Opening Bids of One Club

Theory

Big Club systems achieve many good results through the ability to describe strong hands at a low level. However anyone who has played such a system knows that an even greater benefit is that other one-level openings are much more limited than in standard bidding. Upon hearing your partner's opening bid, you immediately have a very big clue as to where the auction should take you.

Requirements and Responses

One club is opened with most hands of 16 or more HCP (17 if balanced). We also open 1 with any unbalanced hand containing fewer than five losers.

There are many methods for responding to a Big Club. If you already have a preferred method, you may skip this section.

Because of the popularity of Precision we suggest it as the basic approach, but with a small change for the better - i.e., more or less reversing the meanings of the 1 and 1NT responses. This keeps the bidding at a reasonable level, and improves the chances of the strong hand declaring, in the common case where responser has a balanced hand.

Responses to 1 are:

	1	0-7 HCP
	1	8+ HCP, no good suit (usually 8-10 balanced,
		but may be 4-4-4-1 with more)
	1	8+ HCP, 5 or more spades
	1NT	8+ HCP, 5 or more hearts
	2/	8+ HCP, natural
	2/	4-7 HCP, decent 6-card suit
	2NT	11-13 or 16+ HCP, balanced
	3///	4-7 HCP, decent 7-card suit
	3NT	14-15 HCP, balanced

Opener's non-jump notrump rebids are 17-19 HCP; with 23-24, opener should jump in notrump (with 25+, it's best to rebid in a suit). After an artificial response and opener's 1NT or 2NT rebid, Stayman and Jacoby Transfers apply.

Advancing the 1 Response

After 1-1, a 1 or 1 rebid by opener may be only four cards if she also has a longer minor or a balanced hand; responder may pass only with a very bad hand. Opener's subsequent jump rebid in a minor shows a very good hand with the minor being the longer suit. Alternatively, a subsequent non-jump rebid in a minor is ambiguous as to relative suit length, and responder may pass or take a preference with 0-4 HCP.

After 1-1 and a 2 or 2 rebid by opener, responder may pass only with 0-3 HCP. Any positive response to 1 is forcing to game.

Auctions with Interference

After an overcall up to the level of 2, we do the following:

If the overcall shows two or three known suits, then with 9+ HCP we bid notrump with those suits stopped, or cue-bid the cheapest enemy suit in which we have a control. If no specific suit is shown then a double shows 5+ HCP with some interest in collecting a penalty or "flushing out" the meaning of the bid, there is no cue-bid, a suit bid is natural and nonforcing, and the cheapest notrump bid is natural with 9+ HCP (note that a natural 1NT overcall falls in this "no specific suit" category).

If the overcall is 2NT or higher, bidding is natural. A double shows values suitable for either offense or defense.

If 1 is doubled, respond as if it were an overcall but with redouble replacing double.