In honor of playing with my Precision partner again, I decided to post something about Precision, specifically "MG Precision." For me to decide what is worth writing about, I ask myself, "what about this system is so unique and interesting?" The opening bids are, certainly, but I've already discussed them. 1C in particular is really fun because of the numerous ways to reach a slam. So, how about Asking Bids? Yes.
C.C. Wei, when he created the Precision Club system had incorporated 3 different asking bids: Trump Asking Bid, Ace Asking Bid, and Control Asking Bid (asking partner if he has control of the suit). When the Italian Blue Team, consisting of Giorgio Belladonna, Pietro Forquet, Benito Garozzo, Walter Avarelli, Camillo Pabis-Ticci, and Massimo D'Alelio, decided to take up Precision, they added a few more asking bids. Here's what Meaghin and I play today:
TAB (Trump Asking Bid) - After a positive response to 1C opening (1H/1S/2C/2D), opener can bid the intended major or raise the bid minor to ask for the length and quality of responder's suit. Responses to the TAB are in steps as follows:
1st step: 0 of the top 3 honors (AKQ) in the trump suit
2nd step: 1 of the top 3 honors, 6 or more cards
3rd step: 2 of the top 3 honors, 6 or more cards
4th step: AKQ of the trump suit
5th step: 1 of the top 3 honors, exactly 5 cards
6th step: 2 of the top 3 honors, exactly 5 cards
A re-ask (bidding the trump suit below game) asks for clarification in steps. For example, if after the 1st step showing no top honors opener asks again, responder will show his or her length starting with 5 cards, 6 cards, 7 cards, etc. Or if after the 3rd step showing 2 of the top 3 honors opener asks again, responder shows which honors in order of bad to good (KQ, AQ, AK).
CAB (Control Asking Bid) - After a positive major-suit response to 1C (either 1C-1H or 1C-1S), bidding 1NT asks partner to show Aces and Kings by bidding "controls." In this scheme, Aces = 2 controls and Kings = 1 control.
1st step: 0-1 controls
2nd step: 2 controls
3rd step: 3 controls
4th step: 4 controls, etc.
After a positive major-suit response to 1C, you can bid either a CAB or a TAB first. If you bid a CAB first and responder answers, you can then bid a TAB by bidding the intended trump suit. However, if you bid a TAB first, you CANNOT ask for controls with a CAB. Also, you can TAB after a positive minor-suit response to 1C, but no CAB exists for that response.
SAB (Support Asking Bid) - After a positive suit response (1C - 1H/1S/2C/2D) or after a response to CAB, any suit bid by opener besides responder's suit shows 5 or more cards and asks responder for good support and controls. Good support can usually be described as 4 or more cards or 3 cards with at least an honor. Responses go:
1st step: poor support, 0-3 controls
2nd step: poor support, 4+ controls
3rd step: good support, 0-3 controls
4th step: good support, 4+ controls
5th step: xxxx support, 4+ controls
I've found that sometimes knowing if partner has 4 small cards in your suit helps determine if slam is on, hence the 5th step. After the 1st or 2nd step, bidding reverts to natural (just continue to describe your hand by bidding your suits or supporting partner's when appropriate).
After the 3rd, 4th, and 5th steps, rebidding the suit asks for further control clarification (in steps) and any new suit is SCAB (see next).
SCAB (Side-Control Asking Bid) - After any response to TAB or a positive response to SAB, a new suit is asking for control of the new suit. This bid was one of the original asking bids by Wei. Responses are:
1st step: no control of suit (Jxx(x) or worse)
2nd step: 3rd round control of suit (Qxx or doubleton)
3rd step: 2nd round control of suit (Kx or singleton)
4th step: 1st round control of suit (A or void)
5th step: AQ or AK of suit
Rebidding the suit asks for clarification (steps: 1 - length, 2 - strength). Any new suit from here is another SCAB for that suit as long as it's below game.
mTAB (modified Trump Asking Bid) - After responder has shown exactly 4 cards in a major (via 1C - 2M or 1C - 1NT - 2C - 2D/2H), raising the major asks responder to tell more about his 4-card suit. Responses go like this:
1st step: No top honor (A, K, or Q)
2nd step: 1 top honor
3rd step: 1 top honor AND Jack of Trumps
4th step: 2 top honors
5th step: 2 top honors AND Jack of Trumps
6th step: AKQ of trumps
After any response, opener can bid a new suit for SCAB or sign-off in game.
DAB (Delta Asking Bid) - After a positive response to 1C, a jump-shift by opener says he's got a pretty serious suit for trumps and he would like to know about responder's Aces (particularly for the Ace of trumps). Responses are as follows:
Cheapest trump suit: NO Ace of trumps
Lowest new suit: Ace of Trumps
New suit (non-lowest): Ace of Trumps AND Ace in skipped suit(s)
Cheapest NT: Ace of Trumps and NO Aces in skipped suit(s)
A lot to memorize for bids that don't happen that often. But these are the best exploratory bids for slam besides a relay system (which I can't play). And you don't have to use all of these by no means! I would recommend using TAB and SCAB first, then add others as you feel more comfortable with them.
