Introduction

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

This book is a collection of my bidding systems. I have been studying forcing club systems since reading Good, Better, Best by Jan Eric Larsson, whose simulations show that forcing club systems tend to outperform other systems. I believe opening 1♣ for all strong hands is a superior treatment.

Strawberry Polish Club is a BTU-flavored Polish Club largely based on Polish Club 2020: Expert. Polish Club serves as a gateway to the world of forcing clubs. It is 5-card major. Its main opening range is 12–17. Sharing these properties, it has similar bidding structure to 2/1, the lingua franca of modern bridge.

Blueberry Cottontail Club is a modernized mix of Blue Club and Cottontail Club along with new ideas from BTU. It is a 4-card major strong club system with a moderately strong notrump. It is highly experimental and subject to change without notice.

Hand evaluation

  • HCP: the well-known Milton Work’s 4321 count
  • Total points: HCP + distribution points (void = 3, singleton = 2, doubleton = 1, subtract 1 for each short suit with HCP)
  • Zar: 6-4-2-1 + Zar distribution points (a + b + a - d, where the letters are the number of cards from the longest to the shortest suit)
  • Fifths: 4.0–2.8–1.8–1.0–0.4, adjusted HCP for notrump contracts especially 3NT
  • BUM-RAP: 4.5–3–1.5–0.75–0.25, adjusted HCP for suit contracts
  • NLTC: Count 1.5–1.0–0.5 losers for each missing AKQ

NLTC is a good single hand evaluator but not very additive. It suits preemptive initial actions but not for showing supports. I wrote a blog article on that topic.

Stopper

I evaluate stopper quality as GIB does.

  • Partial stop: length + HCP = 4
  • Likely stop: length + HCP = 5
  • Stop: A, QJx, or length + HCP at least 7
  • Two stops: length + HCP at least 8

References

General methods

Polish Club

Precision Club

Other strong clubs