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About System Objectives Of course the main objective in a competitive bridge board is to get the best score possible and so today the opening may be done with 12 hcp or even less having good distribution with two aces and one Queen like: ♠AQ109xx ♥A109x ♦xx ♣x or ♠AQ10xx ♥A1098x ♦x ♣xx when we have the majors because the initiative in the bidding is a parameter to have success in competitive bridge - but partnership need to know how to avoid a overbid! For evaluate the strength of a hand it is standard the use of Milton Work high card points (hcp) A=4 K=3 Q=2 J=1 and for balanced hands a game in 3nt 4♥ 4♠ are normally made with partnership having 25-26 hcp; while for 5♣ 5♦ need 27-28 hcp; for a small slam need 32-33 hcp and for a grand slam need 37 hcp (or have count 13 tricks). It is also known that if the value of is K=3 hcp then the correct value for A=4.25 and for the Q less than 2 (almost 2). Furthermore Milton Work points do not include a value for the 10, so each player should look for his middle cards to observe the suit consistence to take note of his losers. Of course, if A=4.25 then 4 aces in the same hand means 17 hcp. In the other hand long suits with 7+ cards or 2 suits 5-5 or 6-5 should be evaluated not using hcp but for its losers! Despites the difficult in this points comparation for hands count we do not count any more points to doubleton or singleton but use +1 for 5 card suit, +2 for 6 cards suit, +3 for 7 cards suit and when we find a fit 4-4 or 5-4 with we increase the value of our shorter lateral suit adding distributional points: singleton=3 void=5. So during the auction a partnership change information about the streght of each hand to allow the stop of the bidding in a partial score: 1nt 2♣ 2♦ 2♥ 2♠ 2nt 3♣ 3♦ 3♥ 3♠ 4♣ 4♦ due to hand weakness or to try a game or even to try a slam or grand slam. Thus the system must gives us the information about Opener hand and about Responder hand and that will clarify if we have the hcp necessary to game, to a small slam, to a grand slam or just to play a partial score. So the bidding is primordially to find a fit and to establish our condition in play partial score, game or slam. Finally, in hand’s evaluation, we emphasize that a distribution 4333 is -1 point and a hand without any ace is also -1 point. Hands with sequence like QJ109 or good middle cards like KJ1097 or AJ1097 or KQJ10x should be valorized and the strength can now be evaluated counting the losers: AQJ=0,5 KQx=1,5 Kx=1,5 AQ10=1,5 QJ10=2 AKxx=1 KJ10=1,5 … In this 2/1 system we may highlights the following opening/responses: 01- preemptive opening 2♦ 2♥ 2♠ 3♣ 3♦ 3♥ 3♠ 6/7 cards with 7-10 hcp; 02- suit at level 1: 1♣ 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ with rebid in 1nt shows balanced 12-14 hcp; 03- suit at level 1 with high ranking suit rebid at level 2 shows 5-4 with 12-17 hcp; 04- suit at level 1 with low ranking suit rebid at level 2 - reverse - shows 16-20 hcp; 05- suit at level 1 with low ranking suit rebid at level 3 – 5-5 or 6-5 - shows up to 4 losers; 06- 1nt opening shows balanced 15-17 hcp; 07- suit at level 1: 1♣ 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ with rebid in jump to 2nt shows balanced 18-19 hcp; 08- 1 major(M) response 1nt - rebid in jump same major shows 6/-7M with 16-17 hcp; 09- 1 major response 1nt – 2nt rebid is GF with 5-4 or 6M+ distribution with 18-20 hcp; 10- 1 minor(m) response suit level 1 – the rebid in the minor shows 6m+ with 12-15 hcp; 11- 1 minor response suit level 1 – the rebid at level 3 shows 6m+ with 16-27 hcp; 12- 1 minor response suit level 1 – rebid in 3nt shows solid 6/7m+ with 16+ hcp; 13- 2nt opening with 20-21 hcp; 14- 2♣ opening with 21+ hcp; 15- preemptive opening in 4♣ 4♦ shows solid 7/8 cards respectively in 4♥ 4♠ up to 13 hcp; 16- preemptive opening in in 4♥ 4♠ shows non solid suit with 7/8 cards without 2 aces. In the 2/1 system if the bidding has no interference then the response up the line in another suit at level 2 is Game Force (GF). That means Responder has a hand with 12+ hcp and now partnership must find the best contract to play game or slam: Opener Responder 1♠ 2♣ or 2♦ or 2♥ are GF with 12+ hcp 1♥ 2♦ or 2♣ are GF with 12+ hcp 1♦ 2♣ is GF with 12+ hcp But the response in 1nt limits the strength of Responder’s hand: Opener Responder 1♥ / 1♠ 1nt <= range 5-11 hcp and one round-force 1♠ / 1♦ 1nt <= range 6-10 hcp and no force – Opener may pass When Responder supports Opener major suit he also restricts hand strength: Opener Responder 1♥ 2♥ <= range 6-9 hcp with 3 cards support – Opener may pass 1♠ 2♠ <= range 6-9 hcp with 3 cards support – Opener may pass 1♥ 3♥ <= range 2-6 hcp with 4 cards support – Opener may pass 1♠ 3♠ <= range 2-6 hcp with 4 cards support – Opener may pass 1♥ 4♥ <= range 2-8 hcp with 5 cards support – Opener may pass 1♠ 4♠ <= range 2-8 hcp with 5 cards support – Opener may pass here we are using a convention (Bergen raises) that involves the Law of Total Tricks to show a secure level to play when our fit is 8, 9 or 10 cards. So with a good fit partnership don’t need many hcp to play at level 3 or 4 making a good busyness in the score of this board. So having the initiative partnership try to put difficulty in opponent’s articulation to compete in the bidding and find a fit. Using the same strategy when the opening is a minor the support at level 2 shows more strength than the support at level 3 as part of the system to put difficulty in opponent’s articulation to compete. Opener Responder 1♣ 2♣ <= strength 10+ hcp with 4♣+ cards support – one round-force 1♣ 3♣ <= range 5-9 hcp with 5♣+ cards support – Opener may pass 1♦ 2♦ <= strength 10+ hcp with 4♦+ cards support – one round-force 1♦ 3♦ <= range 5-9 hcp with 5♦+ cards support – Opener may pass Thus our objective is to show the meaning of the opening and the meaning of each response used by the 2/1 system with our Brazilian adaptation in some cases. Good Luck |