Major Suit Auctions

Major suit openings show 5+cards in all seats. High card strength will generally be about 11-20 hcp, depending on distribution. LTC will typically be 7 losers for a minimum opening, down to 5 or even 4 losers for a maximum. (Any hand with 3 losers or less should be opened 2C, and many 4-loser hands may qualify also). The basic responding scheme is as follows.
1S – pass usually has 0-4hcp and tolerance for spades, 10+losers.
1S - 2S is a limit raise, 3+ cards, 9 losers, usually 4-8hcp.
1S - 3S is a limit raise, 4+ cards, 8 losers, usually 9-11hcp
1S - 4S is a limit raise based on distribution: 4+ cards (often 5+), 7 losers, but usually only 6-8hcp.
1S – 4C/4D/4H are splinter raises, 4+cards, 7 losers or less, singleton or void in the bid suit.
1S – 3NT is undefined.
1S – 3C/3D/3H are natural and pre-emptive, showing a 6+card suit and 0-5hcp, with little tolerance for spades.
1S – 2NT is Jacoby-Roman, 3+ cards spade support, 12+hcp, typically somewhat balanced.
1S – 2C/2D/2H are natural, 11+hcp, showing a 5+ card suit, neither promising nor denying spade support.
1S – 1NT (forcing) catches everything else, including limit raises to 3S that have only 3-card support, balanced hands that include a doubleton spade, and hands that have a suit of their own but aren’t strong enough to make a 2 over 1 response.
Responses to 1H are similar, with the addition that there is

1H – 1S natural, showing a 4+card suit.

Generally, responding hands that are weakish 4-5 or 4-6 with spades and a minor should answer 1H with 1S so that a 4-4 spade fit can be discovered straight away. If they are strong enough to make an initial 2 over 1 response in the minor suit, they should go ahead and do that, because they are then also strong enough to mention the spades later.

After 1S – 1NT, opener rebids naturally. Repeating his suit guarantees 6+ cards: 2S shows 11-16hcp, 3S shows 17-18hcp, 4S would be 19-20hcp. Raising 1NT to 2NT would indicate 17-18hcp, raising to 3NT would show 19-20hcp. A jump rebid into a new suit (3C/3D/3H) would also be strong, no more than 5 losers, 18+hcp. With the typical 11-17hcp 6-7 loser hand, opener bids a second suit at the two level. 1S – 1NT; 2H guarantees at least 4+ hearts. 1S – 1NT; 2C or 2D may be a 3-card suit in a 5=3=3=2 or 5=3=2=3 hand.

Opener’s rebids after 1H – 1NT work similarly, except that hands with a 4-card spade suit can be awkward. 1H – 1NT; 2S is a reverse showing 17+hcp. Holding fewer points, opener must find a rebid in a minor, which may demand a 2C rebid on a doubleton in a 4=5=2=2 hand.

Responder’s rebid after 1S – 1NT; 2C/2D/2H is basically natural. Jumps to 3S and 4S indicate flat raises with 3-card spade support. (The 4S raise is specifically 4-3-3-3 distribution, a “pudding” raise. With a more promising hand, the initial 2NT response should be preferred.) Rebidding 2NT is a natural invitational bid with 10-12hcp, 3NT would be 13-15, and in both cases a doubleton spade is implied (or perhaps a singleton with 1=4=4=4 distribution). Other bids are mostly aimed at finding a playable part-score. Bidding a new suit indicates a weak hand and opener is expected to pass. Holding a doubleton spade, responder will usually return to 2S, even with 3 cards in opener’s second suit. If opener’s second suit is clubs or diamonds, it will generally be correct to return to spades even holding 4 cards in the minor. Raising the second suit would imply maximum values (in context, 9-11hcp) and a genuine fit, 5+cards if the suit is a minor.

Bidding after 1H – 1NT; 2C/2D is similar, with opener’s club suit being even more suspect than after a 1S start.

Once a major suit has been agreed, 4NT as 1430 RKCB is our main slam-bidding tool. In some auctions, a jump to 5NT (bypassing Blackwood) will be the Grand Slam Force, asking partner to bid 6 or 7 depending on his holding of the top trump honors. The original scheme was to bid 7 holding two of the top three honors, otherwise settle for 6. Using the space between 5NT and 6H/6S (whatever the trump suit is), it’s possible to define step responses to show your holding more precisely (for instance, 6C=no top honors, 6D=Q, 6H=A or K, 6S=2, or something like that). I’m not particularly impressed, and will settle for the old-fashioned way. If we’ve agreed trumps and I jump to 5NT, I’m interested in the AKQ of trumps. If you have 2 of them, bid the grand.