[Quarky]

THis is the system I played during my most active years of bridge, when i played in person in Russia when i was 10-14 yrs old. This is also the reason I suck at sayc and 2/1 because I don't know them as well as I knew Sign Off I only played this Sign Off system and a natural strong 1C system in russia, no sayc or 2/1

This link is in russian: http://bridge.gamble...ng/signoff.html

It's a relay system, such that when a game-forcing strength is established, the captain of the bidding is able to get the partner's # of cards in each suit (voids are shown as singletons, so it's accurate to 1 card, but voids can be found later if necessary).

Pros: was easy to learn as a kid, nice to know pard's cards in an easy manner, ability to get lots of info at low level of bidding when opps dont interfere, ability to ask for more than just aces and kings (i remember we once had an auction where i had room to ask partner about his A, K, Q, and Jacks to explore a grand), opening bids are very liberal and can preempt opponent's auctions

Cons: problems if opps preempt at high levels, difficulty penalizing opps overcalls, captain might end up dummy thus exposing declarer's distribution via the auction

The basic openings are:

1♣ 16+ Any
1♦ 12-15 Any
1♥ 8-11pc, 4-5♥, 0-3♠
1♠ 8-11pc, 4-5♠, 0-3♥
1NT 8-11pc, 4-6 each major
2♣ 8-11pc, 0-3 each major, 5+♣
2♦ 8-11pc, 0-3 majors, 5+♦

Openings above this shows hands with long majors, I won't get into those.

The relay system works through a couple of queries, the first one asks for an intermediate clarification of distribution, for example 1S - 1NT (relay) - 2S shows max spades, min hearts, so 5 spades and 0-2 hearts; opener's response to 1st relay of 2H would have shown min spades and max heart lengths (4 spades, 3 hearts); response of a minor would have shown minimal major lengths and given a clue about the distribution of minors. After this, another relay may follow, and step responses provide exact distribution of cards in all 4 suits, with exception of voids shown as singletons and singleton aces shown as doubletons (to make identification of aces/voids easier in slam auctions).

AFter finding out exact distribution, ace-ask may follow with another relay, and step responses being:
1step: 0 or 2 major aces/voids, 0 or 2 minor aces/voids
2steps: 0 or 2 major aces/voids, 1 minor ace/void
3steps: 1 major ace/void, 0 or 2 minor aces/voids
4steps: 1 maj ace/void, 1 min ace/void

Then same thing to ask for Kings, Queens (and jacks if you really want and dont play the below suggestion)... Suggested continuation is asking for colors of Kings and Queens, same steps as above, only instead of major/minor groupings, it's grouped by red kings and red queens

so 1 step would be 0 or 2 red kings and 0 or 2 red queens, etc.


Was a fun system to play as a kid I bet it would still mess with some people even now if i could play with someone who knows it Some other guys at the russian club that i played against had other interesting systems, like one where Pass was 12-15 forcing and opening of 1S was a mandatory "anything" opening to preempt opps (so generally a 0-11 garbage hand, where 1S doesnt show spades or anything else, it just says "my hand is ****ty")

[wclass___]

1♣ i rate 51+% (if not Vul-nv);(Ok)
1♦ i can't find words do describe this absurdity...(1♦ 25% ===> 1♣ is ~9%)(NOT Ok)
1M is key feature, thus it is strongest point in this system.(OK, especially NV)
However, real profit comes only from copetitive bidding ===> I dount think you are in better position comparing to
P(you)-[P]-sth-[P]
And relays are for slams, definetly not priority here.
1N is very rare (NOT OK)
2m 8-11? it is like playing 2♦ preemptive(which can't(shouldn't) be destructive) , personally i doun't see reason to open these hands at all...(not OK)
But if playing this system makes you feel good, play it!

[Flame]

Opening 1D with 5M is something i don't like.
If you like relay with strong club there are many versions available, and i believe you will like playing it just as much, however I would advice you to play some natural system for a while.

[rbforster]

Flame, on Nov 23 2008, 04:34 AM, said:

Opening 1D with 5M is something i don't like.

On the contrary, the problem is that 1♦ might have a 5cM but might not. You could play that 1♦ was 12-15 with a 5+ major and just pass the 12-15's without. If partner will open his 8-11's opposite a passed hand you won't miss much.

[wclass___]

Rob F, on Nov 23 2008, 05:26 AM, said:

Flame, on Nov 23 2008, 04:34 AM, said:

Opening 1D with 5M is something i don't like.

On the contrary, the problem is that 1♦ might have a 5cM but might not. You could play that 1♦ was 12-15 with a 5+ major and just pass the 12-15's without. If partner will open his 8-11's opposite a passed hand you won't miss much.

Very interesting suggestion!

[effervesce]

wclass___, on Nov 26 2008, 07:23 AM, said:

Rob F, on Nov 23 2008, 05:26 AM, said:

Flame, on Nov 23 2008, 04:34 AM, said:

Opening 1D with 5M is something i don't like.

On the contrary, the problem is that 1♦ might have a 5cM but might not. You could play that 1♦ was 12-15 with a 5+ major and just pass the 12-15's without. If partner will open his 8-11's opposite a passed hand you won't miss much.

Very interesting suggestion!

And swap pass and 1♦ and you'll then have plenty of space to relay out the 12-15 5+M hands.

[Flame]

I like passing with 12-15 first and second hand idea, but i don't like the idea of bidding 1D with the 5M hands.