One And A Half

	N W E S
	♠ K 10 7 4 ♥ A 10 7 ♦ A K J 2 ♣ K 8

West	North	East	You
			1 ♦
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	?

Both sides vulnerable, you are the dealer. Your call?

ANSWER: Bid two notrump, showing a balanced hand with 18-19 HCP. Don't bid spades, and don't raise hearts. Your first priority with hands of this type is to show the strength and balanced shape. It is not forcing; partner may pass with a dead minimum hand and no useful shape.

THE PRINCIPLE: With a balanced hand that is too strong to open 1 NT (15-17) and not strong enough to open 2 NT (20-21), open one of a suit. If partner bids a new suit at the one level and you don't have four-card support, jump to 2 NT showing exactly this strength. Your bid promises a balanced hand with at least two cards in partner's suit but denies four-card support.

Some players call this bid a "jump-shift in notrump" but keep in mind that it is not forcing to game like other jump-shift rebids. I like to think of it as "one-and-a-half notrump".

Note that you have concealed a four-card major in order to show this strength and shape. If partner is 4-4 or better in the majors, she can rebid 3 ♠ to show her four-card spade suit and you can respond accordingly. Her 3 ♠ bid would not necessarily imply a five-card heart suit.

After your 2 NT call, new suit bids by responder are forcing for one round. A simple preference back to your opening suit is nonforcing and weak. If responder rebids her suit, it is forcing for one round and shows at least a five-card suit. (Note that some partnerships play this rebid as nonforcing.)

BONUS MINUTE:

• If you play New Minor Forcing after opener's 1 NT rebid, you should play it after a 2 NT rebid as well.
• If you play 1 NT Forcing in response to a major suit opening, raising the 1 NT to 2 NT shows a balanced 18-19 HCP along with the appropriate major suit.
• There are several advanced conventions that can be used after a 2 NT rebid to reduce the ambiguity of responder's rebids. I suggest that you not explore these until you're sure which bidding problem you want to solve in this situation.

Acknowledgement: I took this example hand from a bidding poll that Krzysztof Kwiatkowski posted on BridgeWinners.com.

-- Ray 
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes.  Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)