Bidding and conventions
Fourth suit forcing
1♦ — 1♥ — 1♠. You hold 13 points, five hearts and two spades. Game is certain, the strain is not, and every natural bid you can make either understates your hand or names a suit you do not want to play in.
The hand that has nowhere to go
13 points. Game is on. But in what?
Count the natural options and watch them all fail.
- 2♥ — shows five hearts and about 10 points. You have 13, and partner will pass.
- 3NT — you have no club stopper and no idea whether partner does.
- 3♦ — supports a suit partner may hold only four of, and buries the hearts.
- 2♠ — you hold two of them.
2♣ is the fourth suit. Played as forcing, it does the one thing none of the above does: it keeps the auction alive at a low level and asks partner the question you actually have.
What opener must answer
In priority order:
- A stopper in the fourth suit? Bid notrump — at the cheapest level with a minimum, jumping with extras. This is the most common answer and the one responder is usually fishing for.
- Three-card support for responder's major? Bid it. A 5-3 major fit beats notrump on most hands.
- Extra length? Rebid your own first suit with six, or show a fifth card in the second suit.
- None of the above? Bid the cheapest of whatever is left and let responder place the contract. You have a game force opposite; you cannot pass.
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♦ | |||
| Pass | 1♥ | Pass | 1♠ |
| Pass | 2♣ | Pass | 2NT |
| Pass | 3NT | Pass | Pass |
| Pass |
Game forcing, or merely forcing?
Two agreements are in common use and they are not compatible:
- Game forcing — the fourth suit promises enough for game and neither player may stop below it. Simpler, and the more common agreement.
- Forcing for one round — it promises invitational values, and responder's next bid decides. More precise, and it needs a clear scheme for how responder signs off.
Play it as game forcing unless you have a regular partner and a reason.
With an invitational hand and no fit you have other bids; with a game force and no fit you have none. Reserve the convention for the hand that has nothing else.
Fourth suit forcing or new minor forcing?
The two get confused constantly. The difference is not which suit responder bids — it is what opener rebid.
- Opener rebid 1NT — that is new minor forcing. Opener has shown a balanced minimum and denied four cards in your major, and the question is whether they hold three.
- Opener bid a second suit — that is fourth suit forcing. Three suits are on the table, opener's shape is unbalanced, and the question is broader: stopper, support, or extra length.
Same instinct, different auctions, and a partnership only needs to agree that both are on — after which the auction itself tells you which one you are in.
What it costs
The ability to bid the fourth suit naturally, which almost never comes up. To want to play there you would need real length in a suit nobody supported, on a hand that could have bid it earlier and did not.
There is a second cost that is easier to miss. Naming the fourth suit tells the defenders that nobody has it, which is a clear signal about what to lead.
On hands that end in 3NT with a bare stopper, the opening leader has been told where to attack. A real price, and smaller than the price of guessing the contract.
Four things to remember
- Three suits bid by your side, fourth suit bid by you: artificial and forcing.
- Opener answers stopper first, then major support, then shape.
- Opener never raises it. Responder does not hold that suit.
- After a 1NT rebid it is new minor forcing instead. Check what opener rebid.