More than 40% of hands fall into the category of Minor suit Openings. The Range is 11 - 21 HCPS. The criteria No 5+card major and unbalanced within the 15 - 17 Range. Some rigid rules are put in place to maximize the information conveyed with each bid so that after Opener's rebid, Responder has a clear idea of HCPs and Distribution.

The BETTER MINOR PRINCIPLE is one set of such rules. Often mis-interpreted to mean Stronger Minor the word BETTER literally means the better of two choices given the relative length of the minors and the overall strenght of the hand.

In Contrast to the 1NT Opener where responder immediately knows the final level and strains for which to aim, the Opener has to make two bids to set the limits of the hand. Also since the Range goes up to 21HCPS, Reponder should bid with 5+ HCPS so that it is also more difficult for Responder to limit/specify range within two bids. Responder's bids either have to show a limit or force Opener to bid again.

If you know that your Partner has 11hcps, 3, 5, 2 & 3 What Contract would you want to Play?

The New Minor Force, NMF, Convention allows Responder's 2nd bid to define the limit of his Hand or Force another bid from Opener. After the Sequence:   1C/D - 1H/S - 1NT, Reponder bids:

• 2C/D SAME minor, 5 - 8hcps; Retreat from NT to Play
• 2H/S Lower Major or Rebid Major,  5 - 8hcps Retreat from NT to Play partial in a Major
• 2D/C NEW MINOR, 9+hcps 5+Card Major Forcing. Opener
  • With 11-13 Shows 3card support or other major 2 level, (does not guarantee 4Hs if respnder's Major is Ss), Rebid 5Card Minor 
  • With 14- 15 2NTwith 2Card Support or show 3Card Support at 3Level
• 2NT 11-12 Invitational
• 3H/S SAME Major 6+Card Major <10hcps Invitational
• 3H jump in Lower Major 5+/5+ in Majors Forcing to Game

OPEN PARTNER'S HAND AND BID. WHAT IS YOUR FINAL CONTRACT?

After a Major Response, Opener with 11-14 HCPS rebids as follows:

• Raises Major to 2 level with 4Card support.
• Bids 1S with any 4 Spades over 1H Response.
• 1 NT with Balanced/Semi-balanced hands that may contain a 5Card minor.
• Rebids 2 of same Minor with 6+Cards or 5Card suit with singleton/void in another suit.
• Rebids 2 of lower minor with 4+Cards

This hand is a sample of a 1NT rebid with 9cards in the minor suits. There will be rare occassions when the hands have up to a nine card fit in a minor plays in 1NT for a bad score but no system is perfect. In this hand Responder may regret choosing to make 8tricks in Spades when Opener may have had an easy time making 1NT. However the odds are that 2 or more of Responder's Spade tricks would not be available to Opener in 1NT contract if the A was missing.

North Leads 4 of Spades. PLAN to make 8 TRICKS in SPADES before looking at OPPONENTS hands. 

In the 1NT Opening Lessons the Opener was almost always the Declarer by design. In very sophisticated tranfer and relay systems the stategy is to strive for the stronger hand to be the Declarer. With Stardard Systems using the Better Minor Principle,  Opener and Responder share the job of Declarer more evenly.

Partner has 5, 3. 3 & 2 8hcps. What should be the Final Contract?

OPEN WEST'S HAND AND BID.

South's Rebid of 1NT in this Hand shows a balanced 12 - 14 and North's reverse into a major is a Game Force with 13+HCPs. The jump straight to 4 shows that South is at the lower end of his range. With a better Diamond Fit and point count Opener would raise to 3 and North would take appropiate action. Specifying when to Respond 1 to 1 as described in 15 A allows the partnership to pin-point the joint holding after 4 bids with few to no ambiguities.

Responder is Declarer having an equal/better hand than Opener. Plan to make 10 tricks when East leads 2 of Spades.

Keeping in mind the Priority of finding a Major fit after opening the Better Minor, a 4+ card  Suit is generally by-passed to bid a 4Card major. Also since a No Trump Contract is likely to produce more points at a lower contract level, 4-5 s are by-passed to bid NT at the appropiate level if there is NO 4 Card Major. So 1 is bid over 1with:

• 4-5 s and 5-<7hcps; with 6+ Pre-empt to appropiate level
• 4+ s and 13+ hcps; with 5 - 12 and 4Card Major by-pass and bid Major; with 4-5s and no 4Card major: 1NT = 7-10; 2NT = 11 - 12; 3NT = 13 - 15
• 6+ s and 8 - 12; Rebid Diamonds with 7-10; jump rebid with 11-12

Note that 1 over 1  initially denies a 4Card Major so Opener with a Balanced hand in turn by-passes 4Card majors and bids NT. A Major rebid shows a singleton or Void in Opener's hand.

SOUTH OPENS 1 WHAT DO YOU RESPOND? OPEN PARTNER'S HAND AND COMPLETE THE BIDDING.

Not unusual after a Reverse; Declarer plays a suit contract at the 3 Level with a less than perfect fit. This Emphasizes that HCPs must be concentrated in the Long suits when Reversing with a minimum. Lebensoln balances the risk of missing a Game against possibly making a negative score with 22+ points in the partnership by NEVER playing below the 2NT.

If E had 5 Spades and rebid 2  this would be Forcing. Opener with a Singleton Spade might now bid 2NT. Responder may also pass 3 with 6. In any event Declarer usually has a challenging time after a Reverse.

Before opening Opponents Hands; Plan to make 9 tricks in Hearts when North leads 7 of Hearts.

West Opens 1, East Responds 1 and Opener rebids 2. East now knows that Partner has 4+Diamonds, 4+Hearts, which are shorter or equal to Diamond length, 16 - 21HCPS with a Singleton, Void or no values in other 2 suits . If Opener is minimum with 16 - 18 there is no Game likely so with 5 -7 hcps and no fit Responder has to find a way to sign off below game. The Lebensoln Convention after a Reverse does this as follows:

• Responder bids 2NT requiring Opener to bid 3. This chioce is made because the strong hand is unbalanced NT is not usually a good Part Score. Opener ingnores this request with 19 - 21 points and By-passes 3 Clubs.
• If Opener obeys and bids 3 Responder selects the best fit Part Score which Opener is required to pass. If Opener shows the 19 - 21 hcp hand Responder is obliged to bid again and show where best Final Contract is likely to be.

What is Responder's Second bid with this hand? Look at Opener's hand and Complete the Bidding.

The Deep Finesse Analysis of this hand indicates that NS can make either 3 or 3  and for duplicate pair games the Major suit score of 140 is better than 110 for making 3 or even 130 for making 4 of the minor. Consider the difference in hands which make either 4 of a major or a minor; the difference between game and a Partscore. Similarly a lot of hands with minor suit fits a NT contract yields more points at a lower level. The Priorities set after opening a Minor suit are certainly justified.

BEFORE OPENING OPPONENTS HAND PLAN TO MAKE CHECK HOW MANY TRICKS YOU'D MAKE IN HEARTS IF THE LEAD IS a lead to the A Spades Back a Spade.

In the Range 16-17 a Minor Opening generally has a singelton or void. Third possibility is 2 doubletons with 0 hcps. Beside the Reverse, a jump in the same minor would show this range and a six card suit. The bids available to show the 18 - 21 range are the Reverse; Jump Reverse and Jump Shift only available in the case of a 3 rebid after a 1 Opening.

Before Opening Opponents Hands PLAN to make 9 Tricks in NT when South leads 3 of Hearts.

Another way to state the tittle of this Lesson is: "Never" Rebid NT with a Singleton or Void. A jump rebid of 2NT would promise Responder at least two Hearts; A Jump Reverse, which like the modern Jump-Shift Rebid, is pratically Game Forcing and shows 18 - 21 hcps Always signifies a Singleton/Void, else the relevant NT bid would have been made.

Your Partner Responds 1 to your 1 Opening bid. What is your Rebid. Open West's hand and complete the bidding.

If South had a weak/short Diamond holding he'd bid 4 after the 3 Asking Bid and Responder may well be interested in investigating Slam "on the way" to 5. RKC Redwood Asking in 4 would insure that the Answer would be below the game level bid if Slam is not attainable.

After hearing Opener's Rebid, Responder may want to check Slam possibilities and having RKC Redwood as a Tool in addition to Cue bidding is a great advantage. In team games where the focus is not just the marginal difference in points between making 4-5NT as against 5 of a minor it is practically a must. Remember 4NT is available as a Shut Out bid even after Asking.

HOW DO YOU PLAN TO MAKE 9+ TRICKS IN NT WHEN W leads K(orQ*) of Hearts 

Partner Opens your Longest Suit, a minor. With no 4 Card Major the options are to jump Preemptively to show length (5+, 4+) and 5 to 9 hcps or a Single Raise which shows 10+ hcps. The reason for INVERTING the value of the Raises is to block Opponents finding a fit in a higher ranking suit when Weak and to leave room to investigate a NT/Slam Contract when Strong.

After the Inverted  1 2 or 1 2 Raise, Opener shows Stoppers and Strenght as follows:

1. With 11 - 12+ bid stoppers up the line. A raise of the minor to the 3 Level denies stoppers in the majors and shows a minimum hand.
2. With 13+-14 No  Void or singleton and stoppers in 2 other suits bid 2NT. If Responder wishes to check for Stoppers in a particular suit he bids it after the 2NT bid. With void/singleton, particularly in a major, Opener would by-pass 3NT option and jump to 4 in the minor. 
3. With 15-18  Make a "Mini-Splinter" ie single jump in a Singleton/Void. Responder not only made aware of the strenght but is warned of the shortness of the splinter suit and need for stoppers in NT Contract.
4. With 18 - 19 Balanced jump to 3NT. Responder with suffient strenght 12+ points/7 losers checks for slam. With 19 - 21 unbalanced check for slam.RKC REDWOOD is reccommended.

Partner Responds 2 to your 1 Opening; What is your Rebid?. OPEN PARTNER'S HAND AND COMPLETE THE AUCTION.

In this hand once you arrive at 6, you can make 13 tricks if the Opponents don't take the A of Hearts. Let's have a look again at the bidding and see if:

1. The Asking Bid is easily recognizeable
2. Would it always be recognizeable in different situations with different suits.

With RKC Redwood an "agreed" minor suit is required. In this case what else could the 4 bid be? A Q-bid? also with slam in mind? If so the follow-up is not as effective. The principle here is inferred suit agreement once a suit has been rebid.

What if the reverse suit was Hearts, then 3 would have been available to show more than 4 Hearts and still forcing;  A Jump to the 4 level should be recognized as "strange" if partner is paying ATTENTION.

The reason for selecting the suit above the agreed (implied agreed) minor suit to ASK is to "ALERT" partner that we are going at least to the 5 Level so let me know your Key Card holding ON THE WAY!!

It is essential to be able to distiguish between Sign Off, Invitational and Forcing bids by Responder at the same time giving maximum information about distribution. NMF eliminates the ambiguity of a jump rebid by Responder in the same suit, for example. Is it Invitational or Forcing? 5 or 6 card suit? If Responder bids NMF then rebids the suit when Opener shows no support he now shows 6+ cards.

In this hand Responder getting 3 card support goes to game with 13 Total Points. BEFORE OPENING OPPONENTS HANDS PLAN TO MAKE 10 TRICKS IN SPADES when West leads 6 of Spades.

In Lesson 13 the New Minor Force Convention was described. Responder's second bid should always be recognized as either Sign-off , Limit or Forcing. To Recap:

After the Sequence:   1C/D - 1H/S - 1NT, Reponder bids:

• 2C/D SAME minor, 5 - 8hcps; Retreat from NT to Play
• 2H/S Lower Major or Rebid Major,  5 - 8hcps Retreat from NT to Play partial in a Major
• 2D/C NEW MINOR, 9+hcps 5+Card Major Forcing. Opener
  • With 11-13 Shows 3card support or other major 2 level, (does not guarantee 4Hs if respnder's Major is Ss), Rebid 5Card Minor 
  • With 14- 15 2NTwith 2Card Support or show 3Card Support at 3Level
• 2NT 11-12 Invitational
• 3H/S SAME Major 6+Card Major <10hcps Invitational
• 3H jump in Lower Major 5+/5+ in Majors Forcing to Game

In this hand partner opens 1C you respond 1S and Opener rebids 1NT. What is Your 2nd bid? Open partner's hand and complete the bidding.

To Review NMF, after the sequence 1m - 1M - 1NT:

• Sign Off bids are: PASS; same minor, same Major or LOWER Major at 2 level; Jump to 3 of other minor
• Invitational bids are: 2NT; jump to 3 in same minor; jump to 3 in same Major(shows lenght<9hcps); jump to 4 in other minor
• Forcing bids are: New Minor at 2 Level; HIGHER major at 2 level; new (lower) Major at 3 Level and 4NT RKC Blackwood

What is the best MP score available to EW? Open Opponents hands and see what contract would reduce this score. Is it likely for them to find it?

What if Responder has a 4Card Major and 5+ card in the Other Minor. What bids are available and how are they used? In Lesson 21 A. the bids missing for Responder's 2nd bid below 3NT are Pass, 3 and 3 (Same)/Other Minor. With:

• Exactly 5 of the other Minor and :
  1. 5 - 10 hcps Pass. Even if you have a good fit in the 2nd Minor tricks in NT would likely be more valuable
  2. 11 - 12 hcps bid 2NT inviting to Game in NT
  3. 13 - 16 hcps bid 3NT
  4. 17+ Still bid NMF to get more information about partner's hand to decide whether or not to proceed to Slam
• 6+ of the other Minor and:
  1. 5 - 9 hcps bid  3/ 3 (Other minor). Sure of a least an 8Card fit this is a Pre-emptive bid which works in a way similar to the Inverted Minor.
  2. 10 - 13 hcps. Depending on Loser count, distribution etc responder has to use judgement to decide if to invite game with 2NT or 4 of the Minor.
  3. 14+ hcps If Opening is 1 response with this holding would be 1 planning to reverse into the major. If  Opening is 1 the 2/1 Game Force bid of 2 would guarantee that partner would keep the bidding Open to the 4 level.

Partner Opened 1 you Responded 1 and East rebid INT. What is your 2nd Bid?

East leads Q of hearts, West wins the A and returns the J of clubs. Declarer's Q is covered and he wins the A in Dummy.

Before looking at the Opponents hands Plan to make 9 more tricks.

When Opener rebids 2 of the Original Minor Responder should immediately be alerted that Opener's hand is unbalanced and contains either a 6card+ suit and/or a singleton/void. In the sequence 1 - 1M - 2 Responder uses 2 as NMF and the same bidding sequences apply. When Diamonds is the Original Minor it is advantageous to maintain 2/ (same or LOWER Major) as a Weak 6-9 rebid signalling a long major/misfit in the minor.

1. 2, the higher major is forcing 11+hcps. Since Opener has denied 4 Spades by rebidding diamonds over 1 reponse it shows stoppers in spades with a diamond fit and no club stopper.
2. 2NT, would be invitational showing 11-12 and may contain 5 cards in the major. Opener with maximum should show 3 card support for Responder's major "on the way" to 3NT. 
3.  3, the new minor, would be game forcing 14+ and may be artificial. Opener is obliged to show 4 cards in the lower major/3 card support for Responder's major.

Partner rebids 2 when you responded 1  to the Opening 1 bid. What do you rebid. Open  South's hand and complete the bidding.

In this hand replace K of Clubs by T of Clubs. What would East respond to 1D if 2C /1D was Game Force? 2NT is a possibility but certainly not descriptive. Another issue is should West open? A nine loser 12 hcp hand in 2nd position?

This issue becomes very important when playing 2/1 G F since it sets the criteria for Reponder making a game force bid. In this hand East needed to have all of the 16 Total points to make a five level game. Two important agreements need to be established when playing this version of Standard:

1. Sound Openings in 1st and 2nd Seats
2. Whether 2/1 bid is forcing to the 4 level and not necessarily to game in the minors.

In this hand East bids game having the strenght opposite a minimum opening to go to the 5 Level. 

Playing 2C over 1D as Game Force has the disadvantage of not having  "Forcing NT" available to show limit raise values 11-12 points. This course treats 2C/1D as 11+hcps and follows the principles of the inverted minor with respect to rebids; finding major stoppers and strenght to determine whether 3NT is viable. What does West rebid over East 2C? Open partner's hand and complete the bidding.