Strawberry Polish Club has a wider 1♦ and narrower 1♥♠︎ than Polish Club 2020: Expert. The wide 1♦ aims to solve rebidding problems in the nebulous 1♣ opening. Precision-like narrow major suits are followed by precise educated guesses and hence harder to defend.
Polish Club serves as a gateway to the world of forcing clubs. Its bidding structure is similar to 2/1, the lingua franca of modern bridge.
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)
- 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 or QJx or length + HCP at least 7
- Two stops: length + HCP at least 8
Bidding notation
Separate calls with spaces: 1NT - 2♣ (X) XX -. Parenthesize
opposing non-pass calls. Write passes as -, but write out P for initial
(quantified) passes or a single call, such as a table row offering pass.
Implicit P* prepends every auction, assuming that nobody plays significant
passes (likely a HUM). Thus P - 1♥ - 1NT - starts with 2-3 initial
passes and the 1♥ opener gets to bid.
The header of a bidding table shows the auction so far. Body rows then adds
calls. The second header cell states constraints: restrictions on
suit variables as inequalities, such as
x < y, or the meaning of an opposing call, such as
Both majors. Suit variables are lowercase and carry no implicit
rules. Start each new round with
<br>: 1NT - 2♣ -<br>2♦ -. Do not use <br> in body rows.
Punctuation
Descriptions in bidding tables are dense in information. To make them concise, I use abbreviations suggested by WBF in tables and words in paragraphs. Familiar convention names such as RKCB stay abbreviated in paragraphs too. Strength ranges and suit lengths keep their compact notation.
- All conditions: write
A and BorA, B; for longer lists, writeA, B, and CorA, B, C. For example,INV, 9–11, 6+♣. - Alternatives: write every
orexplicitly:A or B or C. - Grouping: use parentheses when mixing conditions and alternatives.
NAT, (11–14 or 18+), 4+♦requires natural diamonds with either strength range.(11–16, 3=♥) or (17, 4=♠, 3=♥)describes two cases. - Long alternatives: keep separate lines, with an explicit
orbetween alternatives. Colons and semicolons have their ordinary punctuation meanings.
Parentheses within shapes such as 33(43) still identify suits whose lengths
may swap order. Compact suit notation and the (R) relay tag are unchanged.
The precedence between , and or is undefined on purpose. Clarify visually
ambiguous eats(,) shoots and leaves. Only : binds looser than all of
them, so a tag may govern an unparenthesized phrase: eats: shoots and leaves. Otherwise, put a comma at every break of the same level:
eats shoots, (and) leaveseats, shoots, (and) leaves
References
General methods
- Jan Eric Larsson. Good, Better, Best: A comparison of bridge bidding systems and conventions by computer simulation. ISBN 978-1771402415
- Thomas Andrews. Thomas’s Bridge Fantasia
- Bridge Base. GIB Bid Descriptions
Polish Club
- Krzysztof Jassem & Tomek Brus. Polish Club 2020: Expert. ISBN 978-1771402248
- Krzysztof Jassem & Tomek Brus. Polish Club 2020: Standard. ISBN 978-1771402231
- Krzysztof Jassem. Wspólny Język 2020 Standard
- Piotr Cegielski. Wspólny Język DUCE
- Krzysztof Jassem. Polish Club International 2010
- Krzysztof Jassem. Wspólny Język 2005 (Polish Standard)
Other systems
- Benito Garozzo et al. Sistemi Ambra