Little_major

Oh one other thing, Blue team Club 2000 introduced a new tool for slam bidding (or slam avoidance to be more accurate) called Turbo. Bidding beyond 4NT shows odd number of keycards and bidding 4NT shows an even number. We only use this when partner has opened 1C and the control response was not available (e.g. 1D/H response or interference). Helps when under a barrage. No system does well in the midst of 3 level preempts. In standard system the overloaded one bids can be anything from crappy 11 to a powerful 19+, minors can be 3 to 6+ length and often opener has the dreaded balanced 12-14 (not playing weak NT). At least when my partner opens 1C and the next hand drop a 3 level bid, I know it is almost always right to bid or double. The standard player has a lot of guessing to do too. I welcome interference because we are going to probably play the hand or defend doubled. The more the opps can tell me about their hands the happier I am. This is a similar reasoning as to why you shouldn't bid unusual NT unless you are so distributional that you are determined not to defend the hand. All it does is help the declarer anticipate the bad breaks and makes end plays easy.

Hi, I'm new to this forum but not this topic. My preferred partner and I play something we call the Sandwich Club which is Blue Team Club with weak NT. We have done a lot of homework, simulations and experimentation with responses to 1C. Shape or control which is better? Answer, both. If partner open 1C=17+ and my RHO passes then getting in the control bid is wonderful. Obviously, RHO stretches to enter the bidding, now you can't afford to lose a round of bidding with control shows. We try to show a bit of both. Our scheme is dble= weak balanced hand with stopper(s) in known suits 4-7 hcps, pass= 0-7 or 3 controls with very good suit or any 4 + controls, cheapest NT= 1H or 1S control response with two 4+ card suits, new suit=1H or 1S control response with decent suit, 3Nt is to play based on a stopper and a single suit too shapely to double. Opener over my LHO interference, doubles with strong NT hand, passes as a takeout bid, bids a new suit. In a suction interference auction double always means that is my suit. He is the kicker, interference over our 1C gives us two bids we didn't have before, pass and double. Since we can fork the pass as weak or strong it does double duty. Most of the time interference actually helps us. I welcome it. It is a myth that 1C systems are too susceptible to interference. It just takes some work. We get a fair share of juicy penalties too that weren't available at the other table.