Reverse Two Way Reverse Drury

[blackshoe]

Some time ago, an expert friend of mine introduced me to this modification of Drury. We never did get to discuss all the follow-ups, but here are the basics as I remember them:

 

P-1M-2C: 4 card support, 6-12 HCP.

2D: Full opener, not sure where to go.

......2M: I have 6-9 HCP.

......? -- I think anything above 2M should show the limit raise, but I'm not quite sure how to assign the meanings. Perhaps

......2S/3m/3H: singleton or void

......2NT: 4-3-3-3

.......3M: balanced, not 4-3-3-3.

.......3S/4m/4H: good second suit, at least 4.

2M: sub-minimum opener

......P: no game interest

......? Anything else must show the limit raise, at least.

bids above 2M: GF at the 4 level, F1 at the three level.

.......responder bids the minimum he can in the major with the 6-9 hand

 

P-1M-2D: 3 card support, 10-12 HCP

2M: subminimum opener

.......p: no game interest

.......anything else - game interest, showing ?

2NT: full opener, not sure where to go

........suits at the 3 lvl: shortage

........3NT choice of games

........suits at the 4 lvl: good side suit, at least 4.

 

Any comments on this idea? Any suggestions to fill in the blanks?

[Bbradley62]

One of the advantages of Drury (Reverse or not) is that it allows you to stop in 2M instead of 3M with (say) 10 opposite 11. Continuing after partner shows a sub-minimum defeats the purpose of the convention.

[Double !]

It seems as though your friend was trying to include mixed raises into the structure via the 2D response. This structure shows some merit even if I, personally, have the same concern about this that I have about other innovations that cause a convention or treatment to be subject to pre-emption.

 

What is opener to do after responder bids such a wide-range 2D and the next person pops in a bid at the 4-level? But, that's just me.

 

DHL

[karlson]

I played more or less this with a few people who really liked it. For some reason it was called "Iowa drury". It was fine, but I've come to prefer devoting only one bid to my drury.

[straube]

I like...

 

1M-2C-LR 3 or 4 trump

1M-2D-constructive raise 3 or 4 trump

 

If pd opened a 4-cd major, he hasn't bid it constructively and won't accept a

game try. So showing 3 vs 4 is as much likely to help our opponents decide

whether to balance.

[blackshoe]

It seems as though your friend was trying to include mixed raises into the structure via the 2D response. This structure shows some merit even if I, personally, have the same concern about this that I have about other innovations that cause a convention or treatment to be subject to pre-emption.

 

What is opener to do after responder bids such a wide-range 2D and the next person pops in a bid at the 4-level? But, that's just me.

 

DHL

Huh? It's the 2♣ bid that's wide range, not 2♦. But I take your point, if you meant 2♣.

[Double !]

Brain not what it should be. Yes, I was referring to 2C response,

 

DHL

[campboy]

The wide-range 2♣ does at least give you a good reason to have the bids that way round -- if the name wasn't reason enough :) I've pointed out to friends in the past that their convention card said "reverse two-way drury" when in fact they were playing two-way reverse drury, and we've speculated as to whether reverse two-way reverse might be good.

[Free]

Do you always play game opposite a full opener? If not, this approach is clearly inferior. You have to play at 3-level with an 8 card fit, while with a 9 card fit you can stay at 2-level. Note that I still don't feel the need to use 2 calls for Drury.

[blackshoe]

With a limit raise opposite a full opener, you're going to bid game or make some kind of game try, so you may well end up at the three level anyway. And if the opponents compete, you may end up at the three level even with the simple raise hand.

 

This system does mean that P-1M-2M is only 3 card support, which may help the opponents more than us, I don't know.

[Free]

You can have a balanced INV with 3M, in which case you'll rebid 2M after partner's positive response... (with normal Drury) Edited October 22, 2010 by Free

[blackshoe]

Yes, but having 3 trumps, you would start with 2♦, to which the "positive" response is 2NT, so you can't bid 2M, you have to bid 3. IOW, if opener has a full opening bid, playing simple Drury, you can play in 2M if responder decides he's not worth game (or at least a game try of some kind), while with Reverse Two-way Reverse Drury, you must play in at least 3M. I suppose one might agree that 2NT is not forcing, though.

[Free]

Yes, but having 3 trumps, you would start with 2♦, to which the "positive" response is 2NT, so you can't bid 2M, you have to bid 3. IOW, if opener has a full opening bid, playing simple Drury, you can play in 2M if responder decides he's not worth game (or at least a game try of some kind), while with Reverse Two-way Reverse Drury, you must play in at least 3M. I suppose one might agree that 2NT is not forcing, though.

Yes, that was actually my point. With a minimum full opener opposite a balanced invite you can play 2M when playing normal Drury, while you can't do it when playing reversed drury. The chance of going down in 3M in a 5-3 fit is much bigger than with a 5-4 fit, which is why I prefer the regular drury.

[blackshoe]

Yes, that was actually my point. With a minimum full opener opposite a balanced invite you can play 2M when playing normal Drury, while you can't do it when playing reversed drury. The chance of going down in 3M in a 5-3 fit is much bigger than with a 5-4 fit, which is why I prefer the regular drury.

 

Ah, I see. Yes, that makes sense.