JLOGIC, on 2013-May-08, 10:13, said:
So if I understand it right, in general chart in USA if you play 1C is 3+ you can open Axxx x x AJT9xxx NP. If you play it 2+, you have to play it as 4432 only when it's 2. Otherwise it is ILLEGAL. Similarly, if you play 3 or 4+ diamond you can open 1D with Axxx x AJT9xxx x, but if you play 0 or 1 or 2+ you cannot.
That is madness and giving an unfair advantage to what they deem as a natural system. I suppose this is why the directors ostensibly treat these 1C and 1D bids as natural even though they shouldn't.
In midchart or higher, possibly it's ok to agree that you can open artificial bids 8+ and have them not be a psyche? Or am I misreading. I'll feel pretty bad if that's not true since apparently I've been making illegal bids with some frequency.
There's a little wiggle room before something gets deemed a psyche. I can't recall quite what it is. More than one card deviation? More than one hcp deviation? I'm certain that you could open a 9 point hand with an artificial 1D because a 1 hcp deviation doesn't constitute a psyche..and hence there is no illegality. However, you can't have the agreement with your partner to open 9 hcp hands. So partner has to be expecting 10 and the wiggle room is thrown in there to allow for judgment and upgrades. Certainly Axxx x AJT9xxx x is worth an upgrade.