THE SYSTEM
by Maurycy Rustecki
I happen to know at least one top National League team that specializes in
bidding slams without two or more Aces. After years of trying to get used to
such complicated inventions as Blackwood and Gerber, the members of the team
finally gave their futile efforts up and instead, managed to bring their own
way to perfection. By the way, the above mentioned conventions aren't by any
means flawless, Mr.Blackwood for one had never discovered how to reach many
less ambitious contract like 5C, 3NT or 2S after his ridiculously high 4NT,
and Mr.Gerber's 4C collides with extremely useful cue-bids and asking bids!
As it happened, only once a team member answered correctly the 4C question
and it ended in disaster - the pair bid only a game, while on the second
table the opponents never bothered to ask, reached a slam without two Aces
and made it after a correct but slightly unlucky lead. They say that in
their minds this incident was the last nail in the coffin of the B & G
conventions.
Since then, logically enough, they haven't let any conventions interfere
with their advanced way of bidding, and their results have greatly improved.
And if you still don't believe, maybe this deal taken from the last European
Pairs Championship will finally convince you:
109873
A82 The bidding of the
93 8th best pair in Europe:
A52
AQJ5 K4 W E
7 N J963 ------------
Q64 W E AK107 2C 2D
J10973 S KQ8 2S 3D
3S 4C
62 4H 4NT
KQ1054 5D 5NT
J852 6C -
64
Never mind that the opponents cashed both missing Aces. The score, 50 for
NS, happened to be the absolute top! Why? Because all the other EW pairs
played 3NT down two...
I did try to sneak in a question or two concerning their bidding system,
but they both refused any comment on this touchy subject.
And I frankly admit I don't get it. All I ever wanted to do was to share
the system used by one of the best European pairs with our aspiring young
generation of bridge players. What's wrong with that?
