Hi Andy

If my partner opens a minor and I have 5/5 in majors and only 6-9 points should I respond 1H instead of 1S?

Thanks

Trish Norris

Hi Trish,

With a 5/5 shape, the plan is to always bid your highest ranking suit first, so here, you should bid 1♠ first. Unlike when you have 4/4 where you would respond up the line, with 5/5 the better and more convenient way is to bid the spades first because you plan on bidding your hearts on the second round and partner can give you a preference between the spades and the hearts at a convenient level.

Had we bid the hearts first, sure, partner might be able to bid 1♠ with four of them, but if partner only has three spades, he won’t be rebidding spades and now if we bid 1♥ followed by 2♠ later, if partner prefers our hearts, he will have to go to the 3-level.

Thus, with a 5/5 shape in any two suits, it is always better to bid the higher ranking suit first (and this rule applies to anyone – the opener, responder, overcaller etc!)

Hope that helps,
Andy