Posted on January 30, 2011 by glen
“I’m living in between
the earth and sky” Tea Leaf Green’s Trevor Garrod on
cloud computing.
.
There’s another system in the clouds. It’s a
blend of modified Polish, some Focal ideas (see last post), and a
Mexican/Italian 2D opening for 18-19 balanced. The 1C opening is
five-way, much like it is in a Polish Club systems, although these are often considered
just three way, forgetting about the 4-4-1-4 minimum hands, and the split of
big hands into unbalanced and balanced types. It may seem complex to play
a five-way opening, but one just assumes at first it is a weak notrump hand type, and let the other hand types when they
occur reveal themselves later in the auction. The ETM Polar notes are
here:
www.bridgematters.com/polar.pdf
The 18-19 balanced are moved out of the 1C opening to
make it more bulletproof, and it’s a good component even for standard systems.
The 2D opening structure in the notes is closely based on the Lauria-Versace methods, with a few tweaks here and there.
The Italians don’t allow a five card major for their opening, but this
structure is designed to investigate for the 5-3 fits as puppet Stayman variations do over 2NT openings.
As I said in the last post I don’t plan on updating
this blog much until the world championships, but I will post as new ideas are
worth discussing. Please feel free to email questions and comments on any
of the ETM systems and conventions, or new ideas that you have seen elsewhere
in the clouds.
Posted on January 17, 2011 by glen
Since the summer I’ve
been designing some bidding systems around using the one diamond opening as a
limited and balanced/semi-balanced opening, never with major suit shortness.
There are a number of frameworks that can be used, and to illustrate the
idea in a full system, I’ve published two systems today.
The first is a big club system with featherweight (8
to 12 mostly) major suit openings and a variable notrump
range. I would play the unrestricted version (see last page of the notes)
if one level multis were allowed, but system
restrictions continue in most countries. Here’s Focal:
http://www.bridgematters.com/focal.pdf
The second is a two-way club system, where the one
club is either 12-16 three-suited or 17+ any. It
keeps the playing value of all the openings very well defined, at the price of
not being as fun as Focal. Still it’s a lot more intriguing than the 2/1
system sold at Walmart, and the Cyborgs think it has
a cool name:
http://www.bridgematters.com/bots.pdf
As a bonus I’ve published the Ashton system notes that
my wife and I used, including some components that you will have seen before.
The approach of the system is to try to take out the flaws of standard,
such as opener rebidding three card suits when standard provides no good rebid.
I don’t expect anybody to use these notes as their system but a few parts
may be useful to partnerships:
http://www.bridgematters.com/ashton.pdf
During 2011, I will continue to post rarely on the
blog, up until a few weeks before the world championships begin, at which point
I will discuss the systems in play at the worlds. Please
feel free to keep sending me questions, and I’ll post replies to the blog when
others will find it worthwhile reading.
Game Force Raise in Competition
Posted on September 18, 2010 by glen
Two sequences:
.
1H=3C=4C=5C=?
1H=2C=3C=5C=?
On both sequences, the opponents have overcalled in
clubs, responder has cuebid support for opener, and
opener’s RHO has bid 5C to put the decision on opener.
The key here is whether opener’s pass is forcing or
not – that is if opener passes, can responder pass the hand out or must
responder double or bid. On the first auction, 4C clearly establishes a
game force, and must be the “power” and/or “slam interest”
hand, since responder can just bid 4H to play game.
On the second auction, the common approach is for the cuebid to be an invite or better raise, forcing only to 3H
if responder has invite values. I’ve seen the cuebid
on as a few as 7 high card points with a shapely hand, and I’ve seen 1H on some
shapely 10s. Given that neither opener or responder are promising the
partnership has the majority of the high card points, the pass can’t be played
as forcing on the second auction.
Now when faced with five level decisions, we don’t
want to bid 5-over-5 that often. From my studies, 9 out of 10 times you
don’t want to bid 5 over 5: that is only 10% of the time is it right to take
the push to the five level.
On the second auction, for those 90% of the hands,
opener has two bids: pass to show a minimum, and double to show extras. It
doesn’t put responder in the best of positions to make the final decision for
the partnership.
On the first auction, for those 90% of the hands,
opener has two bids: pass to show no clear direction, and double to show
defensive values. This provides responder with a better picture to make
the final partnership decision. It is the advantage of the forcing pass.
What the second auction needs is to distinguish the
game invite raise from the power and/or slam interest hand. For example,
if one is willing to give up a natural 2NT on the second auction (perhaps
double, then 2NT to show the notrump invite), one
could play 2NT with the game invite raise, and 3C as the game force with a good
hand raise.
One approach is to play the cheapest jump in a new
suit as artificial, game raise with a good hand. Then:
1H=2C=3C is game invite raise.
1H=2C=3D is artificial, game force raise, not singleton/void in clubs (would
have bid 4C).
If the opponents now bid 5C over either of these bids,
opener is better placed to contribute to the partnership decision.
There’s a further twist possible: it’s possible to
play the game invite bid as two-way, either a game invite or with strong slam
interest. If opener shows extras at any point, the slam interest hand
will know what to do. Thus we have:
1H=2C=3C is game invite raise, or, less often, a
strong slam interest raise: opener assumes game invite.
1H=2C=3D is artificial, game force raise, not singleton/void in clubs (would
have bid 4C), less than strong slam interest.
This style helps the partnership get to the right
level regardless of whether the opponents bid more or not. Sometimes the
cheapest jump in a new suit will be above 3M, such as with:
1H=2D=3D is game invite raise, or, less often, a
strong slam interest raise: opener assumes game invite.
1H=2D=3S is artificial, game force raise, not singleton/void in diamonds (would
have bid 4D), less than strong slam interest.
Giving up the 3S bid, if a splinter raise
otherwise, is not too costly, since the key feature will usually be shortness
in the opponents suit, and not shortness in a new suit. If it would have
been a fit showing raise, the loss of that can hurt, but the frequency and
effectiveness isn’t as much as one might think. To get best use out of a
fit showing bid, one has strictly control the quality of the fit suit, and that
reduces the opportunity to employ it.
On the first auction, 1H=3C=4C,
there is no splinter raise available, since 4C has to be used for the general
purpose raise. If 4 of the cuebid suit is not right below 4M, it’s better to keep using the
cheapest jump for the game force hand, such as here:
1H=3C=4C is game force raise, singleton/void in clubs.
1H=3C=4D is artificial, game force raise, not singleton/void in clubs.
Now on either of these auctions, if the next bid is 5C
by the opponents, opener is well placed to use the forcing pass.
If you have any questions, please email bridgequestion .at. gmail
.dot. com.
Posted on September 9, 2010 by glen
Sadly I will not be at the World’s in Philadelphia
because, as an elections specialist, I’m working. Don’t you hate when
work gets in the way of bridge? Here’s some links that relate to Philly.
Ken Rexford has his WBF convention card ready:
http://cuebiddingatbridge.blogspot.com/2010/09/wbf-convention-card.html
It is necessary to get your cc ready early. For
Montreal in 2002, I left it until the night before, which resulted in 02 sleep – that is just 2 hours of sleep before I played since
I stayed up trying to get the cc complete. Work on it now if you haven’t
got it done yet!
Ken is changing parts of their system:
http://cuebiddingatbridge.blogspot.com/2010/09/partscore-before-slam.html
Regardless of how good the idea is (and Ken’s idea
here is great), don’t change system close to the big event. In the first
rounds of Montreal, the opponents made no big mistakes. To keep pace, you
need to play error free. Making system changes imposes two costs: you may
forget system, and you dedicate brain cells to remembering last minute system
changes that would be better used to play and defend better.
Instead of changing system, consider changing your
mental approach, and get into the right mindset. Before she flew to
England, Linda Lee left us with this insight:
http://linda.bridgeblogging.com/?p=2895
Nobody left any comments on one of the best postings
you can read about prep work.
Mental fitness is perspective, energy management,
imagery and focus.
What are your chances in Philly? World Champion
Lorenzo Lauria thinks to win against the best:
If you devote yourself to another activity, you can’t
do competitive bridge.
That means I have to give up my day job?
The quote is from an interview posted today:
http://neapolitanclub.altervista.org/eng/lorenzo-lauria-talks-about-interview.html
This is an excellent interview, very frank, and I hope
there is further discussion here:
http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=41516
If you see animated Italian discussions in Philly you
will know why.
Posted on September 5, 2010 by glen
The http://experienceproject.com site
was started in 2004 for the multiple sclerosis community. It grew into a
life experiences network that promotes anonymous conversations about the human
condition, including issues about: Cancer, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Heart Attack,
Diabetes, Stroke, Stress, Chronic Pain, Alcohol, Marijuana, Ecstasy, Cocaine,
Heroin, Meth, Pain Relievers, Uppers, Downers, Delusions, Psychosis,
Distractions, Preoccupation, Anger, Divorce, Abuse, Abandonment, Selfishness,
and Narcissism.
What has this to do with bridge? Everything
actually, since bridge is a game played mostly by humans.
Bridge is a great pastime, and when playing the game
one can gain a temporary respite from problems. Given the aging bridge
population, some of your opponents and even partners will be battling
conditions that you may not be aware of, or understand the scope of what they
have to face every day.
When strange things happen at the bridge table it is
important not to forget about the human condition. Yet I continue to see
this mistake made by some whom I otherwise have great respect for.
Let me take the case discussed in the last post, and
introduce a hypothetical element. This element will be completely
fictional, as I don’t know the actual details, but it will well illustrate the
mistake that can be made.
A bridge professional has a mild stroke, which is only
known to his family. After some rehabilitation he regains most of his
facilities, but occasionally has symptoms including Dyslexic-like substitution.
Loving the game of bridge and enjoying an income from it, he resumes
play as a professional, and aside from a few occurrences of what some would
call a “brain fart” or “cow flew by”, he does okay for himself and his clients.
Then one day in an important match, his problem
reoccurs and while thinking of bidding six clubs, his mind processes the
direction as to bid six diamonds, and he doesn’t notice the problem until after
the hand is over, he has made the slam, and the opponents question his strange
bid. What is he to do – announce the reason is his stroke and destroy his
business? Instead he provides some reasoning and hope the outcry goes
away, especially considering the hand had no effect on the final result of the
match.
If the strange bid was turned over to recorder,
perhaps the player could tell the recorder with confidentiality about his
health problems. However instead the opponents decide to launch a public
chastisement, and then, after it goes online, it becomes almost a vendetta to
rid the game of anybody who would make a suspect bid. What can the player
do to defend himself?
Again I stress this is all hypothetical and likely
does not involve the actual case of the last posting. Yet consider the
issues I mentioned at the top, and how some of them could easily result in a
strange bid in a pressure situation.
Considering the human condition, I find this statement
reprehensible:
“Six diamonds not possible without UI”.
I’ve played bridge with a partner in a national
championship, who, as it sadly turns out, had undetected early onset
Alzheimer’s, and believe me anything is possible. Now if these experts
were misquoted, and meant to say:
“Six diamonds not possible without UI or some human
condition resulting in impairment”
that would be understandable.
However from what I can see these experts have chosen to ignore the human
condition. They treat it as if they were the ones making the bid, and
perhaps they are exceptional bridge professionals that never had to face an
illness so far in their career.
In another case, I was put in a situation where I had
to help a player with an impairment complete a
session. On a late hand, I ended up making a distorted bid to become
declarer. Afterwards, to discuss bridge laws, I reported the hand without
any reference to my partner’s state. In the ensuing discussion I was
publically admonished by a top expert for making my bid, without the expert
taking any time to find out about the relevant circumstances: the human
condition.
The bridge community can be a cold, results-oriented
place from time to time, but as we get older it’s time we care a little more
about each other.
Posted on August 29, 2010 by glen
After quite the lull, Lall
is back with an interesting post:
http://justinlall.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/when-shit-hits-the-fan/
As a big fan of Justin’s, I like his title, which
blends with today’s phrase of the day from the urban dictionary:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/#defid=5017283
In my corny view, vigilante justice solves
nothing, though produces very long threads on BridgeBase
forums. Based on a single bid on a single hand,
Justin’s post, quotes, and related links, amounts to the stoning of the
perpetrator. Is this how we want things to be handled in our
bridge community?
Years ago, I had a stunt pulled on us by an unethical
player – I know he was unethical because he now has a lifetime suspension from
the ACBL for multiple occurrences of cheating. First I had to calm “the
F” down. Once F became, f, and then f disappeared, I followed due
process, which was TD, committee, report results of
committee to recorder.
In Justin’s case, this was the right way:
… when speaking with people
who are on the Appeals Committee they seemed to agree that no adjustment could
be made based on one bid. All advised simply to record the facts with the
national recorder, and move on.
Instead of recorder and “move on”, we got talking
behind the perpetrator’s back, then posting on BridgeBase
forums, then on rec.games.bridge, then BridgeWinners, and then Justin’s blog, and finally here.
Just have the mob keep throwing those stones.
Wouldn’t it be much better to give the hand/the bid to
the national recorder and have the perpetrator unaware of the report?
Then if the perpetrator, unaware he is being noticed, continues with
other hands/bids then there is real evidence of misdoings. Then a proper
process can be taken to kick the perpetrator out of bridge competitions.
Please consider the outcome you want, such as a
perpetrator out of bridge, before starting a shit storm.
The Best Book
about Bridge ever written
Posted on August 21, 2010 by glen
While I was traveling on holidays (one reason why the
blog wasn’t getting any updates), I read some books on my Kindle (no more
lugging books around while on holiday, except for books like Bridge at the
Enigma Club which was cheaper buying from Amazon in paper form than as in ebook). One of the books I read was what I feel is
the best book about bridge ever written.
The book is about bridge, but it’s not really a bridge
book since it doesn’t fall under that category. At this time, the book is
#6 Amazon Bestseller in the Books – Teens – School &
Sports – Fiction category. Of the Amazon list of 100 other books
that “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”, 96% are non-bridge books.
The book has multi-level appeal, in that it will be a
great read for all these types of readers:
-
Young readers
-
Adult readers
-
Senior readers
-
Non-bridge players
-
Novice bridge players
-
Intermediate bridge players
-
Advanced bridge players
-
Expert bridge players
In short a book about bridge has been written for
everybody. That’s amazing!
The book explains what bridge is like at the club
level, sectional level (small tournaments), regional tournaments, and NABCs
(national championships). It describes the type of players and
competition found at these levels. It accurately depicts the type of
reactions that young players will get when they start learning the game and
then sit down against much older opposition.
It highlights bridge as a great intellectual pastime,
and convinces the reader as to why people love to play this intriguing
game. You can give the book to your non-bridge playing relatives, to
explain why you are spending time and money attending tournament after
tournament.
It covers technical details on bridge, to the point
that a few will find there is too much, but the author offers an innovative
scheme to allow those readers to skip over the bridge details that will bore
some. My oldest daughter recently suggested we get together to play some
bridge even though she has only played the game a couple of times in her life –
now I have a book to give her (if it wasn’t in Kindle form) that she will find
fascinating to read while giving her introductory education to play the game.
The
description of the NABC in Chicago was like he followed Karen & I around – after examining the menus of opulence surrounding
the playing site, we ate almost exclusively at an inexpensive local sandwich
shop (www.potbelly.com) to conserve money, using the
wide assortment of sandwiches available to provide meal variety. The
discussion on pillows was likewise well founded – when travelling we bring our
own pillows to avoid the too hard, too soft, too lumpy concerns.
The key to making the book work for young and old, for
bridge players of all skill levels, and for those who don’t play bridge, and
may never do so, is the storytelling. It is simply terrifically done,
with plot puzzles, twists and turns of events, and developments ranging from
sad to funny. Having just finished a thriller where every second sentence
contained a dog’s breakfast of simile, I was pleased with the clean and direct
writing style, painting each scene with just enough to cover the canvas.
The book is a real page turner (or on a Kindle, a
“next page” button clicker). With all the adventures in it, this novel
could very well be called “pageturner”, but it is:
Cardturner
By Louis Sachar
BridgeMatters returns to blog
format
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
BridgeBest has been returned
to blog format from the forums site. The return to the blog format is for
less maintenance, and to assist with that, please send comments to bridgequestion @ gmail
<dot> com instead of posting them here. For those who signed up for
notification by email of new postings, this will not be done, to reduce
workload as well – sorry – please use the RSS feed from
www.panzermatters.com/bridgematters
Bridge on iphone, ipad, netbooks and
laptops
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
Here’s a video on viewing bridge on the iphone, ipad, netbook (notebook)
and laptop devices:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TABbBuSN3YI
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
Here’s a survey of the methods used in the 2010
European Championships, Open Teams. The countries that qualified for the
Bermuda Bowl (World Championships in Netherlands, 2011) were, in order: Italy,
Poland, Israel, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands and Bulgaria.
Counts provided in the format nn/nn, where the first number is the number of partnerships
playing the methods among the top 7 teams (the countries that qualified for the
Bermuda Bowl, but they may change team composition for that event), and the
second number is the number of partnerships playing the methods among the 18
teams that played in the final. Numbers may be off by one due to
miscounting or bad placement.
1C
3/8:
2+, but some bal opens 1D
5/9: 2+, clubs or balanced
2/12: 3+
1/3: 4+ or (3)4+
6/13: Big club0/2: Swedish club (weak bal or big
club, sometimes called modified Polish Club)
4/7: Polish club (or modified Polish with weak 1NT)
1D
2/11:
3+ 5/15: 4+
8/16: 4+ or (4)5+, unbalanced or bal
only if 5Ds
1/3: 4+ unbalanced in 1/2, (1)2+ in 3/4
1/2: 2+
4/7: Fewer than 2
1M
20/48: 5+ or (4)5+
0/4: 4+
1/2: 1S: 5+, 1H: 4+
1NT
11/30: 15-17, (14)15-17, 14+-17, 15-17(18),
16-17, 15+–18
1/7: Weak, 11-14, 12-14, (11)12-14, 12-15, (11)12-14(15)
0/1: Mini, 10-12, 11-13
3/4: Intermediate, 14-16, (13)14-16
2/4: Variable ranges, but none weak or mini
4/6: Variable ranges, including a mini
0/2: Variable ranges, including a weak but no mini
2C
8/29: Strong
8/16: 6+Cs or 5Cs+4cM, or 5Cs unbal
1/1: 6+Cs
1/1: 5+Cs, unbal, no 4cM
1/1: 18-19 Bal
2/3: Weak two in Ds or Strong
0/1: Hs or Strong
0/1: Hs & any, weak
0/1: Majors
2D
1/4: Weak, 6D or (5)6D
1/2: Weak, 5+Ds1/1: 5+Ds, unbal, no 4cM
10/17: Multi, no strong option
3/10: Multi, with strong option
2/3: 18-19 Bal
1/7: Strong or semi-strong
0/2: Bad weak two V, Majors NV
1/4: Majors
1/2: Hs or Strong
0/1: Ss or Strong
0/1: Wilkosz, weak two suiter
with one or both majors
2M
4/14: Weak two, 6M or (5)6M
3/7: Weak two, 5+M (NV or all Vuls)
9/16: Two suiter
2/3: Intermediate
0/4: Constructive
0/2: Constructive V, two suiter NV
0/1: 2H: Majors, 2S: Weak, 5+
0/1: 2H: Majors, 2S: Ss + minor
2/2: 2H: Short Ds, 2S: Ss + minor
0/1: 2H: Flannery (4Ss & 5Hs), 2S: 5+Ss & 4+Cs
0/1: 2H: Weak, exactly 5Hs, 2S: bad preempt any suit
1/1: 2H Ss weak or strong, 2S: C preempt or weak 5Hs &
5Ds or GF minors
0/1: Strong but not forcing
2NT
12/32: 20-21, 20-22, (20)21-22, 19-21, 20-21(22), (19)20-22
3/6: 22-23, 22-24, 21-23
6/16: Both minors
Other
8/14: 1C Transfers
6/8: Gazzilli
3/4: Raptor/Polish 1NT overcalls
Update on Wilkosz:
They allowed Brown Sticker conventions if the form
(“Brown Sticker Opening Bid Announcement Form”) was completed okay.
Here’s the link to the cc in this case:
http://www.ecatsbridge.com/documents/files/May/OpenTeams/estonia/luks-naberBS.pdf
Here is their whole “Proposed Defense”:
We ourselves use DBL as takeout of spades (same hand,
with what we would double 2♠
opening, which shows spades, ie very strong on
opening strength with 4♥ or
something similar) and other bids NAT. With takeout of hearts we pass and hope
to pick up the bidding later. Probably the other defenses against Multi or
Polish Wilkosz are also possible to use.
Why anybody would approve that I would not know.
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks since I’ve been
very busy with, of all things, bridge. I thank the Icelandic Bridge
Federation for giving me the opportunity to provide scouting services for their
team in the 50th European Team Championships, held in Ostend Belgium. It
was a lot of work, both writing and watching, but it was a lot of fun too, as I
love bidding methods and the championship had a wonderful mix of ideas and
approaches. It was thrilling to see the Icelandic team play excellent
bridge from start to finish, resulting in 4th place and a well-deserved Bermuda
Bowl spot for 2011 in the Netherlands.
General conclusion from having watched a lot of
bridge: have methods that leave your partnership well-placed for decisions in
competitive auctions. This does not stop bad decisions, but just mitigates against it.
I
haven’t seen any system numbers from the championships (for the USBF seehttp://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=39816 ,
mostly 2/1, Meckwell if you are Meckwell,
Meckwell Lite if you like Meckwell
but aren’t them), and if nobody posts something shortly, in a couple of days
I’ll have a survey here. For the Europeans, even the top seven teams (in
order) of Italy, Poland, Israel, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands and Bulgaria, all
played a lot of contrasting systems. The variety of systems produced
swings in themselves, and that added to the drama of a great event to be
followed online, and thanks to all the organizers for having many tables
available on the Internet for each round of this truly terrific championship.
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
“keep your mouth shut or it’s
ruination day” – She’s Long Gone – The Black Keys
I’ve
had a system question by email to bridgequestion (at)
gmail dot com
Question:
I was reading your blog post here:
http://www.bridgematters.com/bridgematters/labels/bridge%20bidding%20system.html
on the topic of four- vs.
five-card majors in a big club system.
I was interested because in my pet system, I was also
led to put the 4=4=1=4 and 4h-5c hands in the 1H opening bid, for reasons like
the ones you’ve discussed.
My question is: how do you sort out opener’s rebids? The obvious thing is to
put balanced hands somewhere else, so that a minimum NT rebid can be used for a
hand with exactly four hearts. But this starts to take up a lot of bidding room
after, say, 1H:2D,2NT. And after the auction 1H:1NT,
it seems like a 2C rebid could be 5h-4c or 4h-5c, no?
Do you have any suggested tools for handling opener’s
rebid in these auctions?
Answer:
It
depends on what you put into 1H, either the whole kitchen sink, or just some of
the dishes. In Spry (http://www.bridgematters.com/spry.pdf)
the design trick used was to employ a Fantunes type
2H opening, making the 1H opening likely just 4 if 10-13. Then sequences
such as 1H-1NT;-2H showed 5+Hs and extras, instead of the standard meaning of
6+Hs, minimum or not enough for a jump rebid. This freed up sequences
such as 1H-1NT;-2m to show exactly 4Hs.
In Storm (http://www.bridgematters.com/storm.pdf) the 1H
opening could be 4 when having 4+Ds and 11-14, and the system had specific
sequences to unwind these, such as 1H-1NT;-2C showing 11-14 4Hs & 5+Ds (not
Cs!) or 13/14-17 with 5+Hs and no other good bid. The idea is you can
“trash compact” the 2C rebid to show either some minimum hand type or a variety
of hand types with extras, and have responder bid 2D to ask. The cool
part of this, compared to Gazzilli, was the stop of
1H-1NT;2C(Ds or extras)-2D(asks);-P(I have diamonds
and we don’t have game) – it was likely more fun in design than in play.
One can look at Canapé implementations for ideas as
well. If one goes back to when von Arnim-Aukin
included supplementary notes in their posted cc, we see that 2C is a game force
relay (artificial), with these replies:
2D 5+H + 4S or 5+H + 4C/D or BAL 11-13V, 12+-15NV or
one-suiter H
2H 4+H + 5C
2S 4+H + 5D
2NT 4H + 6C
3C 4H + 6D
3D 6H + 5S
The design is to ask at a low level (2C), allowing
enough room to unwind the hand types, with the cheapest reply (2D) doing a lot
of work. Their system has some beautiful design elements, and is an
example of blended canapé, where the major suit openings can be canapé, having
a longer second suit, but can also be just 5+ natural.
The American Forcing Minor Bidding System (Joe Lutz
and Jerry Fink) is another blended canapé system. In their book you learn
a lot of the sequences by following their many examples. Two relevant
design elements:1) they use 1M-2m;-2M as 5+, allowing other bids (aside from 3M
or higher) to show exactly 4 in M.2) the sequences of 1M-1NT;-2m are vague on
the major/minor suit lengths – they can be 5/4,4/5 or more shapely. When
necessary responder strives to bid again to give opener the chance to pass in a
good contract or shape out. The key is that opener is limited, and thus
the hunt is for the best partscore landing spot, and
game investigation is secondary.
Other systems are more pure canapé, such as Ken
Rexford’s Modified Italian Canapé System, where the major suit openings are
either balanced, or 4 with a longer second suit, or 6+. Here he used
Roman 2H/S openings to show 5+ in the major and 4+Cs, and thus can have a
sequence like 1H-1NT;-2C to show exactly 4Hs and longer Cs.
Let me now directly reply to the question of having
4=4=1=4 and 4h-5c hands in the 1H opening bid, which blends some but not all
canapé types into 1H, and how to unwind these.
The first key sequence is 1H-1NT. First 4=4=1=4
with 11-14 should pass this – often 1NT is the best contract (often the best of
a bad lot), and if there is a better contract its
hard to reach if you bid again. For your 15-16s 4=4=1=4 I suggest
treating it as balanced when allowed (some locations don’t like those NT bids
with singletons), and/or upgrading these into 1C even if sometimes you get to
game without sufficient values.
If you have 4H & 5Cs (or if you play it 4Hs &
5+Cs) then its 1H-1NT;-2C, the same thing you are doing with 5Hs & 4+Cs.
Now the 2H rebid by responder shows 2-3Hs, and says I want to play in 2H
if you have 5, but bid 3C if you just have 4Hs. There are two things
necessary to make this work:1) With 4+Ss and 3Hs,
respond 1H-1S2) With 5+Ds and 3Hs, bid 1H-1NT;-2C-2D to show your diamonds.
And to make that work, opener now has to rebid 2H over 2D with 5.Given
these two things, responder will have some clubs for 1H-1NT;-2C-2H, and opener is relatively safe to bid 3C with 5Cs.
The next key sequence is 1H-1S;-2C, where again Hs/Cs can be 4/5,5/4 or more
shapely. In standard 2D here is fourth suit forcing. The
recommendation here is to play it as an asking bid, like fourth suit forcing,
but not to have the bid promise values (game force in some implementations).
After 2D and opener’s descriptive rebid (no jumping around please),
responder can only force by bidding 2NT (if available), bidding spades, or
making a jump below game. This is not the best for game and slam bidding,
but in a system with limited major suit openings you can scrimp by since opener
doesn’t have the extras you need to hunt for in standard.
For
2/1, both 1H-2m auctions should be game forces to have the sequences to show
the hand types. The first key sequence is 1H-2C, and here its best to put in some artificiality, such as with von Arnim-Aukin. One can modify 2Dlay (http://www.bridgematters.com/2dlay.pdf) to
have 1H-2C;-3C show 5+Cs and exactly 4Hs, 1H-2C;-3D show exactly 4=4=1=4, and
1H-2C;-3S show exactly 4=4=0=5.
For 1H-2D, it’s time to chip in a little Martel.
In Martel’s methods, 1H(5+)-2D;-2S shows clubs, while 1H(5+)-2D;-3C shows
spades – this is a swap of suit showing then works especially well since he
plays Flannery – thus 3C shows spades and extras, while the extra space helps
the club hands unwind. Thus we will play 1H(4+)-2D;-2S
as clubs, can be 4/4,5/4,4/5+, and 1H(4+)-2D;-3C as spades, 5+Hs, 4+Ss.
After the club showing rebid of 2S, 2NT by responder will re-ask, and 3C
with show 5+Cs, 3S will show exactly 4=4=1=4 or 4=4=0=5, and other rebids will
show 5+Hs. Since 1H-2D is messier than 1H-2C, prefer a 2C response
whenever possible and/or have the agreement that 2C is balanced or clubs.
You’ll need to discuss competitive sequences with your
partnership, and both of you will need to be comfortable playing 4-3 heart
fits. There will be sequences such as 1H-3D(overcall)-?,
where responder will have to bid 3H on just 3Hs, even knowing opener could just
have 4Hs. Generally the rule for competitive sequence is strive to make a
negative double without clear direction, and have the cheapest diamond bid over
opener’s club rebid re-ask, opener to rebid hearts with 5+. Frustration
with the uncertainly of opener’s heart length in competitive sequences is the
main reason partnerships give up blended canapé, and its best that those
partnerships below advanced stick to five card majors, or a more pure canapé
type system.
Value showing
doubles vs. Frequent 4s
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
“Go gently through the floor, A
dismal and meaningless sigh” – If You Can’t See My Mirrors – TNP
This is the last of a three part series on competing
when the opponents bid your major suit. This part will look at complex
methods.
One myth we often see is that the best way to
counteract aggressive action by the opponents is to maximize the opportunities
to get them into a doubled contract. For illustration, there are even
conventions that put in place penalty doubles over weak twos, in the hope that
would stop the things from being opened in the first place (btw I was using google translate on Icelandic yesterday, and a weak two
came out as a “sick two” – very apropos).
However the key idea is not to maximize penalty
opportunities. Instead:
The primary objective
is to get to all decent games and slams, and use the knowledge given out by the
opponents bidding to assist in getting to the best strain and to improve the
probability of making the contract.
Once that objective is accepted, then playing takeout
doubles over their weak twos is clearly a better way to go then trying some
penalty scheme. Similarly responsive and negative doubles are better than
reserving these for relatively infrequent penalty use. One of the
downsides to aggressive bidding against top pairs, is any contract they reached
will be played almost double dummy, as if they can see all four hands.
Given that, when we want to design robust methods over
the opponents bid of a major that can be frequently just 4 cards (“Frequent
4s”), we still want to focus on getting to our best spot as the priority.
We will combine this with the idea of going slow with working defensive
values, as discussed in the last part of this series, which occasionally will
present penalty opportunities although the primary objective of even the slow
sequences will be to get to our best contract.
When one looks at hand types held directly over a canape opening in a major, when the major suit can be just
4, even a sick suit of 5432, and may have a longer second suit, such as the old
Italians partnerships played, then one rarely sees a perfect takeout double of
that major. Instead more often one sees a takeout double in opener’s
second longer suit, but that suit is unknown when the major is opened.
Thus playing takeout doubles over the major suit opening, especially when
not allowing shape distortions such as only two in an unbid
suit, is a waste of a perfectly good double, just like playing penalty doubles
instead of negative doubles.
Following the go-slow with working defensive values
idea, and if willing to employ complexity, then double over a natural Frequent
4 can represent these hand types:a)
a strong notrump overcall or betterb)
length in the opponents suit with valuesc) values in
the opponents suit with length in another suit
Note that this becomes a passable double, since the double is not takeout.
However most often the double will be advanced by the
partner of the doubler.
To unwind the double we employ two asking bids:a) the
cheapest bid asks doubler to show hand type but has
less than game invite valuesb) the cheapest bid
of their suit asks doubler to show hand type
while indicating game invite or stronger values
By advancer (partner of doubler)
all other non-jump bids and a jump suit bid in the cheapest bid (if not notrump), are natural, non-forcing. All other jump
bids below game by advancer are natural game invites.
Here’s an example:
1H(4+, frequently
4)-X-P-?:
Pass: to play
1S: asks, less than invite
2H: asks, invite or better
1NT, 2X not including 2H: natural, less than an invite
2NT, 3X: natural, invites
After 1H(Frequent
4)-X-P-1S(asks);-P-?
1NT: strong notrump overcall (15-18 or however your
partnership plays it)
2X: natural, including 2H
2NT: 19-21, natural
3X: natural, non-forcing but very strong
Games: to play
With the strong notrump
overcall in the double, this frees up the cheapest notrump
bid for other duties, and the best use of that is a limited takeout double of
their major. We will use a bid of their major as the strong takeout
double. Thus we have:
After 1H(Frequent 4)-?:
X: Values in hearts, can have length in any suit or a strong(+) notrump overcall
1S, 2C, 2D: natural overcall, not defensively oriented1NT: Limited takeout
double of Hs, passable
2H: Strong takeout double of Hs, forcing
One can use this method over responding Frequent 4s,
such as:
1C(natural)-P-1H(4+)-?:
X: Values in hearts, can have length in any suit or a strong(+) notrump overcall
1S, 2C, 2D: natural overcall, not defensively oriented (or 2C as your
partnership defines it)
1NT: Limited takeout double of Hs, passable
2H: Strong takeout double of Hs, forcing
Things get messier when the opponents Frequent 4 bid
artificially shows the major, such as with a transfer. The trouble is if
we double the artificial bid, the opponents sometimes have the option of
playing right there.
If we’ve bid the suit before (or if the artificial bid
is notrump) it’s not much of a concern. For
example it goes:
1H-2H(overcall): black suits
Your first question: how many spades does overcaller often have.
It turns out they play Top+Bottom
in a Hardy style:
http://www.bridgeguys.com/EGlossary/EqualLevelConversion.html
In that link, see the discussion on the book
“Competitive Bidding with Two Suited Hands” by Hardy.
Here, in this example, the 2H bid is top and bottom,
4+Ss, often just 4, with longer clubs.
As discussed in the first part of the series, since spades can just be a four
card suit, you don’t want to abandon spades as a playable suit. Using
double as value showing:
X: Values in spades, can have length in any suit or a
natural notrump bid (invite or better)
2S, 3D: natural overcall, not defensively oriented, not forcing
2NT: H raise3C: Forcing bid in Ds
If one just had values in clubs, and little in spades,
the best approach is to pass first, then double next time (the opponents
usually having bid spades). While this sounds
like a trap pass, it is well defined on value location.
If we haven’t shown the suit the artificial bid is
made in, then its awkward. First we establish
these unwinding asking bids for the double:
a) As before the cheapest bid asks doubler
to show hand type but has less than game invite values
b) The cheapest bid of the suit doubled asks doubler to show hand type while indicating game invite or
stronger values (this then works out as before, but is the more general rule).
For example we have:
1D(4+Hs, frequently
4)-X-P-?:
Pass: to play, shows diamonds
1H: asks, less than invite
2D: asks, invite or better
1S, 1NT, 2C, 2H: natural, less than an invite
2S, 2NT, 3X: natural, invites
Note this sequence:
1D(4+Hs, frequently 4)-X-P-1H(asks, less than an invite);-all
pass
Doubler passes 1H to play there, or put more
accurately, to have partner play there!
However the artificiality of the opponents costs them
too as it gives up a bid of their “Frequent 4” at a lower level than if they
had bid naturally. We then define two uses of their Frequent 4 suit, if
they have bid it artificially:
1) The cheapest bid of the Frequent 4 suit is takeout
of that suit, any strength
2) A jump bid of the Frequent 4 suit is natural, long
in the suit, and short in the suit actually bid (the artificial bid).
The reason for the natural bid of 2) is to ensure that
when we double the artificial bid, the double is almost never very short in the
suit doubled. This allows the double to be passed more often, and puts
the opponents under more pressure to bid over the double.
Here’s an example sequence with a fair bit of
artificiality:
1D(0+, 11-15, big club
system)-X-1H(transfer to Ss)-?
X: Values in spades, can have length in any suit (but
not short in Hs) or a decent notrump
bid
1S: takeout of Ss
1NT, 2C, 2D, 2H: natural, not defensively oriented and/or too short in Hs for doubling 1H
2S: Natural, long spades, short Hs
If we’re playing against transfer major suit openings,
such as Moscito, their artificial openings gives us
our 1NT overcall back:
After 1D(Frequent 4+Hs)-?:
X: Values in hearts, can have length in any suit or a strong(+) notrump overcall
1H: Takeout of Hs
1S, 1NT, 2C, 2D: natural overcall, not defensively oriented
2H: Natural, long Hs, short Ds
Several follow-up points:
First, if the bid doubled was spades, by “not an
invite” it means for the typical notrump hand that
the doubler can have, it will pass the cheapest bid
that asks by advancer, since this will ask in NT.
Example:1S(4+)-X-P-1NT(asks,
not an invite)-P;-P-P
The doubler passes 1NT with a strong notrump. When a spade bid is doubled, what is
required for an invite is less, and for that reason with minimum values when
acting directly over Frequent 4s prefer other option, such as a natural
overcall, to doubling the spade bid.
Second, note that the partner of the Frequent 4 bidder
will be under pressure to bid over a double, since they will often be short in
their partner’s 4-showing suit, and not be able to tell if advancer is going to
pass the double. If they do bid a suit, the next double by either player
is passable takeout, and after a passable takeout double, all doubles for
penalty.
For examples:
1H(4+)-X-2D-X;-2S-X
1H(4+)-X-2D-P;-P-X-P-P;-2S-X
For both examples, the double of 2D is passable
takeout, and the double of 2S is penalty.
Third, if the opponents have shown hearts
artificially, one can employ a method used in negative double situations, which
is:
1m-1H(overcall)-?, here X is
4+ spades, 1S is negative without 4+Ss.
In effect the negative double acts as a spade
transfer, showing 4 or longer spades, not just the exactly 4 spades of a
standard negative double.
Likewise if our cheapest heart bid becomes defined as
takeout of hearts, we can use that to show takeout with four or longer spades, and then have the cheapest spade bid to be takeout
without spades.
For example:
1C-1D-X(transfer to Hs)-?
XX: Values in hearts, can have length in any suit or a
decent notrump bid1H: 4+ spades
1S: takeout of Hs, fewer than 4Ss
1NT, 2D: natural
2C: good raise in Ds
2H: Natural, long hearts
In this case there’s another point – that redouble
replaces double when the opponent artificially shows a Frequent 4 with a
double.
If playing against Moscito,
we can customize that transfer to spades:
After 1D(Frequent 4+Hs)-?:
X: Values in hearts, can have length in any suit or a strong(+) notrump overcall
1H: 5+Ss and/or strong takeout of Hs
1S: Limited takeout of Hs, non-forcing
1NT, 2C, 2D: natural overcall, not defensively oriented
2H: Natural, long Hs, short Ds
Let’s return to the problem hand of the last part of
the series, with the example hand that advancer might have. We will
assume, unlikely the original problem, that the 1S opening by the opponents can
be a Frequent 4.
Bidding is 1S(4+)-?, and the
two hands our way are:
S: 3H: A853D: T874C: Q932
S: AQT63H: 6D: A5C: AKT75
The bottom hand acts first.
The auction can go, with the opponents quiet after
their 1S opening:
(1S)-X-1NT(asks, less than invite)-2C-3C-3D-3H-3NT,
with 3D and 3H showing value location, or the auction can get to 5C or for
better or worse 6C.
However the auction is unlikely to be quiet, since
responder will have short spades, and will be under pressure to act directly
over the double, since doubler could just have a
strong notrump, and advancer could be about to pass
the double with spades. One could see starts like:
1S-X-2H-P;P-X-P-?
Here advancer, with poor heart spots, should not pass
the passable takeout double of 2H, but instead bid 2NT with both minors.
Will partner take 2NT as the minors here? – it depends on whether the
partnership is on the same wavelength, and that means if you want to play a
complex defense to Frequent 4s it means practice, practice, and more practice.
Actually for Frequent 4s, make that four
practices: practice, practice, practice and more practice.
When to show
values and when to show shape
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
“The floors are falling out from everybody I know” – Bloodbuzz Ohio – The National
A common theme for first actions in competitive
decisions is whether to show values or shape first, if one has the choice.
Decades ago, another option was to show neither, employing the dreaded
“trap pass” of passing first, showing nothing, and then coming alive later to
announce the hand type. However experience showed that the auction did
not always play out as cleverly envisaged, and the trap passer often got caught
by the trap.
Current style is show values, shape or both with
initial action whenever possible. This can be seen by problem 4 of the
May Issue of the ACBL Bulletin’s It’s Your Call, directed by Dave Smith
(Memphis Mojo, Just Sayin’ bridge and poker blog),
who I need to thank for giving me the opportunity to score the problem set and
notice this particular hand. Btw the cover of the May ACBL Bulletin is
“Canada’s new Hall of Fame”, and thanks for the bulletin staff for this, as
it’s a key milestone (km-stone in Canada) in Canada’s Bridge history.
Bidding is 1S-?, and you hold
vulnerable:
S: AQT63H: 6D: A5C: AKT75
Of the 18 votes, 13 went for showing shaping,
overcalling 2C. 3 went for the old trap pass, the Gordons
saying “We realize that a trap pass is not the modern style, but we don’t want
to overcall a broken five-card-suit.”
Two leading US experts voted for 1NT, the value bid, Meckstroth saying it is “Crystal clear to me”, and Robinson
says “1NT shows my strength and avoids getting stolen from.”
I assigned a score of 20 to the zero-vote double, even
though the hand doesn’t have takeout double shape. The reason for giving
it any score is that if advancer (partner of doubler)
has something like:
S: 7H: A853D: T874C: Q932
Then 3NT is cold assuming the opening bidder has the
spade king or there is a spade lead into the AQ. Given this some might
rate the hand directly over 1S as being too strong, in playing value, for a 1NT
overcall, and double first, intending to bid notrump
next if partner shows hearts (hopefully not at the four level). It would
be interesting to run a simulation to see how often 3NT ends up being the right
landing spot.
As can be seen by the votes in the problem, the modern
approach is to take initial action to show values and/or shape, even if that
action is flawed, such as overcalling 1NT with a hand you would never open 1NT
with, except if it was 3 am when anything and everything looks NT type.
Now the question is if given a choice between being more specific on shape or
values, such as the choice of 2C or 1NT in the problem, which one should be
picked.
Remember that while the choice was shape for the
majority, the current world champion thought value showing was “crystal clear”,
though it’s too bad we don’t have Rodwell’s vote on
this one.
The recommendation here is:
Show values if values
work well defensively, and show shape otherwise.
The reasoning is that if one has defensive working
values, then the opponents are unlikely to be able to jam the auction, or if
they do then they can be caught for penalties. Thus when holding values
that work well defensively we can expect to have a calmer auction that allows
us the time to sail into the best port. By contrast if we don’t have good
defensive values, we are under risk of a bidding storm that may never give us
the chance to show shape if we don’t do it initially.
When we are designing methods to be used for the opponents
tricky stuff, we can use this principle this way:
With working defensive
values, we want to go slow, often starting with double. Without good
defensive values we want to show shape.
The last post, of this three part series, will look at
how this is applied over “Frequent 4s”, where a major suit bid by the opponents
is frequently just a four card suit that we might own as well. In
particular we will look at the countermeasures to systems such as Moscito (1D shows hearts, 1H shows spades), and Spry (1D
shows 4Ss) that use artificial openings for Frequent 4s.
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
This is the first of a three part series on competing
when the opponents bid your major suit.
Partner opens 1D, natural, RHO overcalls 2D – you ask
– it’s explained majors. Now what do your 2H and 2S bids mean?
Now maybe you’re a sophisticated partnership and
already have agreements in place in your system notes. Perhaps you’re an
up-and-coming partnership and have read documents like:
http://www.rpbridge.net/7g71.htm
http://www.wednesdaygame.com/ba/thop/michaels.htm
http://www.bridgementor.com/notes/conventions/defensevsmichaels.html
The first document is Richard Pavlicek’s
article on Invisible Cuebids.
Or maybe you’re a partnership that has a meta-agreement for defense against
two-suiters, such as “unusual vs
unusual” extended as in Pavlicek’s Invisible Cuebids (cheapest cuebid is 10+
with opener’s suit, higher cuebid is 10+ with fourth
suit). If you have these types of agreements are you prepared?
The answer is while usually yes, it’s no, since you don’t really know what 2D
is. It’s been explained as majors, and the way it is commonly played it
is 5-5+ or close to that. However if you are playing against opponents
that would often overcall with 4-4 in the majors, even weak suits, then you
might still have a major suit contract on your way. The concern is this:
Don’t let opponents’
major suit bids on 4 card suits eliminate that suit for you, since you might
still have game or slam in that suit, or even a great partscore.
Now this applies to minor suits too but far less
frequently since game is a trick higher, and a notrump
contract can be a nice proxy for a minor contract, except when ruffs are
necessary to bring it in.
Now the problem is knowing
when the opponents major suit bids can often be just 4. If you asked a
5-5+ bidder “could one of the major suits be 4” the answer would be yes, it
could be 4, but actually that would be a relative rare case.
What you need to know is if the major frequently can
be 4, and in some cases you want to judge how probable that is. If you
are playing against Norwegian superstars Helgemo-Helness,
and they open 1H, you might ask and find out that 1H could be 4. Further
questioning (or previous study) would tell you that they open 1H with 4 if it
is their cheapest 4 card suit – hence they open 1H with 4 only if 4-4 in the
majors or 3-4-3-3 exactly and if balanced then a hand outside their 1NT opening
range. I think it would be then right to judge 1H as not frequently 4,
though could be.
If instead a partnership opened 1H whenever they had
four hearts and no longer suit, and if balanced a hand outside their 1NT
opening range, then one could judge that 1H was frequently 4, since it now
would have the 4-4s with 4 hearts and a minor. The decision to determine
whether a major suit could still be owned by our side can be close, and
requires careful preparation. The general rule is:
If a major suit bid is
a frequent 4, we need to able to show the same suit.
Ideally if we have a major fit in a suit the opponents
are showing, we would like our best holding of that major to be over their
holding, and not under it. This will often be the case since the hand
with the best holding of the major will have already had the opportunity to
introduce it and/or open the bidding, if it was acting before the opponents
show it. The two exceptions are when the LHO (of the hand having the best
holding of the major) opens the bidding first, showing 4+ in the major, or if
one is playing a flawed style that calls for passing hands that have a major
suit, such as the misguided approach where you can’t bid a major when you are
both too good for a preempt and too bad for an another action.
The first case of having the best holding under their
major suit can be trouble if opener is preempting (such as with a bid that
shows 4-4+ in the majors, 0-10 points), since we could be talked out of game or
slam if we keep quiet. If opener is not preempting, there’s less need to
get into the bidding, since they are showing values that are often well
positioned over our best holding in the major. Given all this, here are
three recommendations:
1. If the opponents preempt with a frequent 4 in a specific major, bids of that
major are natural, not cuebids2. If the opponents make a non-preemptive opening
showing a frequent 4 in a specific major, bids of that major that are made by
the player directly before opener keep usual meanings unless otherwise
discussed3. If we had the chance to act already, but didn’t,
normal agreements apply.
Example of 1: 2H(majors,
0-10)-P-P-2S: natural overcallExample of 2: 1H(4+, canape)-P-1NT-2H: normal agreements unless discussedExample of 3: P-2H(majors, 0-10)-P-P;-2S: normal
agreements unless discussed
Now we are at the primary case, wanting to show the
major with the major directly over their hand showing the major (the your/their major of the subject heading). The
first recommendation is:
If an opponent bids a
major naturally to show a frequent 4 in that suit, and it has not been bid
before, then a bid of that same major by us immediately over their bid is
natural.
Examples: 1H(4+, canape)-2H: natural overcall1C-P-1H-2H: natural overcall
More and more opponents are using artificial bids to show a frequent 4 in a
major suit. The unsophisticated countermeasure is:
If an opponent bids a
major artificially to show a frequent 4 in that suit, and it has not been bid
before, then a bid of that same major by us immediately over their bid is
natural.
Examples: 1D(shows
4+Ss)-1S: natural overcall1C-P-1D(transfer)-1H: natural overcall2D(Flannery,
5Hs, 4Ss)-2S: natural overcall
Next up: when to show values and when to show shape
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
Sometimes I see the 1 suit bids of Fantunes
described as 14+, such as in the June 2010 The Bridge World (“”14-plus HCP”).
Here’s the Fantunes cc:
1C/D/H/S= 14+ or good 12/13 with 5 cards suit1C/D in
3rd seat could be 13+1H/S could be 12/13 if with 4 cards other major , in 3rd
seat could be 13+ also without 4 in the other major.
Their 2X bids have a max of 12 in 3rd seat, so
1C/D/H/S handles all 13s then, as long with the good 12/13s already bid in
other seats.
Even 11s creep in on page 2 of the cc:
1H: 14+ (good 12/13) 5+ hearts or 11-13 with 5+H and 4S1S: 14+ (good 12/13) 5+
spades or 11-13 with 5+S and 4H
The reason for these 11-13 hand types is that they
pulled the 5-4/4-5+ in the majors hand type out of 2H/S, since opening a major
on the two level could hurt finding a fit in the other major. I’m not
sure why some writers have not picked up this change.
Opening framework
based on Gazzilli
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
Two design goals of
system design are:1) On hands with extra values, having relatively low level
game forcing agreement take place, allowing for lots of room for strain and
slam exploration2) On hands with minimum opening values, having HD (high
definition) opening bids that already start answering the question of strain
and level
An opening framework could employ a Gazzilli-like approach to achieve the first objective, such
as:
1C: 18+ any or 10-17 5+Hs, if 10-13 not too shapely
– 1D: 7+ any
—- 1H: 10-17 5+Hs—- Rest: 18+, game force
– 1H: 0-6, no long suit
– 1NT: 0-6, 5+Hs
– 1S, 2C, 2D: 0-6, natural
1D: 10-17, 4Ss or 10-12 5+Ss and not to shapely or both majors
1H: 15-17, balanced or a minor without 4Ss
1S: 13-17, 5+Ss
1NT: 12-14
2C: 10-14, 5+Cs, unbalanced, not 4Ss
2D: 10-14, 5+Ds, unbalanced, not 4Ss
2H 10-13, 5+Hs, shapely, not 4Ss
2S 9-12, 5+Ss, shapely, not 4Hs
The 1S opening is 13-17, making it more dangerous than
standard for the opponents to compete directly over 1S, or on auctions such as
1S-P-2S-?. After the 1S opening responder can
establish a game force with 11 HCP, since 13+11+five card suit
will usually be enough to give 3NT decent chances.
The 1H opening is a hybrid, some definition and some
extra values. Here responder can force to game with any hand that would
blast 3NT over a 15-17 1NT opening.
The lighter openings require a lot more from responder to immediately establish
a game force, but the hand types already start in a narrow range. The 1D
opening is the less well defined of the bunch but has bidding room to unwind if
the opponents do not compete, and has the boss suit, spades, if the opponents
do interfere.
The 1C opening has the pass/correct bids in hearts
possible, such as 1C-interfere-2H, where 2H is 2+ HS, to play if opener is 10-14
with hearts, but with some values, so 15+ with hearts, or 18+ any can bid
again. Having some 10-14 hand types into 1C forces the opponents to
allocate a good number of their interfering bids to constructive sequences, in
case they are ones with the majority of the points. Contrast that to a 1C
opening which would be always 18+, in which case opponents bidding would be
solely destructive, intending to consuming bidding room.
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
I’ve posted this
elsewhere but its worth repeating: The best
“convention” that world champions Meckwell have on
their wbf cc is “All points can be adjusted in any
situation” and “Judgement allowed in any situation”.
One thing to try is play a club game session with
never counting your points – instead just try to figure out the value of your
hand by looking at it. Results will vary!
Multi-way 1C
openings: the vulnerability concern
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
Multi-way 1C openings are those that handle many big
hand types, say, for example all 17+ as in the Swedish two-way club systems, or
all 18+ as in the Polish club, as well as some minimum hand types, such as
balanced 12-14 in Polish, and perhaps some other meanings. The advantage
of the multi-way 1C openings is that they allow the other openings to be well
defined and limited. When the opponents don’t interfere, the 1C opening
bid provides the maximum bidding space (aside from a forcing pass system) to
unwind the multiple meanings.
The problem is when the opponents do interfere.
This problem is not a key concern when not vulnerable since it doesn’t
pay for the opponents to be aggressive in stopping small game hunting (see the
earlier post) – if the opponents are offering up a steady stream of +200s and
+300s deposit them in your bank account, as the derivatives of small games
don’t cover the risk of bidding games that only sometimes make.
However if we are vulnerable, we can’t give up those
+6nn so easily. Now the risk/reward for the opponents change, and they
can toss in a good bit of competition to prevent the 1C openings from
unwinding. There will be two frequent types: a non-jump bid by the hand
directly over 1C, followed by a raise by advancer (partner of the non-jump bidder),
or a preemptive bid either directly over 1C or before the 1C opener can make a
second call. Either way, the 1C bidder is often at a dangerous three or
four level at the second time to bid. Here’s an example:
S: 65H: AQT75D: KQJ3C: AJ
With opener’s side vulnerable, it goes 1C(Swedish 11-13 balanced or any 17+)-2S-P-3S;-?
If opener doesn’t bid here, the risk is missing a
game: perhaps 4H is an easy make. If opener does bid here, the risk is
responder has a misfit with little in values: now the downside could be -800 or
worse. One could try double, but responder may not have a hand that helps
out here. Since you need to be a big game hunter to have success in
bridge, it’s a complete guess on what to do over 3S. If instead system
allowed you to open 1H, as in standard, you are in better shape, knowing that
responder didn’t have a 3H bid over 2S. Likewise if you can open a 16+
big club, at least responder knows you have values and could have competed over
the 2S bid with game interest.
Multi-way
1C openings are flawed when vulnerable, since they are exposed to effective
interference by the opponents that puts opener in situations that are high risk
guesses. The way to mitigate this risk is to reduce the more risky hand
types in the multi-way 1C opening when vulnerable.
These risky hand types include those with extra values and a five card or longer major, since that risks missing a good major
suit game contract. For example the MOB system (see: http://www.bridgematters.com/mobclub.pdf )
plays limited major suit openings only when not vulnerable, taking the five
card majors out of the 1C opening when vulnerable, unless the hand has game
going values. Likewise if playing a Swedish two-way 1C opening, a
consideration is to play the 1H, and 1S openings as less limited when
vulnerable, thus reducing the guesses that a vulnerable 1C opener will need to
take. For a Polish club system, one might play the major suit openings up
to 19 when vulnerable.
Playing
major suit openings as wide ranging, as in standard, results in a return of the
problems of standard, but many of these are fixed by playing the Gazzilli convention (see, for example: http://stacyjacobs.com/system-notes/major-suit-openings/).
With the Italian Open championships on vugraph
starting today, I’m certain that we will have many examples of it.
Posted on August 15, 2010 by glen
Note the use of “fav” to
solve the favorite/favourite spelling!
Playing a big club system, or any system with limited
major suit openings, my fav auction is 1M-4M.
To pull the bid out of the box, there are two settings on the bidding box
– shape and points. When not vulnerable there are only two permutations
of the settings not allowed aside from having the playing value of a slam try:
one can’t have no shape and no points, and one can’t have plenty of shape and
plenty of points. Thus except for no/no and plenty/plenty, when not
vulnerable the bid can be just about anything, and that puts the opponents in
the bind: they can’t tell if they need to compete or not over 4M. Having
3 cards in M doesn’t help an opponent, since 1M-4M can be on a 5-3 fit not vulnerable,
and thus partner could easily have two losers there. Having some points
doesn’t help an opponent, since partner could be bust, or could have enough to
make game.
When vulnerable it’s a bit different. One can’t
bid 1M-4M without some playing value due to shape, since 4M vulnerable down can
be expensive, especially if doubled. Likewise there needs to be some
working cards to provide playing value. Thus when vulnerable the shape
and points settings on the bidding box are in a constrained range, and now the
opponents have less guesswork. As well, since 4M is vulnerable, the
primary option that presents itself with a spread of quick tricks is to double
4M for penalty. Given this, 1M-4M is far less effective vulnerable.
With
this consideration, if there are other system aspects that make it feasible, I
don’t mind giving up limited openings in the major suits when vulnerable, since
I don’t have my fav auction that much. I’ll
explain more in my next posting on the concerns with multi-way 1C openings, where
1C handles big hands (say 17 or 18+) and some minimum hand types.