New Minor Forcing

by Larry Matheny

Here's a frequent bidding dilemma:

SKQ954  HA72  DJ5  CK82 -- Partner opens 1D, you respond 1S, and partner rebids 1NT. You know you want to bid game, but which game? If partner has three spades, a 4S contract rates to play better. If partner has only two spades, you'd rather play 3NT.  Many pairs solve this problem with a treatment called New Minor Forcing.  This is a simple bidding agreement that specifies that after the first round of bidding, responder's rebid of 2 of the unbid ("new") minor is forcing for at least one round. (This is an artificial bid and must be alerted.) It asks opener for more information about his hand; first, his length in the suit responder has already bid, and second, the strength of his hand.

As responder, you use New Minor Forcing at your second turn to bid. You should have at least invitational strength (a good 10-11+ pts.) and some doubt about what the final contract should be. In most cases, you have a 5-card major and want to know whether or not partner has a fit.

With the example hand above, clubs is the new minor, so after 1D-1S-1NT, you would rebid 2C to force. Your bid doesn't promise club length or even a stopper -- it only asks opener to bid again and tell you more about his hand.

Opener's Rebids

After partner bids the new minor, your first obligation as opener is to show support for his major. You do this by making a "delayed raise" to two of his suit. In the example above, your auction would go 1D by you  - 1S by partner - 1NT - 2C - 2S. Your 2S rebid shows exactly 3 spades (you already denied 4-card spade support when you rebid 1NT). This uncovers your 8-card fit, so your partner will jump directly to 4S with the example hand. If you rebid anything else over partner's New Minor Forcing bid, you deny 3-card length in his major. Your second priority is to show an unbid 4-card major. In the example above, you would rebid 2H if you held 2 spades and 4 hearts.

If you don't have 3 spades or 4 hearts, you have to find another descriptive rebid. You can choose 2NT with a balanced hand, or 2D if you have a 5-card suit. In all of these cases, partner will now know that you have only a 7-card spade fit, so he can choose the 3NT game.

As opener, you should also show your point-count with your rebid. Since responder promises at least invitational strength, you should make a jump rebid if you have a maximum hand that will accept a game invitation. After partner bids 2C in the auction above, you would jump to 3S if you had strong 3-card support and a good 14 or 15 pts. If you had only a doubleton spade and a good 14-15 pts., you would jump to 3NT.

Responder's Third Bid

After you use New Minor Forcing, opener's rebid will tell you whether or not you have an 8-card fit in your suit. Your next bid should tell opener whether you have forcing or invitational strength.

With the example hand above, you have forcing values (12-13+ pts.), so your next bid will be at game level. If opener rebids 2S to show 3-card support, you'll bid 4S. If opener rebids anything else (2D, 2H, 2NT), you know you have only a 7-card spade fit, so you'll choose 3NT.

If you have only invitational values (10-11 pts.), you'll make your rebid at a lower level. Here's an example:

S983  HQJ763  DA5  CKJ4  -- Partner opens 1D, you bid 1H, and he rebids 1NT. To start an invitational auction and check on partner's heart length, bid 2C (New Minor Forcing). Here are opener's possible rebids and the actions you should take at your next turn to bid. 

If opener's second bid is:

2D  (denying 3 hearts) -- Rebid 2NT to invite game. There's no reason to bid hearts again.

2H  (minimum opener with 3 hearts) -- Bid 3H to invite game.

2NT  (minimum opener with 2 or fewer hearts) -- Pass.

3H  (extra values with good 3-card heart support) -- Bid 4H.

3NT  (extra values with 2 or fewer hearts) -- Pass. 


Other situations

You can (and should) use New Minor Forcing when you are 5-4 in the majors and have invitational-or-better strength.

SAK1063  HK1065  D4  C964 -- Partner opens 1C, you respond 1S, and partner bids 1NT. In this auction (after opener rebids 1NT), a bid of 2H by you should show a weak hand (6-9 pts.) with no interest in game -- it promises 5 spades and 4+ hearts and asks opener to pass or bid 2S if he prefers that suit. To show an invitational or better hand, bid 2D (yes, even with a singleton!) to force. This will allow you to find an 8-card fit in either major. If partner has 3 spades, he'll bid 2S and you'll raise to 3S to invite. If he has 2 spades and 4 hearts, he'll bid 2H and you can invite a heart game with by raising to 3H.

There are also hands where you have a four card major plus support for opener's minor suit.

SKQ84 HA97 DAKJ95 C7 -- Partner opens 1D, you respond 1S, and your partner rebids 1NT. A rebid by you of 2D would be weak, a jump to 3D would be invitational, and so your only recourse is to use New Minor Forcing. If partner now bids 2H or 2S, you can bid 3D to show a forcing hand with 4+ diamonds. It is your third bid that explains why you used new minor.

This treatment can also be used when opener makes a jump rebid of 2NT.

SKQ854 HA82 DJ5 C872 -- Partner opens 1D, you respond 1S, and partner rebids 2NT. You want to be in either 3NT or 4S depending upon opener's spade holding. A rebid of 3S would show 6+ spades so we use new minor. After your artificial 3C bid, opener will bid 3S with support, 3H holding four hearts and only two spades, and 3NT with all other holdings.

Another benefit is when you hold: SKQ854 HA982 DJ5 C72 -- partner opens 1D, you respond 1S, and again he jumps to 2NT. If you now bid 3H, partner will not know if you hold five hearts or only four. He will not know what to bid when his distribution is 2-3-4-4. The solution is to bid 3H when you are 5-5 (or greater) in the majors, and use new minor when you are 5-4.

There are different versions of New Minor Forcing so be sure and discuss this with your partner before adding it to your card.