Last post we talked about taking your Partner out of their 1NT response if you were unbalanced with a five card major and a lower ranking four card suit.
Check out this post first if you are interested:
Opening 1 of a FIVE card suit and taking Partner out of 1NT by now bidding a lower ranking FOUR card suit
Why does the suit have to be a lower ranking suit?
Here is your hand:
♠A854
♥KQT84
♦J8
♣K4
You decide to open the bidding 1♥ but then Partner bids 1NT. Bidding 1NT as Responder does NOT say they have a balanced hand. It just says Responder has 6 to 10 HCP and no fit for ♥.
BUT it also says that Responder does NOT have four ♠. They would have bid a four card ♠ suit before bidding 1NT.
Sadly you do not have a fit. So even though you are unbalanced you should just leave Partner in 1NT. This avoids you getting too high in the bidding trying to find a fit that probably does not exist.
Besides, nowadays the Opponents try not to let you play at the 1 level. Maybe one of them will come into the auction and rescue us from our misfit.
So try bidding these hands again:
Hand 1
What do you do as Opener when you have an UNBALANCED hand?
Here is your hand:
♠A8542
♥Q4
♦3
♣AKT64
You decide to open the bidding 1♠ but then Partner bids 1NT. Bidding 1NT as Responder does NOT say they have a balanced hand. It just says Responder has 6 to 10 HCP and no fit for ♠.
In any case YOU are unbalanced. You should take Partner out of their 1NT bid and bid 2♣. Partner now can choose between your ♠ suit and your ♣ suit. Either contract should be safer than 1NT.
This was an extreme example. Your hand does not even have to be as unbalanced. If you open 1 of a major and Partner responds 1NT you should take Partner out of 1NT any time you have an unbalanced hand. This could be anytime you hold a six card suit OR anytime you hold a five card suit and another four (or more) card suit. With these holdings you either have a singleton or two doubletons. This makes the hand unbalanced.
Also note that this should be a LOWER RANKING four card suit. This will be explained in another post.
Say this is your hand:
♠A8542
♥Q4
♦83
♣AKT6
You decide to open the bidding 1♠ but then Partner bids 1NT. You should take Partner out of their 1NT bid and bid 2♣. Partner now can choose between your ♠ suit and your ♣ suit. This should show at least a five card suit and at least a four card suit.
When you rebid a lower ranking suit this does NOT limit your hand much. You could have as much as 18 HCP. (With more you can make a JUMP SHIFT.)
Let's practice. On the following hands you will open the bidding and Partner will respond 1NT. What will you now bid?
Hand 1
Here is your hand:
♠AKQJ54
♥JT5
♦54
♣J6
Partner has dealt and opened the bidding 1♣. You respond 1♠. That bid is pretty easy. No point in jumping in the bidding. 1♠ is a forcing bid and Partner must bid again. I MUST remember to get this partnership to game because Partner opened the bidding and I have an opening hand.
The opponents Pass throughout the auction.
Partner responds 4♠. What is your bid?
Wait a minute. First tell me what Partner is showing for their bid.
Now what is your bid?
Show Answer
Most students Pass 4♠ right away. The partnership is in game.
But think about it. Did YOU get the partnership to game?
No. Partner did.
Partner bid game thinking you had 6 HCP and four ♠. That was all you promised for your 1♠ bid.
Yet Partner still bid game. A partnership needs about 25-26 points for game. If you only promised 6, how much does Partner need to bid game?
Yep, about 20 points.
Now Partner is allowed to count Dummy points. So they don't have 20 HCP. But they have the equivalent in HCP and shortness points.
So if Partner has 19-21 points, do the math.
You have a fit so now YOU (as Declarer) gets to count LENGTH points. Give yourself one point for each bonus trump you have. You promised four but you have six. That's two extra points in your hand. You now have 12 HCP and 2 Length points. That's 14 points.
Partner should have 19 points minimum.
Bid 6♠.
Some students like to bid Blackwood to find out about Aces. No need to do that here. You shouldn't be off two Aces. Remember, Partner leapt to game with four lousy trump. Are they really going to bid game with four lousy trump and only one Ace? They shouldn't.
Partner's hand? The one from last post:
Rebid Question
