FIRST BID BY
RESPONDER

The Object of Bridge

1. To find a Fit of an 8-card Major suit.

2. If no Fit in a Major suit, find a Fit in an 8-card Minor suit.

3. If no Fit, attempt No Trump.

4. To find the best contract.

5. To inform your partner about your hand, accurately and quickly.

6. Once a fit is found, stick with it.

To reach your objective, Bridge Players have adopted certain guidelines. These guidelines are almost basic in trying to manage 26 cards. Since there are 50 plus officially recognized Bridge Systems available for bridge players, the System we shall be using is called the:

x Five Card American Standard System x

The art of counting High Card Points and Distribution Points are the same for the responder as they are for the opener. We shall review them here for memory re-enforcement. Remember that Distributional Points are points added after a Suit Fit has been found. Below is also the review for the totaling of Quick Tricks, which is equally valid for the responder.

Ace counts as:		4 High Card Points
King counts as:		3 High Card Points
Queen counts as:		2 High Card Points
Jackcounts as:		1 High Card Point
Doubleton counts as:		1 Distributional Point
Singleton counts as:		2 Distributional Points
Void counts as:		3 Distributional Points

Ace:		1 Quick Trick
Ace/King in the same suit:		2 Quick Tricks
Ace/Queen in the same suit:		1.5 Quick Tricks
King/Queen in the same suit:		1 Quick Trick
King:		.5 Quick Trick

For every extra card in a suit-fit add 1 distributional point.

A Limit Bid means that you have described your hand accurately and quickly. This does not mean that you can not bid again, but rather that your partner knows all your strengths and lengths. You then become the Follower and partner becomes the Captain, who will then guide you to the correct contract.

Following are the Basic Guidelines used in Five Card American Standard for the responder:

RAISE

with 6-9 Support Points
This is a Limit Bid

If partner opens a Major suit, he has a 5-card suit. Raise the Major suit of your partner to the Two Level with 3-card+ support in that Major suit.

Partner opens the bidding with 1 Spade.
What is your strategy with the following example?
You have 4-card support in Spades.

	K987
	432
	Q987
	J4

You have 4 Spades; 6 high card points, plus 1 point for the extra Spade fit.
There is no need to mention the Diamonds at this moment.
You bid 2 Spades

Partner opens the bidding with 1 Heart.
What is your strategy with the following example:

	K985
	7432
	Q98
	J4

You have 4 Hearts; 6 high card points, plus 1 point for the extra Heart fit.
Bid 2 Hearts
You have luckily found a Fit immediately; do not mess with it.
Do not be tempted to bid Spades because you think they are stronger.

In the above case, the opener may invite you to continue by bidding 3 Hearts.
The opener is asking you to bid 4 Hearts with 8-9 high card points or pass with 6-7 high card points.
Remember, there is a huge gap between 6 to 9 high card points, and game can only be reached through inviting.

Take a close look at the following hand.
Partner opens the bidding with 1 Heart.

	K98
	Q432
	Q98
	KJ4

You have 4 Hearts; 11 high card points, plus 1 point for the extra Heart fit.
You have found a Fit immediately, but you can not respond.
2 Hearts is too weak. You do not have 4 Spades / 4 Clubs / 4 Diamonds.
Show partner you have 10 high card points plus by bidding 2 Clubs, a temporizing bid.

RAISE

with 13-15 Support Points
This is a Limit Bid
This is a Forcing Bid

x Very Important Side Note Limit Raise Convention At this juncture, it must be noted that the Forcing Raise to the Three Level has been replaced with the Non-Forincg Limit Raise to the Three Level. The student of the game of Bridge should study both methods for their individual advantages and then select one convention. x

Partner opens with 1 Heart.

	Q98
	743
	AK9
	KJ43

You know that partner has an opening with 5-cards in Hearts.
You have 3 Hearts; you have 13-15 high card points; raise to 3 Hearts.
This bid by you is forcing. Partner must continue to game.
You have described your hand accurately and quickly.

Take a close look at the following example.
Partner opens with 1 Heart.

	J98
	Q743
	AK9
	Q43

You know that partner has an opening with 5-cards in Hearts.
You have 4 Hearts, 12 high card points and 1 distribution point = 13 points.
Raise to 3 Hearts. This bid by you is forcing.
You have described your hand accurately and quickly.

RAISE TO GAME

Raise the suit of your partner to game with fewer than 10 high card points, but with excellent support AND excellent distribution.

Be careful with this guideline. It is generally used when your team is vulnerable and/or there has been an intervening bid. You are also telling your partner all he needs to know about your hand.

Bid A New Suit

This is an Unlimited Bid
This is a Forcing Bid

Bid a new suit at the One Level with 6+ high card points = Unlimited Bid.
You may have only 6-9 high card points, but you do not prefer the suggested suit of your partner at this time.
If Partner opens with 1 Spade, you can't bid a new suit at the One Level.
Please see Bid No Trump below.

Your partner opens with 1 Heart.

	9876
	74
	AK
	K8765

You have 4 Spades; your have 2 Hearts; you have 10 high card points.
Your partner has 5 Hearts; you have only 2 Hearts. No Fit.
You are still looking for a Major suit. Bid 1 Spade.
Do not bid your Clubs first to show 10 high card points plus.

Bid A New Suit at the Two Level with 10 high card points plus

This is an Unlimited Bid
This is a Forcing Bid

Your partner opens with 1 Heart.

	987
	74
	AK5
	K8765

You do not have 4 Spades.
You do not have 3-card support in Hearts.
You have 10HCPs plus.
Bid 2 Clubs to show 10 high card points.
You show a 4-card Club suit.

x Exception x

Your partner opens with 1 Spade.

	98
	98765
	AK5
	K87

You do not have support in Spades; you have 10+ high card points.
If you have 5 Hearts, 10+ high card points, bid 2 Hearts.
Your partner will then know that you have 5 Hearts.
If he has 3 Hearts, he will support you.

Jump In A New Suit

Requirements:

At least a 6-card suit at least 16+ high card points
You are alerting partner of slam possibility.
This is known as a Jump Shift or a Skip Bid

Remember these requirements well

This is an Unlimited Bid
This is a Forcing Bid

Your partner opens with 1 Spade.

	98
	AKJ1087
	AQ
	Q98

You do not have support in Spades; you have 16+ high card points.
You have 6 Hearts, bid 3 Hearts.
Your Partner knows that you have 6 Hearts and 16+ high card points.
Never fudge on this bid.

Together you and your partner have 28-29 high card points. If opener has more = SLAM.
You may never cheat on the requirements. Use cautiously and accurately.

x Important Note: the modern strategy is not to use this response. The reason behind this argument is that you and your partner have 28 High Card Points plus, and the opponents will unlikely disturb the auction. Therefore, the idea is to take the bidding process slowly and find out first the strength of your partner before determining the best contract. x

Bid One No Trump

Bid 1 No Trump with 6-9 high card points
no support for the suit of your partner
and no suit of 4-cards you could show at the One Level

This is a Limit Bid
This is not a Forcing Bid

Your partner bids 1 Heart.

	986
	65
	A43
	KQ985

You can not bid 1 Spade.
You have no support in Hearts.
You have 6-9 high card points.
Bid 1 No Trump
Do not be tempted to bid 2 Clubs = 10+ high card points

Bid Two No Trump with 13-15 high card points

No support for the suit of your partner
No 4-card suit above the opening bid suit of your partner
Balanced hand
Stoppers in ALL the unbid suits

This is a Limited Bid
This is a Forcing Bid

Your partner opens 1 Spade.

	98
	AKJ8
	AJ64
	Q98

You do not have support in Spades; you have 13-15 high card points.
You have no 5-card Heart suit.
You do have stoppers in ALL unbid suits.
You describe your hand accurately and quickly with 2 No Trump.

Your partner opens 1 Heart.

	9876
	AK
	AJ64
	Q97

You have a 4-card Spade suit.
You have no 3-card support in Hearts.
You do not have stoppers in ALL unbid suits.
You must bid 1 Spade.
Look for the Major suits first.

Bid 3 No Trump with 16-18 high card points

No support for the suit of your partner
No 4-card suit above the opening bid suit of your partner
Balanced hand
Stopper in ALL the unbid suits

This is a Limited Bid
This is a Forcing Bid

Be careful with this bid. Remember, any response, except 1 No Trump, is a Forcing Bid. The opener must respond. The opener, through his rebid, will describe his hand further, maybe even using a Reverse Bid or a Jump Shift, which will give you additional information. Therefore, take it slowly.

These are the Basic Guidelines for the responder, whose Partner has opened the bidding auction. We have included the few conventions, which are used by many partnerships in, shall we say, more modern times. Bridge is a game, which evolves and there are many ways to improve the bidding process. It is strongly suggested to make use of them.

If the responder, on his first chance to bid, finds that there is no immediate fit, then the both partners, acting together, should attempt to find one. Once a fit is found, both partners should stick with it, using conventions to find out whether there is game or possibly slam.

Describing your hand to your partner is not that difficult. If you and your partner have found a fit immediately upon opening the bidding auction, and if your hand as responder falls within that Gray Zone of 10-11-12HCPs, do not lie to your team-mate. Please remember that each member of the partnership must develop a trust with the other member.

These guidelines may seem many in number, but once learned, they will become your basic tools in evaluating your hand. Always remember to look at your hand, evaluate its potential, decide upon the best response to describe your hand as quickly and accurately as possible, and bid with confidence loud enough for your partner to hear. By learning these Basic Guidelines, you take the guessing out of bridge.

If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.