Five-Card Majors

Why five cards

Because opener has promised the fifth card, responder needs only three to raise: three plus five is the eight-card fit that makes a major-suit contract worth playing. Without the promise, responder would need four, and a great many 5-3 fits would never be found.

The gain is speed. A fit that is agreed on the second call leaves the whole auction free for the real questions: how high, and in what. That is the point of the agreement, not the length itself.

Without a five-card major

A hand with no five-card major has to start somewhere else. Setting aside the strong and pre-emptive openings, which are chosen on strength rather than shape, that leaves two:

• Open a minor. This is why a minor opening says so much less than a major one: it is where every hand that cannot open a major, notrump or a strong bid ends up. On BidMaestro’s standard setting a minor opening promises three or more cards: with three in each minor open 1♣, with four in each open 1♦. The optional short-club setting (in Settings, under Conventions & openings) lets 1♣ be as short as a doubleton, with 1♦ then promising four or more.
• Open notrump with a balanced hand of 15–17 high-card points (1NT) or 20–21 (2NT). A balanced hand with a five-card major may still open notrump with 15–17 or 20–21; the major does not force the issue, and partner can still find it with Stayman or a transfer.

Four cards in each major

The most common consequence, and the one that surprises new players: holding four spades and four hearts and no five-card suit, opener does not open a major at all. Unless the hand is balanced with 15–17 or 20–21 high-card points (in which case it opens notrump), it opens a minor and shows the majors later. Responder bids a four-card major at the one level over a minor opening, so a 4-4 major fit is still found on the second round. It is found one call later than a 5-3 fit.

Responding

Only the opening promises five cards. Your response in a major may be a four-card suit.

Two rules follow:

• Show a five-card major before a four-card one. With five spades and four hearts, respond 1♠. The longer suit is the one more likely to become trumps, and there is usually room to show the other later.
• With two four-card majors, bid the cheaper first, hearts before spades. Partner can raise it or bid on past it, so both suits stay findable; start with spades and the cheaper one may be lost.

With five in each major the order flips: bid spades first, then hearts, so the auction can come back down to hearts without going a level higher.

Without a four-card suit to bid at the one level, the response depends on the 2/1 Game Force setting. With it on, see the 2/1 Game Force page.

Responding without 2/1 Game Force

Until you switch on 2/1 Game Force in Settings, BidMaestro bids the responses in the original Standard American style, as on the SAYC card:

• A new suit at the two level shows 10 or more points and is forcing for one round only, not to game.
• 1NT over a major is 6–9 and not forcing. A passed hand’s 1NT is 6–10, and a passed hand’s 2NT is a balanced 11 or 12 with a doubleton in opener’s major.
• With game values and support, responder bids the game. A jump raise of opener’s first suit to the three level after a two-level response is forcing to game.

Opener’s rebid after the two-level response:

• A minimum: rebid the major (five or more cards), name a new suit at the two level (a wide range, up to 18), or bid 2NT with a balanced 12–14.
• Jump to three of the major: a six-card major with 15 or more; responder then bids game.
• A reverse (a higher-ranking new suit at the two level): 17 or more counting length, forcing for one round.
• Jump to 3NT: a balanced 18–19.
• A jump shift: 19 or more counting length with a second suit, forcing to game.

Responder’s second bid, the one the two-level response promised: 2NT or a raise of opener’s second suit invites with 11 or 12; preference to opener’s major, or a rebid of responder’s own suit, is a sign-off with 10–12; with 13 or more responder bids game or a forcing new suit. Opener then has the last word: with 15 or more opposite the sign-off, enough for 25 between the hands, opener bids game rather than pass.

Raising partner’s minor

A raise of partner’s minor needs five clubs (or four diamonds) and denies a four-card major, which responder would bid first. In standard bidding:

• The single raise (1♣ – 2♣, 1♦ – 2♦) shows 6–9 points counting shortness and extra trumps, and is not forcing. Opener passes unless it holds 19 or more points counting length: then it bids 3NT with the side suits stopped, or five of the minor without.
• The jump raise (1♣ – 3♣, 1♦ – 3♦) is the limit raise: 10–12 points counting shortness and extra trumps, inviting game and not forcing. Opener passes a minimum (fewer than 15 counting shortness and extra trumps); with 15 or more counting length and the side suits stopped it bids 3NT, and otherwise it shows a side-suit stopper below 3NT. With no stopper to show, it bids five of the minor with 17 or more counting shortness and extra trumps (with partner’s 10–12 that is the 29 a minor-suit game needs) and passes with less. After a stopper bid, responder bids 3NT with the remaining side suits stopped, or shows a stopper of its own.
• A game-forcing hand with minor support and no forcing new suit to bid responds 3NT with 13 or more high-card points.

Inverted Minors, if you switch it on in Settings, swaps the two raises round: the single raise becomes the strong one.

When the opponents overcall

A new suit means what it would have meant without the overcall: at the one level, four or more cards and 6 or more points; at the two level, five or more cards and 10 or more high-card points, forcing for one round. Negative Doubles, if you switch them on in Settings, show some of these hands with a double instead.

Bidding a slam

When your points plus the minimum partner’s bidding has promised come to 33 or more, bid a small slam — 6NT, or six of the agreed suit, counting shortness and extra trumps once the fit is known. You also need two aces, or an ace and a king, or three kings. Roman Key Card Blackwood, if you switch it on in Settings, asks partner for the missing aces before a suit slam.

Reading the opponents’ openings

When an opponent opens 1♠, you may count them for five spades, useful when judging whether to compete, and how high. When they open a minor, you have learned much less.

One caution: this is their agreement, not yours. Most players play five-card majors, but not all do, and a few open a good four-card major in third seat. What their card says is what you are entitled to; treat the rest as likely rather than certain.

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