCP add up to a grand slam.

Yes, I could have bid 3♦ on my hand. This SHOULD be a forcing bid. It is also the BEST bid on the hand. Perhaps Partner is doing this because they have a very distributional hand and they do not have the A♠ for their bid.

However I am still very new to the game. My Partner's don't tend to jump without their 20 HCP. They are still very disciplined. They also tend to Pass forcing bids occasionally. I don't want that. When we get a little more experience we will bid the hand properly. Until then I will trust in the fact my Partner has their 20 HCP and 7NT will make.