Partner Needed Florence, SC or Laurinburg, NC Area

[JmBrPotter]

I'm a recent ACBL Lifemaster seeking a (a) partner or teammate for playing on BBO or in ACBL District 7 tournaments and (b) play test opponents willing to play against the system described, below.

 

Bill Gregg (in Michigan) and I have taken this system to BBO and five ACBL regional tournaments (4 times the New Years Regional alternating between Charleston, SC and Myrtle Beach, SC). During that time, we have modified the methods slightly:

 

- 1NT opening: 10-14 HCP balanced

- 1♣ openings: Conv., 1RF, 11+ HCP, 19+ HCP if balanced

- 1♦ openings: Conv., 1RF, 15+ HCP, 15+ HCP if balanced

- 1♥ & 1♠ openings:11-20- HCP 4-card suit, one-suited or two-suited

- 2-suit openings: 5-11 HCP 5-6 card suit, one-suited or two-suited

- 2NT opening: 11-15 HCP, minor suit two-suited

- 3NT opening: solid 7-card suit, no side suit entry

- 3♣-5♦ natural suit openings preemptive

- Other openings: special case slam tries

- All 3-suited hands open either . . .

. 1♣ (11-14, 18-20, or 24-26 HCP) or . . .

. 1♦ (15-17, 21-23, or 27-34 HCP)

. Sort them out from each other and the big balanced hands in the rebidding

- Notrump ranges are . . .

. 10-14 (open 1NT)

. 15-18 (open 1♦ and rebid 1NT)

. 19-22 (open 1♣ and rebid 1NT)

.. Same systems on over all three 1NT bids

. 23-24 (open 1♦ and rebid 2NT)

. 25-26 (open 1♣ and rebid 2NT)

. 27-28 (open 1♦, first rebid 2C [nominally 3-suited], and second rebid 2NT)

. 29-37 (open 1♣, first rebid 1S [nominally 3-suited], and second rebid 2NT)

.. Same systems on over all four 2NT rebids

.. Opener may make "impossible" responses to Stayman or Jacoby with 31+HCP

 

Problems encountered:

- 1♣ opening vulnerable to preemption when responder has about 8-12 HCP

- 1♦ opening vulnerable to preemption . . . about 4-8 HCP

- 11-14 HCP 3-suiters often preempted before opener's 1S "3 suits" rebid

- 1♦ openings on 15-18 HCP balanced sometimes get preempted before the 1NT rebid

- We sometimes reach good contracts I do not make because I too often don't count

- Doubling 3-level preemption over 1♣ or 1♦ can create big (+ or –) IMP swings

 

Successes:

- The 10-14 HCP 1NT opening is difficult to defend

. Defenders need to be in the auction against frequent 10-11 HCP openings

. Defenders should respect 13-14 HCP openings

. 12 HCP openings may fall into either of the above camps

.. By the time defenders know what's happening, we've found a spot or . . .

. . defenders have entered the auction and they (one or more of) . . .

. .. are unsure how high to go when they own the hand

. .. have rescued a 10 HCP opener while concealing its weakness

. .. have stepped into a trap when responder is almost invitational

. . defenders have clobbered 1NT undoubled and missed their game

. . we've slipped into two of a suit (down a trick or two) versus . . .

. .. the defenders' missed game . . . or . . .

. .. the defenders' partscore that would score better

. .. defenders play game making slam

. .. defenders bid past a sound game seeking slam and go down

. .. defenders wrong side a contract and make one less

. .. defenders find their spot and there's a par result

- The weak 2♣ opening often creates favorable swings in team matches

. Especially effective with 5 clubs and 4 cards in a major suit

- Showing 18-22 HCP balanced hands with 1NT helps invitational range responders

- Showing all 23+ balanced hands at the 2-level is an advantage in slam auctions

- 1♥ or 1♠ openings with a primary suit elsewhere can yield big swings

. Opener plans a canapé rebid into the primary suit

. There is a misfit

. A defender overcalls 1♥ or 1♠ with two (or more) of opener's primary suit

. Opener converts responder's positive double to penalty

. It gets worse for the opponents if they try to run

- Three-suited hands do not clutter and complicate other bidding sequences

 

We still play test on BBO, but usually in ACBL Speedball tournaments to get reliable opponents.

 

We still want steady play test opponents. Our BBO IDs are JmBrPotter (me) and WGregg (Bill Gregg). We're on US Eastern Time (same as Atlanta, DC, New York and Totonto). Contact me via e-mail to "ClioBridgeGuy>at<att>dot<net" for a system book copy or to arrange BBO matches.