1
is artificial and strong, but limited to the range 16 to 20 points. Hands with fewer points may be opened 1 if they contain strong playing values, particularly in the majors – a good 15 or an excellent 14 would be the minimum. On the other hand, a hand with 16 points should always be opened 1 unless compromised by stiff honours. As a guideline, a typical 1 opener will be a five or six loser hand; stronger hands will be opened 1
.
| Hand A | Hand B | Hand C | Hand D |
|---|---|---|---|
 AQ8 | QJ3 | KQJ10973 | 105 |
 7 | KJ2 | A | AK9764 |
| K8763 | KQ5 | Q8 | KQJ52 |
| AQJ7 | KJ63 | K74 | - |
Hand A is a good 1 opener. Minimum in points, it has good shape and controls, and only five losers. Hand B is awful, with its lack of playing power and 7 or 8 losers, but it has 16 perfectly good points, so open it 1. Hand C is a mixed bag; the stiff ace and the queen doubleton are poor, but the spade suit is magnificent; on balance, this 15-pointer is worth 1.
In terms of playing power, hand D is the best of them all, but with only 13 points you should settle for 1. There is no danger of that being passed out, and on such a distributional hand, there is a tactical advantage in kicking off with a natural bid.