link Five-card Majors - BridgeWebs

1 WELCOME to a brand new series ofarticles. I propose to explore thoroughlythe ideas and techniques associated withthe system of Five-card Majors and StrongNo-trump. I will also develop some ideasin later articles on Two Over One gameforcing. The series will be published in theonline version of the magazine (the fullversion of this first article, completewith exercises, is on pages 59-62)and this page in the printed edi -tion is meant to serve as a taster. Most bridge players in Britain arebrought up with Acol as their biddingbase. There is therefore a certain degree ofsecurity in playing a system you know andare comfortable with. However, more andmore people are now finding that the Five-card Majors Strong No-trump system (Iwill refer to it as Strong and five forbrevity) provides a better framework forbidding accuracy. Globally this system isused far more than is the Acol intend to review all aspects of thissystem. Let us start with some wellperceived pros and cons of playing Strongand five vsplaying Acol:Advantages1.

2 You do not concede as many penalties(either doubled or undoubled) as aregenerated by the use of the weak The knowledge of at least five cardswhen a major is opened can proveinvaluable. You can comfortably raisewith three- card support and, perhapseven more importantly, you canmore easily make use of the Level ofthe Fit principle in competition. Justto recap this principle:21 February 2014 English Neil Rosen Bidding SystemsFive- card MajorsclicklinkclicklinkRead the full version (with exercises) of Neil Rosen sfirst article in his Five-card Majors seriesin the online edition of this ESWith 8 combined trumps, bid to thetwo 9 combined trumps bid to thethree 10 combined trumps bid tothe four that this is a rough guide andother factors must also be taken intoaccount, such as vulnerability, pointcount, shape of hand Finding major -suit part-scores is muchmore efficient. Here is an examplehand from a recent pairs tournament:Love All. Dealer East.

3 Q 10 7 J 4 2tQ J 10 7 Q 6 2 K 8 5 4 A 9 6 3 10 7 6 3 K Q 8 5tK 6 5t9 2 K 9 A 10 8 J 2 A 9tA 8 4 3 J 7 5 4 3As East-West we were able to bid 1 (short) 1 2 Pass. The resultwas 2 +1 for +140, scoring 85% withthe vast majority of the field (Acolplay ers) opening a weak 1NT andmaking fewer tricks. This sort of thinghappens a realise that whileyou score more in no-trumps if youmake the same number of tricks thevast majorityof the time you will makemore tricks by discovering your 4-4 fundamental truth is an integral partof all bidding systems. Finding an eight- card fit (in particular a 4-4 fit) has alwaysled to improved results. Consider theStayman convention, used by millions they cannot all be wrong!4. The associated no-trump rangeswork better than they do for Acol:a) Rebidding no-trumps at mini mumlevel to show 12-14 HCP andjumping to show 18-19 HCP isvery efficient and ) The problem hands that Acolgenerates just do not the following example: K 10 6 8 5 4 A Q 10 2 K 7tA K 7 4tQ 9 8 5 2 6 5 A 6 3 Many playing Acol would bid 1 1NT Pass.

4 If playing a strong no-trump, East would invite and Westmight well accept. This 9-countopposite a 15-16 rebid type hand isvery poorfor Acol. I accept many ofyou might choose to respond 2tinstead because of the Five-card suit(I agree!). However, without a Five-card suit many 9-point hands willindeed respond 1NT and miss decentgames because partner should onlyraise to 2NT with 17 HCP and notwith 15-16 The pre-emptive effect of the weakno-trump has some real advantages. 2. Needing to use prepared minors or short club creates difficulties particularly in contested Lack of familiarity with a new systemand all the nuances it ES