The ultimate goal of bidding is to get all (or substantially all) of the information about both partners’ hands into the mind of one of the partners so that person can place the contract.  By the fourth round of the bidding this goal is often accomplished.  Opener has taken two bids in which she told something about her shape and strength.  In her first bid she limited her hand to fewer than 22 points and told her partner about one of her suits. Responder then promised at least 6 high card points and told something about one of her suits.  Opener then made another bid that told something about the strength of her hand (either minimum up to 14, medium 15-17 or maximum 18-21) and told something about her hand (balanced, single-suited, or two-suited).  With this information responder is often able to place the contract.

If responder is having difficulty placing the contract, she can always ask herself one question: do we have enough points for game?  She finds the answer to this question by adding her points to partner’s.
There are only 3 answers:
 - No = signoff
 - Maybe = invite
 - Yes  = game forcing

When opener supports responder’s suit as cheaply as possible, a minimum hand is shown. Responder signs off in a partscore with a minimum hand. With a medium hand, responder makes an invitational bid. With a maximum hand, responder bids game.

When planning a rebid after opener shows a minimum hand, responder follows these simple rules.
With a minimum hand, responder can:
  - pass
  - bid 1NT
  - or bid an old suit (a suit that already has been bid by the partnership) at the two level.
With a medium hand, responder can:
  - bid 2NT
  - or bid an old suit at the three level.
With a maximum hand, responder can:
  - bid a game
  - or, if unsure where to play, a new suit.

When opener shows a medium hand of 16 to 18 total points by jumping in opener’s own suit or in responder’s suit, responder passes with 6 to 7 total points and bids a game with 8 or more total points.

When opener shows a maximum hand of 19+ total points by jumping to game or jumping in a second suit (jump shift), there should always be enough strength for game. Responder can pass if the partnership is already in game or bid a game if it isn’t. If responder is unsure of the proper strain for the contract, responder can bid a suit. Since opener knows that the partnership has enough combined strength for game, neither partner will pass until game is reached. When the jump shift is into notrump, however, the point count is slightly different. The opener is showing 18-19 HCP. This is logical since we know that we open 1NT with a balanced 15-17 HCP. The 18-19 HCP balanced hand with out a fit is shown by opening one of a suit and then making a jump bid in 2NT notrump.

If responder adds her points to opener’s and finds that if opener is a maximum the partnership has 25+ points but if partner is a minimum  the partnership has at most 25 points, then the answer is “maybe” and responder invites opener to game by raising opener’s suit, bidding 2NT, or jumping in her own suit.  

If responder adds her points to opener’s and finds that the partnership has at least 25, then the answer is “Yes”.    If an 8-card or longer major suit fit is known, then responder should bid 4 of the major.  If responder knows that there is no 8-card or longer major suit fit and there is no problem with stoppers, then she bids 3NT. But what if she knows that there are enough points for game but she doesn’t know where to play it because she doesn’t know if there is an 8-card major suit fit or whether a suit is stopped or both?  Then she must make forcing bids until she gets the answers that she needs. One of these forcing bids is 4th Suit Forcing (4SF). We will talk about this bid next week.