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Responder 1st bids - After 1 Suit, Very strong

Question 1 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 21-HCP 5-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A 10 9
K Q J 10
A Q

What should you bid.

1. pass
2. 1 Spade
3. 2 Diamonds
4. 4 Hearts
5. 4 NT
6. 6 NT

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Answer 1 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 21-HCP 5-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A 10 9
K Q J 10
A Q

What should you bid.
( 6 ). 6 NT

Bidding 4NT sounds as if you are asking for Aces / keycards, and implies suit agreement which you don't have. It would therefore be up to you to sort out any misunderstanding regarding the King and Queen of Hearts if you are using Roman Keycard Blackwood.
Since you are guaranteed 33 points, you can simply put it into 6NT, which is a "quantitative" bid. Your partner will then know exactly how many points you have, and can raise it if he has sufficient strength.

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Question 2 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. The enemy said nothing. You have this 17-HCP 3-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A
K Q 10 9 8 7
K 10

What should you bid ?
1. 3 Diamonds
2. 4 Hearts
3. 4 Spades
4. 4 NT
5. 5 Diamonds

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Answer 2 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. The enemy said nothing. You have this 17-HCP 3-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A
K Q 10 9 8 7
K 10

What should you bid ?
( 1 ). 3 Diamonds

All the other answers are in some way feasible, even possible, but the best bid is a jump-shift to 3 diamonds.
4 Hearts would be a Splinter showing "game going" support in Spades with an interesting and useful singleton Heart. But with 17 HCP you are too strong for this bid, which is normally only made with around 11 to 13 HCP.
4 Spades shows support to game - but again with such a strong hand you are too strong for this relatively weak limit bid. After all, you have an extra 7 points including shape.
4 NT would be asking for aces/keycards, with tacit agreement to Spades.
However, with a 6-card suit and 16+ HCP, which you have here, you are not in fact obliged to show 4-card support for your partner's Major on your first bid. Jump-shifting in your long suit is more descriptive, and more likely to find Slam. You can revert to partner's Major on your next bid if you need to.

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Question 3 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A 10 3
K J 10 9
K J

What should you bid ?
1. pass
2. 1 Spade
3. 2 Diamonds
4. 2 Hearts
5. 2 Spades
6. 3 Diamonds
7. 2 NT
8. 3 NT

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Answer 3 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A 10 3
K J 10 9
K J

What should you bid ?
( 2 ). 1 Spade

"If you bid 2 NT your partner will think you have 11-12 HCP, and could easily pass with a weak hand, and you'd miss a certain game with at least 29 HCP. If you bid 3 NT, your partner will never know that you had 16+ HCP, and you might miss a Slam. You can't jump shift (2 Spades or 3 diamonds) to show your 16+, since that promises a 6-card suit, or in some special cases a 5-card suit.
Bid 1 Spade, to force your partner to bid again and describe his hand more fully. You will have a second chance to tell your partner how strong you are."

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Question 4 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. You have this 17-HCP 4-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A
K Q 10 9 8
K 10 9

This is very similar to the hand for Quiz no. B 0044 question 2, the only difference being that now you only have 5 diamonds, not 6. Instead you have an extra club, so that your hand is now a 4-loser hand instead of a 3-loser hand. What should you bid ?
1. 3 Diamonds
2. 4 Hearts
3. 4 Spades
4. 4 NT
5. 5 Clubs

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Answer 4 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. You have this 17-HCP 4-loser hand

K Q 9 8
A
K Q 10 9 8
K 10 9

This is very similar to the hand for Quiz no. B 0044 question 2, the only difference being that now you only have 5 diamonds, not 6. Instead you have an extra club, so that your hand is now a 4-loser hand instead of a 3-loser hand. What should you bid ?
( 1 ). 3 Diamonds

No change. You can jump-shift with a good 5-card suit if you also have 4-card support for your partner's suit.

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Question 5 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

A 8
K Q 9
K Q 10 9 8
K 10 9

Again, this is very similar to the hand for Quiz no. B 0044 question 4, a difference again being that you only have 5 diamonds, not 6. There is some difference too in the Majors, where you no longer have the singleton Ace, and you no longer have 4-card support for your partner's suit. But the point count is the same. The losing trick count is no longer 3, or even 4, but 5. What should you bid ?
1. 3 Diamonds
2. 4 Hearts
3. 4 Spades
4. 4 NT
5. 5 Clubs

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Answer 5 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

A 8
K Q 9
K Q 10 9 8
K 10 9

Again, this is very similar to the hand for Quiz no. B 0044 question 4, a difference again being that you only have 5 diamonds, not 6. There is some difference too in the Majors, where you no longer have the singleton Ace, and you no longer have 4-card support for your partner's suit. But the point count is the same. The losing trick count is no longer 3, or even 4, but 5. What should you bid ?
( 1 ). 3 Diamonds

You can still jump shift. But why ? See next question.

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Question 6 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

A 8
K Q 9
K Q 10 9 8
K 10 9

Why can you still jump-shift in this case, when you only have a new 5-card suit, and no support for your partner's suit ?
1. Because you have 17+ HCP
2. Because you have stoppers in all the suits not bid by your partner

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Answer 6 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Spade. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

A 8
K Q 9
K Q 10 9 8
K 10 9

Why can you still jump-shift in this case, when you only have a new 5-card suit, and no support for your partner's suit ?
( 2 ). Because you have stoppers in all the suits not bid by your partner

The point is that you can rebid in No Trumps. The answer assumes that you have 16+ HCP and a good 5-card suit.

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Question 7 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner at North is dealer and opened 1 Diamond. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

K Q J 5
K Q 10 9
J 2
K Q 7

What should you reply ?
1. 1 Heart
2. 1 Spade
3. 2 Hearts
4. 2 Spades
5. 3 NT
6. 4 NT

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Answer 7 (of 7 on this page)
Your partner at North is dealer and opened 1 Diamond. You have this 17-HCP 5-loser hand

K Q J 5
K Q 10 9
J 2
K Q 7

What should you reply ?
( 1 ). 1 Heart

With 29 HCP minimum, Slam could be on. But don't rush. With no suit agreement and no long suit, simply change suit (a forcing bid) and describe your hand. With a 4 card Spade suit your partner will rebid 1 Spade, and then for your rebid you'll need to find something stronger than 4 Spades which would be a weak bid. The options would be to ask for Aces, or Fourth Suit Forcing. Don't bid 3NT as a your first bid. You'll miss the chance of a Slam, and worse than that you could even go off if the Aces are in the wrong place. Also, don't bid 2 Hearts at fitst, since a Jump-shift promises a 6-card suit.

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