Monday, August 24, 2009

Another bidding idea

Earlier I described a twist to unusual vs unusual that I like. I think this is a materially more useful idea:

In 2/1 auctions such as 1M-2C and 1S-2D, switch the meanings of opener's cheapest rebid and the rebid of his suit (which, in my style, is a catch-all that could be just a 5 card suit with no other suitable bid).

For example:

1S-2D

2S: shows 4 hearts
2H: catchall bid.

The point is that opener is much more likely to have a nebulous hand, so when he does you want to preserve space.

After that, we don't have or need any fancy agreements: responder's rebid of opener's suit is now available to be a catchall -- usually 2 card support, unwillingness to bid 2N or anything else. It might rarely be 3 card support on a hand that wants to emphasize keeping other strains in the picture (e.g. 3 small, or slammish if opener can summon a raise of your minor). With genuine support, opener makes the same 3 level raise they would have if the auction had gone standardly (e.g. after 1H-2C-2H, responder must raise to 3H, so just make the same bid after 1H-2C-2D(catchall)).

After 1S-2C, we have a slightly more detailed agreement:

a) 2D is the catchall, but might still include bad hands with 4D. 1S-2C-2S showing diamonds is a bit preemptive, so it has close to the same requirements as a high reverse like 1S-2D-3C.

b) Over 2D (which denies 4 hearts since otherwise just rebid 2H), we the switch 2H (shows diamonds) and 3D (shows hearts).

c) Over 2D we have an extra bid available: 1S-2C-2D-3H shows a 3 card raise with extras, and 3S shows a 4 card raise.

I think this is very simple, useful when it comes up, and that it comes up frequently enough to not pose a material memory strain.

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like a useful treatment. I'll try to remember to discuss it with the walkers so they can take a shot at it.

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