This is a strong-club system: the ♣1 opening is the strong, artificial force, and everything else is limited to about 15 HCP. It is loosely a "TaJ++ Precision," but there is no natural Precision ♦2 opener. The style is aggressive on opening: most 10-counts are opened, though a flat 10 may be passed when vulnerable, and shapely hands can open lighter. This chapter gives the one-line meaning of each opening bid and the general principles that govern the rest of the system.
Each opening below is described by its point range and shape. The one range you should memorize is 1NT: it is 14 to 16 HCP in every seat and at every vulnerability, never a different range, and bad 14-counts are opened.
There are no special agreements for opening bids of 4NT and higher.
Doubles are takeout unless they are specifically defined otherwise.
All Strange Bids Are Forcing (ASBAF). When an auction reaches a spot with no agreed meaning, treat the odd bid as forcing rather than passable. It is a catch-all for the unknown.
When we have committed to a certain level and an opponent interferes, including with a double, pass is generally more encouraging than bidding on to that forced level. A common case is a cue-bid raise being doubled: rebidding our trump suit is then the weak, sign-off action, and passing shows more.
We ignore most doubles by the opponents; our bids keep the meaning they would have had without the double. This does not apply to doubles of a one-level suit opening, where our response structure does change.
Minimum responses to openings vary by opening. We pass ♦1 freely on up to 9 HCP. Over a major we use more standard requirements to respond: an ace, or a king with a 5-count, or any 6-count. Over ♣2 and ♦2 passing is easy with around 8 HCP and no fit, and even 10 or 11 counts can pass ♦2.
Relays are off in competition. When the opponents interfere in a relay auction we stop relaying, with one exception: a double is generally ignored and the relay continues. This exception does not apply to ♣1 opener responses.
Late doubles are ignored. In most extended auctions a double by the opponents does not change our responses; this is especially true over RKC-style bids, where there is no "ROP1" or similar. An initial double by the opponents, however, often does change our response structure.
Fast arrival applies. When we are forced to a certain level, for example after a cue-bid, simply bidding that level is the weakest action available. This holds even over a double, where passing is more encouraging than retreating to the forced level.
Jumps in competition are mostly fit-showing single jump shifts. Jump raises are weak. Double jumps, where available, are splinters, but they rank below a fit-showing jump when only one jump is available. A double-jump cue-bid is a mixed raise.
Cue-bids of the opponents' suit show support when made directly in response to partner's call. A delayed cue-bid instead probes and generally asks for a stopper. When the opponents have shown two suits, we cue-bid the suit we hold, not the one we need. As psyche protection in ♣1 auctions, cue-bidding the opponents' suit a second time is natural.
We play Inverted Pass and Pull. In a forcing-pass situation, bidding directly is more encouraging than passing and then pulling partner's double, which is the opposite of standard practice. For example, after ♥1 - (2♠) - 3♠ - (4♠), bidding ♥5 is forward-going, while passing and pulling a double of 4♠ aims to get out in ♥5.
When the opponents show two known suits, we cue-bid their lower suit to show our lower suit and their higher suit to show our higher suit. A double shows a good hand, and a second double is penalty. The cue-bid is normally the stronger action; the exception is when the higher cue-bid sits below our own lower suit, in which case bidding the higher suit is stronger than that cue-bid.
When the opponents show two suits but only one is known, we treat the auction as if they had bid just that known suit: the cue-bid supports opener, new suits are forcing, and so on.
A 2NT bid in competition depends on context. When the bidder is forced, such as when responding to a takeout-style double, 2NT is scrambling. When 2NT is a free bid it is usually Good/Bad. When 2NT is responder's first bid it is natural unless defined otherwise, as after 1M - Dbl.