[krcam]

If my partner opens with 1C how many points do I need to respond?
I was taught that a 1 club is forcing and I cannot leave my
partner with that bid BUT if I have 2 points should I bid?
TY

[mw64ahw]

krcam, on 2024-August-14, 11:19, said:

If my partner opens with 1C how many points do I need to respond?
I was taught that a 1 club is forcing and I cannot leave my
partner with that bid BUT if I have 2 points should I bid?
TY

A standard 1♣ is not forcing. Playing Transfer Walsh I will transfer with 5M and nothing with poor ♣. In standard I will reply with as little as an Ace

[mikeh]

There are methods in which 1C is forcing. Precision and other ‘big club’ methods are popular at the professional level and in some countries…I believe India is home to many big club players. In NA, precision is less popular now, amongst non-experts than it was 30-40 years ago…not sure why. Polish Club also employs a forcing 1C opening bid, although the most common hand type for thei 1C is a weak notrump type of hand…balanced with 12-14.

However, in ‘standard’ methods, basically world wide afaik, a 1C opening bid is not forcing. Whoever told you that it should be or is forcing needs to learn some basic bidding ideas.

Now, having said that, most good players strain to respond to 1C. The ‘old’ idea that one needed 6 hcp to respond has gone out of fashion…I still hear club level players mention it, but few, if any, strong players would pass 1C with, say, KJxxx xxx xxx xx. Bidding 1S will often make life difficult for the opponents. You’ll sometimes get overboard when you respond light, but on balance this approach seems to be a winning one.

Responding with 2 points? Playing normal methods, I’d pass with as few as 2 hcp, unless I had a 6+ suit. I’d hate it, especially if short in clubs, but one has to balance the risks of passing (1c may be horrible if passed out, passing makes bidding much easier for the opps compared to responding, we might have a better spot) against the risks of partner playing us for a better hand (jumping to 3C or 2N or driving to game or doubling the opps for penalty, thinking that we have something to contribute, etc). The opps will often rescue us even when 1C would be terrible. If not…we’ll, bridge is a game of compromises. That means that there will be hands on which hindsight would suggest doing something other than what seemed best at the time. So…don’t (usually) respond with 0-2 hcp.

[jillybean]

Ah, the nasty "never leave me in 1♣ - 1♣ is forcing" rumour.

It's not true, if you don't have a bid - PASS

As noted above, as your bridge skills improve and you have more agreements with your partner, you can relax these "rules" and respond with subminimum (<6) hands.

Welcome to forums

[DavidKok]

See also https://www.bridgeba...forcing-rumour/ for more discussion.