After a player has passed, his/her partner, who is the opening bidder, is entitled to 'pass' any bid that is subsequently made.

Say you have been dealt a hand such as:

Spades. K9

Hearts. Q987

Diamonds. K9

Clubs. K9654

And the bidding has proceeded:

It would be better to bid one heart instead of two clubs, despite your hand being strong enough to respond at the two level, and clubs being the stronger suit. 

There are three reasons to bid hearts:

1. If you bid clubs, partner may 'pass' before you get a chance to show your heart suit.

2. You are making partner's life easier by allowing him/her a rebid at the one level.

3. If partner passes, you would prefer to be in the higher scoring heart contract than in clubs.

If partner had opened one spade, the best response would be 2NT - not two clubs and certainly not two hearts. 

(In duplicate bridge, many good players would bid 2NT over a one club or one diamond opening, still keeping away from the clubs. However, the 2NT contract is still available to the partnership if the bidding continues.)

FINALLY, a quick note of congratulations to Doreen Kjeldsen, Margaret Humphries, Liz Scorer, Patricia Robinson, Jan Borny, Kate Schoeffel, Lola Peterson, Diane Kajons, Graham Daniel, Trish Burke, Marie Dennis, Anne Hunter, Anne Elliott, Kay Murray, Lyn and Bob Dillon, Helen Hooper, George Gaal, Sheila Thompson, Val Irvine, Phil Cummings and Dick Ellis. 

These members of the Bathurst Bridge Club won both the outright and the handicap competitions in recent events.