[Cthulhu D]

I'm not sure I'm playing something smart enough over 1D openings, and I'm keen to get some input.

1♦ 11-19ish Natural, unbalanced w/ 4441 or 5+ diamonds, 5332 hands open 1NT or 1C. You can open 1D with 4 diamonds and 5 clubs if you absolutely have to, but please try and avoid it (Partner will never do, I'd do it with like AKJx in diamonds and Jxxxx in clubs and a stiff ace of spades or something).

The objective here is to sort out problematic major suit hands immediately by clarifying the majors situation, and have a bunch of ways to raise diamonds (2C, 2S, 3D). Clubs goes the way of the dodo with only two/three ways to get your club suit in the picture.

General design principles

A) Raise your partners major if you have support, however be truthful about your shape here (playing standard partner hates, hates, hates being raised on 3 after 1C-1S for example, and he hates opening a 6 diamonds 5 hearts hand with 1H)
B) Get your majors into the picture.
C) Raise partners other suits with a fit
D) Try and limit your hand ASAP unless you have a game force.
E) Set up your game force.

1♦
- 1♥ Natural
- 1♠ Natural
- 1 NT 7-11 balanced or 7-9 with clubs, non-forcing.
- 2♣ unbalanced diamond raise (4+) 6-9 (denies 4cM), or 5+C GF, or 3=3=3=4 exactly with 16+. Can have 4cM only with 5 clubs
- 2♦ WJS in a major
- 2♥ 5 Spades, 4 Hearts
- 2♠ Invitational plus raise of diamonds or balanced GF with 4D
- 2NT - Balanced invite to 3NT
- 3♣ 6+ ♣ in a limit raise, no 4 card diamond support or 4 card major
- 3♦ Preemptive Diamond Raise
- 3♥/♠ splinter agreeing diamonds
- 3NT 13-15 3334 balanced hand

Anything with a 4 card card major starts by bidding 1H or 1S unless it can respond 2D or 2H, which invites massive competition from the bad guys

I think the 2C is a bit overloaded and the 3NT is underloaded so I'm open to suggestions, but the PROBLEMS BEGIN after the 1M response. We play transfer responses and I'm very not sure about how to best play this:

1♦-1♥

1S: Natural
1NT: 4+ Clubs, limited to a normal 2C rebid.
2C: 6+ Diamonds, either weak or strong.
2D: Bad raise of hearts or a GF with 3 card heart support and without 6 diamonds (very not sure about this)
2H: Good raise of hearts (we open light, otherwise I'd have 2D as a 3 card raise probs, but I think this is better if you open every 11 count. I think it makes more sense to reverse the order, but in most other places in our system we play 'bad hand is the cheapest response' and preserving that logical outweighs the gains).
2S: Reverse into spades
2NT: 4+ Hearts with a 17 count or 6 diamonds, 3 hearts and a 17 count
3C: Normal Jump bid into clubs
3D: Jump rebid of diamonds without 3 hearts (otherwise you'd do 2NT or 2H)
3H: 15-16 with 4 card heart support.
3S: Splinter agreeing hearts
3NT: No fit, but to good to try 3C or 3D
4C: Splinter agreeing hearts
4D: 6 Diamonds with 5 Hearts not a super strong hand
4H: ??

It's entirely possible I'm overthinking the the 2D bid. It's forcing, because in no world are you going to be better off playing 2D when you have an 8 card heart fit. General principles are to show support if you have it (to which is dedicated 7 bids) show your 4 spades if you have them, otherwise show if you have a single suiter or a two suiter in the minors.

1♦-1♠

1NT: Clubs
2C: 4+ Hearts, any strength, forcing
2D: Diamonds
2H: Bad Raise of Spades or great hand with 3 spades and without 6 diamonds
2S: Good Raise of Spades
2NT: 4+ Spades with a 17 count or 6 diamonds, 3 Spades and a 17+ count
3C: Normal jump rebid of clubs
3D: Jump rebid of diamonds
3H: Mini or slam invitational splinter agreeing spades
3S: 15-16 spade raise
3NT: No fit, but to good to try 3C or 3D
4C: Splinter Agreeing Spades
4D: 6 Diamonds 5 Spades
4H: GF splinter agreeing hearts

[nige1]

You might consider what Eric Crowhurst called "Minor suit Swiss". i.e
1♦ - 2M = FJ, 5+ bid suit, 4+ ♦s, Values for at least a limit-raise to the next level.

[Cthulhu D]

I like fit jumps, just contemplating the cost. Ironically we'd play this after an overcall.

The original minor suit Swiss was double jumps wasn't it? So 3H and 3S - you'd lose the splinters for major suit raises. What would you lose to fit them in?

[nige1]

 Cthulhu D, on 2017-December-04, 07:51, said:

I like fit jumps, just contemplating the cost. Ironically we'd play this after an overcall.
The original minor suit Swiss was double jumps wasn't it? So 3H and 3S - you'd lose the splinters for major suit raises. What would you lose to play them?

Cthulhu is right but over a minor, fit-jumps seem more useful than splinters, and starting at the 2-level provides more opportunities for their use.

[Kungsgeten]

Here's an article I wrote about our methods: http://bridgewinners...lanced-diamond/

Since then we've made the following changes:

- 1NT is INV+ relay (only INV if balanced and no major).
- 2C is natural and non-forcing.
- 2M shows 5S and 4H, weak/INV.
- 2NT is a diamond raise
- 3C is a natural invite.

I think our structure over 1D-1M is pretty good. We use the 1NT rebid as "strong or 6+..

[awm]

 Kungsgeten, on 2017-December-12, 16:40, said:

Here's an article I wrote about our methods: http://bridgewinners...lanced-diamond/

Since then we've made the following changes:

- 1NT is INV+ relay (only INV if balanced and no major).
- 2C is natural and non-forcing.
- 2M shows 5S and 4H, weak/INV.
- 2NT is a diamond raise
- 3C is a natural invite.

I think our structure over 1D-1M is pretty good. We use the 1NT rebid as "strong or 6+..

This is basically the same as what I'd come up with for such cases, FWIW.