What to bid as an Opponent

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠A984
♥
♦KQT92
♣KJ97



This time it is your LHO (Left Hand Opponent) that opens the bidding 1♥. Partner Passes. RHO (Right Hand Opponent) says 1NT. What is your call?

Show Answer

Double. This should be a take out Double of the suit your LHO bid (♥).


You could overcall 2♦ but if Partner has no points, a singleton ♦ and 5 or 6 cards in either black suit you'd prefer they play in their suit.

Tell Partner you have values and can support any suit they could bid. It gives Partner options which is always better than singlehandedly determining the contract.

What to Open?

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠7
♥A6
♦AQJT9
♣AT764

You are Dealer. What is your call?

Show Answer

1♦

With two five card suits you ALWAYS always always bid the higher ranking one first.

Always.

Responder Rebid

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠K74
♥KQ6
♦762
♣9432

Partner opens the bidding 1♣. The Opponents are silent during the auction. We decided last post to respond 1NT. This shows a hand with 6 to 10 HCP (High Card Points) and no four card major. Partner now bids 2NT. What is your call?

Show Answer

3NT.

Partner is inviting game. They should have a balanced hand with 18 or 19 HCP.

If they had 15 to 17 HCP they would have opened the bidding 1NT. If they had fewer than 15 HCP they would "Pass" your 1NT bid -- after all with only 10 points maximum you shouldn't be able to make a game.

Responding to 1 Club

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠K74
♥KQ6
♦762
♣9432

Partner opens the bidding 1♣. The Opponents are silent during the auction. What is your call?

Show Answer

1NT. This should show a hand with no four card major and 6 to 10 HCP (High Card Points). Which is EXACTLY what you have.

Note that responding 1NT does NOT guarantee a balanced hand EXCEPT over 1♣.

Over 1♣ if you are unbalanced you can bid your suit -- either at the 1 level OR by supporting Partner's ♣ if that is your long suit.

Rebids after Stayman

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠K862
♥AQ94
♦Q76
♣A6

You are Dealer and open the bidding 1NT. The Opponents are silent during the bidding. Partner responds 2♣ which is Stayman. Partner is asking if you have a four card major. We decided last post to bid 2♥ -- bid your four card suits up the line.

Over 2♥ Partner now bids 3NT.

What is your call?

Show Answer

It should be 4♠. Why?

Partner is asking if you have a four card major. You said you did -- you told Partner you have four ♥.

Partner retreated back to 3NT. Partner is showing the values for game. But Partner doesn't want to play in 3NT. They want to play in 4♠.

Well why doesn't Partner just bid 4♠ then?

Because Partner does NOT know you have four ♠. You never told them you did.

But YOU know Partner has four ♠. They bid Stayman. They MUST have a four card major. You bid ♥. They did NOT like ♥. If they have a four card major and it is not ♥ it MUST be ♠.

If they did not want to play in a four four ♠ fit they would never have bid Stayman.

1NT Opener Rebids

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠K862
♥AQ94
♦Q76
♣A6

You are Dealer and open the bidding 1NT. The Opponents are silent during the bidding. Partner respond 2♣. What is Partner asking you and what is your call?

Show Answer

2♥.

Partner is asking if you have a four card major. With four cards in BOTH majors bid them up the line.

Over 2♥ Partner bids 3NT. What is your call now? See the next post for the answer.

Opener Rebid

Playing matchpoints. You are not vulnerable and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠J
♥KQJ8532
♦
♣AKQT8

You are Dealer and decide to open the bidding 1♥. Yes, you have a strong hand but with distributional hands you want to open the bidding naturally rather than opening the bidding 2♣ to show some sort of unknown strong hand.

After all the bidding probably won't go 1♥ Pass Pass Pass. If someone else bids (even if it is not Partner) you can show your hand later on.

So you bid 1♥ and Partner responds 1♠. The Opponents are not bidding. What is your call over 1♠?

Show Answer

Here is where you show the strength of your hand. Bid 3♣. This is called a JUMP SHIFT and puts a game force on the auction and tells Partner you have both of the rounded suits.

You CANNOT rebid that ♥ suit. Any rebids of that ♥ suit are NON-FORCING and weaker than what you have. You only need either the Ace of ♠ or the Ace of ♥ to make a small slam.

Responder Rebid

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠AKQ952
♥93
♦J3
♣Q87

Partner is Dealer and opens the bidding 1♦! The Opponents are silent during the auction. You decide to bid 1♠ since you are too weak for a strong jump shift bid of 2♠ and too strong for a weak jump shift of 2♠. Partner now bids 2♥. First of all what is Partner telling you? What is your call?

Show Answer

3♠

Partner has just made a reverse. They are showing a strong hand with at least five ♦ and at least four ♥. They should also have 17 or more points.

With a strong suit like your ♠ suit you can JUMP to 3♠ to show at least six of them and also commit the partnership to game.

Rebids

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠8
♥AJ76
♦AKQ95
♣A52

You are Dealer and open the bidding 1♦. The Opponents are silent during the bidding. Partner respond 1♠. What is your call?

Show Answer

2♥.

This is something called a "REVERSE" and shows a strong, unbalanced hand. So 17 or more HCP (High Card Points) and at least five cards in your original suit (♦) and at least four cards in your second suit (♥).

(Some people do not play the reverses as strong as this. I would advise to play them this strong until you get the feel for them.)

For more information on reverses check out this post: Simple Reverses

What to Rebid?

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠AKJ32
♥J96
♦AT54
♣9

You are Dealer and open the bidding 1♠. The Opponents are silent during the bidding. Partner respond 1NT. What does Partner's 1NT mean and What is your call?

Show Answer

2♦.

Partner should have about 6 to 10 HCP (High Card Points) and fewer than three ♠. Partner is NOT promising a balanced hand. They did not OPEN 1NT they RESPONDED 1NT just because they did not have enough points to bid a new suit at the 2 level.
With a lower ranking suit than the one you originally bid you are supposed to take Partner out of their 1NT bid since weaker hands tend to play better in a suit contract.