Revision Club

[straube]

I see a fair number of references to the Revision Club, so I looked into it.

 

1C-1D can be 0+ (includes GF hands)

 

1C-1D, 1M-not forcing

 

1C-1H-5+ hearts, 0-7, nf

 

1C-1H, 1S-natural, nf

 

1C-1S-5+ spades, 0-7, nf

 

The opening 1N is 16-18 and the opening 2N is 19-20.

 

None of this makes sense to me. So many of the most important sequences are dead ends. Opening 1N or 2N with these good balanced hands is preemptive when responder has a shapely hand.

 

I doubt I'll change my mind about the system, but I'd be interested in learning what others see in it.

[phoenix214]

Well the biggest problems finding something is after a 2NT opening as the "Slam killer" because then you might miss some 19-opposite 9 slams.

After 1NT, they have a very good system IMO which i really liked playing. They have a way for responder to show almost any hand type you would want to show. Although doing so, they sacrifice inviting with flat hands. The author says, pass with 7, blast with 8.Although this forces you to exercise your judgment a bit, because you sometimes want to blast with good 7 counts.

After 1 club and 1 diamond and X from opener, you basically get the same bidding as if after a normal opening, with some tweaks, namely openers promises 16-to Not FG hand, and your system stays almost the same for the opening and some tweaks for hands that are not possible. An interesting sequence goes

1♣-1♦, 2NT-Now if you transfer to 3M, then you show at least 8 HCP, so if responder has a hand he thinks is good, finding slams might be easier.

The main difference although is that it is more of natural than relay system, although you can do some tweaks to add relays.

[straube]

That helps. I will look over their NT system. I noticed that 1C-1D, 1N and 1C-1D, 2C show clubs and diamonds respectively and give opener an extra chance to bid. It seems like it's too much to sort out though.

 

I'm sure that when it goes 1C-1D, 1M that they are well-placed but that's really catering to good hands with a 5-cd major.

[Zelandakh]

Iirc 1♣ - ♦; 1NT as clubs and 1♣ - 1♦; 2♣ as diamonds was part of Rigal Precision and spread from there. Rigal used 1♥ for the balanced hands rather than the strong NT from Revision. I could be wrong but I thought Revision's NT structure was just a variant on a standard 4-suit transfer system and not desperately interesting. But it is a long time since I looked at it.

[phoenix214]

Well maybe then i do not know what standard it, but it does not change the fact that responder is able to show his shape, and so it should not matter much in that there is no huge problems bidding after 1NT.

And the 1♣-1♦, 1NT follows pretty much like a classical precision 2♣. 2♣ is weak so you can stop, and 2♦ is INV+ as after a normal 2♣, but responder has already showed that he does not have a weak hand with one 5 card major or 4-4 majors, so that is a +

[phoenix214]

Well maybe then i do not know what standard it, but it does not change the fact that responder is able to show his shape, and so it should not matter much in that there is no huge problems bidding after 1NT.

And the 1♣-1♦, 1NT follows pretty much like a classical precision 2♣. 2♣ is weak so you can stop, and 2♦ is INV+ as after a normal 2♣, but responder has already showed that he does not have a weak hand with one 5 card major or 4-4 majors, so that is a +

[Hilver]

My pard and I use the basic principles of John Montgomery's Revision Club. It is a well documented bidding system. At least Foreword and Introduction of his free book should be read by every serious bridgeplayer. John has done a great job!

Stubborn as my pard and I are, we used his basic principles in developing our own bidding system, the Hilversumse Klaveren (in Dutch :-(). Just Google the name.

It's fun using John's basic ideas. We owe him much.

 

Jan