This call may well be the worst bid in bridge, but it's necessary when playing a strong club system. The bid is certainly a flaw in an otherwise very good bidding system. It conveys almost no information, other than 11-16 points and no 5-card suit. The bid is semi-forcing, too, because it may be as short as a singleton. We have an agreement that is not part of any other bidding system that will ease the problem a bit. It's not perfect but it sure helps!
This agreement is called ROOD --- Responding Over Our Diamond.
- A major suit response to 1
at the 1-level is not forcing and may be a
3-card suit - A response at the 2-level is natural and forcing with at least 5-card suit
- A 1NT response is forcing for one round and may have one or both 4-card majors
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If you have both majors, bid hearts first... Give your partner a chance to rebid spades if he has a 4-card suit.
If you bid spades first, you are denyng a 4-card heart suit.
If you adopt the above, do not open 1
unless you have either good 3+card support for both majors or
a balanced 15-16.
Not often, but there will be times when you have a very good hand with diamonds and would like to ask about keycards..
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Use a jump to 4
as Criss-Cross Keycard Gerber