Opener must bid again!

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠AJ65
♥A2
♦K842
♣AQ7

You open the bidding 1♦. (You are too strong to open the bidding 1NT since you play a 15 to 17 range.) Your LHO (Left Hand Opponent) makes a 1♥ overcall. Partner passes and your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) passes. What is your call?

Show Answer

I'm good with one of two bids.

The best bid is Double.

Double is almost like a take out double here. It says "BID, PARTNER! BID!"

Which is what you want to happen. You want Partner to bid any suit other than ♥.

Doubles can be tricky though and I understand if you don't want to Double on the hand because Partner might not understand the bid or you just don't play it often enough that it comes to mind.

Another good bid is 1NT.

Not that that should be (ONE) 1NT. NOT (TWO) 2NT.

I can hear some asking -- "But don't I have to jump to 2NT to show my balanced 18 or 19 point hand?"

You do if PARTNER had responded 1♥. But Partner passed. Partner has a bad hand. They couldn't even bid over 1♥.

With a balanced minimum opening hand you would just pass 1♥.

Therefore you no longer need to jump to tell Partner you have 18 or 19. Just by bidding 1NT (IN THIS AUCTION!) you show a strong, balanced hand.

What to open?

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

Here is your hand:
♠9
♥AK98764
♦65
♣J76

Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) is Dealer and Passes. What is your call?

Show Answer

3♥.

Weak.
A weak two bid you will make with a SIX card suit.

You have a seven card suit. So up the pre-empt a level.

Responder Rebids

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

Here is your hand:
♠KT83
♥KT762
♦T3
♣T9

Partner is Dealer and opens the bidding 1♦. The Opponents are silent during the bidding. You respond 1♥. Now Partner rebids 2♣. What is your call?

Show Answer

How about 2♦?

Partner is showing at least five ♦ and at least four ♣. Their ♦ suit should be the same length or longer than their ♣ suit.

You probably don't have a minor suit fit. True.

But you probably don't have a major suit fit either!

Over your 1♥ bid Partner WOULD HAVE bid 1♠ if they had four of them. They choose instead to bid 2♣. They don't have four ♠. So don't bid 2♠ telling Partner you do. You will get the Partnership TOO HIGH. You are WEAK.

In fact you are too weak to do anything but take a preference to either of Partner's suits. You prefer ♦ (since they should be longer or the same length) so bid 2♦.

Rebid Problem

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠AKQJ7
♥865
♦K9
♣942

Partner opens the bidding 1♣. The Opponents are silent during the auction. You respond 1♠. (That's pretty easy.) Now Partner rebids 2♣. What is your call?

Show Answer

I'm good with SEVERAL bids by you. These bids include 3NT, 2♦ and not as crazy about 2♥ but this bid will work out also.

Bids I do NOT like are non game bids that Partner is allowed to "Pass". These include 2♠, 3♣ and 2NT.

First of all Partner opened the bidding. You have an opening hand. YOU need to get the partnership to game. Not Partner. Partner opened -- they did their job. You need to do your job now. YOU know you have an opening hand -- you have to communicate that to Partner.

2♠ shows a weak hand (about 6 to a bad 10 points) with a six card suit. Partner will "Pass" unless they are very strong or very distributional.

3♣ will NOT get the partnership to game. This is a NON-FORCING bid. Partner will just "Pass".

2NT will also NOT get the partnership to game. You show about 11 or 12 points with this bid. A couple less than what you have. This is also a NON-FORCING bid. Partner will just "Pass".

You belong in a game. In Matchpoints, unless there is a GOOD reason not to play in 3NT, you play in 3NT with a minor suit fit. "BUT I have no high cards in the other suits!" you might cry. True -- but what the heck did Partner open the bidding on? Besides the Opponents don't have a good suit or they'd be in the auction bidding.

However bidding 3NT will shut the auction down and you still could have a ♠ fit. Partner might have three of them. In order to find out if Partner has three ♠ BID A NEW SUIT. New suits are FORCING by Responder so you don't even have to jump taking up room in the bidding. For example 2♦ or 2♥. (I'm less crazy about 2♥ because I don't like lying about a major suit. Partner could still have four of them and not quite get the joke.) If you do this the FIRST thing Partner will do is tell you they have three ♠. Then you'll have found your fit and bid game.

As long as you either bid game OR a forcing bid you end up in the right spot.

What to Open?

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠K94
♥32
♦AK82
♣AK32

You are Dealer. What is your call?

Show Answer

1NT

Show your balanced 15 to 17 HCP.

If you open 1♦ what are you going to do if Partner responds 1♥?

Bidding 1NT right now would show a balanced hand with less than 15 HCP. (With a balanced hand and 15 HCP you would open 1NT.)

Bidding 2NT right now would show a balanced hand with 18 or 19 HCP. (With a balanced hand and 17 HCP you would open 1NT.)

What to respond to 1NT?

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

Here is your hand:
♠72
♥842
♦KQ85
♣KQ76

Partner is Dealer and open the bidding 1NT (15 to 17 HCP). The Opponents are silent during the auction. What is your call?

Show Answer

3NT

You have the values for game. You are balanced. Just bid game.

Some people bid 2♣ on this hand. This is a bid called "Stayman" which asks Partner if they have a four card major. You do not care if Partner has one or even two four card majors. YOU do not have a four card major so you won't find a fit!

What bid will Mess up the Opponents most?

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

Here is your hand:
♠J
♥J63
♦J
♣KQJT9875

Partner is Dealer and "Passes". Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) opens the bidding 1♦. What is your call? (Look at the colours before you decide.)

Show Answer

How about 5♣? Put MAXIMUM pressure on the Opponents.

If you bid a wussy 4♣ how happy are you going to bid if they bid 4♠ and Partner cannot "Double"? Are you really going to defend against 4♠?

Hopefully not. You'll either have to bid 5♣ or be extremely unhappy you are playing in ♠.

So since you are probably going to bid 5♣ anyhow put maximum pressure on the Opponents and bid 5♣ right away -- before they figure out what major suit they want to play in.

If you did bid 5♣ right away you probably got Doubled and went down 3 tricks. This gave the Opponents 500 points.

If you bid a wussy 4♣ guess what? The Opponents bid 4♠. They took 12 tricks in 4♠. That gave them 680 points.

Do you Bid or Not?

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠T986
♥AQJ84
♦972
♣8

Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) is Dealer and open the bidding 1♦. What is your call?

Show Answer

How about 1♥?

This is tricky. You do have a very bad hand point count wise. But you DO have a VERY nice suit. If Partner is on lead you want them to lead a ♥. This is your one and only chance to tell them. Don't let your lack of values stop you.

If you did overcall 1♥ then the Opponents stop short of bidding game. They can't bid 3NT because they don't have a ♥ stopper.

If you did NOT overcall 1♥ guess what? Your Opponents bid to 3NT and your Partner is on lead. The only lead that can defeat 3NT is a ♥ lead.

Did your Partner find the ♥ lead?

No. Of course they didn't. You needed to tell them what to lead.

What to Respond over 1NT?

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠A832
♥QJ8
♦K74
♣QT3

Partner opens the bidding 1NT (15 to 17 HCP). The Opponents are silent during the auction. What is your call?

Show Answer

How about 3NT?

Now NORMALLY when Partner opens the bidding 1NT and I have the values for game and a four card major I will bid Stayman. 2♣. This asks Partner if they have a four card major. We might discover a four four ♠ fit on this hand.

However since I am SO BALANCED (4-3-3-3) there is no way for Partner to use my small ♠ to trump anything. So this hand has no ruffing value whatsoever.

Because of this there is no point in finding a four four ♠ fit. I will just bid 3NT to get to my game.

On this hand you DO have a ♠ fit. But you take the same number of tricks playing with ♠ as trump and with nothing trump. 3NT will take 10 tricks and so does 4♠. But of course if you play in NT you get the extra 10 points which is HUGE at Match Points.

What to Open?

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

Here is your hand:
♠AQT9
♥J3
♦AKQ7
♣865

You are Dealer. What is your call?

Show Answer

How about 1NT?

You have a balanced hand with 16 HCP. This is the best way to describe your hand.

Don't worry so much that all your points are in the pointed suits. If Partner raises you to game then they will have all their points in the rounded suits.

The problem with opening 1♦ is that Partner might bid 1NT (eventually) and then what will you bid?

Passing 1NT would show a weaker hand but bidding 2NT would show a stronger hand. Tell them you have your 16 points right away by opening 1NT.