In this week's blog, bridge teacher Jeremy Childs, shares some of his thoughts on opening 4441 hands:
We all hate them, and there are numerous ways of bidding them:
- Suit below the Singleton
- Taps (Hot and Cold) (as suggested by Andrew Robson)
- Suit below if black, middle of 3 if red (EBED)
I would like to propose a new method.
I am very methodical in my approach to bidding, and try to start from some basic principles that, when things get difficult, help me decide what is the best / least worst bid.
One of those principles is that I never aim to play in a minor contract unless absolutely forced to. From this (and others) come 2 golden rules:
- Don’t lie about your points
- Don’t lie about the length of your majors
If you have to break one of them, break the second.
So how does this affect 4441 hands?
If you open a major, and partner does not raise you, any rebid will show 5 in the major, breaking rule 2.
If you open a minor, and partner does not raise you, any rebid will show 5 in the minor, which is OK by me.
Does this work in all 4 Cases?
For a singleton spade, heart and diamond, yes it does. Open 1D for the first two, 1C for the third. You won’t miss a major fit and will only have lied about a 5th club/diamond.
What about the really awkward one – the singleton club?
If you open 1D and partner bids 2C, you have to rebid diamonds with only 4 (cue sharp intake of breath). But why is that worse than showing a 5th diamond you haven’t got when your rebid is a different suit?
In fact I think it’s quite sensible. You're unlikely to stay there – partner has 9/10+ and you have 12/13+ so 2NT is probably a better contract. You haven’t missed a major fit, and with at most 6 cards in the majors partner is unlikely to be short in diamonds.
The method has the advantage of being easy to explain: Open 1D unless a diamond singleton, then open 1C.
It also means that if you open a major and rebid another suit, you MUST have 5+ of the opening major.
I’d appreciate any thoughts to jeremy.m.child@gmail.com.