Strong 1♣
Blueberry employs a novel approach to the strong club opening bid. The 1♥ response is an immediate double negative. This approach is well known for the strong 2♣ opening in natural systems, but it is uncommon for strong 1♣ systems. This pioneering method has two main goals:
- 1♣-1♦-1♥ is forcing and accommodates steps on the notrump ladder.
- 1♣-1♥ proposes playing 1♥, more powerful than playing 1♦.
The cost is that 1♦ is now forcing, the contract we seldom play even if opponents ever let us. The 1NT response also sporadically wrong-sides the notrump contract. I find slowly showing strong balanced hands OK since these hands are slow in competition anyway.
| 1♣- | STR ART, 16+ |
|---|---|
| 1♦! | (R) |
| 1♥! | DBL NEG, 0–4, 0–5♠, 0–4♥, 0–6♦, 0–6♣ |
| 1♠ | FG, 4+♠ |
| 1NT! | FG, 5+♥ |
| 2♣ | FG, 5+♣ |
| 2♦ | FG, 5+♦ |
| 2♥ | INV, 4–7, 6+♥ |
| 2♠ | INV, 4–7, 6+♠ |
| 2NT! | INV, 5–7, 5+♦, 5+♣ |
| 3♣ | INV, 5–7, 7+♣ |
| 3♦ | INV, 5–7, 7+♦ |
| 3♥! | INV, 5–7, 5+♥, 5+♠ |