Opening with a balanced five-card major

[Antoine Fourrière]

1)The French, who (mistakenly in my view) seldom open 1N with a five-card major, also don't open 1N a good (bad) half of their 15-HCP, 4333 or 4432 hands. (Of course, they add one point for a five-card minor and two points for a six-card minor.) The four-point range NT rebid doesn't seem to hurt. If responder has a bad 10 HCP, he passes. Otherwise, he can checkback for size and three-card support and stop in two of his major when there is a seven-card fit.

 

2)As other people have remarked, you must consider the help opening 1N with a five-card major brings to the rest of your system.

When you play the strong notrump, it allows you to play 1N in front of 5-8 HCP. But it also frees the 2N rebid, allowing for instance a structure such as

1♠ 2♦

2♥ as usual

2♠ weakish without a six-card suit, but forcing one round if you have to cater to some 14-HCP hands

2N game force with clubs (3♣ by responder is noncommital)

3♣ 6 spades (3♦ and 3♠ by responder are nonforcing)

3♦ forcing if 2♠ is forcing, but nonforcing if 2♠ is nonforcing

3♥, 3♠ splinters

3N 5=2=4=2 if 2♠ is nonforcing (seems not too good)

[Fluffy]

if 2NT is not natural then what do you bid with 18-20?

[nikos59]

Perhaps it has already been posted (thread is too long to

check completely) but I am a believer in what the great

Edgar Kaplan wrote:

 

"I do not guarantee I'll never open one notrump holding a five-card major, but so far in a long bridge career I have never found the occasion to do so."

 

He wrote this in 1996, one year before his death.

 

Nikos