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The evidence is strong that Mr. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, who fathered the scoring method of the game of bridge, devised, developed, and originated the concept, the notion, the idea of employing an opening bid on the one level as an artificial bid showing strength, generally with an opening bid of 1 Club. Mr. Harold Vanderbilt employed this artificial 1 Club opening for his system, appropriately named the Vanderbilt Club, which was first published in the year 1934.
This approach of employing the 1 Club opening bid to show a strong holding and reserving all other one level opening bids for holdings worth only opening values enjoyed initial success and popularity among the community of bridge players. This concept was incorporated into the publication of Mr. Paul Stern titled The Stern Austrian System, with Margery Belsey, and which was published in the year 1938. This approach was also designated as the Vienna System, albeit in a different form, which communicated the information that the Club suit was the longest held suit, that the values, based on the Bamberger Point Count, has a range between 11 and 17 high card points, and that this opening bid is one-round forcing unless the immediate opponent overcalls.
As with all great ideas, however, the interest, the enthusiasm, the excitement within the bridge playing community turned in other directions and the concept of natural bids became prevalent. Bridge historians maintain that the concept only began to return to popularity with the re-introduction by expert bridge players from Italy, who were dominating the international bridge events in the 1960s. Many bridge experts believe that the introduction of the bidding system designated as the Neapolitan Club was the official renaissance or rebirth of this concept.
The attempt has been undertaken to list these bidding systems, these artificial, strong opening bids.
All collected information regarding the Precision bidding system and its multitude of variations and modifications are listed. Many of the Precision agreements, of which all employ the artificial 1 Club opening bid, are presented in .pdf file format, and which have been compiled, composed, and contributed by other bridge players, other bridge theoreticians, other bridge experts. We thank each bridge player individually and all collectively, who have contributed, and remain in their debt by allowing this information to be preserved and archived on this site for future reference.
Note: The visitor must remain aware of the fact that this list will contain approaches, which are listed elsewhere on this site. The main reason is that only the opening bids of these systems remain. This site also attempts to list these approaches separately, whereby only the opening bids are known: Opening Bids.
Aces Club Opening Bids
The Aces Club opening bidding system was played by Mr. Bob Hamman and Mr. Bobby Wolff in the American Aces Team. The similarity to the bidding system of Blue Team Club is evident and the differences are only slight.
Bernier Big Club Opening Bids
These opening bids were devised by Mr. Jerry Bernier and Mr. Mike Schmenk in the 1960s and is based on the Kaplan-sheinwold and Schenken Club.
Blue Club
The Blue Team developed a bidding system using a combination of the Neapolitan and Roman bidding systems. Combining the most favorable features of both bidding systems resulted in the formation of the Blue Club bidding system. The main proponents of this bidding system were Mr. Walter Avarelli, Mr. Benito Garozzo,Mr. Pietro Forquet, Mr. Massimo D'Alelio, and Mr. Giorgio Belladonna. They had great success at the bridge tournaments using the Blue Club System.
Blue Team Club Openings
Blue Team became the popular name for the Italian International Bridge Team, which had many international successes from 1956 to 1975. The captain and the members of the Blue Team devised a bidding system, which is still played today. The Blue Team Club was the result of the efforts of the Italian Bridge Federation, Mr. Carl Alberto Perroux, the team captain, and the team members, who dedicated themselves to the study of the game of bridge.Blue Team Club System
The Blue Team Club System was mainly devised by Mr. Benito Garozzo. The Blue Team Club System is based on the principle that a 1 Club opening is forcing. The style of this system is called Canape, and this means that the opener can/should bid the short suits before he bids the long suits. Canape is a bidding method in which the opener bids his long suit on his rebid and was developed by Mr. Pierre Albarran from France.Blue Team Club Responses
As the name implies, the opening will be 1 Club. The significance of this 1 Club opening is that it is defined as 1. forcing, and 2. shows 17 or more points using a 4-3-2-1 count. Sometimes it is also a distributional factor which may define a 1 Club opening with slightly less than 17 points, or a weaker 1 Club opening with exactly 17 points.Blue Team Roman Responses to Blackwood
Even the Roman Blackwood Convention, a variation of the original Blackwood Convention, has a variation. This variation was devised by the Blue Team Club and was applied with some success. The Blue Team was the popular name given to the Italian International Bridge Team which had a series of huge successes starting in 1956 and ending in 1969.
Breakthrough Opening Bids
These opening bids were devised and developed by Mr. Robert Sundby of Wisconsin, United States.
Cable Car Opening Bids
These opening bids were devised by Mr. Steve Altus of Stanford, California, United States. These opening bids are based on the strong, artificial 1 Club opening, which shows 17 plus points.
Cobra
Computer Oriented Bridge Analysis is the result of feeding a computer certain elements of the evaluation and distributional factors of card combinations by Mr. Torbjörn Lindelöf.
Cobra Opening Bids
As a base for the entered data into the software application, Mr. E. Torbjörn Lindelof used the following opening bids, similar to the Schenken Club opening bids.
Cranberry Club Opening Bids
These opening bids constitute a simplified version of the Tangerine Club system and was developed by Mr. Jan Eric Larsson of Sweden, who developed the Tangerine Club system.
Crazy Diamond Opening Bids
These opening bids are from a bidding system used in The Netherlands and was developed by Mr. and Mrs. Arie van Heusden, Mr. Jaap Kokkes, Mr. Kees Kaiser and co-bridge players and has been published in the book by Mr. G.J.R. Forch with the title Bieden voor Gevorderden.
Currified Precision
This is the documentation on the Internet of Mr. Neill Currie as presented by Mr. Tony Melucci, who was declared King of Bridge in the year 1995, at the included links. The system has been developed by both Mr. Neill Currie and Mr. Tony Melucci.
DESY Polish Club Bidding System
This is a form of the Polish Club bidding system used in northern Germany. The designation comes from the fact that the players are employees of a company called High Energy Physics Laboratory located in Hamburg, Germany. The website offers the visitor the chance to download their version of the DESY Polish Club bidding system, but the format is an internal company format and may be difficult to open. The present URL may be possibly outdated, but this is the only connection at the moment. The website and the contents are maintained by Mr. Henk Uijterwaal, who lives in Rozendaal, The Netherlands.
DESY Polish Club Opening Bids
These bids represent the opening bids with corresponding explanation for the developed DESY Polish Club Bidding System. According to the website of the DESY Bridge Group these bids are attributed to Katherine Wipf, Mr. Bill Murray, Mr. Doug Hasell, and Mr. Henk Uijterwaal. The interested reader may wish to also visit the S.B.C. Dombo Studenten Bridge Club in Holland.Note: This website has not been updated since the year 1994. The information for the Polish Club presented on this website has been archived and preserved on this site in .pdf file format for future reference. The main contributors for this information are Katherine Wipf, Bill Murray and Doug Hasell, in collaboration with other contributors from 1985.
Note: This bidding system has been included on this list even though the opening bid of 1 Club is defined as holding values between 12 and 15 points. However, this opening bid is forcing for one round, even following competition.
Dragon 2 No Trump - Dragon 2 NT - Contributed by Mr. Robert Hanly of Canada. This conventional method is employed when the partnership employs Weak No Trump openings and an opening of 1 Club or 1 Diamond promises multiple values and shape.
Note: Included in this .pdf file are also Dragon 3 Clubs, which is an Asking Bid when playing 1M-2NT as natural and forcing to game; Canadian 2 Diamonds, which is a variation of the Mexican 2 Diamonds conventional method; Dragon Defense to Polish Club, which is a constructive defence mechanism to the Polish Club System; and GForce, which is a conventional method for responses to a Forcing Raise in a Major suit, compiled by Mr. Fred Gitelman, with a few variations.
Dragon 1 No Trump: Mr. Robert Hanly of Canada has expanded this system of conventional responses. Words of the originator and contributor: This system of conventional responses to a weak no trump opening would not be possible without the prior work presented in the Polish Club (WJ2005) and the Kokish Weak NT. I give full credit to the originators of these systems for providing the solid base upon which the Dragon Weak No Trump is founded. Mr. Robert Hanly has contributed this information, which is archived and preserved in .pdf file format on this site for future reference.
Eastern Scientific
This bidding system, which employs a 1 Club opening to show various shapes and strengths, is similar to the concept known as Standard American and was devised and developed mainly by Mr. Robert Goldman and Mr. William Eisenberg.
Efos Bidding System
The Economical Forcing System was used in international championships by leading Swedish players such as Mr. Jan Wohlin, Mr. Nils Olaf Lilliehook, and Mr. Gunnar Anulf. The concept is reported to have originated with Mr. Eric Jannersten. The idea behind the concept is to give the opener the most opportunity to make the most accurate and descriptive rebid, in order to describe his holding. As a result, most of the responses are artificial in meaning.
Efos Opening Bids
The Economic Forcing System introduced new features, especially after a No Trump opening. One of these features is the "Repeated" or Extended Stayman convention. The bidding system is similar to a Relay System in that, after an opening by one partner, the next, cheapest suit bid is considered either natural or a generally forcing bid.
Estonian Diamond Opening Bids
The origin of these opening bids are unknown and the designation is also vague. For additional information the interested visitor can contact the Estonian Bridge Federation.
FClub or F-Club or Scanian Strong Club - The origin of this artificial 1 Club opening plus complete continuances is unknown. The link is to the website of Mr. Daniel Neill. This biddingsystem and/or approach has been only preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file 1 and .pdf file 2 format for future reference. These files will automatically be opened by your browser.
Finnish Standard
This document, as detailed by Mr. Jukka Korpela, presents a foundation for the Finnish Standard Bidding System for bridge. Officially the standard is defined for the bidding panel of the Finnish Bridge magazine, but it is often regarded as a more general standard.
Finnish Junior Standard Opening Bids
These opening bids were developed in the late 1980s and has gained some amount of popularity among bridge players.
Goren Opening Bids
In the original version, Mr. Charles Goren proposed that any raise to the three level are absolutely game forcing and that all two level openings should also be game forcing and contain at least a 5-card suit of that denomination.
Jacoby Modern Opening Bids
Mr. Oswald Jacoby devised these opening bids during his bridge career with certain established requirements for the bridge player, intended to become standard. However, the concept of opening a 4-card Major suit was eventually replaced with the concept of a 5-card Major suit.
Kaplan-Sheinwold System
A bidding system developed by Mr. Edgar Kaplan and Mr. Alfred Scheinwold based on five-card Majors and weak No Trump openings. The system has the purpose of precisely limiting the strength shown by all bids during the auction.
Kentucky Club Bidding System
The origin of this bidding system is unknown but the name can hold a clue.
Lea System
The Lea System is based on the 1965 privately published book, authored by Mr. Robert H. Lea of St. Paul, Minnesota, entitled Bridge is Easy With The Lea System. The system is based on a strong, forcing 1 Club opening, which promises 12 plus high card points.
Majeure Cinquieme Opening Bids
This is the name given by the bridge players in France to their bidding system, which is considered standard and which is translated as Five Card Majors. It is have been revised over time to some degree, but the general basics continue to be applicable.
MamiC Opening Bids
The concept of the MamiC Opening Bid system was devised by Mr. Richard Lighton of New Jersey around 1990. The concept is based on the Major-Minor-Canapé opening bidding system. This means that a 4-card Major suit is opened first before a 5-card Minor suit, and that a 4-card Minor suit is opened first before a 5-card Major suit.
MG Precision Handbook
This is a Precision bidding system handbook for those serious about playing a more sophisticated and scientific system, devised by Mr. Greg Earnest together with wife and bridge partner Meaghin Burke. Mr. Greg Earnest has published this information privately and offers it for purchase on his web blog. This information has also been archived and preserved on this site in .pdf file format for future reference. The serious bridge student should, by all means, research the information as published by Mr. Greg Earnest.
MG Precision Cuebids
This bidding method has been developed by Mr. Greg Earnest.together with wife and bridge partner Meaghin Burke. The first letter of their first names constitute the initials of this bidding approach with Meaghin Burke receiving first billing. The concept and employment of these particular cuebids lie in the fact that they are able to show game values, 4-card plus support, slam interest, and promise also a first-round control in the suit bid.MG Opening Bids Only
The opening bids of the MG Precision bidding system are listed separately.
Mock Swedish Opening Bids
This is a opening bidding system devised in 1993 by Mr. Richard Lighton of New Jersey, who was fascinated by the Muppet Show created by Mr. Jim Henson. Especially one character captured his imagination, and that was the Swedish Chef who spoke in babbled sounds and made absolutely no sense, but was comical and chaotic. The concept of the Mock Swedish opening bidding system is that several opening bids can have two different and distinctive interpretations.
Monaco Bidding System
The Monaco system was the original Relay System. It was devised by Mr. Pierre Ghestem of France around 1954, and used with Mr. Rene Bacherich in several World Championship tournaments. The main concept of the Relays some transfers is to bid in such a manner as to make the stronger hand become the declarer in the final contract.
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Moscito
Moscito is a partial acronym for Major-Oriented-Strong-Club and was first devised by Mr. Paul Marston and Mr. Stephen Burgess. The concept was based on the Symmetric Relay system basically in auctions when the opening partnership has the balance of power. Originally, Mr. Paul Marston and Mr. Stephen Burgess conceived this system of bidding as a Strong Pass system.
New South Wales System
A variation of the Vienna System formerly used by Mr. Richard Cummings and Mr. Tim Seres and other Australians.
Toad Club System
This bidding system was developed by Americans Mr. Ken Schutze and Mr. Jim Griffin, and played in the 2005 United States Women's Trials. The Toad Club system is a Big Club System in which all good hands (16 plus high card points or equivalent playing strength) are opened with 1 Club. Failure to open 1 Club, therefore, limits the hand to at most 15 points (except a 1 Heart opening may contain 17 high card points when holding a 5-card suit and unbalanced hand).
The system actively encourages aggressive opening bids and, by design, allows the opener to get out at a low level in many auctions in which he has elected to open light. Consequently, many auctions that would be forcing in Standard American are non-forcing in Toad Club. The major component of the Toad Club system is the use of many distributional relays to ascertain partner’s exact distribution.
This bidding system is only preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file format for future reference. The visitor should select the link for the original version as presented by Mr. Marin Johnson.
Universal Club Opening Bids
The origin of the Universal Club is from the publication by Mr. Fred R. Thomas titled Universal Club: The System For Everyone; Better Bidding At Contract Bridge, first printing in 1980 by the Los Angeles Uniclub Press, ISBN-13: B000Q5K7D4. This bidding system, also known as Uni-Club, employs a forcing 1 Club opening bid for two types of holdings.
Universal Club Two Clubs Opening
In the Universal Club bidding system, origin unknown, the opening bid of 2 Clubs has been assigned a specific meaning, which is that it shows a three-suited holding, generally a distribution of 4-4-1-4, with values between 12 and 17 high card points. A minimum and a maximum point count is known and also the short suit, which is Diamonds.Universal Club Two Diamonds Opening
In the Universal Club bidding system, origin unknown, the opening of 2 Diamonds has been assigned a specific meaning. This opening bid promises a three-suited holding. The required point count is between 16 and 21 high card points. This opening demands that the Diamond suit be one of the three suits as opposed to the 2 Clubs opening bid, which shows Diamond shortage.Universal Club 2 Hearts and 2 Spades Opening
The Universal Club bidding system has relegated special, if not specific, information in the opening bid of either 2 Hearts or 2 Spades. Either of these two openings promise at least a 5-card card, or longer, and a second, unspecified second suit, also a 5-card suit, or longer. The point range is a minimum of 14 high card points and the upper range is unlimited. Therefore, these two opening bids are forcing for one round. They are not considered to be absolutely game-forcing in nature.
Vanderbilt Club
This is a bidding system devised and developed by Mr. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, born July 6, 1884 and died July 4, 1970, and first published in 1934, these opening bids formed the foundation for all following bidding systems employing a strong, artificial, and one-round forcing 1 Club opening bid.
If you wish to include any of these these features, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.
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