BBO Discussion Forums: response - BBO Discussion Forums

With this hand what should the bid be? or ♥

In general if both suits are on the 1 level is it better to bid 5 card minor suit first or show the major?

This is a matter of agreement. A lot of players use the Walsh convention, where a 4-, 5- or on occasion even 6-card diamond suit is bypassed to show a 4-card major*. In that case you should bid 1♥. But be aware that this has implications for the second round - for example 1♣-1♥; 1NT-2♦ need not promise longer hearts than diamonds (and opener is expected to pass), unless you use something like the XYZ convention to solve this problem unambiguously.

*With a game forcing hand, i.e. at least an opening, you simply bid up the line when playing Walsh.

As a Walsh player as described by DavidKok above, I'll explain my rationale for responding 1♥.

If I am going to pass a one no trump rebid from partner, then with weaker hands I am only going to make one bid. As a major suit game is easier to make than a minor suit game, responding in a four-card major increases the chances of finding that game. Also, in competition, a major fit is more likely to win the auction.

But this is a divisive issue and you'll find everyone has their opinion. In my experience, tournament players are more likely to play Walsh than club players. In some countries Walsh is almost standard and in others unknown, but any regular partnership should have an agreement.

paulg, on 2021-January-18, 06:46, said:

The other thing that matters here is whether you play 1♣-1♦-1♥ as unbalanced or if rebidding 1N denies 4M. In old fashioned Acol, with 4M4m32 you open the major, so responding 1♦ is not an issue.

In Acol and most American systems, the normal response is 1♥. In SEF, Forum D and other "up-the-line" systems (as well as Precision) the correct response is 1♦. Without a system context, the question is therefore impossible to answer

Zelandakh, on 2021-January-19, 07:22, said:

If you play the style of Acol where you open the major with 4-4 in a major and a minor it is normal to respond up the line.

Zelandakh, on 2021-January-19, 07:22, said:

All true, but the Precision 1♦ response shows 0-7 HCP and any distribution, so it's not the same reason as in the other systems.

Tramticket, on 2021-January-19, 14:32, said:

With my current partner, we open 1M with 4M4m(32) and respond 1M to 1♣ with 4M5♦ and a weak hand, so I guess that must make us abnormal? I note also that the official EBU Modern Acol system file also advocates this approach (see 2.1).

maris oren, on 2021-January-18, 04:53, said:

We play up-the-line SA, so this is an easy 1♦.

Unless partner shows enough extra strength for a jump shift we're done; even 1♥ is getting passed.

I think we're very much in the minority, though.

Zelandakh, on 2021-January-21, 03:22, said:

Could you check please Zelandkh? I don't read the EBU system notes the same way. I think the first para says "bid up the line" and the second deals with a situation where showing the minor would have to be at the two level (e.g. partner opens 1H and you have four spades and five clubs):


2.3.1 Choice of suit
With two 5-card or longer suits, bid the higher ranking if you intend to showboth suits in the most economical way. With two 4-card suits, bid the cheaper,i.e. the one which takes up least bidding space. If partner declines anopportunity to bid your other 4-card suit, you can safely ignore it and rebid inno trumps.
With suits of unequal length, bid the longer first unless the hand is too weak torespond at the two level. Show a 4-card major at the one level in preference toa longer minor at the two level with fewer than 13 HCP. To bid the longerminor and then the 4-card major is called a Responder’s reverse and is forcingto game.

For what it's worth I usually bid up the line, but look at suit quality for opening lead purposes, so might prefer to respond 1H on say KQxx ahead of diamonds of Jxxxx (somebody has the spades and it's not me). But there is no single "right" answer

Zelandakh, on 2021-January-21, 03:22, said:

You needed to read a bit further - see 2.3.1

Edit: Sorry, I see Douglas already said this.

Tramticket, on 2021-January-22, 01:23, said:

You're misreading it "Show a 4-card major at the one level in preference to a longer minor at the two level with fewer than 13 HCP."

This is relevant to the other thread not this one where diamonds are bid at the 1 level

Cyberyeti, on 2021-January-22, 03:31, said:

I think that Zel gave a partial quotation in the other thread. The full text is:

Quote

I have highlighted bold the part that advocates bidding up the line with equal length suits.