30th March 2026
A final visit to opening 1NT with a 5 card major. (For now).
Todays deal highlights some more advantages and disadvantages of opening 1NT with a 5 card major.
North is dealer and unless playing a 5 card major weak two version that can hide four of the other major they will probably pass.
E will follow and S now has a choice. 1NT or 1S. If they choose 1S (most common choice) W has a perfect take out double.
At the vulnerability this could see some E sacrificing 5D over 4S. In practice this didn’t happen.
Over the double N will bis some level of spades (probably ending the auction).
With 8 losers, the 5 card trump support and the singleton some Norths may bid 4S straight away.
Even though both the opener and responder have 8 losers this is a makable contract.
If S opens 1NT it is much more difficult for W to bid (one of theadvay=tages of opening 1NT).
Now N will probably transfer to spades and with only 8 points if the transfer is completed with 2S N will probably pass.
If S breaks the transfer (showing 4 spades) N might get excited and bid game but it is not clear cut.
With opening points some pairs have some for of puppet Stayman to find out if partner has opened with a 5 card major.
With less points ( such as this hand) a major fit can easily be lost.
The upside is that sometimes the major fit plays for the same number of tricks as NT and so nothing is lost.
There is no right or wrong answer to the question of whether you should open 1NT with all 5 card major hands and this is why the topic has had a lot of debate in recent times.
If a spade contract is reached the play of the hand will see most N/S making 10 or 11 tricks.
Double dummy N is held to 10 tricks on a heart lead but S can make 11 tricks by eliminating clubs and diamonds and end playing W who has to lead away from hearts or give a ruff and discard.
In practice most pairs will lose 2 hearts and a club and will make the game contract provided they don’t start drawing trumps with the Ace.
If W doubles a spade opening then a 3-0 split is almost certainly going to be with E. Cashing KS first reveal the bad break but the QS can now be picked up.
Tip of the week.
If you decide to open all 5 card majors in a balanced hand within your opening no trump range with 1NT then consider using some form of puppet Stayman to locate the 5 card major.
The analysis is my own opinion and you may well disagree. Always make sure you know your own system before you play.
Mark Rixon
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