Opener's Reverse

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On the auction below, North’s 2♥ bid is a reverse. 

Definition of Opener's Reverse:   Opener bids a suit and then rebids a higher ranking new suit without jumping.

Strength

Bidding a higher ranking new suit at the 2-level shows a strong hand because it forces your partner to bid at the 3-level if they have a preference for your first suit. North’s reverse into hearts shows:

• 16+ points
• 4 or more hearts
• and longer clubs

North might have a hand like ♠7 ♥KQ85 ♦AK7 ♣KQ873.

A reverse by opener is forcing because they may have a very strong 2-suited hand and didn’t want to open a strong, artificial 2♣ because they were worried about preemption, and wanted to show both their suits (e.g. ♠7 ♥KQJ85 ♦A ♣AKQ873).

If North doesn’t have a strong hand, North shouldn’t reverse.

• With a hand like ♠73 ♥KQ42 ♦K2 ♣KQ974, rebid 1NT, not 2♥.
• With a hand like ♠K73 ♥KQ42 ♦2 ♣KQ974, rebid 2♠ with 3-card support.
• With a hand like ♠3 ♥AQJ2 ♦872 ♣KQJ74, rebid 2♣ on your good 5-card suit.

Responding to Opener’s Reverse

On the above auction, South might have a weak hand like ♠K873 ♥K2 ♦9652 ♣974. South would like show a weak hand with a preference for clubs. If South bids 3♣ with a weak hand, what should South bid with a better hand likely to make game opposite North’s strong hand (e.g. ♠K873 ♥K2 ♦9652 ♣K74). You cannot bid 3♣ with both hands.

Since there isn’t enough room for natural bidding to describe responder’s hand, you need to give up a natural bid and use it as a switch to clarify the meaning of other bids.

We recommend playing Blackout to clarify responder’s strength and their major suit length. Blackout uses the cheapest unbid strain (the 4^th suit or 2NT) as an artificial switch, announcing a weak hand with a 4-card major. Use of the Blackout bid tells opener that responder is willing to stop below game opposite a minimum reverse, and may pass opener’s next bid.

A responder with a 5+ card major, repeats their major. This bid is forcing for one round, and says nothing about responder’s strength. Responder has the option of passing if opener shows a minimum reverse. If responder has the values for game opposite a reverse, responder will take another call.

Any other call by responder is game forcing. On the auction below, any bid other than 2♠ or 2NT is game forcing. When 2NT is the Blackout bid:

1. bidding the 4^th suit at the 3-level is a game forcing hand with a 4-card major which lacks clear direction.
2. A jump in the 4^th suit is a splinter bid in support of opener’s 2^nd suit, showing 4-card support for opener’s 2^nd suit, game forcing values, and a singleton or void in the 4^th suit.
3. Other bids are natural and game forcing.

Here is a summary of responder’s rebids playing Blackout on the above auction.

If responder rebids their major or uses the Blackout bid (2NT on this auction), there is no guarantee responder will take another call. If opener has a minimum reverse, opener will typically rebid their 1^st suit (their longest suit). If opener has extra values, opener needs to avoid bidding their 1^st suit at the cheapest level. Opener makes a bid which shows their extra strength and their shape.

On the auction below, responder can bid the 4^th suit (hearts) at the 2-level.

So a 2♥ bid by responder is the Blackout bid, and a 2NT bid is natural, stopper showing, and game forcing. Here is a summary of responder’s options on this auction. A jump in the blackout suit shows a game forcing hand with at least 5-5 in the majors.