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Four
Aces System
Methods used by the Four
Aces Team in winning many championships during the Thirties. The
main features of the system were:
| (1) |
Point count
of ace=3; king=2; queen=1; jack=½. This makes a total of 26
points in the pack, and 6½ represent an average hand; 9½
represent a mandatory opening bid. |
| (2) |
Limited
1NT opening with a range of 11½ -13 points. (Hands with less
than seven honor cards are devalued by ½ point for each honor,
and hands with more than seven honors are simply increased in value.)
Establishment of this notrump range solved major rebidding headaches;
in combination with point-count and rigidly prescribed responses,
it precluded many of the notrump bidding faults that plagued inexpert
players. |
|
(3)
|
Minor-suit
bids, if need be in a three-card suit, as exploring manoeuvres, either
by the opener or the responder. |
| (4) |
WEAK JUMP OVERCALLS |
| (5) |
PSYCHIC BIDS by third
hand and occasionally first hand showing high-card strength in the
suit bid and little else. |
| (6) |
JUMP SHIFT to the level
of two or three as a psychic control. The opener rebids 2NT with a
psychic, and with any other rebid a slam is reached. |
The Four Aces' book included a number of
other original ideas, many of which have become standard practice.
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