ACBL01D – Bidding: Opener’s Rebids Ward Trumbull
The 6/16 Precept Dec 20, 2010
Page 1 of 4
Sob Stories
1. “I didn’t open the bidding with 15 HCP because I didn’t have a good
rebid.”
2. “I don’t know what to rebid.” (After staring at hand for 2 minutes.)
3. “I didn’t know what to rebid and passed. We missed the cold slam.”
Opener’s Rebid Options (Opening 1 of a suit)
The following options are based on no opponent interference bids.
Because if they do, it’s a whole new ballgame.
1. Rebid your suit with enough cards in your suit to do so.
2. Support partner’s suit when you know that there are at least 8
cards in that suit between the two hands, preferably in a major.
3. Rebid notrump when you don’t have that 8+ card fit.
4. Rebid a 4 card major if partner hasn’t denied 4+ cards in that
major, per up-the-line responses.
5. Rebid a second suit which has 4+ cards.
6. Make a 19+ HCP jump shift to a second suit.
7. If partner supports your suit, either pass, rebid to invite game
or rebid game.
Scope of this Handout
This write-up will only explain the rebids of options 1 and 3, which
do not involve:
1. some sort of support for responder’s suit (see 2)
2. some sort of support for your suit (see 7)
3. slam invitations per 19+ HCP hands (see 6)
4. offering a second suit (see 4 and 5)
ACBL01D – Bidding: Opener’s Rebids Dec 20, 2010
The 6/16 Precept Page 2 of 4
Introducing the 6/16 Precept: Part 1(the 6)
Whatever suit you open at the 1-level, Standard American bidding conventions say you must (should) have 6+ cards in your opening suit to rebid it, major or minor. This rule applies as long as the opponents have not bid a suit. Note that a takeout double by an opponent is not a suit bid.
This standard 6+ card rule is the 6 in the “6/16 Precept”.
Examples:
Cards Partner Opener Cards
Open in Suit Responds Rebids in Suit
-------- --------- -------------- ---------- ---------
1 club 2+ at 1-level 2 clubs 6+
or
3 clubs 6+
1 diam 4+ at 1-level 2 diams 6+
or
3 diams 6+
1 heart 5+ at 1-level 2 hearts 6+
or
3 hearts 6+
1 spade 5+ at 1-level 2 spades 6+
or
3 spades 6+
So the rebid (without interference) of your opening suit indicates a 6+ card suit.
The 6/16 Precept: Part 2 (the 16)
In all the examples above, the only difference between the 2-level rebids and 3-level rebids would be your HCP count.
2-level suit rebids indicate 11-15 HCP.
3-level suit skip rebids indicate 16+ HCP.
ACBL01D – Bidding: Opener’s Rebids Dec 20, 2010
The 6/16 Precept Page 3 of 4
The 6/16 Precept: Part 2 (continued)
The 16+ skip bid in your suit is the 16 in the “6/16 Precept”.
NOTE: You skip to show HCP, not to show more cards in the suit.
Applying the 16 of the 6/16 Precept to Notrump Rebids
If the opener rebids notrump without skipping, he is indicating
about 11-15 HCP. If he skips, he indicates about 16 HCP. Sounds like
the suit rebid precept doesn’t it?
Examples:
Partner Opener
Open Responds Rebids HCP
---------- ---------------- ------------------ ------------
1 club at 1-level 1 notrump 11-15 (same as 6/16)
(6-18 HCP) or
2 notrump 16-17 (same as 6/16)
or
3 notrump 18+
1 spade at 2-level 2 notrump 11-13 (near to 6/16)
(10-18 HCP) or
3 notrump 15+ (almost 6/16)
Example 1: The 2 notrump (16-17 HCP) needs more than partner’s
minimum of 6 HCP to bid game (25 HCP). It is a game
invite.
The 3 notrump (18+ HCP) doesn’t.
Yes – 18 + 6 is only 24, but you wouldn’t make an invite
bid for only one more HCP from partner.
ACBL01D – Bidding: Opener’s Rebids Dec 20, 2010
The 6/16 Precept Page 4 of 4
Applying the 16 of the 6/16 Precept to Notrump Rebids (cont.)
Example 2: The 2 notrump (11-13 HCP) needs more than partner’s
minimum 10 HCP to bid game. This is a game invite.
With 14 HCP you could bid 2 notrump or 3 notrump based
on your declarer skills.
The 3 notrump (15+ HCP) with partner’s minimum of 10
HCP is enough for game.