[etha]

In the olden days I thought bidding 1NT here showed clubs. Has this practice been stopped, and is it now bid with pretty much any hand without a major? Does it matter if 1♣=2+ or 3+?

[helene_t]

If 1♣ can be a doubleton and you play inverted minors, you respond 1NT with a balanced hand with 4-5 clubs, but even if it shows three you still bid 1NT with [3334]. In any case, it is not related to the question of whether you also bid 1NT with [3343] and maybe even 5♦(332).

I wouldn't respond 1NT with a doubleton clubs without having discussed it with partner, since he may assume that I have at least three clubs and decided to compete against a 2M bid by the opponents if he has five clubs himself.

You might decide that it is good tactic to bid 1NT as soon as possible at matchpoints when nonvulnerable. A 4-card diamonds is not useful information to partner, so if your honour structure is such that you are happy to declare and your diamonds are not worth screaming about, an immediate 1NT bid is probably good tactic.

An alternative viewpoint is that an immediate 1NT is stronger than 1♦ followed by 1NT. Say 8-10 versus 5-7.

So this is something you need to discuss with your partner.