Opener
Responder
1
1
2
?
CHAPTER 9
Rebids by the Responder
Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
By the time the responder is in the position of making his second bid, the responder’s rebid, he has heard two bids from the opener and should have a much clearer picture of the opener’s hand. The responder takes what he knows about the shape and strength of the opener’s hand and asks himself two questions:
• What is the best zone for the partnership
• What is the best denomination
Much of the time the responder’s rebid will be able to place the final contract. When the partnership has already arrived at the answer to one of the two questions, all the responder has to do is to answer the other to decide on the final contract. Let’s look at how straightforward this can be.
Rebidding after the opener shows a minimum strength hand
An opener can show a minimum strength hand in a number of ways:
• Raising the responder’s suit to the cheapest available level
• Rebidding his own suit at the cheapest available level
• Rebidding no trumps at the cheapest available level
• Bidding a new suit at the cheapest available level
Opener raises the responder’s suit
Consider how much information responder has after the bidding has progressed as follows:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
? |
First, the opener has described a hand that has four or more hearts, the suit he first mentioned. Secondly, he has four spades, since he supported your spade suit. Thirdly, his hand has minimum strength, 12–15 points, since he only raised to the two level. You, as responder, are in a good position to decide on the zone of the final contract. The denomination was already decided once the opener supported your spade suit. Let’s see what you would rebid after the above auction with each of the following hands:
On the first hand, you would pass. The partnership should remain in the partscore zone. The opener has shown minimum values by supporting your suit at the cheapest level and you only have 6 points.
On the second hand, you have 10 HCPs and 2 points for the doubletons. Game is still possible even though the opener has shown a minimum strength hand of 12–15 points. If the opener has only 12 or 13 points, you want to remain in the partscore zone. If the opener is at the top of his range, 14 or 15 points, you want to be in the game zone. To find out the information you need, move towards the game zone by rebidding 3, inviting the opener to carry on. The opener will accept your invitation with the top of his range, but decline if he has the bottom of his range, leaving the contract in the partscore.
On the third hand, you do not need any more information from the opener to decide to rebid 4. Since you have 14 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton heart and the opener has promised at least 12 points with his opening bid, there is enough combined strength for the game zone.
The general guidelines when an opener’s rebid has shown a minimum strength hand is the following:
|
6–9 points |
Stop in the partscore zone |
|
10–12 points |
Make a move towards the game zone |
|
13 or more points |
Get to the game zone |
Opener rebids his own suit
Suppose the auction goes as follows:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
? |
The opener is again showing a minimum hand of 12–15 points, but without support for the responder’s suit. Since the opener did not rebid no trumps or show a second suit, he must have an unbalanced hand, probably with a six-card or longer suit. The responder can use the same guidelines as when the opener raises the responder’s suit. Let’s see what you would do with each of the following hands after the above auction.
On the first hand, you have only 7 HCPs. Opposite the opener’s minimum hand, you want to remain in the partscore zone. Since your partner has an unbalanced hand with a long heart suit, the best partscore appears to be 2. Pass and let your partner get on with playing the hand.
In the second example, you have 10 HCPs. Since you are in the 10–12 point range, you want to move towards the game zone. Now that your partner has rebid his suit, you know there is an eight-card or longer fit in hearts. Make an invitational raise to 3. The opener will decline the invitation with the bottom of his minimum range, but will accept if he is at the top of the range.
With the last hand, you have enough strength to want to be in the game zone. You want to play in the eight-card or longer suit fit, so raise the opener to game, 4.
Opener rebids in no trumps
Suppose the auction goes as follows:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
1NT |
? |
The opener has told the responder a lot about his hand. He has a balanced hand with 15–16 points, too many points to open the bidding 1NT but too few to jump to 2NT on the rebid. The opener has also shown a four-card, or possibly five-card, diamond suit and fewer than four spades, since he did not raise the responder’s suit. With all this information the responder should be able to decide the zone and denomination on each of the following hands:
On the first hand, the responder has 6 HCPs and 2 points for the six-card suit, a total of 8 points. Since the opener has shown 15–16 points, the responder knows the partnership should stay in a partscore. If the responder had a balanced hand, he could pass and leave opener in 1NT. However, the opener has shown a balanced hand and must have at least two spades, giving the partnership an eight-card fit. The responder can sign-off in 2.
With the second hand, the responder has 11 HCPs and 2 points for the six-card suit. Combined with the opener’s promised 15–16 points, the partnership belongs in the game zone. As on the previous hand, the denomination should be spades, so the responder jumps to game, 4.
On the final hand, you also belong in the game zone. Since your partner has not supported your spades, the best game contract should be 3NT. The responder can ignore the diamond fit since 3NT should be easier to make than 5
.
Opener bids a new suit
When the opener’s rebid is in a new suit, he is giving the responder a choice of trump suits. The responder should keep in mind that the opener always starts the bidding in his longest suit, so the opener’s first bid suit will be as long, or longer, than his second suit. With equal support for both suits, the responder should prefer to play in the opener’s first suit. Of course, the responder may not like either of the opener’s suits and may want to rebid his own suit or bid no trumps.
In deciding on the zone, the responder should assume that the opener has a minimum hand of 12–15 points. In some situations, the responder could have more than a minimum, since the opener only jumps in a new suit when he has a maximum strength hand of 19 or more points. The opener will have to show any extra strength at his next opportunity, if the auction is still going. Assuming the opener has a minimum, the responder can follow the guidelines of stopping in a partscore with 6–9 points, moving towards a game with 10–12 points, and getting to the game zone with 13 or more points. For example, suppose the auction starts this way:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
? |
You have only 8 HCPs on the first hand, so it looks as though the partnership belongs in the partscore zone. Your partner has not supported your spades but has given you a choice between hearts and clubs. With equal length support for both suits, remember that your partner bid his longest suit first. Give preference to your partner’s first suit by rebidding 2.
With 11 HCPs on the second hand, you want to move towards the game zone. Since you prefer your partner’s second suit, you can raise to the three level, 3
. With only 12 or 13 points, your partner can pass the invitation and stop in a partscore. If your partner has 14 or more points, he can accept your invitation by bidding to a game contract.
On the last hand, you have 14 HCPs, enough to put the partnership in the game zone. With no particular preference for either of partner’s suits, rebid 3NT, putting the partnership in the most appropriate game contract.
Rebidding after the opener shows a medium strength hand
Suppose the auction has proceeded:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
? |
By jumping to 3, rather than rebidding 2, the opener is showing an unbalanced hand of more than minimum strength, about 16–18 points, with a six-card or longer heart suit. Let’s see what you would rebid with the following hands:
You only have 6 HCPs on the first hand. The opener’s jump to 3 is highly invitational but not forcing. Since the opener has at most 18 points and could have as few as 16, you should decline the invitation and pass.
With 10 HCPs you have enough strength to want to be in the game zone, even if the opener only has 16 points. Since the opener has promised a long heart suit, accept by raising to 4.
Your 11 HCPs on the last hand are enough to put the partnership in the game zone. Since you do not care for your partner’s heart suit, rebid 3NT, the most likely game contract.
The opener would also be showing a medium strength hand in the following auctions:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
? |
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
2NT |
? |
In general, use the following guidelines when the opener’s rebid shows a medium strength hand:
|
6–7 points |
Stop in the partscore zone |
|
8 or more points |
Get to the game zone |
Rebidding after the opener shows a maximum strength hand
When an opener makes a rebid that shows a maximum strength hand – either by jumping in a new suit or jumping two levels when rebidding no trumps – he is promising 19 or more points. Even if the responder has only 6 points, there are at least 25 combined points, so the partnership always belongs in the game zone.
For example, suppose the auction starts off this way:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1NT |
|
3 |
? |
The opener’s jump shift to 3 shows an unbalanced hand of 19 or more points with both spades and hearts. The spades will be as long, or longer, than the hearts since the opener bid spades first. Let’s see what the responder rebids with each of the following hands:
Although you have only 6 HCPs on the first hand, you cannot pass the opener’s 3 rebid. The partnership is committed to the game zone. With four-card support, raise the opener’s second suit to game, 4.
On the second hand, you do not have support for either of the opener’s suits. Since you belong in the game zone, rebid 3NT. That appears to be the best contract from your side of the table. If your partner has a very unbalanced hand, he can always override your decision and rebid one of his suits.
On the last hand, you can put your partner in a game in his first suit by rebidding 4. It might seem strange to raise his spade suit when he has only bid it once but, remember, he opened the bidding 1. If he had a four-card spade suit and a four-card heart suit, he would have opened the lower-ranking of two four-card suits, 1. Since he opened 1, you can assume that he must have at least five spades. This is the type of inference you can learn to draw from the opener’s bidding to help you select the best contract.
Over Zia’s shoulder
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Audrey: |
By the time the responder makes his rebid, a lot of bidding has gone on. The responder usually knows the zone and denomination of the final contract. Show us a hand demonstrating how you arrived at a decision when you were the responder and had to make your rebid. |
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Zia: |
You have to imagine what your partner has in order to decide on the final contract. Here is a hand I recently held: |
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My partner, the dealer, bid 1 |
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|
North (Partner) |
East |
South (Zia) |
West |
|
|
1 |
Pass |
1 |
Pass |
|
|
2 |
Pass |
? |
||
|
Before you decide on the rebid, think about what your partner is telling you about his hand. He started with hearts and rebid diamonds. When an opener bids two suits in this fashion, his first suit must be five cards or longer in length, otherwise he would have opened 1 I had another hand where my partner bid two suits, neither of which I particularly liked. This was my hand: |
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|
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My partner opened 1 |
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|
North (Partner) |
East |
South (Zia) |
West |
|
|
1 |
Pass |
1 |
Pass |
|
|
2 |
Pass |
? |
||
|
I wanted to be in a game. My partner had shown at least five diamonds and at least four clubs. Since that totals nine cards, the most my partner had in both hearts and spades was four cards. I wondered how they were divided. I wanted to be in 4 |
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Audrey: |
Don’t leave us in the dark. How did the auction continue? |
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Zia: |
My partner bid 2 |
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Summary
By the time the responder makes his second bid, he has heard two bids from the opener. He considers the strength and distribution that the opener has described and looks at his own hand to answer two questions:
• What is the best zone for the partnership?
• What is the best denomination?
In making his decision, responder can use the following guidelines:
Responder’s rebid when opener has a minimum strength hand
|
6–9 points |
Stop in the partscore zone |
|
10–12 points |
Make a move towards the game zone |
|
13 or more points |
Get to the game zone |
Responder’s rebid when opener has a medium strength hand
|
6–7 points |
Stop in the partscore zone |
|
8 or more points |
Get to the game zone |
Responder’s rebid when opener has a maximum strength hand
|
6 or more points |
Get to the game zone |
Commonly asked questions
Q I have heard that the responder can only make one bid with fewer than 10 points. Is this true?
A The responder is usually in the position of being the captain and has the responsibility of putting the partnership in the best final contract. This may mean making two bids with as few as 6 HCPs. For example, suppose the auction has proceeded:
|
Opener |
Responder |
|
1 |
1 |
|
1NT |
? |
This is the responder’s hand:
The responder knows that the opener has at least two spades, since the opener is showing a balanced hand. There is no need to play in a partscore in no trumps with an eight-card spade fit. The responder, as captain, rebids 2. His focus should not only be on his point count but also on the best final contract.
