Trump Suit Quality - 5 of the Major

Bidding FIVE of a Major is an unusual bid. There is no reason to bid 5 of the major unless you are interested in a slam. After all you get the same points for bidding 4 of a major and taking 11 tricks.

Since we have ways to ask Partner how many Aces they have we can’t be interested in that.

We also have ways of asking Partner if they have 2 of the top 3 honours in the trump suit. That bid guarantees a slam however. Either a small slam or a grand slam.

What happens if we want to be in only a small slam if Partners trump are good but if Partner has bad trump we don't want to be in a slam at all.

Say you have this hand:

Hand A
♠J98632
♥A
♦AKJT94
♣-

You open the bidding 1♠. (With two 6 card suits always bid the higher ranking suit first.) Now Partner bids 3♠. In your agreements this shows 11 or 12 points with four trump. What do you bid now?

Well my first thought would be I am probably not going to lose any tricks EXCEPT for the trump suit.

Let's look at a few different hands Partner could potentially hold:

Responder Hand A	Responder Hand B	Responder Hand C	Responder Hand D
♠AQ75 ♥K83 ♦Q984 ♣54	♠Q754 ♥K83 ♦82 ♣KQ42	♠KQ75 ♥K83 ♦82 ♣K842	♠T754 ♥983 ♦Q4 ♣AKQ4
♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-	♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-	♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-	♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-
Maybe 1 trump loser No other losers	Probably 2 trump losers No other losers	1 trump loser No other losers	Even if Partner has this (really bad!) hand I only have 2 trump losers if the suit splits nicely No other losers

In a situation like this I cannot bid 5NT. That FORCES our partnership to the 6 level (and maybe the 7 level!) and we might not be able to make a small slam. But I also don't want to sign off in just a game. We might be able to make a small slam. I can ask Partner about their trump quality by bidding 5 of the major. In this case 5♠. Partner raises to 6 of the major (6♠) if they have at least 2 of the top 3 honours. Otherwise they PASS. If Partner's trump are not that good we are NOT at a slam level and I am still allowed to lose 2 tricks.

So on Responder Hand A my Partner will bid 6♠.
So on Responder Hand B my Partner will Pass.
So on Responder Hand C my Partner will bid 6♠.
So on Responder Hand D my Partner will Pass.

Question: Does this bid work with ALL the suits?
Answer: NO! This works for the MAJOR SUITS only! After all 5 of a minor is a normal place to play. You are just saying you just want to be in a game and for some reason can't bid 3NT.

Question: What about if the Opponents are bidding and make us bid 5 of a major. Does this still count?
Answer: NO! When the Opponents bid this is not asking for trump quality. This is asking about something else. Or sometimes the Opponents push you into 5 of a major and you were quite happy in 4. There is no need to bid 6 in that case even if your trump are very good. This 5 of a major bid would only be asking for trump quality if there were NO OTHER REASON to bid 5 of the major.

For example:

Opener	Responder
1♠	2♠
5♠	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

YES! There is no other reason for Opener to bid 5♠.

Another example:

Opener	Responder
1♠	4♠
5♠	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

YES! There is no other reason for Opener to bid 5♠.

You try.

Opener	Opponent 1	Responder	Opponent 2
1♥	1♠	4♥	4♠
5♥	Pass	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

Opener	Opponent 1	Responder	Opponent 2
1♥	1♠	3♥	3♠
5♥	Pass	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

Opener	Responder
1♥	3♥
4NT	5♣
5♥

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?



Let's practice. We are going to start off pretty easy. On each of the following hand Partner opens the bidding 1♠. I am going to force a 3♠ bid by you on each of the following hands. This shows 11 or 12 points PLUS four trump. That should describe each of the hands. Now Partner bids 5♠. This bid can only be asking for trump quality. What will you respond with each of the hands below and what are you telling Partner with your bid?

Opener	Responder
1♠	3♠
5♠	???

Hand 1

♠QJ32
♥Q86
♦K2
♣QJT5



Hand 2

♠KT43
♥7543
♦T
♣AJT8



Hand 3

♠AQ64
♥984
♦AT93
♣64



Hand 4

♠A962
♥AT8
♦K84
♣T74



Hand 5

♠J432
♥KT
♦Q95
♣AJT6



Hand 6

♠KT95
♥9653
♦4
♣AQ95



Hand 7

♠KQ75
♥K6
♦K832
♣862



Hand 8

♠Q986
♥85
♦AKT64
♣84



Hand 9

♠AQ85
♥Q8743
♦T65
♣5



Hand 10

♠AQT3
♥J96
♦Q98
♣QJ8



Hand 11

♠KQ97
♥J75
♦J9
♣AJ93



Hand 12

♠KJ62
♥84
♦QJ5
♣AT65



Hand 13

♠AT85
♥Q52
♦J7
♣A843



Hand 14

♠J976
♥5
♦K95
♣AT864



Hand 15

♠K873
♥KT2
♦96
♣AT86



Hand 16

♠K953
♥3
♦T9652
♣AJT



Hand 17

♠AK65
♥8
♦T952
♣Q762



Hand 18

♠Q743
♥KQT
♦T873
♣A5



Hand 19

♠KQ97
♥92
♦KT5
♣QT65



Hand 20

♠K654
♥A76
♦Q6
♣K542