Beginning Bridge: Basics for Responder


When your partner opens one of a suit, all you know about his hand is his minimum length in that suit (3+ cards for a 1C or 1D opening; 5+ cards for a 1H or 1S opening) and his minimum point count (at least 12-13). You don’t yet know if he has a balanced or an unbalanced hand, extra length in his suit, a second suit or extra points. Opener needs to hear from you before he can tell you more about his hand.

Partner needed at least 12-13 points to start the bidding, but you need only 6 points to bid back to him. Your response tells him the two of you have at least half the total strength (your 6+ and partner’s 13+ is about half of the 40 points in the deck).

A response, even with a bare 6 points keeps the auction open and allows partner to bid again. This can help you:

  (1)  Find the best trump suit. It may not be the suit partner bid, especially if he opened 1C or 1D.

  (2)  Find the right level. If partner has a very strong hand, you may be able to make a game contract.

  (3)  Make it more difficult for the opponents to enter the auction.


Which suit?

If partner opens and the next player passes, always respond if you hold 6+ points. Here are your options:

(1)  Raise partner’s suit.  A bid in the same suit partner opened (1H by partner - 2H by you) is called a raise. It says you have enough length in partner's suit to guarantee a combined fit of 8+ cards. Your raise also shows your point - count — the higher the level of your raise, the stronger your hand.

(2)  Bid notrump.  A notrump bid tells partner that you don’t have support for his suit and that you have no 4+-card major you can bid at the one-level. Notrump bids also show points — the higher the level of your bid, the stronger your hand.

(3)  Bid a new suit at the one-level.  A one-level response in a new suit (1C by partner - 1D, 1H or 1S by you) shows 4+ cards in your suit and 6+ points. Unlike a raise or notrump bid, your bid of a new suit does not show an exact point range. Opener won’t know how strong you are, so he must bid again.

If you have a minimum responding hand (6-9 points):  It's important to keep the auction low until you find a trump fit, so do not go to the two-level to show a new suit. If you can’t show your suit at the one-level, respond 1NT to keep the bidding low. With fewer than 10 points, you can bid at the two-level only if you're raising partner’s suit -- for example, 1D - 2D  or  1C - 1H - 1S - 2S.

(4)  Bid a new suit at a higher level.  If you make a non-jump bid of a new suit at the two-level (1S by partner - 2C, 2D or 2H by you), you promise at least 10 points and at least 4 cards in your suit. The only exceptions are:


What level?

You should keep bidding until one partner has enough information to choose a final contract. To make this decision, one of you must know:

     (1)  How many cards you both hold in the agreed trump suit; and

     (2)  How many total points are in your two hands.

The partner who has this information first is the “captain” of the hand and places the contract. In many auctions, you or your partner will be able to make this decision fairly early, often before you've gone past the one-level. 

Your first bid shows your minimum points (6+), but may not show a maximum number of points. As soon as possible, you want to give partner more exact information. The main ways you show points are:

The level you choose for these bids will tell partner your exact point range -- minimum (6-10), invitational (10-12) or forcing (12+).

When choosing a response, think of your hand as falling into one of the three ranges below. If your point-count falls in two ranges, use the higher range if you have “good” points and playing strength — aces and kings instead of queens and jacks, support for partner's suit, extra length in your suit.

With minimum strength  (6-10 pts):

Never bid above the one-level unless:

You’re raising partner’s suit  (1S - 2S); OR

You’re rebidding your own long suit  (1C - 1D - 1S - 2D); OR

Partner has forced the bidding higher or made a strength-showing bid that invites you to bid higher. See Opener's rebids to learn more about what opener is telling you with his second bid.

You always show minimum point range when you:

Raise partner’s suit one level  (1H - 2H;  1C - 1H - 1S - 2S;  1C - 1H - 1S - 2C).

Bid or rebid 1NT  (1H - 1NT;  1C - 1D - 1S - 1NT).  If partner opened a major suit, your 1NT response shows no fit (0-2 cards in his suit) and no new suit you can show at the one-level. This bid shows minimum high-card strength (6 to 10 points); it does not promise notrump distribution.

Rebid your own long suit at the lowest level available  (1D - 1S - 1NT - 2S).

Jump to 4 of partner's major  (1S - 4S). This jump shows minimum points, but great playing strength (usually 5 trumps and a singleton).

With invitational strength  (10-12 points):

Plan to invite game by freely taking the auction to 2NT or 3 of a suit.

You show at least invitational point range when your first response is 2 of a new suit (not a jump: 1D - 2C;  1S - 2H).

Some of the ways you can show your exact invitational point range are:

Jump to 3 of opener’s suit  (1H - 3H;  1C - 3C). This is called a limit raise.

Jump to 3 of opener’s second suit  (a major -- 1C - 1H - 1S - 3S) = 10-11 points, 4-card support.

Raise to 3 of opener’s second suit  (a minor — 1D - 1H - 2C - 3C) = 10-11 points, 4+-card support.

Jump rebid of your own long suit  (1D - 1H - 1S - 3H) = Strong 6+-card suit, 9-11 points. This invites partner to bid to game level.

Rebid of 2NT  (1C - 1H - 1S - 2NT;  1C - 1H - 2C - 2NT) = 10-12 points, with honor(s) in the unbid suits.

All of these bids are encouraging, but not forcing. They invite partner to bid on to game, but he can pass if he has a minimum 12-13 points for his opening bid.

With forcing-to-game strength  (12+ points):

If you know you and partner have a combined total of at least 25 points, don’t give partner a chance to pass below game level. It's your responsibility to get your partnership to a game contract.

New-suit bids force partner to keep bidding. He cannot pass until you show your exact point range (by bidding notrump, raising partner's suit or rebidding your own long suit). Keep forcing partner to bid until you've collected enough information to decide on a trump suit or notrump.

Here are examples of auctions where responder is showing forcing-to-game strength (your bids as responder are in bold type):


    Copyright ©  Karen Walker