1
is artificial and strong, and is either balanced with 18+ points, or rule of 25 with 14+ points, with a nominal minimum of 16 points. A typical minimum 1 opener will be a six-loser hand.
| Hand A | Hand B | Hand C | Hand D | Hand E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 AQ8 | QJ3 | KQJ10973 | 105 | 4 |
 7 | KJ2 | A | AK9764 | KQ76 |
 K8763 | KQ5 | Q8 | KQJ52 | AQ97 |
| AQJ7 | KJ63 | K74 | - | KQ52 |
Hand A is a good 1 opener. Minimum in points, it has good shape and controls, and only five losers. Hand B has 16 points but is balanced, so should be opened 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.
Hand E is unbalanced and has 16 points, but it doesn't meet the rule of 25, so we open it 1 – and we are happy to do so, as these 4441 hands are often disappointing performers.
The only special response to 1 is 1, artificial and showing any hand with fewer than 4 points. All continuations and all other sequences are systemic.
| West | North | East | South | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pass | 2 | pass | ||
| 2 | pass | pass | pass |
was invitational (so about 7 to 8 points) and denying a major suit. 2 was a scrambling bid.| West | North | East | South | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pass | 1 | pass | ||
| 1 |
showed less then four points. Nonetheless, 1 is forcing as usual.| West | North | East | South | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pass | ||||
| 2 |
NEXT: opening one diamond