Opener's Rebid over 1C-1D-1H-1S

The following question pertains to the auction:

S	W	N	E
1♣	Pass	1♦	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
???

The Question

How would Opener bid if they don't have 4 ♠ (then they could bid 2♠), or control in ♠ (then they could bid 1NT) but just a weak balanced opening hand, like 2♠-4♥-3♦-4♣? I would have bid 1NT, but this will show Partner that I have space control?

The Answer

Yes. This does tend to show a ♠ control. However things might work out if you don't have a ♠ control. The Opponents aren't overcalling 1♠ so neither of them have a good five card ♠ suit. So you might be fine without a stopper -- even if Partner leaps to 3NT.

However, you do have other options. Since you have three ♦ in your hand you can always support Partner's ♦ suit. Note that this would deny wanting to play in NT for whatever reason (unbalanced hand? lack of a fourth suit stopper?) because you would pretty much always want to do that first.

So with three card ♦ support you can always show delayed support for Partner's first suit. That is a safer option compared to bidding 1NT without a fourth suit stopper.

A MUCH worse hand would be hands like these:

Worse Hand 1:
♠832
♥KQ65
♦K7
♣A973

Worse Hand 2:
♠764
♥AT92
♦AK
♣Q652

Worse Hand 3:
♠T63
♥AQ52
♦A9
♣QT86

Why are these hands SOOOO bad to rebid? Because you have all your options taken away.

You don't have four ♠ so you can't support Partner's alleged ♠ suit.

You don't have three ♦ so you can't show delayed support.

You can't rebid your ♣ suit because you only have four.

You can't bid 1NT because you don't have a stopper.

However you MUST BID. You cannot "Pass" 1♠ thinking you can always play in your 4-3 fit because Responder does NOT have to have ♠! Plus they are unlimited and could have an opening hand or more! You've got to bid.

So here I'd probably just act confident and bid 1NT without the stopper. What else can you do? It's not the best situation by far but again the Opponents aren't overcalling 1♠ so neither of them have a good five card ♠ suit. So you might be fine without a stopper -- even if Partner leaps to 3NT.

I will say that these situations rarely come up. When they do, you tend to get away with them. Maybe Partner does have four ♠? Maybe Partner has the stopper or help in the suit? Maybe the suit splits? Remember, when you play duplicate, everyone is in this same lousy situation.