Responding to Opener's Suit Rebids

You can open the bidding with 11-21 points at the 1-level. So, 11 points is opener's minimum, 21 points is the maximum points. The purpose of opener's rebid is to show their partner whether they have a minimum, medium or maximum strength hand

What suit should I bid after Opener has rebid a suit?

“the combined points of the 2 hands help decide whether the contract is in game or part-game”

Responding to Openers suit rebids

1. The opener has usually shown the strength and distribution of their hand in their first two bids. Responder must then look at their own hand and calculate the total point count, then decide should this hand be played in part-game or are there enough points to bid game(with the much higher number of bonus points) the decision depends on the strength and points total of the openers and responders hands combined.

If the combined hands have....

25 HCP and no 'major suit fit' then the responder needs to bid game in NoTrumps;
if they have 26 TP and a 'fit' in either ♠ or ♥ then the responder needs to bid game in a major suit
if they have 27 TP and a 'fit' in either ♣ or ♦ and side suits with no stoppers (honor cards) then the responder needs to bid game in a minor suit

1. If the combined hands have less than these points and distribution above then the contract should stay at the lowest possible level in a part-game contract.
2. The second decision the opener must make is whether the contract should be in a suit OR in NoTrumps. This decision is made by looking at your hand and deciding whether to:

Support one of partner's suits
Rebid your own suit
Show another suit of your own
Bid NoTrumps

Responder can choose to	...point count	...holding
- prefer one of partner's suits	0-9 TP	responder chooses opener's suit in which they hold the most number of cards-with equal numbers of cards in both suits return opener to their first bid suit (this is called 'showing preference'). Leave the contract at the lowest possible level and opener may pass.
- rebid first bid suit	10+ TP	a good 5 card or a six card suit
- bid a second suit	12+ TP	must have a second 4 card suit and two or less cards in in partners suits
- bid NoTrumps	11+ HCP	with no major suit 'fit' and stoppers in the unbid suits

Exercise: Your partner opens 1♠ you bid 1NT and then opener rebids 2♥. What is your bid?

Responder

♠A 5 4
♥10 8
♦J 10 9 7 2
♣J 9 6

Answer: Return opener to the first suit ♠because you have longer spades. Opener has 5 spades & 4 hearts. With 4 of both suits opener would bid hearts first and then their spades. You must have 10+ points to bid your diamonds at the level of 2

Practice Game for this lesson (with full commentary)

Next: Part Game

Previous: Responding to Openers NoTrump Rebids

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