Nowadays, it seems everyone is perfectly content to say, "could be short" when his or her partner opens 1C. I asked someone about the reason they played it, and she told me it was so that opening 1D promises 4 or more. "Sounds fascinating! What else?" I asked. Then when I received a confused look and a shrug, I realized that this system of opening a short club wasn't fully utilized. Plus Meg and I were looking for a system that isn't so different from the field for Matchpoint play (we'll keep playing Precision at big tournaments and team events.)
When I thought about what opening a short club meant, I realized that it could have 3 meanings: 1. any 5+ club hand, 2. balanced hands that don't fit 1NT (or 2NT) opening range, and 3. 4441 shape hands with a singleton diamond. This allows the 1D opening to promise 4 or more diamonds, which makes for an easier time raising in competition. But everyone plays this, and I wanted to give it an advantage over all those partnerships who don't talk about what a short club means. So here's the fun: a weak 1NT (12-14) AND a special set of responses to 1C.
I realized early on in my experience with natural 5-card major systems like SAYC and 2/1 that the sequence 1C - 1D showing a natural diamond response was not a helpful dialogue nor was it obstructing the bidding for the opponents at all, so I made the 1D response artificial meaning responder has at least one 4-card major. This opens the 1H and 1S response to mean 5+ cards in that major! This certainly is something these other bidding systems lack, a way to show a 5-card major by responder in the first bid. Naturally, the opening rebids needed to tell partner how much support he has for that major. After careful consideration, I finally came up with a Short Club system that isn't too hard to learn and would help out a great deal of bidding problem hands.
MG Short Club
Opening Bids
1C = 2+ clubs (includes 15-19 HCP, balanced hands, 5+ club hands, and 4441 hands with a singleton diamond)
1D = 4+ diamonds (unbalanced!)
1H = 5+ hearts
1S = 5+ spades
1NT = 12-14 HCP, balanced
2C = Strong (4 or fewer losers)
2D = Flannery (specifically 11-15 pts, 5 hearts & 4 spades)
2H/2S = Weak
2NT = 20-21 HCP, balanced
etc.
Responses to 1C
1D = at least one 4-card major ALERT
1H = 5+ hearts
1S = 5+ spades
1NT = 6-9 pts, no 4+ card major
2C/2D = 10+ pts, 5+ card bid suit (no 4+ card major)
2H = 5-9 pts, 5-5 in the majors ALERT
2S = 10-12 pts, 5-5 in the majors ALERT
2NT = 10-12 pts, balanced (no 4+ card major)
3C/3D = weak, 6+ good bid suit
Bidding after 1C - 1D
1H = 4 hearts
1S = 4 spades (no 4 hearts)
1NT = 15-17, balanced (no 4cM)
2NT = 18-19, balanced (no 4cM)
2C/3C = min/max, 6+ clubs (with 5-4 in C-D, we open 1D)
After 1C - 1D - 1H
1S = 4 spades (no 4 hearts)
1NT = 4 hearts, ALERT
2H/3H/4H = To play (weak point range with 4/5/6 hearts)
After 1C - 1D - 1S
1NT = 6-9, 4 hearts (no 4 spades)
2H = 4 spades, ALERT
2S/3S/4S = To play (weak with 4/5/6 spades)
2C/2D = 10+ pts, 5+ card suit (with 4 hearts)
2NT = 10-12 pts, balanced (with 4 hearts)
A little further...
After 1C - 1D - 1H - 1S
1NT = 15-17 balanced
2NT = 18-19 balanced
2C = minimum, 5+ clubs & 4 hearts
3C = maximum, 6+ good clubs & 4 hearts
2S = 15-17, balanced with 4-4 in the majors ALERT
3H = 18-19, balanced with 4-4 in the majors ALERT
2D = minimum, 4-4-1-4 or 4-4-0-5 shape
3D = maximum, 4-4-1-4 or 4-4-0-5 shape
After 1C - 1D - 1H - 1NT
2C = minimum, 5+ clubs & 4 hearts (not 4-4-0-5)
2D = minimum, 4-4-1-4 or 4-4-0-5 shape
2H = 15-17, balanced
2NT = 18-19, balanced
2S = maximum, 4-4-0-5 shape
3C = maximum, 5+ clubs
3D = maximum, 4-4-1-4 shape
After 1C - 1D - 1S - 2H
2S = minimum, 5+ clubs & 4 spades
2NT = 15-17, balanced
3C = 18-19, balanced
3D/3H = maximum, 5+ clubs & 4 spades, short in bid suit
3S = maximum, 4-2-2-5 shape
Now, after 1C - 1H/1S, we want to differentiate (when we can) between 3- and 4-card support for partner's major. I tried to keep it as intuitive as possible.
Bidding after 1C - 1H
1S = 4 spades (doesn't promise 3 hearts)
1NT = 15-17, balanced (with only 2 hearts)
2NT = 18-19, balanced (with only 2 hearts)
2C/3C = min/max, 5+ clubs (0-2 hearts)
2D/3D = min/max, 4 hearts ALERT
2H = minimum, 3 hearts
3H = maximum, balanced with 3 hearts
2S = maximum, 4-3-1-5 or 4-3-0-6 shape
Bidding after 1C - 1S
1NT = 15-17, balanced (with only 2 spades)
2NT = 18-19, balanced (with only 2 spades)
2C/3C = min/max, 5+ clubs (0-2 spades)
2D/3D = min/max, 4 spades ALERT
2S = minimum, 3 spades
3S = maximum, balanced with 3 spades
2H/3H = min/max, 3-4-1-5 or 3-4-0-6 shape
Of course this is the way I would like to play this system after 1C. The bids for the other openings are pretty much standard fare (enter your own system of responses and conventions.) For us, we play a non-forcing 1NT response to opening 1 of a major, weak jump-shift over 1D, control responses to the strong 2C opening, and the Sardine runout bids over 1NT doubled (see earlier post.) Also notice that we play Flannery, and I think that this is a must-have convention for those who play a standard wide-range opening system like this. The only thing I haven't written about is the control responses to 2C. Here they are:
Responses to 2C
2D = 0-5 pts, 0-1 control
2H = 6+ pts, 0-1 control
2S = 2 controls
2NT = 3 kings
3C = 1 ace + 1 king
3D = 4 controls
By control, I mean an ace is worth 2 controls and a king is worth 1. If you count them all up, you get a total of 12 controls. In general, I think that means with 10 controls you might have a slam (missing only 1 ace or 2 kings), and finding a slam after opening 2C is one of the real weaknesses of the standard system in my opinion, such as it is.
On a personal note, I know that my obsession with bidding systems and theory drives my regular partner crazy, but she has always been a good sport in learning them. I do believe that a great bidding system is no substitute for sound play and defense, and this is something I need to work on. Meg, you will always be my #1 partner in bridge and in life.
