In bridge auction, partners have their order of preference as follows:

Priority-1 : Play a trump game in Majors if together they have 8+ cards in any Major and combined strength of 25 total points. They require 10 tricks to make the contract.

Priority-2 : Play a No Trump game if suits have stoppers against opponent leads to take back control. Here 9 tricks make the game. 3NT contacts can be bid with 25 HCP combined strength. Notice here that High card points (HCP) are more relevant. Total points do not add significant advantage except for long suit points.

Priority-3 : Least preferred option is game in a Minor because now you need 11 tricks to reach game. Bid this option only when you have combined strength of close to 29 total points.

1^st bid of the responder to opening bid of his partner, is based on whether the bid is in a Major or a Minor. The line of action in these two cases, is different and must be covered in two separate sections.

Action-1: Responses on opener’s Major

Before proceeding further, note that FIT is a term used in bridge to find trump suit between partners with 8+ cards of a single strain. 1!h or 1!s of opener’s bid guarantees 5+ cards. Which means with 3 cards of the same suit in hand, responder can bid the suit at higher levels to show a FIT.

To show FIT in a Major Suit, let’s look at various scenarios.

Uncontested auction with FIT in Major:

• 6-9 Minimum. Responder bids same suit at a level higher than opener. e.g. 1!H:2!H
• 10-12 Invitational (read exploratory leave the decision to partner for game based on the strength of his hand). Responder jumps one level. e.g. 1!S:3!S
• 13+ Game Forcing. We use various conventions or reach game.
  • 1!s:4!s
  • Splinter when we have 4+ cards of the opener’s Major and a void or singleton in a suit by double jumping in that suit. e.g. 1!H:3!S or 1!H:4!D or 1!S:4!H or 1!S:4!C etc..
  • Jacoby 2NT when we have 4+ cards of the opener’s Major and possibility of exploring a slam by bidding 2NT.

Interference by opponent but FIT with Major in place:

• To show a FIT with invitational support after interference, use Cue Bids. This will show 10+ points and 3+ card support.

Note-raise of partner’s suit by jump is a sign off, when opponents are active (hence NOT invitational).

• Opponent has doubled and responder hand is invitational with 3+ card FIT in a Major opening,  use Truscott aka Jordan

To show invitational hand but NO FIT after Double by opponent, Redouble to show 10+ points hand.

Responder’s action over Major opening when no FIT in place:

Absence of a FIT in Major but the responding partner holding 6+ HCP will do the following:

• 6-11 points-Bid 1NT which is 100% forcing. Opener is expected to offer alternative. Opener CANNOT pass. In bad situation, he is allowed to bid a 3 card Minor (pass is not an option).
• Up-The-Line-Bids-On a 1!H opening, responder can bid 1!S with weak 6-12 points. As new suit is opened by responder, this bid is 1 round forcing.
• 2 over 1 game forcing when responder has 13+ points.
  • 3!h over 1!s is a special case. It shows 5/6!h with 10-12 points invitational hand.

Action-2:Response to opener’s Minor

One of opener’s Minor only says 3+ cards. The responder must now go on an exploration trip. Order of preference for response will now be as follows:

• Bid a new suit preferably a Major with 4+ Cards and 6+ HCP. This bid is one round forcing.
• Bid 1NT showing distribution and somewhat balanced hand with 6-9 HCP weak hand. Can be passed.

• Raise the Minor to show a fit but with 4+ cards and 10+ HCP (unlike 3+ in a Major). A convention called The Inverted Minor Raises has to be used. Here, our intention is to reach a NO Trump game.
• A weak hand (6-9 HCP) with 5+ cards of the Minor has to be responded with a jump. 1!C:3!C/1!D:3!D

• When Minor opening bid is overcalled by a Major. Responder’s alternate Major bid becomes a free bid and can be passed. Such free bids are 5+ cards (not 4+ as in case of uncontested response). If you have 4 cards of the alternate Major bid negative double.
  

Important conclusions in planning a response:

Let’s consider a few scenarios while planning a response.

Case 1 : When responder is unable to raise opener’s Major because he does not have 3+ cards of that same Major. In short, no fit.

or

The opener has bid a Minor, responder bids a new suit with 4+ cards.

• When responder bids a new Major he is exploring possibility of a game in this new suit.
• It is important to note that whenever a responder bids a New Suit, one round forcing is mandated. Opener cannot pass his next bid. Whereas, opener’s 1^st and 2^nd natural bids are passable.
• When responder bids a Minor suit he is exploring a game in No Trump.
• At level 1-New suit bid can be made with 6+ HCP and no upper limit.
• At 2 Level-Response should be 10+ HCP but with following riders:
  • Be aware that this bid will clash with 2 over 1 Game forcing  in uncontested auction where 13+ HCP hand is required.
  • Becomes natural bid only on interference.
  • If you qualify your bid as free bid, you need 5+ cards of alternate Major.
  • Even if you have 10+ HCP don’t bid at level 2 if you can bid at level 1. One must bid as cheaply as possible.
• Progression of bids at level 1 between partners are aimed at winning a part score contract. They are called  UP-THE-LINE-BIDS.

Case 2 : There are times when you have minimum HCP but somewhat balanced hand,  you should respond with 1NT to show distribution.

• On opener’s 1 of a Minor bid 1NT goes with 6-9 HCP. Can be passed.
• On opener’s 1 of a Major bid 1NT goes with 6-11 Points and is one round forcing. Opener can’t pass. In a very bad situation he is allowed to bid a 3 card minor.

Case 3 : One more possibility remains that of opener bidding 1 of a Minor and responder raising the same suit. As playing a game in minors is least preferred, follow these guidelines:

• This situation will arise only when Responder is unable to bid a 4+ card Major. Priority at all times should be given to a game in a Major.
• Consider bidding 1NT or 2NT or 3NT over a Minor raise.
  • 1NT 6-9 HCP
  • 2NT 10-12 HCP
  • 3NT 13-15 HCP
• Responder’s raise of opening Minor will be 4+ Cards unlike 3+ in case of Major. Convention called the inverted minor raises is used for further action.
• 2 over 1 game forcing-13+ HCP hand with 2!C response against opener’s 1!d, is Game Forcing.  This option is not available to opener’s 1 Club.

Foot Notes :

• Balancing seat responses-There are also instances where the dealer, has passed and the responder is now the opener at 3^rd seat or may be even at 4^th seat when all others have passed. In this situation, the bidding HCP is lowered from 12+ to 8+ to save the game from passing out. A convention called Reverse DRURY is used for making response bids.
• Opener’s rebid action after responder’s 1^st bid, can be as seen in Opener’s 2^nd bid chart
• After opener’s rebid, if the decision to bid a game is still inconclusive, two notable conventions can be used:
  • Fourth Suit Forcing-Game Forcing
  • New Minor Forcing–one round forcing