[straube]

Playing a strong club (16+) and 5-cd majors, what's the best plan for this hand? We're playing 5-cd majors and 14-16 NT.

1) open 1H and rebid 3H over a spade response

2) open 1H and rebid 2H over a spade response

3) open 1N. Partner can ask for a 5-cd major

4) open 1C

The knr for this hand is 15.15 and it doesn't satisfy our usual criteria for a 1C opening of having 10 queen points (it has 9). I count is as a 6 loser hand using Modern LTC.

Thoughts?

[CSGibson]

Open 1♣. Downgrading is overrated, and if you open it 1♣, you've gotten the hand off your chest.

[the hog]

CSGibson, on 2011-February-27, 23:55, said:

Open 1♣. Downgrading is overrated, and if you open it 1♣, you've gotten the hand off your chest.

Agree with Chris.

[gwnn]

1♣, but I don't mind 1NT to be honest..

also 1♥ then 2♥ isn't that bad.

1♥ then 3♥ is major silliness, this is the complete opposite of a limited opener's jump rebid - it has 16 points and does not have extra length/distribution.

[rhm]

I would open 1♥ and over 1♠ would bid 2NT, assuming a 1NT rebid would show less than 14 HCP.
If a 3♥ rebid is an option, why do you not consider 2NT one? What does 1♥-1♠-2NT show?

I do not like 1♣ with this hand.

Rainer Herrmann

[whereagles]

Having played strong club for like 5 yeras, this seems like a simple 1♣ opener. No need to make heavy weather out of it.

We have a good suit to bid if opps butt-in and besides, it's not that clear that opps will automatically blast to the stratosphere just because we open 1♣.

By the way, there's a book rebid in case you happen to open 1♥ on this hand, which is 2NT. It shows a good max with 6322 shape and side stops:

1♥ 1x
2NT

It's called a "big H" hand.

[Zelandakh]

I count Qx + Qx as 3 hcp so this hand is only 15 for me and therefore a 1H opener. I like the 2NT rebid option unless you use this as a good 3 card spade raise or similar gadget when 2H seems the best alternative.

[mtvesuvius]

If you removed the ♣K I'd bid 1N. This is way too much for 1N, and opening 1♥ seems silly. 1♣ describes the hand very well.

As a side note, I'd suggest to lower the Queen Point requirement for 1♣ to 9, there are plenty of hands that I'd want to open 1♣ that have 9 (or even less) QP.

[hrothgar]

I open 1♣

I agree that the two Qx's aren't pulling their fair weight.

Balanced against this,

1. I have a 6 card suit
2. I have a decent rebid in competitive auctions after a 1♣ opening
3. I don't have good rebids after a 1♥ even in uncontested auctions
4. Opening 1N does right side the contract but it feels wrong in terms of strength. Moreover, whats my plan if partner transfers to Spades and then rebids 3N?

[kayin801]

1♣ please not 1♥, most 16+ 1♣ openers include bad 16 point hands and agree with what Chris said.

1NT is awful.

[straube]

Since others have asked about it, 1H-1S, 2N shows a good 6H/5m hand. The minor is unspecified but 3C is p/c and 3D relays for it.

We are permitted to open 9 QP hands with 1C. The reason we don't like to do so is that we can reverse relay over partner's frequent 1D GF response and our base starts at 10. Having base 10 saves a step when we are counting opener's QPs. If I open 1C, I have to decide whether to reverse relay and potentially confuse partner or whether to retain captaincy. When I opened 1H at the table, it allowed partner to relay my shape and QPs.

I'm liking 1C though. It's an awful rebid problem after opening 1H.

[akhare]

straube, on 2011-February-28, 13:06, said:

We are permitted to open 9 QP hands with 1C. The reason we don't like to do so is that we can reverse relay over partner's frequent 1D GF response and our base starts at 10.

Can't this be solved by the simple expedient of defining opener's first step to the QP ask as 9/10? The chances are that responder will sign off anyway after hearing about the low QP count.

The first step in such a DCB ask is always reserved for the 9 QP hand and the 10+ hands simply flow on. If responder still has the hots after a 9 QP response , we must be on for a small slam at the very least and so space shouldn't be much of a concern.

Granted it wastes a step in this specific case, but if responder still chooses to launch into DCB despite the 9/10 response, we must hold at least 19 QPs between us and the 5 level ranks to be safe (it's possible to get out at the 4 level in many cases).

[gnasher]

Call me agricultural if you like, but I have 16 high card points so I open 1♣.

[Poky]

Opening strong 1♣ is just HORRIBLE.
Open 1♥ and rebid 2♣/2NT, depending of methods.

[655321]

As gnasher, I can count to 16 so I open 1♣, this is not tricky.

Depends why you play bridge. If you are not interested in winning, but like to kid yourself that downgrading all these hands is evidence of subtle and superior hand evaluation skills, then go for it.

[Free]

If there are extra requirements like 10+ Q-points, then I think it's an obvious 1♥ opening. If partner would ask our entire hand, we'll be screwed. Only exception is 3rd and 4th seat, when partner won't ask our hand anyway.

Without that agreement I think it's an obvious 1♣ opening, we have 16+HCP, end of story.