5332 (five card major) 1NT or 1M

[Tcyk]

My favorite system of all time opened 1NT with a 5-card major but there were restrictions.

1. Our no trump range was 12 to 14 high card points.

2. The 5-card major was weak, perhaps as strong as QTxxx.

3. We did not have two doubletons

4. Opening 1M promised five cards that were better than QTxxx.

 

We also had an elaborate system of responses designed to handle these hands. Transfers were invitational or stop bids. Forcing hands began with Stayman followed by 2S over 2D or 2H and 3C over 2S. The advantage of the system was that we could expect a good suit after an opening bid of 1H or 1S and when a 5-card major was disclosed after opening 1NT we knew it had poor suit quality.

 

Anyway, it would be interesting to see the search results with hands that were in the 12 to 14 high card point range.

 

Like so many studies of this type, results are skewed by individual partnership methods. I am convinced that the good results obtained by mini-no-trump opening bids are because partnerships using these openings know how to handle them. Virtually every partnership can handle strong balanced hands without a 5-card major but how many of them actually have methods for those with a 5-card major?

 

Charlie

[awm]

Let me try to sum up the information I see from these bridge browser tests:

 

(1) In general opening 1NT with a 5332 pattern when in range (including five-card major) tends to fare better than opening 1M with such a hand.

(2) While such claims are often biased by the skill level of the players involved, this one seems unlikely to be so. This is because, when the 1NT and 1M openers end up in the same contract, the results are similar. The difference in results for opening 1NT and 1M appears to be because different final contracts are reached.

(3) The difference in results for opening 1NT and 1M appears to come primarily from game contracts, rather than one opening or the other reaching superior partials.

(4) If we have a 5-3 major fit, we will normally take more tricks in the major than in NT. However, when both hands are balanced this number of additional tricks is, on average, less than one. Since the game level is one higher in the major than in notrump, 3NT is more likely to make than 4M. Correspondingly, 3NT tends to score substantially better (especially at IMPs) than 4M in the 5-3 when both hands are balanced.

(5) When the short hand has a singleton, 4M will often play two or more tricks better than 3NT and will tend to score better at all forms of scoring.

 

So when bidding or selecting methods, what conclusions can we draw from this:

 

(1) When in doubt, open notrump with a 5332 pattern when in range. Of course there is always room for judgement, but probably the notrump opening is "usually right."

(2) Puppet stayman is overrated. It may be better not to play this convention. If you are playing it, don't use it to look for 5-3 fits when responder's hand is balanced. Finding these fits will generally not improve the contract.

[catatonic]

interesting thread with a simple conclusion .......play 4 card majors !

clearly this doesn't preclude opening with a 5 card major if you have a 5-4 shape , and using a 2/1 which promises 10 plus and therefore a rebid 4 spades and 5 hearts is easily dealt with when partner bids a 5 card minor ahead of a 4 card spade suit in response to 1 heart [ 1h/2c/2h/2s ]

 

so what is supposed to be the advantage of playing 5 card majors anyway if it is , as appears to be the case , better to open 1nt with single suited hands

[1eyedjack]

interesting thread with a simple conclusion .......play 4 card majors !

clearly this doesn't preclude opening with a 5 card major if you have a 5-4 shape , and using a 2/1 which promises 10 plus and therefore a rebid 4 spades and 5 hearts is easily dealt with when partner bids a 5 card minor ahead of a 4 card spade suit in response to 1 heart [ 1h/2c/2h/2s ]

 

so what is supposed to be the advantage of playing 5 card majors anyway if it is , as appears to be the case , better to open 1nt with single suited hands

I don't know about you, but to me it seems a bizarre distortion of the evidence presented in this thread, that you should conclude from it that opening 1M with a 4 card suit is suggested by a body of evidence all of which points to opening 1N with as many as 5 of them. If anything, a 4 card major is more NT-orientated than a 5 card major.

[HeartA]

I don't know about you, but to me it seems a bizarre distortion of the evidence presented in this thread, that you should conclude from it that opening 1M with a 4 card suit is suggested by a body of evidence all of which points to opening 1N with as many as 5 of them. If anything, a 4 card major is more NT-orientated than a 5 card major.

ditto.

[catatonic]

ok , let me put it another way ; what is the advantage of opening majors only with a 5 card suit ? unless both hands are 4333 the 44 fit generally brings in an extra trick , wheras with 5-3 the ruff is most frequently in the long hand , gaining nothing

 

I think it is fair to say that the abiliity to find 44 major fits is an important factor in virtually all bidding systems ; being able to open a 4 card major makes this much easier , so why not do so?

[1eyedjack]

ok , let me put it another way ; what is the advantage of opening majors only with a 5 card suit ? unless both hands are 4333 the 44 fit generally brings in an extra trick , wheras with 5-3 the ruff is most frequently in the long hand , gaining nothing

 

I think it is fair to say that the abiliity to find 44 major fits is an important factor in virtually all bidding systems ; being able to open a 4 card major makes this much easier , so why not do so?

Ok I understand your point now, and have some sympathy with it

[1eyedjack]

A comparison that might be worth modelling is to see if the position of opener with respect to dealer affects the gain v loss of opening 1N v 1M.

 

I have on occasion opened 1M opposite a passed hand when I would otherwise normally open 1N, since I can then pass responder's new suit response, when I would be stuck for a rebid opposite a non-passed hand change of suit. But I am not sure whether that makes it winning strategy. This study could clarify that.