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Contract Bridge
 LESSON 8
Suit Responses after a 1 NT Opening

  1. Suit Responses after a 1 NT Opening
  2. The Rescue Bid
  3. The Stayman Convention
  4. The Direct Finesse
  5. Bidding by the Defence
  6. Signals by the Defence
  7. Deals 17 to 20 - Print Out
  8. Quiz 8 - Answers to Quiz 8

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BR 8.1 - Suit Responses after a 1 NT Opening

The 1NT Opening bid (showing 16-18 pts and a balanced hand) and the various NT responses were discussed in Lesson 4.

Suit Responses to a 1NT Opening show unbalanced and semibalanced hands and are straight forward (see the Bidding Guide page 3). Here follow some examples.

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Hand 1
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with an unbalanced hand and a 6 card Spade suit.

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  • Opener has a balanced hand and therefore must have at least two cards in your Spade suit (a doubleton).
    This means that you have a trump fit in Spades (6 + 2 = 8 Spades).

  • Counting shortage points your hand is worth 12 points. Together you hold therefore between 28 (12 + 16) and 30 (12 + 18) points. Bid therefore straight to Game : 4S.


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Hand 2
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with an unbalanced hand and a 5 card Spade suit.

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  • Opener has a balanced hand and therefore must have at least two cards in your Spade suit (a doubleton).
    However for a trump fit in Spades you need 3 card support (5 + 3 = 8 Spades).

  • In this case you respond : 3S
    This conveys to the Opener the following message :
    • Partner we have enough points for Game, and you must bid on until a Game contract is reached.
    • I have a 5 card Spade suit, therefore reply 4S with 3 card trump support or bid 3NT when holding only a Spade doubleton.


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Case 2a
Here a typical trump fit combination involving Hand 2 (above)

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  1. North opens : 1NT

  2. South responds : 3S

  3. North, with 3 card Spade support replies : 4S


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Case 2b
Here a typical non trump fit combination involving Hand 2 (above)

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  1. North opens : 1NT

  2. South responds : 3S

  3. North, with only a doubleton in Spades replies : 3NT


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Hand 3
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with a semibalanced hand and a 5 card Heart suit.

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  • With a semibalanced hand and a 5 card or longer major suit, prefer to respond with the major suit rather than bidding NT.

  • In this case respond : 3H.

  • Opener replies 4H with 3 card Heart support, or bids 3NT with only a Heart doubleton.


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Hand 4
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with a semibalanced hand and a 5 card Club suit.

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  • With a semibalanced hand and a 5 card or longer minor suit, prefer to respond with the No Trump rather than bidding your minor suit.

  • In this case respond : 3NT
    You have 11 points, a semibalanced hand with a long Club suit.


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Here is a Diagram showing the 1NT Opening bid and the various suit responses.

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As a responder with 15 or more points and a 5 card suit bid 3 of your suit first, then, after opener's response, raise opener's bid to 5 (with 15-16) or to 6 (with 17 - 20) as appropriate.

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BR 8.2 - The Rescue Bid

Rescue bids are Responses after a 1NT Opening bid.
They show unbalanced hands with only 0-7 points.
Opener must Pass after a Rescue bid!

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Here follow two examples.

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Hand 5
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with an unbalanced hand and 6 Hearts.

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  • Normally with less than 7 points in your hand you would Pass.
    Your hand is absolutely useless to the Opener, as it is most unlikely that he will ever be able to get the lead into your hand and cash some Heart winners.
    Opener may well be weak in one or even two suits and perhaps not make the 1NT contract.

  • Respond therefore : 2H.
    Suddenly you have 6 powerful trumps in your hand, and likely to make three tricks with them.
    It provides a better contract, and alerts Opener that you have a unbalanced hand which is too weak to support a Game contract.

  • Your bid is a Rescue bid. Opener must Pass.

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Hand 6
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with an unbalanced hand and 5 Hearts.

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  • The same principle applies as for Hand 5. Make a Rescue bid of 2H.

  • Even if Opener only holds a doubleton Heart in his hand a 2H contract is much better than 1NT.

  • Opener, once again, must Pass.

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BR 8.3 - The Stayman Convention

Say your Partner opens the bidding with 1NT, and you hold the following unbalanced hand. What is your response ?

  • You have 9 points but being unbalanced should not respond with 2NT
  • You have no 5 card suit and therefore should not respond with a suit bid either.
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The solution to this problem is provided by the Stayman Convention
After an Opening bid of 1NT a Response of 2C is the Stayman Convention. It shows 8+ points and at least one 4 card major suit, and asks Opener to bid his 4 card major suit.
Opener's replies are :

  1. 2D - with no 4 card major
  2. 2H - with 4 Hearts (or 4 cards in both major suits)
  3. 2S - with 4 Spades
If there is a trump fit the Responder then raises the major suit to 3 (with 8-9 points) or to Game (with 10+ points).
If there is no trump fit the Responder bids 2NT with 8-9 pts, or 3NT with 10+ pts.

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Here are two typical examples.

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Hand 7
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with Hand 7.

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  • You have 9 points, unbalanced with both 4 card major. An ideal hand to bid Stayman : 2C


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Case 7a
North opens with 1NT.

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  • South responds with Stayman 2C
  • North replies with 2H - showing a 4 card Heart suit.
  • South, after revaluating his hand (12 pts including shortage pts) bids 4H


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Case 7b
North opens with 1NT.

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  • South responds with Stayman 2C
  • North replies with 2D - showing no 4 card major suit.
  • South, with 9 points now bids 2NT
  • North, with 18 points bids 3NT


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Hand 8
Your Partner opened 1NT.
You are the Responder with Hand 8.

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  • Make a Stayman Response of 2C.
    This way you can explore the possibility of a trump fit in your 4 card Spade suit.
    If Partner denies having 4 Spades you can still bid your 5 card Diamond suit, warning him that your hand is not balanced.


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Case 8a
North opens 1NT.

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  • South responds with Stayman 2C.
  • North replies 2H - showing a 4 card Heart suit.
  • South now bids 3D - showing an unbalanced hand with 4 Spades (as he did not support Opener's Hearts) and 5 Diamonds.
  • North, confident that he has South's short suits (Clubs and Hearts) covered now bids 3NT.


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Case 8b
North opens 1NT.
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  • South responds with Stayman 2C.
  • North replies 2H - showing a 4 card Heart suit. (With both 4 card majors he also must bid Hearts.)
  • South now bids 3D - showing an unbalanced hand with 4 Spades and 5 Diamonds.
  • North, realising that South's 4 card major must be Spades now confidently bids 4S.

    (Remember : South may only bid the Stayman Convention if he has at least one 4 card major. Otherwise there is no point in asking for 4 card major suits.)


Some general points :
  1. The Stayman Convention can also be used for semibalanced hands and even with balanced 4432 distributions which includes a weak doubleton.

  2. After a 2NT Opening - a 3C Response is also Stayman.

  3. If you use the Stayman 2C bid the weak Rescue bids can only be made for Diamonds, Hearts and Spades !
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BR 8.4 - The Direct Finesse

As explained in Lesson 7.6 in the Indirect Finesse a low card is lead in one hand up to a high card in the other.
The aim is to avoid being captured by opponent's high card.

In the Direct Finesse a high card is lead in one hand up to a higher card in the other.
The aim is to capture opponent's high card.

This is a costly technique as you use two high cards to win one trick. To be productive you should hold therefore at least four of the top six cards in a suit (A K Q J 10 9).

In the Diagrams below the Jack is lead by South.

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  1. If West plays low (Diagram A), North also plays a low card, and the Jack wins the trick.
    (South then plays the Heart 10, playing again low in North if West plays low.)

  2. If West plays the King (Diagram B), North plays the Ace. This leaves the Queen and 10 for two extra tricks (and a 3rd trick for the remaining small Heart).

  3. If, on the other hand East holds the Heart King (Diagram C), South's Jack will lose the first trick. However the Ace, Queen and 10 still will provide the next three tricks in Hearts.

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The Defenders too can make Finesse plays.
The top of a solid sequence opening lead often sets up a direct finesse against a high card in Dummy, as for example happens in Deal 20.

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BR 8.5 - Bidding by the Defence

When the opponents open the bidding the chances for reaching a good contract by your side are reduced considerably.
The bidding strategy for the defenders changes therefore completely.
The priority of bidding objectives now are :

  1. Obstruct the opponents bidding.

  2. Signal a good suit if Partner has to make the Opening lead.

  3. Find a suitable contract for your side to play in.

Bids by the defence therefore show good 5 card or longer suits with at little as 9 points at the 1 level, or at least 11 points at the 2 level. Page 8 of the Bidding Guide outlines the various possibilities.
br0817.gif This complete reversal of bidding strategy is for the learning beginner at first difficult to comprehend.
I therefore recommend that you ignore the defensive bidding strategies initially (for a period of about 3 months). This will give you time to come to grips with the basic bidding language outlined in these 10 lessons.
As you become more comfortable and competent with this it will be much easier to gradually include the defensive bidding strategies in your arsenal of bridge skills.

Defensive bidding and other advanced topics are dealt with in detail in the Bridge Course on CD-ROM.


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BR 8.6 - Signals by the Defence

When a Defender is not required to play a high card to a trick he can take that opportunity to send a signal to his partner.
This happens especially on the opening lead.

For example in a 3NT contract partner makes the opening lead with the Queen of Clubs. The lead is obviously the top of a solid sequence. Dummy plays low from three small cards in the suit and you hold

K   7   2

By playing the Club 7 in stead of the 2, an 'unnecessary high card', you encourage partner to continue to lead that suit and signal to him that you hold an honour card (in this case the King) in the suit.

What is a high card ?
Usually 6 or higher, but it all depends on what you hold in your hand.

With   K J 6 4   the 6 is a 'high card' and the 4 low.

But with   K J 4 2   the 4 is the 'high card' and encourages.


It is therefore important that partner looks carefully at all the cards in his hand, in Dummy and on the table played in the trick.

Traditionally the high - low signal (high card on one trick, often followed by a low card on the next or a later trick) is ecouraging, the low - high signal discouraging or neutral.
In recent times several variations are popularly in use, such as encouraging indicated by low - high, or odds - evens.

I have included high - low signals in Deal 19 and Deal 20 of this lesson.
Can you identify situations in Example Deals from earlier lessons where a high - low would be appropriate ?   (Answer).

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BR 8.7 - Deals 17 to 20

Deals 17 to 20 are examples of bidding and play as outlined in this lesson.


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BR 8.8 - Quiz 8   (Answers to Quiz 8)


Copyright © 2001 Michael Furstner (Jazclass). All rights reserved.