South is the dealer. No one has bid yet. What is South’s opening call?
South
♠
A 10 6
♥
A K 6
♦
10 7 4 3
♣
Q 10 2
HCP: 13
Shape: 3-3-4-3
Balanced: yes
Coaching mode
15-17 HCP, balanced shape: open 1NT.
Planning
Jacoby transfer
When your partner opens the bidding with 1 no-trump, then:-
With a 5+ card major, you can ask opener to respond to your bid, by bidding the next higher ranking suit. So, if you bid 2D, you are asking partner to bid 2H. If you bid 2H, partner is asked to bid 2 spades.
You can even take it further. By bidding 2 spades, partner is asked to bid 2NT, after which you can bid your 5 card minor suit, whether it is clubs or diamonds. In this case, partner will probably bid again, so if you have less than 6 points, trying to transfer to a minor suit is risky.