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Responding to 1NT with Game Forcing Unbalanced Hands by Andy Hung

In this quiz, we will be looking at how to respond to a 1NT opening bid with a game-forcing unbalanced hand. That is, jumping to 3♣, 3♦, 3♥, or 3♠ telling partner that you have 13+ points and a five-card suit.

Assume in all cases that 1NT is 12-14 points and a balanced hand.
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Question 1

  South
♠ 5
♥ A Q 9 8 4
♦ K J 8 5
♣ K 7 4 		 
Q: 1 - Here you are sitting South as responder, and partner opens 1NT. Do you want to bid? If so, what do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3♥. This says that you have a five-card Heart suit and (at least) a game-going hand. Because of the unbalanced nature of your hand, you would much prefer to be in 4♥ if partner has support for you. If partner doesn't, then he can retreat to 3NT. Essentially, a 3♥ bid here is a "Choice of Games" - if partner has Heart support he will raise you to 4♥, and if partner has a doubleton Heart, he will go back to 3NT. He can't Pass!

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Question 2

  South
♠ K Q 10 9 4
♥ 5 2
♦ A J 6
♣ K 9 5 		 
Q: 2 - Here you are sitting South as responder, and partner opens 1NT. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3♠. Even with a balanced 5-3-3-2 shape (with a five-card Major), you should still search for a major suit game because it might still be possible for you to have a 5-4 fit. Additionally, you have two small Hearts so if partner were to raise your 3♠ to 4♠, you can feel pretty confident that it's where you belong.

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Question 3

  South
♠ K Q 9 8 5
♥ Q 7 3
♦ Q 9 4 2
♣ 4 		 
Q: 3 - Here you are sitting South as responder, and partner opens 1NT. Do you want to bid? If so, what do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2♠. You are not strong enough to want to play in game, but you don't want to play in 1NT either. Your hand is much more orientated into playing in a Spade contract. A weakness take-out of 2♠ here doesn't always consist of hands that are total rubbish. Sometimes you are allowed to have a maximum.

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Question 4

  South
♠ K 4
♥ K J 10 7 5 3
♦ A Q 8 3
♣ 2 		 
Q: 4 - Here you are sitting South as responder, and partner opens 1NT. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♥. With 13 points, you know that the partnership has at least 25 points combined so you certainly have enough points to be in game. Furthermore, partner's 1NT opening promises a balanced hand so you are assured of an eight-card Heart fit (since partner must have at least a doubleton). In these cases you should just bid where you think you belong, and that's 4♥.

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Question 5

  South
♠ A J
♥ A 6 3
♦ A J 9 8 6
♣ 10 9 2 		 
Q: 5 - Here you are sitting South as responder, and partner opens 1NT. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3NT. With a five-card minor suit, you should just bid 3NT. The Diamonds will prove a useful source of tricks in 3NT but are unlikely to be a good enough trump suit to make 5♦. Nine tricks are easier to make than eleven and minor suit games are rare birds.

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Question 6

  South
♠ J 8 5
♥ A Q 8
♦ Q 5
♣ A 10 5 3 2 		 
Q: 6 - Here you are sitting South, and you are now the 1NT opener. What do you do over partner's response?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass3♥Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♥. Partner's 3♥ bid means "I have a game-going hand with five-plus Hearts". Our duty is to raise partner with a fit, else we bid 3NT. Here, we have a nice fit for partner so we should tell him about our support with a 4♥ bid. Passing 3♥ would be a grave dereliction of duty. 3♥ is FORCING.

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Question 7

  South
♠ A J
♥ K J 5
♦ Q 8 5 4
♣ K 9 8 5 		 
Q: 7 - Here you are sitting South, and you are the 1NT opener. What do you do over partner's response?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass3♠Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3NT. With only doubleton "support" for partner, you cannot raise him to 4♠ as that would suggest three or more cards in the suit. Partner knows that we must have a doubleton Spade so if 4♠ is the right spot he should be in a position to bid it. Passing 3♠ is verboten - partner would be furious.

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Question 8

  South
♠ K 9 8
♥ K 8 5
♦ K 9 6 5
♣ A 7 2 		 
Q: 8 - Here you are sitting South, and you are the 1NT opener. What do you do over partner's response?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass3♠Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♠. Despite our 4-3-3-3 shape, we should still tell partner about our support. It's true that partner can have a balanced hand (well, 5-3-3-2), but what if he's unbalanced? If partner has something like ♠A Q J 5 3 ♥4 ♦Q J 10 5 ♣K 7 5 We will regret playing in 3NT when the opponents lead Hearts. Remember, if we bid 3NT we are pretty much denying support for partner. If we Pass 3♠ we'll be looking for a new partner.

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Question 9

  South
♠ 5 3 2
♥ K 10 7 6
♦ A J 4
♣ K Q 6 		 
Q: 9 - Here you are sitting South, and you are the 1NT opener. What do you do over partner's response?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass3♠Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♠. Partner is asking you a simple question: "Can you support my Spades?" Support in this case is three or more cards and you do have three cards in Spades, giving the partnership an eight-card fit. So you should raise to 4♠ to let partner know the happy news. 3NT would be selfish and always denies holding as many as three prospective trumps. Pass is unthinkable.

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Question 10

  South
♠ A K 9 8 5
♥ A K 9 8 5
♦ 4
♣ 5 4 		 
Q: 10 - Here you are sitting South and back as the responder, and partner opens 1NT. What do you bid?
SouthWestNorthEast
1NTPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 3♠. If partner rebids 3NT, denying a Spade fit, you can then follow it up with 4♥. With 5-5 shapes it is generally better to bid your suits downwards, allowing partner to make a choice. (If partner raises 3♠ to 4♠ then concealing your Hearts may turn out to be a good thing as the defenders will not know what your hand is).

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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