If responder has 6 or fewer losers or 15 or more points, he bids a minor suit at the minimum level and waits to
hear Opener's second bid before deciding whether or not to try for a slam. There may be fewer than 4 cards in
responder's minor.

If Opener bids 1 of a minor responder needs 5 cards in that suit to be sure of a fit. However, even with 5 cards he
avoids bidding that suit if at all possible. If he has an alternative biddable suit, he bids it. Failing that, if he has a balanced hand, he bids no-trumps. He bids 2NT with 11 or 12 points or 3NT with 13 or 14 points. As a last resort
he supports Opener's minor in the same way as he would if the suit were a major. With 6 losers or 15 or 16 points
he is strong enough to bid at the 5 level.

Let us suppose that responder agrees Opener's second suit. Because Opener has bid twice, responder knows the strength of his partner's hand and can bid accordingly. For example, if the bidding goes 1C ( 1D ) 1H, Opener
is showing 15 or 16 points and at least 4 hearts. If responder has 4 or more hearts and 10 to 15 points, he bids 4H.
If he has 9 points, he bids 3H asking Opener to go to 4H if he is maximum. If the agreed suit is a minor and
responder has a stop in the fourth suit, he may try for a no-trump contract by bidding that suit to show a stop.

If responder agrees Opener's major or minor suit and has 15 or more high card points and a void or a singleton ace
in one of the other suits, responder makes a first time jump bid in that suit. If Opener is minimum, he bids game.
If Opener has 15 or more points, he asks for aces with a slam in view. Responder shows only aces in the 3 suits he
has not bid. Opener will not switch from a slam in the agreed suit to a slam in no-trumps unless he has the right
cards in the suit bid by responder (i.e. the suit with the void or singleton ace). At no other time does responder
make a jump bid in a new suit. The jump bid should be alerted. This particular bid is not an essential part of Boss.
Responder's first time jump bid in a new suit can be used in other ways and is primarily a matter of partnership agreement.

RESPONDER LACKS SUIT AGREEMENT.
When responder makes his first bid and bids a new suit at the minimum level, he requires 6 or more points to
bid at the 1 level but 8 or more points, if forced by the bidding, to bid at the 2 level. With 6 or 7 points but no
more and either 2 or 3 cards in Opener's suit, he may bid 1NT. With less than 6 points responder passes.

When Opener bids 1S, responder requires 5 or more hearts and 8 or more points in order to bid 2H. With no
spade fit and only 4 hearts he bids a minor instead and occasionally this has to be a 3 card minor.

Responder's second bid is weak if he repeats Opener's first suit at the minimum level. Such a bid is called a
preference bid. Responder keeps in mind that Opener's second bid may occasionally contain more cards than
the first and that, if Opener's first bid is a minor, it may be a 3 card suit. If the preference bid necessitates
moving up 1 level, he must consider whether the change of suit will yield at least 1 extra trick.

Responder bids as economically as possible unless he has 5 or more cards in a major. If Opener bids 1C and
responder has 4 diamonds and 4 cards in a major, he bids 1D. With 5 cards in a major he bids the major. If
Opener bids 1H and responder has 4 spades and 5 cards in a minor, he bids 1S. If Opener bids 1S and responder
has 5 hearts and 4 or 5 cards in a minor, he bids 2H.

Responder's second bid is forcing to game if he bids a new suit at the minimum level. He is showing points for anything from a slightly risky game to a slam contract. Even when the bidding is kept at the 1 level as
in 1C ( 1D ) 1H ( 1S ), responder's second bid is game forcing.

After 3 suits have been mentioned, the bid of a fourth suit by either partner represents a suit with just one stop.
If the other partner also has a stop in the fourth suit, a no-trump game contract has a good chance of success.
Without a stop, a safer contract is a suit contract. Sometimes the contract will be 4 of a minor because neither
3NT or 5 of the minor looks like being successful.

OPENER AGREES RESPONDER'S SUIT.
If Opener bids a major and then supports responder's non-touching minor, the artificial bid as explained in 3 (iv)
retains its meaning. So, if the bidding goes 1S (2D) 3D or 1H (2C) 3C, Opener is showing a 5 card major,
17 to 19 points and probably fewer than 4 cards in the minor. At other times, if Opener repeats responder's suit, he is showing support for that suit. For example, if the bidding goes 1D (1H) 2H, Opener is agreeing hearts but has only
12 to 14 points. If the bidding goes 1D (1H) 3H, Opener has 4 or more hearts and 15 to 16 points. With 4 hearts
and 17 to 19 points, Opener bids game.

If the bidding goes 1S (2H) 3H, Opener has 3 or more hearts and 12 to 14 points. With exactly 3 hearts and 15 or 16
points, Opener bids 2NT.

GENERAL
Boss readily accommodates such bids as pre-emptive bids, strong 2NT opening bids as well as such artificial bids
as Stayman, transfer bids, strong 2C opening bids and Gerber and Blackwood. Boss is not keen on light opening
bids but this need not deter anyone from using them is they so wish. The sort of hand suitable for a light opening
bid is also frequently suitable for an overcall based on losers. Boss recommends the use of the bids 4D and 5D to replace the Gerber 4C and 5C when clubs have been bid naturally during the auction. The responses, of course
move up a level as well so that 4S means 1 ace, 4NT means 2 aces and 5C means 3 aces.

ALERTING
An opening bid of 1H or 1C should be alerted because it may represent a shorter suit than Opener's second suit.
The opening bids of 1D or 1C should be alerted because they may represent 3 card suits. Also the words ' Possible Canape ' should be written on the convention card.

HOME PAGE

OPENER'S BIDS and REBIDS

RESPONDER AGREES OPENERS'S SUIT.

EXAMPLES

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