Andrew:

Responding to a Suit Opener – with a fit

With four cards in the suit your partner has opened, you have a fit: eight+ combined cards. You should tell partner the good news immediately .

The higher the level you bid in support of partner, the better your hand. Use The Responder’s Support Line:

Point Count	Strategy
6-9 points	Bid two of partner's suit
10-12 points	Bid three of partner's suit
13+ points	Bid four of partner's suit

Don’t be a slave to your point-count though. Be prepared to upgrade a shapely supporting hand. Shortages are very valuable for trumping purposes. A doubleton is worth about one extra point; a singleton is worth about three extra points; a void is worth about five extra points. Also be prepared to upgrade a hand with five-card suit support: eight cards make a fit, but the ninth and tenth trumps are very valuable.

Exercise: Partner opens 1♠. What would be your response holding these?

Hand a)	Hand b)	Hand c)	Hand d)
♠ Q 6 4 2 ♥ K 4 3 ♦ K 93 ♣ 9 6 4	♠ Q 9 4 2 ♥ 9 4 ♦ A Q J 3 ♣ 10 5 2	♠ K J 5 2 ♥ Q J 7 4 ♦ 5 ♣ 9 85 2	♠ A 9 8 5 2 ♥ - - ♦ K 6 3 2 ♣ 7 6 5 2

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Andrew:

Responding to a Suit Opener – with a fit