MesSer Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Where can I find a newly modified version of this weird system? =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrothgar Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 I have a pretty good set of notes available for MOSCITO. Unfortunately: (a) I am currently on vacation and FAR away from my PC. At the moment, I am in an Internet cafe in Siam Rep, about 15 minutes bike ride from Angkor Wat.(:blink: My website with lots of good MOSCITO information disappeared into the ether With this said and done, I'll be back in the States in about three weeks.Once settled in, I'll see about sending you some notes. In the mean time, the_hog may be able to provide you with some pointers. For what its worth, I don't consider MOSCITO particularly "weird".The main reason that I like the system is its logical consistancy.Its possible to identify a small set of first principles. Everything else is a natural outgrowth there-of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 I have a 22 page document describing German Moscito, a version of Moscito that was modified to meet system regulations in several countries. It is mid-chart compatible and blue under the WBF system.It is NOT the state-of-the-art Moscito, you can find that in Richard's notes based in Paul Marston system, the version I published was created by Rene Steiner and some other players and is the one I've been playing for some years.If you want it just let me know an email address so I can send it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 I've read both versions, and I like Paul Marston's version more. Richard is currently working on new notes, I have the old ones (150 pages, quite understandable text and lots of examples) and the new relay schemes. I realy like to play the system, it's agressive and fun and a strong club (my favorite). It might seem weird because of the transfer openings, but it's actually not :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesSer Posted January 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Thank you all for your replies. I'd gratley appreciate all kinds of versions of the systems. But I think an up-to-date version would be the best. Neverless I'd be really happy if you, luis, could send me the 22 page version of the system that you have. My e-mail address is messer@gamingeye.comThank you in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stansllee Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 For a system with bite!visit: http://mikevin.tripod.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 This system has the same flaw as the German moscito imo: you have too much openings to show ♠s. The system described on the link has 2 openings (1♠ and 1NT), and the German moscito even has 3 (1♠, 1NT and 2♣). 1 such opening is enough imo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrothgar Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 For a system with bite!visit: http://mikevin.tripod.com/Wow! This is an OLD MOSCITO variant. I haven't seen 1N = 4+/4+ in the majors in a LONG time. In any case, I'm just getting back up to speed at a most relaxing vacation in Thailand and Cambodia. Finally have a chance to make a real contribution to this thread. This posting attempt to proide a working definition regarding he current state of MOSCITO. MOSCITO is still evolving as a system, however, in its current incarnation, MOSCITO is defined by: 1. A strong club opening2. Light and limited constructive opening bids3. A “Majors First” opening style4. Frequent use of symetic relay with strong hands5. Transfer openings Strong Club: The designers of MOSCITO believe that strong club systems are technically inferior to so-called “strong pass” systems. However, system design and bidding theory often need to take a back seat to regulatory structure. Accordingly, MOSCITO is anchored with a strong club opening. This has enormous repercussions on the design of the system. The most notable impact is the minimum strength for constructive opening bids. Light /Limited Openings: The MOSCITO opening structure was designed to support a highly aggressive "quick-in / quick-out" auction style. There is a significant advantage to being able to place the partnership in an acceptable contract as quickly as possible. This bidding style consistently forces the opponents to guess whether or not to balance at the three-level. Furthermore, if the opponents are unable to exchange information during the bidding, they will often be poorly positioned when defending hands. MOSCITO achieves this design goal by using a descriptive and constructive opening structure that often allows responder to place the final contract with his first bid. The range of MOSCITO’s opening bids is limited to approximately 6 High Card Points. Tightly defining opener’s strength allows responder to apply judgment more accurately. The minimum strength of MOSCITO’s constructive opening bids is extremely aggressive. MOSCITO believes that our limited opening bids are powerful constructive tools. The system is designed to maximize the frequency of these openings without “overloading” the strong club opening.MOSCITO’s “constructive” opening bids typically promise approximately 9-14 HCPs. Major’s First Openings: MOSCITO uses a Major’s First bidding style. Opener is expected to show a four card major in preference to a longer minor. MOSCITO advocates a Major’s First style for several reasons: 1. The Major’s First bidding style facilitates quick and non-descriptive auctions to major suit contracts2. Major’s First bidding is more preemptive and often prevents opponents from making “cheap” 1 level overcalls3. Major’s First bidding improves system accuracy during competitive bidding sequences While MOSCITO is based on a Major’s First bidding style, the system allows considerable judgment in deciding whether or not to show a 4-card major. Holding a balanced hand with a “bad” 4-card major, opener has the option to suppress the major by opening 1NT. Holding an unbalanced hand with a bad 4-card major and a 6+ card minor opener will initially show his minor. For example: Holding Hand 1, opener will show Hearts in preference to Diamonds ♠ J5 ♥ KJT2 ♦ AK8742 ♣ 7 Holding Hand 2, opener will show Diamonds in preference to Hearts ♠ K5♥ J973♦ AK852♣ 7 Holding Hand 3, opener will show a balanced hand ♠ Q86♥ 9842♦ AK42♣ K4 Holding Hand 4, opener will show Spades ♠ KJ82♥ 865♦ AJ42♣ K2 Relays: MOSCITO makes frequent use of relay structures with strong hands. Relays serve two critical purposes in the MOSCITO system. First, as previously noted, the range for MOSCITO’s limited openings is very aggressive. This has a very significant impact on the design of the constructive response structures. Playing a “sound” opening system like 2/1 Game Force, responder’s main priority is investigating to determine whether there is a good game. Playing MOSCITO, the response structure needs to be optimized towards identifying the best part score. MOSCITO uses a first step relay for most game forcing/game invitational hands in order to “free” bids for exploring part score contracts. Equally significantly, relays are powerful constructive tools. In particular, relays are invaluable for investigating slams. Relays allow MOSCITO players to accurate evaluate strain and place controls. Transfer Openings: MOSCITO has recently adopted a transfer opening structure The 1D opening promises 4+ HeartsThe 1H opening promises 4+ SpadesThe 1S opening promises 4+ Diamonds MOSCITO adopted transfer opening for two important reasons: 1. The transfer opening structure is designed to “right-side” contracts. We prefer that the relay asker declare contracts rather than the relay responder. 2. Defenders have very little information about the relay asker’s hand. Defending blindly is extremely difficult. 3. The relay asker is typically stronger than the relay responder, increasing the chance that the defense will lead into a tenace.4. Transfer openings complement MOSCITO’s “Majors First” opening style by preserving bidding space for relatively frequent hand types. Playing MOSCITO, opener will initially show Hearts on many more hands than he shows Diamonds. Transfer openings align the level of the opening bid with its frequency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Posted February 15, 2004 Report Share Posted February 15, 2004 Hmmm, you seem to have copy-pasted your intro on the new notes, and you left some typos in :P The second example hand needs one more ♦ :P Nevertheless it's still very good to introduce people to moscito. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stansllee Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Because there is no Balanced minimum response to a Relay, and also it is often difficult to break-out into a playable spot. Once, we modify our Moscito: 1H/S openings: 4+cards suit, denies 4 in other Major, unbalanced.1NT: Both Majors.1D: No 4-Major, unless 4333 or 4432( not both Major) minimum. We are now playing another modified version of Moscito as below:1H/S openings: 4+cards suit, unbalanced.1NT: 12-14 Balanced.1D: No 4-Major, unless 4333 or 4432( not both Major) minimum. Such openings might be described as kaleidoscopic one-bids, as their main feature is to change frequently, perhaps as opponents become familiar with the method. By the way, other than Symmetric Relay, we play simplified Relay Structure - a method which can be managed after 20 minutes learning even for everage player! Stan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stansllee Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 hand 1, 2, and 3 from hrothgar all open 1H, since hand 1 and 2 are unbalancedand hand 3 have a 1NT rebid over 1H* relay.hand 4, we open 1NT. Move a small heart to club, we would prefer to open 1D.In old version Moscito, there is no flexibility or judgement permitted in the choice of one-level openings and therefore any suit texture is acceptable. Modified version, we can have another option when opening. Stan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrothgar Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 >Because there is no Balanced minimum response to a Relay, >and also it is often difficult to break-out into a playable spot. We try to address this issue in a couple ways. First, the minimum HCP strength required to open a balanced hand is significantly higher than for an unbalanced hand. With an unbalanced hand, we typically will have 9+ HCP to open. Holding a balanced hand we require a decent 11 count. In a similar fashion, I a currently playing an "assumed fit" preempt style which allows me to preempt with 4432 hands that are too weak for a constructive opening. >Such openings might be described as kaleidoscopic one-bids, as their >main feature is to change frequently, perhaps as opponents become >familiar with the method. I'm a STRONG proponent of allowing considerable lattitude to play what they want. However, even I have some issues with adopting a bidding style motivated by the desire to ensure that the opponents are unfamiliar with our methods. If your methods are good, they should be able to stand on their own merits without requiring that the opponents are playing at a competitive disadvantage. Advancing arguments like this in "support" of unusual methods only gives ammunition to the Convention Regulators. [Plus, in all honesty, I dream of the day when I'm satisfied with the system and can stop updating my notes] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesSer Posted February 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Hrothgar: Do you have a version of this mosquito system somewhere where I can download it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrothgar Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 I used to have a nice web site that contained quite a lot of information. Unfortunately, the site was tied to my MIT accounts, all of which expired on January 1st. Right now, I am in the midst of moving from California back to Boston (managed to transfer to Symantec's Boston offices. As a result, I'm not spending many cycles working on a new website) Long term, I plan to re-establish a permanent presence on the web, however, this might take some time. In the short term, I can provide you a couple documents via email. First, I have about 50 pages or so of my revised system notes in a legible form. This provides a decent introduction to MOSCITO, focusing on the Major suit opening structure. Second, I have my old system notes. They document an obsolete version of the system, but are more comprehensive. On the down side, I think that they are also a bit confusing. [i attempt to describe too many variants of the system] BTW, I'll note in passing that its MOSCITO, NOT mosquito. MajorOriented Strong ClubInTroubleOften Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesSer Posted February 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 Hehe seems like I misspelled the name of the system. Moscito it is ;) Regarding the system notes that you have, is it possible for you to e-mail them to me? It is messer@gamingeye.com. I'm interesting in both your revised version of the system and the old system notes. Might be good to have this as a reference :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.