I was sitting East on board four at the Edgartown Bridge Club on July 30, when the skies opened and enlightenment flooded the bridge world. I exaggerate perhaps slightly. West was dealing, with East-West vulnerable:

NORTH

♠9 8 7 5 2

♥A 10 6

♦K 3 2

♣10 6

WEST               EAST

♠ J 6                 ♠K 4

♥ J 5 4 2           ♥Q 8 7

♦ 9 6 5             ♦Q J 8

♣ Q 9 8 2          ♣A K 7 5 4

SOUTH

♠A Q 10 3

♥K 9 3

♦A 10 7 4

♣ J 3

The bidding proceeded as follows:

West    North    East     South

Pass     Pass      1NT     All Pass

Opening lead: spade 3

I cashed the spade king, then tried to rattle off five club tricks, only to find myself stuck in dummy after the fourth one when I failed to throw the eight and nine under the ace and king. After going down one for -100, I thought, “This is bound to be a bottom.”

Actually, it was a top. The other East-West scores were -200, -200, -170, -140, -200, -170, -170, -110, -170, -200.

Now it’s possible that the four -200 scores emanated from 1NT bids like mine. The rest probably reflected auctions such as this one:

West     North     East     South

Pass      Pass       1♣       DBL

Pass      1♠         All Pass

Do you see the difference? Outranking all suit one bids, an opening bid of 1NT can be a real conversation stopper. Moreover, 1NT should be automatic in this auction.

You can bid 1NT with the traditional standards of balance: 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, or 5-3-3-2 distribution. Not everyone realizes that they can bid 1NT with a five-card holding in a minor or major suit. Suppose you hold these cards:

♠A K 10 7 6

♥A Q 4

♦ Q 5 3

♣ 3 2

If you open 1 ♠ and partner replies 1NT, what can you do? Rebidding 2NT would show 18-19 high-card points, and passing might miss a 16-9 or 16-10 game-going fit.

You can bid 1NT without stoppers in all four suits. In spite of the usual standards for balance, you can bid 1NT while holding two doubletons like this one:

♠K 2

♥K J 10 4

♦J 4

♣ A K 5 4 3

This hand is not strong enough (16 plus high-card points) to bid 1 ♣ and then reverse into 2 ♥. But it does have the 15 HCP necessary to open 1NT.

The American Contract Bridge League has even legitimized bidding 1NT with a singleton, as long as it’s an ace or king:

♠A K 3 2

♥K J 4 9

♦K

♣ Q 10 6 5

If you opened 1C and partner responded 1NT, you would be stuck for a rebid.

What I’m trying to convey is, think about opening 1NT more often than you have. You will like the results.