From: varvel@cs.utexas.edu (Donald A. Varvel)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: How to bid this one?
Date: 13 Aug 1992 15:37:44 -0500
Organization: U Texas Dept of Computer Sciences, Austin TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

In article <1992Aug13.121452.23309@corax.udac.uu.se> olle@astro.uu.se (Olof Morell) writes:
>|> >:>Last night (pairs event) i got the following west hand, N dealer , All:
>|> >:
>|> >:>AT9
>|> >:>AKJ92
>|> >:>-
>|> >:>AKQ75

>It has been suggested by several people to open this hand with one heart.

>WHY?

>21 HCP, eight controls, first controls in all suits, three losers,
>six missing points, whatever your prefer...

>Isn't that putting too much pressure on your one bids? And on partner?
>Especially since you do not have any real difficulties with rebids after 2C, 
>or 2H as I would open it playing Acol - which was the stated condition 
>for the problem.

There *is* a possibility of difficulty after opening 2C, and that is
competition in diamonds or spades before you can name either of your
suits.  This is not a problem after an ACOL 2H, of course.

>It is NOT inconceivable that you may get 1H passed out, giving partner 4-5
>points could give the opps about 7 each, and I would not balance often after
>pass - pass - pass - 1H
>pass - pass - ?
>since LHO is bound to have a strong hand, partner could neither open nor
>enter the bidding the second time.

You're assuming responder will pass with 4-5 HCP.  More on that later.

>I also think Bob's sequence is a little unrealistic:
>a hand which has no controls at all and without extreme playing strength
>is not likely to push very hard for slam opposite an opening
>at the one level.

I think most responders will rebid 3NT rather than 4C at matchpoints
but I rather think Bob would not be among them.  He has frequently
railed at r.g.b posters to support partner's suit, and responder
has fine support.

>Heavy openers, ok, but this is overdoing it...

Now for an explanation of what Kaplan calls "Standard Scientific"
bidding.

2C is almost a picture bid.  It shows either a strong balanced hand
or a strong 1-suiter.  5431 is perhaps an outside possibility if the
5-carder is a major.  The primary suit of the 1-suiter will seldom
be a minor.  Even when unbalanced, it is not quite forcing to game.

Other hands are opened 1 of a suit.  These bids are neither limited
in any way nor quite forcing.  Still, responder will struggle to
make a response of some sort.  You cannot assume that responder will
pass with an undistinguished 4-5 HCP.

Opener's jump shift is forcing to game opposite the weakest responding
hand, which can be *very* weak.  Therefore the jump-shift is much
stronger than Europeans are used to, both in lower and upper limits.

A consequence is that openings should be sound.  Otherwise opener
has just too many hands to describe.

One reason to open 2C on a hand worth forcing to game is that a 1-bid
might be passed out.  Another is that responder with a fit for opener's
second suit and a fist full of queens and jacks should be able to
sign off in 3NT rather than raising the minor, since opener is limited 
by his failure to bid 2C initially.  Neither argument is given any
particular weight in Standard Scientific.

As strange as it seems, good players can make this approach work
rather well.  It doesn't strike me as the right way to play bridge,
but as long as people keep beating me using it, who am I to criticize?

-- Don Varvel (varvel@cs.utexas.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge