2. Balanced Hands - Carlton & Gedling

Balanced Hands are those with no more than 8 cards between the two longest suits.

Some of the bids described in this section are also applicable to Distributional Hands – usually it is not until the opener’s second bid that it becomes clear whether a hand is Balanced or Distributional.

You will notice recurring themes in the way that the appropriate No Trumps bid is determined by assessing the partnership’s combined point count based on partner’s known minimum points holding.

2.1 One No Trump Opening Bid & NT Responses

An opening bid of 1NT shows a Balanced Hand with 12 – 14 pts. 1NT is a very useful bid because it immediately describes both the shape of the hand (balanced) and the strength within 1 point (13). Plus, it stops the opposition from bidding at the 1 level.

If responder also has a Balanced Hand, a No Trumps contract is the most likely outcome. The level of the contract is determined by the combined point count of the 2 hands as described in section 1.2.

If responder has 13 points or more, the partnership has at least 25 points even if opener is a minimum (12) and he can safely bid 3NT (game) directly.
If responder has 11 – 12 pts a game contract will be possible if opener is a maximum (14pts) and responder should bid 2NT. Opener will pass with 12pts or raise to 3NT with 14pts (or occasionally with a good 13pts).
If responder has 10pts or less, the combined holding cannot be more than 24pts and he should pass.

With a very strong balanced hand responder will make a ‘quantitative raise’, looking for a slam based on the target requirements shown in section 1.2:

With 19 – 20 pts, bid 4NT. Opener will pass with a minimum or raise to 6NT with a maximum
With 21 – 22 pts, bid 6NT. Opener will pass.
With 23 – 24 pts, bid 5NT. Opener will raise to 6NT with a minimum or 7NT with a maximum
With 25+ pts, bid 7NT

Note: opinion is divided on whether a hand with 12 – 14 pts and a 5 card Major suit (Spades or Hearts) should be opened with one of the suit, rather than 1NT.

A good rule of thumb is to open (and re-bid) the 5 card Major suit, unless the quality of the suit is so poor that 1NT looks more attractive.

2.2 One No Trump Opening Bid & Suit Responses

With a weak hand (0 – 10 pts) and a long suit (5+ cards) it is often better to play in 2 of the suit rather than 1NT, so bid 2D, 2H or 2S (but not 2C which is reserved for the Stayman convention; see 4.1. Opener will always pass this ‘sign-off’ bid.

On very weak hands (0 – 5 pts) you are not expecting to make the contract, but the damage may be less than playing in 1NT and you can take consolation that the opponents have probably missed a makeable contract.

With a 5 card Major suit and 12+ pts, bid 3H or 3S. Opener will raise to 4 of the suit with 3 card support or bid 3NT with only 2 card support.

With a 6 card major suit and 12+ pts, bid 4H or 4S. Opener will pass.

With a stronger hand and a long Minor suit it is usually better to respond in NT’s unless there are slam ambitions (typically 16+ points in a Distributional Hand). In this case, bid 3C or 3D.

In a strong hand with slam ambitions, a 4C bid can be used to ask opener how many Aces and Kings are held. This is the Gerber convention; see 4.3.

2.3 Opening Bids With Stronger Balanced Hands

A balanced hand in the range of 15 to 19 points is too strong for a 1NT opening bid (12 – 14 pts), but not strong enough to open 2NT (20 – 22 pts) or 2 Clubs (23+ pts). These hands should be opened with one of a 4 card suit, planning to re-bid in No Trumps next time to show a Balanced Hand.

With two 4 card suits open 1 Heart (or a Minor suit without a 4 card heart suit). With two 4 card Minor suits (Clubs & Diamonds) open the weaker suit to discourage a lead in that suit against a No Trumps contract.

The level of opener’s No Trumps re-bid depends on the strength of the hand:

With 15 - 16 pts: open a suit & rebid No Trumps at the lowest available level, e.g. 1H - 1S - 1NT or 1S - 2C - 2NT
With 17 - 18 pts: open a suit & rebid No Trumps, jumping a level, e.g. 1H - 1S - 2NT or 1S - 2C - 3NT
With 19 pts (or a poor 20): open a suit & rebid 3NT, e.g. 1H - 1S - 3NT or 1S - 2C - 3NT

These bidding sequences by opener are very informative because they accurately describe both the shape of the hand (balanced) and the strength within 1 point. However, after some responses, opener has to re-assess his planned re-bid as follows:

After a response of 1NT (6 – 9 pts) or 2NT (10 – 12 pts), base the No Trumps re-bid on the partner’s known minimum points and the target combined points holdings shown in 1.2.
After a single raise (6 – 9 pts) or a double raise (10 – 12 pts) of opener’s suit, base the re-bid on partner’s known minimum points and the target combined points holdings shown in 1.2.
With a Major suit (Hearts or Spades), raise the suit (or pass).
With a Minor suit (Clubs or Diamonds), re-bid in No Trumps (or pass).
With 4 card support for responder’s Major suit (Hearts or Spades), raise that suit rather than re-bidding in No Trumps – see 2.4.

2.4 Supporting Responder’s Major Suit

A balanced hand in the range of 15 to 19/20 points is opened with one of a suit, with the intention of re-bidding in No Trumps next time to show a balanced hand.

However if partner responds with a Major suit (Hearts or Spades) and you hold 4 of that suit you should support that suit immediately. This takes preference over re-bidding No Trumps to show point count.

Over a 1 level change of suit (e.g. 1C – 1H), make a limit raise based on the knowledge that partner has at least 6 points and a 4 card suit:

With 12 - 15 pts, raise 1 level (e.g. 1D – 1S – 2S)
With 16 - 18 pts, raise 2 levels (e.g. 1D – 1S – 3S)
With 19 - 20 pts, raise to game (e.g. 1D – 1S – 4S)

After the sequence 1S – 2H, make a limit raise based on the knowledge that partner has at least 8 points and a 5 card suit (see 3.2 for an explanation of this):

With 12 - 16 pts, raise 1 level (i.e. 1S – 2H – 3H)
With 17 - 20 pts, raise to game (i.e. 1S – 2H – 4H)

2.5 Two No Trump Opening Bid & Responses

An opening bid of 2NT shows a Balanced Hand with a ‘good’ 20 – 22 pts.

The responses are consistent in meaning with those for 1NT, without the 2 level weak take out responses:

3H & 3S show 5 card suits and are game forcing.
4H & 4S show 6 card suits, or longer and will be passed.
3NT is balanced (or a long minor suit) with 5-10 pts and will be passed.
3D is a slam try with a strong Diamond Suit.
3C is the Stayman convention (looking for a fit in the majors), see 4.1.
4C is the Gerber convention (asking for Aces), see 4.3.

With a strong balanced hand responder will make a ‘quantitative raise’, looking for a slam based on the target requirements shown in Chapter 1.2:

With 11 – 12 pts, bid 4NT. Opener will pass with a minimum or raise to 6NT with a maximum
With 13 – 14 pts, bid 6NT. Opener will pass.
With 15 – 16 pts, bid 5NT. Opener will raise to 6NT with a minimum or 7NT with a maximum
With 17+ pts, bid 7NT

2.6 Two Clubs Opening Bid & Responses

A 2 Clubs opening bid does not show a club suit. It is an artificial bid that can be either:

A Balanced Hand with 23+ pts, or

A Distributional Hand with 10+ ‘Playing Tricks’ (see 6.1 for a definition of Playing Tricks).

The type of hand will be revealed by opener’s second bid. With a balanced 23 – 24 pts, opener re-bids 2NT and with a balanced 25 – 26 pts re-bids 3NT.

For opener’s re-bids with a Distributional Hand, refer to section 3.7.

A 2C opening is forcing to game, except after the sequence 2C - 2D - 2NT.

There are 2 types of response to a 2C opening:

2H, 2S, 3C, 3D show at least a 5 card suit with 2 of the top 3 honours
With any other type of hand responder should make an artificial 2 Diamonds relay bid and wait for opener to clarify his type of hand.

2.7 No Trump Responses After an Opening Suit Bid

As an opening bid of ‘1 of a suit’ shows 12+ pts and at least 4 cards in the suit bid. The bidding level for responses in No Trumps are based on the combined point count of the 2 hands using the target guidelines shown in Chapter 2, initially assuming that opener has 12pts.

Note: bidding a 4 card Major suit (Hearts or Spades) at the 1 level is preferable to a NT response, irrespective of the quality of the suit.

If responder has a balanced 13 points or more, the partnership has at least 25 points and he can safely bid 3NT (game) directly.
If responder has a balanced 10 – 12 pts a game contract will be possible if opener has more than a minimum and he should bid 2NT. If opener has a balanced 15+ pts or a good 14pts he will raise to 3NT.
If responder has a balanced 6 – 9 pts he should bid 1NT. If opener has a balanced 19pts he will raise to 3NT. If opener has 17 – 18 pts or a good 16pts he will raise to 2NT. This invites responder to raise to 3NT if he is maximum for his original bid (8 – 9 pts) or pass if he is a minimum (6 – 7 pts).

2.8 Summary of Bidding with Balanced Hands

You will hopefully have noticed in the previous chapters that there are recurring themes in the way that the appropriate No Trumps bid is determined by assessing the partnership’s combined point count based on partner’s known minimum points holding.

Following the guidelines below will enable you to choose the best bid in most circumstances.

As Opener

With a balanced 12 to 14 points, open 1NT
With a balanced 15 to 19 points (or a poor 20), open 1 of a suit (which promises 12+ pts), intending to re-bid in No Trumps on the second round of bidding.
On stronger hands open 2NT (20 – 22 pts) or 2 Clubs (23+ pts)

As Responder

A bid of 1NT (e.g. 1H – 1NT) or a simple change of suit at the 1 level (e.g. 1H – 1S) or a single raise of opener’s suit (e.g. 1H – 2H) all promise 6+ points.
A simple change of suit at the 2 level (e.g. 1H – 2C) promises 8+ points.

Both Players

Add your points to partner’s known minimum points:

With a combined 23 – 24 pts, bid 2NT
With a combined 25 – 26 pts (or more), bid 3NT

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