Those pesky 9 counts

[Doug Deacon]

My partner (a strong player but new to KS) is  concerned about responding to a 1m opening on certain balanced 9 counts. 

If opener is balanced and...

... opens 1C:

- when responder holds =3334, it begins 1C-2C-2N...

... opens 1D:

- when responder holds =3343, it begins 1D-2D-2N...

- when responder holds =3334 or =xxx5, it begins 1D-2C-2N...

Responder can't pass 2N, opener may have up to 19. With these flat shapes, there's no sensible m-suit rebid, so it appears we've endplayed ourselves into 3NT.  This may put us in 3N on a combined 24... against the field at matchpoints and pretty aggressive even at IMPs.

Has this been a problem for your KS partnerships? How do you manage this?

[Doug Deacon]

Thanks, Robert. 

> we bid 1D over 1C with as few as 3 diamonds when holding 9+ points it that seems better than 2C.

That's what my partner wants to do.

My question: what happens when it goes 1c-1d-2d or 1c-1d-3d? There we are, in a 7-card suit...

Of course this only addresses 1C openings. Do you have a "fix" for 1D openings when a 9-point responder has 4 (5) clubs and o other suit?

On Mon, Mar 9, 2026, 2:16 PM ROBERT PARK <bpa...@comcast.net> wrote:

Kinda hate to admit it, but my partner & I are deviant...by a point.

We require 10 points for those 2m bids. And we bid 1D over 1C with as few as 3 diamonds when holding 9+ points it that seems better than 2C.

This has not proved troublesome. 1D followed by 1N then shows 9-11 points.

  --Bob Park

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[ROBERT PARK]

Kinda hate to admit it, but my partner & I are deviant...by a point.

We require 10 points for those 2m bids. And we bid 1D over 1C with as few as 3 diamonds when holding 9+ points it that seems better than 2C.

This has not proved troublesome. 1D followed by 1N then shows 9-11 points.

  --Bob Park

On 03/09/2026 1:51 PM EDT Doug Deacon <doug...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

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[jerome keslin]

According to B1. 

The fix.

1d - 2c is 9-11/12

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[Doug Deacon]

Jerome,  that's not the fix. It's the problem.

9 + 15 ≠ 25

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[jerome keslin]

Sorry misunderstood.

So what does 1d - 2c show?

Kokish " fixes " by allowing a major response to be on a 3 carder.

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[Doug Deacon]

For us, 2C shows what B-19 says, except we eliminated the weak option (long clubs, 4 diamonds, 8 or less). 

Therefore, 2C shows 9+, including flat 9-11 counts with no 4cM (and promises GF values if holding a 4cM or 4-card D fit).  

The concern is a flat 9 count when opener has a balanced 15.  KSU endplays us into 3N.

Kokish's "fix" sounds almost KSU-ish.  If opener can rebid and even reverse into a 3cM, why shouldn't responder bid one too?!

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[Steve Willner]

On 3/10/26 10:49 AM, Doug Deacon wrote:
> The concern is a flat 9 count when opener has a balanced 15.  KSU
> endplays us into 3N.

With the same hands, strong notrumpers will (or at least should be)
playing 3NT. (Of course some hands with 9 HCP will be devalued and
treated differently.) At least at IMPs, if some of the strong
notrumpers use an invitational 2NT and stop there, on average our 3NT
will gain, at least according to the simulations I've seen.

[jerome keslin]

you can see it in the Weak nt system by the late Eric Kokish and Kraft

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