Rebids by Opener

Here's a hand that came up today.

You hold this hand:
♠KJ74
♥AKQ43
♦7
♣Q63

You are Dealer. What will you do?

Most people opened 1♥ which is a good opening bid.

Now Partner responds 1♠. You have four card support for Partner's suit. What is your bid? What does that show?

There are a few potential responses to your Partner's 1♠ bid. Let's go over them.

You can bid 2♠. This shows a minimum hand with about 13-16 points. But that is points -- not just HCP but also Dummy points.
You can bid 3♠. This shows a medium hand with about 17-18 points. But that is also points -- not just HCP but also Dummy points.
You can bid 4♠. This shows a maximum hand with about 19-21 points. Again that is points -- not just HCP but also Dummy points.

What is your bid?

Let's count the points. There are 15 HCP and also 3 Dummy points for the singleton ♦. That brings us to 18 points.

The correct bid here would be 3♠.