We learned both of the simple opening bids - namely you can open with one in a suit, or you can open with 1 No Trump, assuming that you have the right sort of hand, and the right number of points.

However, so far we have only talked about response bids where partner was supporting the bid already made - namely 1 Club - 2 Clubs; 1 No Trump - 2 No Trump or going to 3 No Trump with 13 points.

We also talked briefly about the Weakness Takeout bid of 2 of a suit over 1 No Trump with a long suit, and to a JUMP BID (3 of a suit)  with a long suit and 10+ points.

The Response bids are broken down into when you are responding to an opening bid in a suit or in No Trump.

I have already listed most of the ones for responding to No Trump, but here are some more which deal with responding to suit bids.

WEAK HANDS

If you have 6-9 points and don't really like your partner's suit, but you have a reasonable suit of your own, you can bid that if you can do it on the 1 level. So if he said 1 Club, you could say, 1 Diamond, 1 Heart or 1 Spade. However, if he said 1 Spade, you couldn't bid in a suit on the 1 level.

If you have 6-9 points, but no biddable suit on the 1 level, you can bid 1 No Trump. This is not to be confused with the opening bid of 1 No Trump, or the overcall bid of 1 No Trump. This is a weak bid - and you do not to have good cards in all the suits. Although, if there has been an overcall bid, you should have that suit stopped, if you are bidding 1 No Trump as a response bidder.

MEDIUM HANDS

If you have more than 10 points, you can bid your good suit, whatever it is on either the 1 or 2 levels.

If you have 11-12 points and the opposition's suit covered, you can bid 2 No Trump.

If you have 4 cards in your partner's suit, and have 10-12 points, you can give a jump bid in his suit. If he said 1 Spade, you can say, 3 Spades.

STRONG HANDS

If you have 4 cards in your partner's suit, and have 13+ points, you can go straight to game in his suit. You are more likely to do this in Hearts or Spades, than Clubs or Diamonds, as 5 is a high bid to make, and you might want to explore first the possibility of 3 No Trump, before you bid 5 Clubs or Diamonds.

If you have 16 points or more, you can jump in your own suit. This is called a JUMP SHIFT and is the strongest overcall bid you can make. Your partner is forced to keep the bidding going to game in something.

We will talk at another lesson about Slam Bidding. This is when you and your partner decide you have enough points to win all the tricks - a GRAND SLAM, or all but one -
a SMALL  SLAM. If you do that, and make it, you get a large Slam bonus for doing so.

There is a chart to help you decide what to bid - with all the opening and response bids listed with shape of hand and number of points.

Let's say that playing East-West, your partner West, opened with 1 Club, North No Bid, and the following is your hand.

30. Using the suggestions above, decide what to bid. You have  part score of 60.

SPADES              J,8,4,2
HEARTS             10,6,3
DIAMONDS        A,K,J,8,3
CLUBS                6

a. 1 Diamond
b. 1 No Trump
c. No Bid