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Should I Open 1NT w/ a 5-card
Major?
This is the #1
question. If bridge teachers had a dollar for every time this
question is asked, they'd be wealthy people.
Let me start by
saying, that there is no "right" answer (which is
probably why it keeps getting asked). All you can ask for is an
opinion.
Well-known teachers
such as Zeke Jabbour and Bernie Chazen, prefer to open with the
major. Marty Bergen and Roberta Salob will tell you 1NT. No doubt,
other famous teachers will weigh in with a strong opinion.
 My
advice for Intermediates and lower: 
| With
15-17 balanced, and a 5-card major, open 1NT |
(I will give my
advice for more advanced players at the end). Meanwhile,
the biggest reason I have for opening 1NT is that if you don't
open 1NT, you will have a major (pardon the pun) headache when it
comes time to rebid. For example, say you hold:
Q10  AQ1042
 KJ2
 KJ3.
If you open 1,
what will you do next? Suppose partner answers with 1.
How do you show this hand? If you rebid 1NT, you are showing less
than 15. If you rebid 2NT, you are showing more than 17. That is
why I prefer to start with 1NT. You have 16 balanced and if you
open 1,
you will never be able to convey that information. Whatever
partner responds to 1,
you will have trouble telling partner that you have 16 HCP.
Is there a downside?
Of course. By opening with 1NT, you will sometimes miss out on a
proper contract in your major. You will miss some 5-3 major-suit
fits (and occasionally, even a 5-4 fit). There are conventions
(such as Puppet Stayman) to get out of this mess, but those are
outside the scope of this article.
I have found (in 30+
years) of experience, that my way is the best way. I have my good
and bad moments, but in the long run, the money goes to the 1NT
opening. Even when I do miss a 5-3 major-suit fit, I find that
notrump plays just as well (and even if it is the same, it is
worth a fortune at matchpoints to get the 10 extra points for your
contract).
I think it best for
less-experienced players to blindly open all balanced 15-17 hands
with 1NT. That is because opening with the major ends up creating
annoying rebid problems. For example, players that open the hand
above with 1,
will have to invent a rebid (typically in a 3-card suit). Bridge
is hard enough. Intermediate players need to keep things
simple.
For more
expert/experienced players:
However, if you are
willing to have an adventure or two, I suggest that you don't
"blindly" open 1NT on every 15-17 balanced hand.
For example, consider:
32 AKQJ10
AJ10
432.
This is obviously a
"loaded" hand, but even I wouldn't open 1NT. I'd start
with 1,
and try to cope later. The stoppers are bad for notrump, and it
just doesn't look like a notrump. On the other hand, if I had this
flawed collection:
AJ2 KQ842
KQ
1052,
I would start with
1NT. There are many factors, but one is that I have three spades,
so if partner happens to transfer to spades, I'll be content. (If
it is close, and I have only a doubleton in one major, I might
lean towards opening in the other major). If I have 2 suits
totally unstopped, I also would tend to open the major. In
general, though, I open almost all balanced 15-17 hands with 1NT.
(One big payoff comes when LHO leads 4th best against notrump into
your undisclosed five-card major!).
Some teachers say to
go one way with hearts, another way with spades. Others say to
"shade" your hand and treat it as 14 or 18 (thereby
having no rebid problem). If you wish to have lots of rules, and
use lots of judgment, then by all means have a ball and switch
back and forth.
For most
players, though, I think simple is best. With 15-17 balanced, open
1NT.
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