Defence Against Their Strong Club Opening Bids
Strong 1C
Strong club systems, such as Precision, have advantages and disadvantages. One of their disadvantages is that they don’t cope particularly well with interference. It is important to exploit this aggressively. Over a strong 1C opening, simple, jump and double-jump overcalls retain their usual meanings but should be made if at all possible i.e. with minimal values. However, don’t be totally reckless. You must have the minimum length (i.e. 5 for simple, 6 for jump and 7 for preemptive overcalls) and the suit quality must still be respectable. As always, take account of vulnerability. Most of the time, since opener is strong, your overcall is much less likely to be constructive than disruptive and partner should treat it as such.
If you actually have a good (12+) hand, pass and bid on the second round. There is no risk involved in this because since opener’s partner can’t pass 1C, the bidding will come back around to you. When you bid on the second round, having passed on the first, partner will realise you actually have a good hand and can act appropriately. The corollary of this is that an immediate simple overcall denies opening points in this situation whereas over a natural opening, a simple overcall can be a good as 15HCPS.
Over a strong club opening, Michaels and Unusual 2NT are off. Instead, double shows the majors, ideally 5-4 but 4-4 will do; while 1NT is used to show the minors, ideally 5-5 but 5-4 will do. Again, both bids deny opening points. With opening points and these shapes, pass in the first round and bid in the second. Double will always be available. If 1NT is available, use it, otherwise 2NT can be used for the minor 2 suiter, in which case you must have 5-5.
Conventional 1D Negative Response to 1C
The exact same scheme should be used by the player in 4th seat. Note that a strong 4th seat can still pass as opener will always bid something after the 1D negative.
Other Precision Openings
1H, 1S, 1NT and 2C are natural 11-15 bids so treat them as such. 1D is dustbin bid but is most usually 11-13 balanced so proceed initially on the assumption that that’s what it is. 2D shows a 4441, 11-15 with a diamond shortage. Proceed accordingly.
Polish Club
This is the most common Small Club System you are likely to encounter. It is a forcing opening like a Precision 1C but while it may be strong , it usually shows a 12-14 balanced or a natural limited club opening so proceed initially as if it is a weak 1NT hand. The Polish Club 2C opening is similar to the Precision 2C opening.
Natural Strong 2C openings (Acol, SAYC etc)
The system outlined above to defend against a Precision 1C opening works very well over an Acol style 2C opening or it’s 2D negative response provided you are a bit more cautions. In particular, no compromise on shape should be allowed.
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Strong 1C
Strong club systems, such as Precision, have advantages and disadvantages. One of their disadvantages is that they don’t cope particularly well with interference. It is important to exploit this aggressively. Over a strong 1C opening, simple, jump and double-jump overcalls retain their usual meanings but should be made if at all possible i.e. with minimal values. However, don’t be totally reckless. You must have the minimum length (i.e. 5 for simple, 6 for jump and 7 for preemptive overcalls) and the suit quality must still be respectable. As always, take account of vulnerability. Most of the time, since opener is strong, your overcall is much less likely to be constructive than disruptive and partner should treat it as such.
If you actually have a good (12+) hand, pass and bid on the second round. There is no risk involved in this because since opener’s partner can’t pass 1C, the bidding will come back around to you. When you bid on the second round, having passed on the first, partner will realise you actually have a good hand and can act appropriately. The corollary of this is that an immediate simple overcall denies opening points in this situation whereas over a natural opening, a simple overcall can be a good as 15HCPS.
Over a strong club opening, Michaels and Unusual 2NT are off. Instead, double shows the majors, ideally 5-4 but 4-4 will do; while 1NT is used to show the minors, ideally 5-5 but 5-4 will do. Again, both bids deny opening points. With opening points and these shapes, pass in the first round and bid in the second. Double will always be available. If 1NT is available, use it, otherwise 2NT can be used for the minor 2 suiter, in which case you must have 5-5.
Conventional 1D Negative Response to 1C
The exact same scheme should be used by the player in 4th seat. Note that a strong 4th seat can still pass as opener will always bid something after the 1D negative.
Other Precision Openings
1H, 1S, 1NT and 2C are natural 11-15 bids so treat them as such. 1D is dustbin bid but is most usually 11-13 balanced so proceed initially on the assumption that that’s what it is. 2D shows a 4441, 11-15 with a diamond shortage. Proceed accordingly.
Polish Club
This is the most common Small Club System you are likely to encounter. It is a forcing opening like a Precision 1C but while it may be strong , it usually shows a 12-14 balanced or a natural limited club opening so proceed initially as if it is a weak 1NT hand. The Polish Club 2C opening is similar to the Precision 2C opening.
Natural Strong 2C openings (Acol, SAYC etc)
The system outlined above to defend against a Precision 1C opening works very well over an Acol style 2C opening or it’s 2D negative response provided you are a bit more cautions. In particular, no compromise on shape should be allowed.
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