Suit opening bids at the 1 Level must

Either have 11 HCPS OR have 8+ HCPS and satisfy the rule of 18

Natural No Trump opening bids at the 1 Level must

Contain at least 9+ HCPS (1NT opening bids must ALWAYS be announced)

Strong opening suit bids must

Either contain 16+ HCPS and have at least 5 cards in the named suit

OR contain 13+ HCPS with at least 10 cards in 2 suits

(this has been introduced in the 2022 accepted practices)

Remember all opening bids must be part of a ‘Partnership Agreement’ where alerts/announcements must be made as appropriate.

Bids outside a ‘Partnership Agreement’  or failure to alert/announce may be challenged by opponents, if they feel disadvantaged, and may lead to score adjustments.