The 1 NT response is often termed the ‘dustbin 1 NT’. It is what you bid with those weak responding hands, six points up to at most nine, that belong nowhere else. You are not saying that you want to play notrumps; that you have a balanced hand.

What you are saying is that you do not have a strong enough hand to bid a new suit at the two level [the best test here is the Rule of 14: whether the number of points in the hand added to the number of cards in the long suit get to 14]. You are also saying that you have no higher-ranking four-card suit – that you can bid at the one-level. And that you do not have any support for partner – three decent cards would suffice to raise them to Two.

Exercise: Which of these hands would respond 1 NT to partner’s 1 ♥ opener? What should the others do differently?

Answers: With Hand (i) bid 2 ♣; too strong for 1 NT, you bid the cheaper of four-card suits. With (ii) you should raise 1 ♥ to 2 ♥ – preferable to 1 NT holding ♥ Qxx. With (iii) bid 1 ♠ – 1 NT denies a higher-ranking four-card suit. Only with (iv) – the one unbalanced hand of the four – and how – should you bid 1 NT.

Here are some more examples of unbalanced 1 NT responses... this time partner opened 1 ♠:

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