1 in a Suit Openings & New Suit responses - Facts sheet 6

Responding with a new Suit after a 1 in a Suit Opening
Bidding priorities for the Responder are :

  1. Raise Opener's Major suit (♥ or ♠)

  2. Bid a new suit

  3. Bid NT

  4. Raise Opener's minor suit (♣ or ♦, as a last resort)

Which suit to bid first when you have more then one biddable suit :

  1. With two 4+card suits : bid your longest suit first

  2. With two or three 4-card suits : bid your suits "up the line"
    Skipping a suit denies having 4-cards in that suit.

  3. With 55 or 66 : bid your higher ranking suit first
     Then bid your lower ranking 5-card suit twice.
    Bid your lower ranking 6-card suit 3 times if required.

  4. With 54 : bid your higher ranking suit first
     Then bid your lower ranking 4-card suit next time.

  5. With 64 : bid your 6-card suit first
     Then bid your 4-card suit once. Thereafter rebid your 6-card suit again if required.

Responding with a New Suit

  1. New suit at the 1 level   =   6+ points, 4+card suit

  2. New suit at the 2 level   =   11+ points, 4+card suit (or 10 points with only 8 losers)

The Limit bid
New suit bids by both Opener and Responder are bids with a wide points range. Therefore neither player may pass until a Limit bid has been made.

A Limit bid is a bid with a narrow points range (or low upper limit). They are :

  1. the first NT bid made   (1NT - Pass   or   1♥ - 1NT - Pass)

  2. the second time the same suit has been bid   (1♥ - 2♥ - Pass   or   1♣ - 1♥ - 2♥ - Pass)
    Exception : 1♥ - 3♥   and   1♠ - 3♠   are forcing to Game

  3. When the Responder has previously passed all his responses show 12 points or less and may be passed at any time   (1♣ - 1♥ - Pass)