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Openers Rebid in a Suit

A bid is forcing if partner is absolutely not allowed to pass if partner on his first bid changes the suit, this is a forcing bid on the opener to rebid – so as opener its often a good strategy to work out what your opening bid and rebid will be before starting to bid

Different strength hands need different rebids

Opener’s second bid

If the responder bids a different suit this change of suit is a “forcing bid”,  meaning that opener must keep the auction going by bidding at least one more time (there are exceptions but we will learn about this in later lessons). Responders change of suit is unlimited – responder may have a very strong hand, so opener must bid again to further describe their hand. The opener has several choices:

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Your bid depends on the point count & cards in your hand

1.  If your point count is minimum so 11-14 TP you can show this by rebidding your opening suit but only if it has 5 or more (written as: ‘5+’) cards
2.  If rebidding your first suit is not possible  and with 11-19 TP, bid another 4 card suit of a lower rank than the first bid suit, this process is called “bidding down the line” ie. first bidding a higher ranked suit followed by rebidding a lower ranked suit
3.  Otherwise you may have support for the suit your partner responded with and if you have a ‘fit’ in that suit you can show support by raising their suit either to the 2, 3 or even ‘game’ level.

• a. With 13 -15 TP and a ‘fit’ raise partners suit 1 level 
• b. With 16 -17 TP and a ‘fit’ jump the bidding so this is a double level jump – inviting your partner to bid game if they have higher than the minimum point count of their bid.
• c. With 18+ TP and a ‘fit’ go straight to game in the suit

Opener’s Second Bid

1. Support responder’s suit if you have more than 4 cards in partners bid suit (is a limit bid and shows precise points)
2. Bid No Trumps ( a limit bid showing precise point count) Bidding NoTrump (next lesson)
3. With only one *biddable suit (more that 4 cards) opener rebids their first suit
4. Bid a second suit of your own rather than rebidding your first suit
   • With two 5-card suits, you have already bid the higher ranked suit for your first bid so for the rebid you should bid the lower ranked of the 5 card suits.
   • With two 4-card suits you have already bid the lower ranked suit first, so for your rebid you should rebid your higher ranked suit.
5. Support responder’s suit with a jump bid if you have more than 4 cards in partners bid suit
6. Bid No Trumps ( a limit bid showing precise point count) Bidding NoTrump (next lesson)
7. With only one *biddable suit (more that 4 cards in a suit) opener can rebid their first suit

*a biddable suit has 4 cards or more, a medium or strong hand has 16+ points

You holding the cards below, open the bidding with 1♥. Your partner responds 1♠. What do you rebid? Remember responder has changed suit which is a forcing bid, so you must bid.

You (South)

• ♠ 8 5
• ♥ K J 10 7 6
• ♦ A 6
• ♣ A Q 4 3

Answer: rebid 2♣ this shows you have two biddable suits and that your heart suit is longer than your clubs. If your hearts and clubs were both 4 card suits you would bid the lowest ranked ♣ first and then your ♥ (bidding “up-the-line”)Practice Game for this lesson.

These lessons are short extracts of the full interactive Bridge lessons available in our members area.