[jillybean]

15-17nt

---

[mike777]

would rebid 1NT

1d-1s-1nt

[apollo1201]

With this near solid D suit, you have to pick the least lie. Rebidding them is terrifying.

So either it is 1D 1S 1NT and partner might end up in a 5-1 fit. But finding H will be much easier. Or sometimes partner passes and the spot is not so bad.

Or it is 1D 1S 2C and see from there (maybe you end in a better fit). But we are virtually losing H.

The risk is with a weak hand opposite. With a string partner we will reach the appropriate game.

Some players play 1m 2H to show a weakish 5S and 4+H to ease finding M contacts and avoid some tricky rebids by opener. It eases some sequences with a fit and find good games with little HCP but sometimes you end up in a bad 2M instead of a better 2m, or 3m-1 vs 2m making. Consequences on other sequences (1m 2H strong, NMF, etc.) are also to be considered.

[awm]

You say "plan your rebid" but you never said what partner's response is. In particular:

1. If partner responds 1♥, this is something of a 2.5♥ rebid. Is anyone up for the 3♥ raise?
2. If partner responds 1NT, you know the opponents have a 9+ card spade fit. Pass and hope they don't find it? Or rebid 2♣/2♦?
3. If partner responds 2♣, many people play that 2♦ by opener promises five. Does this suit count as a five-carder? Or raise clubs? Or 2♥ (presuming that doesn't show extras in this auction)?

Of course, it is also possible that the opponents are in the bidding, and you need to make some rebid decisions there too.

People seem to fixate so much on this "what if partner bids my singleton" that they don't always consider all the many other ways the auction can continue.

[P_Marlowe]

1D, followed by 2D, you could sell me a 1NT over 1S, ..., a distant option is 2C.

[jillybean]

I did not say what partner's response was because I think planning your rebid before you make your first bid is a good habit to adopt.
Many hands pose no problem whatsoever, you will raise partner's bid, bid another suit or nt. With a hand like this, you should already know
how you will continue if the auction goes 1D (P) 1S (P). If your bid is 1nt, you can make it in tempo.
A little planning eliminates the tortured pause and sigh (you know I hate being left in 1nt) before the 1nt card is placed on the table and takes any pressure off your partner.

Other than that, it's a 1♦ 1♠ 1nt bid for me. I think I take the low road after 1♦ 1♥ , 2♥ is enough

[DavidKok]

jillybean, on 2025-July-20, 11:37, said:

I think I take the low road after 1♦ 1♥ , 2♥ is enough

I think this is smart for several reasons. Why are the opponents not in this auction? Partner either has a 5=6, or they have a spade fit. If they're not bidding with a spade fit, probably partner is strong. In that case we'll find our good game regardless, but we want to preserve the space in case partner has slam aspirations. In addition, partner probably has 3 or even 4 spades alongside their hearts, and might get too enthusiastic. We also know that their possible honours in diamonds aren't worth what partner thinks they may be, especially at the slam level.

[hrothgar]

I'm going to be in the extra minority here, but I am going to open 1♥, intending to rebid 2!D over 1!S or 1NT

[jillybean]

 hrothgar, on 2025-July-20, 12:05, said:

I'm going to be in the extra minority here, but I am going to open 1♥, intending to rebid 2!D over 1!S or 1NT

Richard, it's the NB forum

[hrothgar]

jillybean, on 2025-July-20, 13:03, said:

Richard, it's the NB forum

Yes, and ?

From my own perspective, its good that folks learn - early on - that there are many different ways to skin a cat and

1. The different approaches offer their own advantages and disadvantages
2. Its not always clear whether one treatment is objectively best (as opposed to being most popular)
3. Different people will approach these questions in very different ways

[jillybean]

hrothgar, on 2025-July-20, 15:52, said:

Yes, and ?

1. agree
2. agree
3. agree
"
I'm not sure that it is wise to suggest NB's deviate from "standard".
It would be useful to include an explanation & note that it is non standard.

[smerriman]

jillybean, on 2025-July-20, 11:37, said:

A little planning eliminates the tortured pause and sigh (you know I hate being left in 1nt) before the 1nt card is placed on the table and takes any pressure off your partner.

Is there a difference between this and pausing before the 1♦ bid, only to end up rebidding 1NT? In both cases it will seem pretty clear you don't have a flat minimum.

jillybean, on 2025-July-20, 18:36, said:

I'm not sure that it is wise to suggest NB's deviate from "standard".
It would be useful to include an explanation & note that it is non standard.

Agree totally when it comes to nonstandard conventions, people posting these without context in the N/B forum maddens me Though to be fair, he did say he expected to be in a significant minority, and considering stretching the rules when you have rebid issues is worthy of consideration. (Actually, I thought your initial post had an implication that a rebid issue should cause you to consider something other than 1♦, and was wondering what it was!)

[thepossum]

.

[jillybean]

smerriman, on 2025-July-20, 22:11, said:

Is there a difference between this and pausing before the 1♦ bid, only to end up rebidding 1NT? In both cases it will seem pretty clear you don't have a flat minimum.


Agree totally when it comes to nonstandard conventions, people posting these without context in the N/B forum maddens me Though to be fair, he did say he expected to be in a significant minority, and considering stretching the rules when you have rebid issues is worthy of consideration. (Actually, I thought your initial post had an implication that a rebid issue should cause you to consider something other than 1♦, and was wondering what it was!)

I think we'd all agree that the aim is to maintain a steady tempo. Take a moment to think about your rebid before you open any hand.
There's often an indication that my opponent doesn't have a balanced 12-14, but they can minimize the message that they have a singleton in partners suit and are making this 1nt bid under pressure.

I didn't intend to convey the message that there was an alternative to opening 1D. I would not open this average 4 card heart suit and bid it like it was a 5 card suit. I don't think there is any need to distort this hand.

[pescetom]

I'm not a teacher, but I do spend a lot of time mentoring Beginners and FWIW I am not convinced it is effective to place much emphasis on planning rebids. Beginners have enough difficult in deciding whether this is the points and shape to open 1♦ or not, without looking for reasons to worry about doing so
They have so many fears (rightly and wrongly) that giving them yet another thing to worry about is like throwing petrol on a fire. When they had an opening choice and it worked out badly is the right moment to gently open discussion about how the initial choice influenced later bids in probable scenarios. But stressing planning ahead as part of bidding is something that can and should come later IMO.

I'm also not convinced that planning the rebid before bidding is really much help in helping them avoid giveaway hesitations either, for similar reasons. A beginner who actually did manage to plan that over A they bid X but over B they bid Y and so on is quite likely to panic if the opponents interfere or if it simply comes around to them quickly and they cannot recall the plan. The road towards steady tempo is to learn to use all the think time available and to become aware of tempo.

And while I agree that beginners should know that there are many different systems each assigning different meanings to sequences of calls, I don't think it is fruitful to prospect the idea of forcing the system - their system - to mitigate rebid or other problems. They have been taught - and rightly - to trust the system and they are nowhere near mature enough to understand its weaknesses or evaluate the consequences of deviating from it.

[paulg]

I have three regular partners - two experts and one advanced - and they all have different plans for this hand.

This problem might be more appropriate for the I/A forum since so many of us do not provide definitive answers, which I feel is what most N/B players are looking for. As an aside, I think one reason why some of my talks to aspiring Scottish internationals do not go as well as I'd hope is that they are also looking for answers and not more questions, so it is not just a N/B issue.

So my definitive answer is that you should open 1♦, planning to rebid 1NT if partner responds with 1♠. This sequence describes most of your hand well: you are in range, have the other suits covered, and you have not made finding a heart fit difficult (which 2♣ does). Partner will expect a doubleton spade, but if you rebid 2♦ they will expect a LOT more from your diamond suit. In essence, it is the least worst option.

One of my expert partners would do this without any worries in the world and, indeed, needs little encouragement. This approach has the advantage that a 2♦ rebid means something.

My advanced partner would also take this approach, but she is dragged kicking and screaming into it. We both hate rebidding no trump with a singleton in partner's suit but this is one of the rare occasions where it seems right.

I have a lot of system with my other expert partner so this particular problem does not exist as we have a rebid that shows four hearts and five diamonds in a minimum hand. Of course, solving some problems often creates many more but it is more a consequence of all the system rather than a specific desire to solve this problem. The detail is well beyond the scope of the N/B and I/A forums.

When we played more natural methods, we both hated rebidding 1NT with a singleton in partner's suit. Make the diamond suit ♦Qxxxx and we'd have rebid 2♦ all the time.