1. 1♣  -  Always open your longest suit, so open your weak 5-card Club suit before your strong 4-card Spade suit
2. South's first round pass, -  Don’t bid 1♦ . It’s not a brilliant suit, you wouldn’t want partner to lead it, & it’s a good defensive hand with ‘soft’ honours outside the Diamond suit.
3. 1♥  -  When responding with a weak 5-5 hand always show the major first
4. 1NT -  2♦  would be 4th Suit Forcing, so have to bid 1NT.
5. 2♥   -  With your shape you don’t want to be playing in NT, & partner might have three Hearts.

1. 1NT -  A balanced hand with 14 points so open 1NT. If you open 1♦  you could well end up playing in 2♦ 
2. 2♥   -  With 6-4 in the majors bid your 6-card suit rather than giving your partner the choice.

Opening Lead – ♠4 Gives nothing away & you don’t want to be leading from any of the other suiits.

1. 2♥ -  10 points, but 9 losers so 2♥ is high enough.

1. 1♥   -   This is a very good hand & should be opened 1♥  to explore a slam.
2. 1♠   -   Do not respond 1NT if you have 4 Spades, even when they are as poor a holding as 6 5 3 2. You may miss a Spade fit!
3. 3NT -  19+6=25, so bid game. Although it is close between 2NT & 3NT. If 3 of partners points are in Spades you may not be able to get to dummy.

Note: On a Club lead against 3NT, you win the Ace & must play a low Heart towards the Jack.

1.  1♥  -  With 4-4-4-1, & a singleton Club, always open 1♥ 
2. 1♠   -  Fabulous Spade suit, but do not be tempted to jump bid.
3. 3♠   -  Don’t bid 2S, jump to 3S to show a 6-loser hand
4. 4♦   -  A cue bid showing 1st or 2nd round control, & looking for a slam.
5. 6♠   -  Because your partner bypassed a Club cue bid you have no wasted values, thus making your hand better. You can see from your hand & the bidding that partner must have a lot of points in Spades so don’t bother with Blackwood.

1. 2NT -  Two doubletons, but stops in both suits.
2. 3♦    -  Transfer
3. 4♥    -  Might only be a 7-card fit, but shortage of outside entries may make it very difficult to set up the Heart suit.

Always take Diamond finesse, & play Clubs to make at least 1 trick. Do Diamond finesse whilst in Dummy.

1. 2♥   -  A 4-card Spade suit, but you can’t bid it. If you do your partner will expect you to have a much stronger hand.
2. 4♥   -  Points for game, you have an 8-card Heart fit, & you expect partner to be able to use your Hearts to ruff in Spades.

O/L 6♣  – 2nd highest from a poor suit.

North can’t draw trumps as he needs to ruff a Spade first.

1. 2♦   -  Vulnerable, but you have 6 Diamonds, K Q J Clubs, a singleton in opponents suit & just 6 LTC.

Win with A♣  & then lead T♠  and let it run if West plays low, but if West plays the Q then take it with the Ace. Play the suit this way & you give yourself a 75% chance of only losing 1 Spade trick. The only time you will lose 2 is if the K Q is held by East.

1. 1♠   -  Only 9 HCP’s but a legal bid as with 10 cards in the two longest suits added to the 9 HCP, 19 exceeds the minimum requirement.
2. 1NT -  Could respond 2C (Rule of 14) but that might encourage partner to go too high.
3. Pass by North -  Flat hand with 19 points. The minimum opponents hold, from the bidding is 12+6, so partner has 3 at the most, & if you double the opponents will know where all the points are.
4. 2♠   -  False preference.

1. Pass by North -  Can’t bid 2♦  as that’s a transfer, & 3♦  is forcing to game. If opponents overcall then bid 3♦ .

Note both 2♥ by EW & 3♦ by NS make.

1. 1♥   -  Legal, meets the Rule of 18. 5 Hearts & just 6 losers.
2. 1♠   -  Too good a hand to make a WJO.
3. 4♥   -  7 LTC
4. Pass by West  -  Don’t bid on.