Opener’s Rebid After Left Hand Opponent Overcall

After a player (“you”) has opened the bidding there is the possibility that the player on your left, who is part of the opposing partnership, might overcall.  When this happens it can sometimes mean that your partner has to bid at a higher level when making a change of suit response than they otherwise would have.

Look at this example

North’s two spade response  shows a holding of 9+ points and 5 or more spades.  If West hadn’t made a two club overcall, partner could have responsed with 1 spade.  The overcall has forced partner to bid at the two level.

A change of suit response by partner is a forcing bid. As East has passed you are obliged to bid again even if you hold a relatively weak hand.

Your hand could hold just 12 points, for example:

s 8 3

h A Q 9 7 2

d A Q 5 4

c 10 7

We must bid again so bid our second suit, which we have no option but to bid at the three level.

As the LHO’s responding bid forced your partner to bid their change of suit at the two level, your rebid at the three level (the lowest rebid you can make in the circumstances) doesn’t promise anything more than the minimum 12 points.