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. A 1♣ opening in particular can be quite short.
• 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.

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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