A Balanced Viewpoint

Ulf Nilsson writing in the November issue of The Bridge World (instead of his bridge blog http://viewsfromthebridgetable.blogspot.com/ ) makes the strong case for treating 5-3-3-2s with a five card major as balanced as the primary feature, and not the major suit. That means incorporating these hand types into the openings for the balanced hands in the appropriate range, something that the ETM Gold system used as a key lynchpin of the system.

Say one has 11-12 high card points, 5-3-3-2, and a five card major. System design could include these possible options:

Pass
Open 1 of a suit, in the most natural way possible given the system (i.e. if playing five card majors, only open 1M with five)
Open 1 of a suit, in the most natural way possible given the system except open 1C if 4-4-3-2 exactly
Open best minor even if 5cM
Open 1C except if 4-5Ds, then open 1C
Open 1D except 1M if five card major
Open 1D
Open 1C except 1M if five card major
Open 1C
Open 1NT except 1M if five card major
Open 1NT
(this is not an exclusive list - for example there are systems that open 2M with 5-3-3-2s, and we will see others below)

If you were just looking at the balanced hands themselves, then natural is best - get the suit bid puts one in the best competitive advantage. However as Nilsson begins in the article:

Responder's knowledge of opener's hand-type is far more useful than any other immediate distributional message opener can send. Why? Because optimal bidding methods vary substantially opposite balanced and unbalanced holdings. … Effective competitive strategy also varies, because balanced hand are generally more defensive in nature than unbalanced hands.

This implies, as the article discusses, that one wants to achieve separation of hand types in the opening framework. In other words including balanced hands in a natural suit opening contaminates it from a competitive aspect. For example it goes 1D-1S(overcall)-Double(you)-2S;-P-P-? - if opener can be balanced, the decision to bid again is quite different than if you know 1D is unbalanced.

Systems where both 1NT and a specific one level suit opening were reserved for balanced hands have been rare. Granovetter-Rubin toyed with an unpublished system a few years ago (seen practiced online), and more recently a system was discussed with 1C and 1D openings showing specific majors, and 1H was balanced in a certain range, while 1NT handled another balanced range, talked about on David Collier's blog here:

http://dcrcbridge.blogspot.com/2009/11/whats-so-bad-about-transfer-openings.html

Now let's look at this candidate system:

1C: 11-13 or 17-19 bal
1D: unbal Cs or Ds
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
Rest: standardish

Now 1C is pretty cool, while 1D will have troubled waters in competitive situations, such as 1D-3S(overcall)-?.

Note that for the system frameworks in this post, hands with a six card minor, and no singleton or void, will be considered balanced (abbreviated "bal", and "unbal" for unbalanced). Likewise 5-4-2-2s with a five card minor will be considered balanced in all frameworks.

Starting with the candidate system, redesign can move some of the unbal C hands into a 2C opening, using a trick to get a wide range: if the 2C opening promises 6-4+ or 7+Cs, then it can be played as wide ranging for two reasons. First it is almost always safe for responder to ask opener's hand type since opener will have good playing value. Second, the high-card point range of the opening will be limited since the high card point range between a preemptive hand and a game force is less on shapely hands (e.g. it takes less points to make a game forcing hand when there is a lot of shape). In addition let's shift the singleton diamond hands with 4 to 6 Cs into 1C, since these will be close to balanced hand types.

This results in:

1C: 11-13 or 17-19 or 22-24 bal , or 4-6 Cs unbal with singleton D
1D: 3+Ds, unbal, either Ds or longer Cs
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-18, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: Any game force
2NT: 20-21 bal

Taking a Polish base, one could move the Ds hands into 1C, and the balanced hands to 1D:

1C: 3+Ds, unbal, either Ds or longer Cs, or 22+ bal or any game force
1D: 11-13 or 17-19 bal
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-18, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2NT: 20-21 bal

That 1C opening produces the neat sequence 1C(variety)-1D(negative);-P, which is not legal under the ACBL GCC, which requires the artificial 1D response to be forcing.

Modifying a big club, five card major base:

1C: 15+ unbal or 17+ bal
1D: 11-13 bal or 11-14 4-4-1-4 or 4-4-4-1 exactly
1M: 5+, unbal, 10-14
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-14, 5+Cs
2D: 10-14, 5+Ds
2NT: 20-21 bal

Taking the 4 card majors out of the 2C and 2D openings (and the 4-4-4-1s out of 1D):

1C: 15+ unbal or 17+ bal
1D: 11-13 bal
1M: 4+, unbal, 10-14
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-14, 5+Cs, no 4cM
2D: 10-14, 5+Ds, no 4cM
2NT: 20-21 bal

In the above framework and some of the others below, one could want to play 1NT 10-13 when not vulnerable in 1st, 2nd or 3rd, and then have 14-16 open whatever 11-13 opens when vulnerable.

Utilizing the 2M openings:

1C: 15+ unbal or 17+ bal
1D: 11-13 bal
1M: 4+, unbal, 10-14, only 6 or longer in M if 4+ in other major
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-14, 5+Cs, no 4cM
2D: 10-14, 5+Ds, no 4cM
2H: 10-14, 6+Hs, not 4Ss
2S: 10-14, 6+Ss, not 4Hs
2NT: 20-21 bal

Coalescing some of the above:

1C: 3 to 6 in each minor, unbal, or 22+ bal or any game force
1D: 11-13 or 17-19 bal or 11-20 singleton/void m with 4-5 in other minor
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-18, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: 10-18, 6+Ds and if only 6Ds then a four card major
2NT: 20-21 bal

Making 1D, 2C and 2D more limited, at the price of more stuff piled into the trunk of the 1C opening:

1C: 3 to 6 in each minor, unbal, or 17+ bal or 18+ any
1D: 11-13 bal or 11-17 singleton/void m with 4-5 in other minor
1M: 5+, unbal, 10-17
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-17, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: 10-17, 6+Ds and if only 6Ds then a four card major

Limiting 1D only:

1C: 3 to 6 in each minor, unbal, or 19+ unbal with a minor or 22+ bal or any game force
1D: 11-13 or 17-19 bal or 11-18 singleton/void m with 4-5 in other minor
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-18, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: 10-18, 6+Ds and if only 6Ds then a four card major
2NT: 20-21 bal

Interchanging the 1C and 1D:

1C: 11-13 or 17-19 bal or 11-18 singleton/void m with 4-5 in other minor
1D: 3 to 6 in each minor, unbal, or 19+ unbal with a minor or 22+ bal or any game force
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-18, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: 10-18, 6+Ds and if only 6Ds then a four card major
2NT: 20-21 bal

Using 1C as the balanced outside-of-the-1NT-range bid:

1C: 11-13 or 17+ bal or 11+ singleton/void m with 4-5 in other minor
1D: 3 to 6 in each minor, unbal, or any unbal 18+
1M: 5+, unbal, 10-17
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-17, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: 10-17, 6+Ds and if only 6Ds then a four card major

It's tempting to use 2H and 2NT to make 1C limited:

1C: 11-13 or 17-21 bal or 11-18 singleton/void m with 4-5 in other minor
1D: 3 to 6 in each minor, unbal, or any unbal 19+
1M: 5+, unbal, 10-18
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-18, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: 10-18, 6+Ds and if only 6Ds then a four card major
2H: 22-24 bal
2NT: 24/25+ bal, game force

We can move the 2D hand types into 1D, since if responder bids clubs, opener, if holding short clubs, can correct to diamonds on the same level. This allows the 2D to handle strong hands and make both 1C and 1D non-forcing:

1C: 11-13 or 17-21 bal or 11-20 singleton/void m with 4-5 in other minor
1D: 3 to 6 in each minor and/or 6+Ds, unbal, less than a game force
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-18, 6+Cs and if only 6Cs then a four card major
2D: Any game force
2NT: 22-24 bal

Another tack is to use diamonds as the only suit somewhat moved out of the one level:

1C: 3+Cs, unbal, less than a game force, can have 5Ds with shorter Cs
1D: 11-13 or 17-21 bal or 11-21 singleton/void C with 4-5 in Ds
1M: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: Strong, 16+ with 6+Ds unbal or any game force
2D: 10-15, 6+Ds unbal
2NT: 22-24 bal

This has the cool 2C(Strong)-2D(waiting but limited);-P sequence. 2C could start at 15, making 2D just 10-14, something I would definitely do in ACBL mid-chart event where all 15+ artificial openings are legal.

In mid-chart events one could try something like:

1C: 4+Hs, unbal, forcing
1D: 4+Ds, unbal, less than a game force, can have longer Cs
1H: 15+ bal or 4-3-1-5/3-3-1-6 exactly
1S: 5+, unbal
1NT: 12-14 bal
2C: 10-15 6+Cs or 11-14 4-3-1-5 exactly
2D: Strong, denies 4+Hs, 16+ with 6+Cs and no other suit except Ss possible, or any game force without 4+Hs
2NT: 21-22 bal

In the land of the system free:

1C: 4+Hs, unbal, or 10-15 4-3-1-5 exactly, or 17+ bal forcing
1D: 4+Ds, unbal, less than a game force, can have longer Cs
1H: 10-13 bal
1S: 5+, unbal
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-15 6+Cs
2D: Strong, denies 4+Hs, 16+ with 6+Cs and no second suit or 5+Cs and 4+Ss, or a game force with Ss or Ds
2NT: 21-22 bal

In the land of the price reduction, taking advantage of the US "Black Friday" sales yesterday I bought a Roman atlas. Here's a touch of Roman in the last two frameworks:

1C: 6+Cs 10-14 unbal, or any unbal 15+ or 17+ bal
1D: 10-13 bal
1M: 5+, unbal, 10-14
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: three suiter with no 5cM, 10-14, often a 5-4-3-1 with a 5c minor
2D: 10-14, 6+Ds
2NT: 10-14, 5-5 minors, no 3 card major

1C: 6+Ds 10-15 unbal, or any unbal 16+ or 17+ bal
1D: 10-13 bal
1M: 5+, unbal, 10-15
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-15, 6+Cs
2D: three suiter with no 5cM, 10-15, often a 5-4-3-1 with a 5c minor
2NT: 11-15, 5-5 minors, no 3 card major

The last again has the cool 1C-1D(negative);-P sequence, when allowed. For these last two I would open 1NT with 10 to a poor 13 when not vulnerable in the first three seats, making 1D a decent 13 to 16, and with a 10-15 three suiter with a singleton A, K, or Q, I would open 1D, not the Roman two bid showing a three suiter.

Here's a bonus framework:

1C: Either:
a) three suiter with no 5cM, 10-14, often a 5-4-3-1 with a 5c minor
b) any unbal 15+
c) 17+ bal
1D: 10-13 bal
1M: 5+, unbal, 8-14
1NT: 14-16 bal
2C: 10-14, 6+Cs
2D: 10-14, 6+Ds
2H: 10-14, 6+Hs
2S: 10-14, 6+Ss
2NT: 10-14, 5-5 minors, no 3 card major

And finally the balanced hands completely separated:

1C: Either:
a) three suiter with no 5cM, 10-14, often a 5-4-3-1 with a 5c minor
b) 10-14 6+Cs
c) any unbal 15+
1D: 11-14 bal
1M: 5+, unbal, 8-14
1NT: 15-17 bal
2C: 18-21 bal
2D: 10-14, 6+Ds
2H: 22-24 bal
2S: 10-14, 6+Ss
2NT: 24/25+ bal

For any of the frameworks given above, if you know a close match with an existing system please comment, providing any information and links you may have, and thanks in advance to all!