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1♣ Any 16+
1♦ Denies a 4+ card major; 11-15 unbal or 11-12 bal
1♥ and 1♠ 10-15 unbal, either 6+ suit or 4 cards with a longer minor; or 10-12 bal, 4 cards or 5332
1NT 13-15, a strong NT I guess
2♦ Multi (weak only)
2M Exactly 5 card suit, 4 or 5 cards in a minor, 11-15
I have two worries about this system, other than sorting the responses of course! Firstly, the 2M openers. They are fairly undefined given the level that they are being opened at, but I guess the preemption can work both ways - after all, natural systems will frequently land up playing in 2M on a false preference auction. I suspect the main loss would be playing in 2♠ when we can make 4♥ in a 5-3 fit, but again 2/1 has this problem. One alternative I considered was 1♦ as exactly 5 cards in a major, but that isn't terribly legal around here. Shame, 2♣ and 2♦ as either six cards or 5-4 minors could have been quite nice. Another is 2♣ as four or five ♣ and a five card major, so that the 2M openers promise that suit and diamonds, but that doesn't solve the 5-3 heart fit problem. A further option, the one I started with, is as follows:
1♦ nat single suited, minors, 4+♦5M
1N 13-15 or 11-12 with 4♣333 and 5♣332s, Blue Club style
2♣ nat 6 cards
5M4+♣ hands either opening 2M or being added to the 1M openers.
11-12 bal with 4♦ but no 4 card major could go into 1♦ or 1NT.
The 1♦ opener could be interesting to respond to. 1♥ would need to be artificial, possibly a negative, possibly just an enquiry ambiguous in strength. Jimmy (Luke Warm) has suggested 1♥ as an artificial negative, 1N as artificial forcing, and 1♠ and 2♣ as natural non-forcing, as per Weiss Club. Another idea that I've had is to use 1♥ as a general relay, now continuations for unbalanced hands are split by whether three spades are held or not - after 1♦:1♥, 1♠ 3 cards (now 1N relay), 1N nat, 2♣/♦/♥ nat without 3♠.
Secondly, what to do with a major two suiter. The three options I've thought of - Opening them with the shorter suit, opening them with the longer suit, or using the currently vacant 2♣ opener (possibly including a diamond option). I suspect that opening 5-4s in the five card suit could lose a lot of the benefits of the system. I've had little experience with Blue Club, should I be seeking out a book on it?
Of course, any other comments are welcome! TIA, and thanks also for the replies to my previous posts on the subject.
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Here goes with the background...
Having played some MOSCITO (transfer openings), I'm quite keen on frequently opening four card majors. Finding the major fit quickly is often advantageous, and you can get some nice penalties when opps balance over 2M when you had been in a 4-3.
However, I dislike the amount that MOSCITO gives up to obtain those penalties, and to compete to the 3 level when responder has four card support for opener's five card suit. 1♦:2♥ is defined as 6-9 points, exactly 3 card support IIRC; With four card support you often need to raise to the 3 level on what could be a 15 total trump deal, and weaker hands have to pass the transfer opening and hope that the opps have game on. The latter problem is exacerbated by the EBU's regulations - A strong club has to promise 16 HCP in all but a couple of events in this country. Indeed, transfer openings are permitted in less than half of our competitions.
This leads me to prefer a system where a 1M opening bid is natural, showing either four or six cards in the bid suit. This leaves responder in no doubt about our total number of trumps after raising partner's major, as he can happily reraise with six. It also reduces the pressure on responder to make a raise on three cards on hands not suited to playing in a 4-3 fit. To increase the frequency of the 1M openings, they should include both balanced hands and hands with a longer minor suit.
As you can see, the exception to the "4 or 6" rule is 5M332s in the 10-12 point range. I'm not too worried about these, their lack of shape will mean that they frequently behave similarly both on offence and defence to a 4M5m31. It is likely that some 6m-5Ms (and possibly some 5-5s) will also land up opening 1M, but they are happy to take another bid.
