Question: Playing 2/1, would you care to express your thoughts on the appropriate bids for the following hand types? Basically, minimum hands with strong-ish 4D and weak-ish 5C.
- Kx-xx-AKJx-Qxxxx ? Bid & rebid over 1S response.
- Nil – Kxxx-AKQx-Jxxxx? Bid & rebid over 1S response.
- Kxx-x-AQJx-QJxxx? Bid & rebid over 1S or 1H response.
What is the present day consensus on how to handle these hands??
Ask Gary:
Thankfully, this doesn’t come up very often. However, when it does, it can cause some confusion. There does not seem to be much written on the subject. What I do is look at my hand and consider my rebids when partner makes the expected response, in these cases: 1 Spade. Since, in all three instances, I can’t open 1C and then rebid 2D. This is a reverse showing extra HCP. Also, if I open 1C, I would not respond 2C over the 1S response. I could open 1C and rebid 1NT over 1S, but in hand 1, I have a doubleton heart and no heart stopper. That is not ideal. In hand 2, I am void in spades. Again, I would not bid 1NT with a void. So, I would open 1D, reserving the club suit for the rebid. This allows me the best option for “explaining” my hand. The worst case scenario, partner opts for a diamond game or partial with 3-3 in the minors. That can happen. In hand 3, I would raise 1S to 2S, because I have ruffing values. So, in all three instances, I would open the hand with 1D.
As a final thought, if my minor holding was something like QXXX of diamonds, or worse, and AKJXX of clubs, I would likely open 1C and treat the clubs as a six card suit and rebid 2C over the 1S response.