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Good Ideas, Toys, and Bad Ideas

Some of these ideas I think are terrible.  Some I play with no evidence of their validity.  Some I play because I have verified with computer studies that they are good.  Some I think are right, but don't play because I think there are hidden problems.

My list of good ideas:  Stayman, major-suit transfers, Blackwood, negative doubles, unusual notrump, unusual versus unusual, support doubles and redoubles, new-minor forcing, immediate cue-bid as top and bottom, 2NT = Do the right thing, limit raises, splinters, long-suit (help-suit) game tries, source-of-tricks bidding, cue-bidding, 1NT forcing over a major, two-over-one forcing to game, Kokish, Grand-Slam Force, Lightner doubles, and Law of Total Tricks.

I am close to putting the following in the okay list:  responsive doubles, inverted minors, and Granovetter's switch in time theories.

Read nothing into the order of the following list.  They simply are a set of topics we might choose to talk about.  My list of good ideas, toys and bad ideas includes:

• Roman Key-Card Blackwood.  I think this is right, but we don't use it because there are cases where we don't know what trumps are.  This convention gets much bad press from its misuse.  The real problem is that people launch RKCB as soon as possible, and this is wrong.  Cue-bid through the 4-level before 4NT is any form of Blackwood.
• Continuation rules after RKCB.
• After our 1NT (2NT) opening, everything other than Stayman and major suit transfers could be considered toys.  The toys include:  Minor-Suit Stayman; four-suit transfers; suits up-the-line at the three-level; 3 and 3 as invitational, preemptive, or bad-good minors; 3 and 3 as bad-good majors; Texas and the geographically challenged South African Texas; Smolen; and Gerber.
• Both-minors forcing (BMF) which is a variation on new-minor forcing.  The pluses are you can play an invitational 2 , and responder can continue with both an invitational 3 and a forcing 3 .
• 3-level and 4-level responses to 1 .  One of our big club pairs use:  3 through 3 = 0 to 3 high (no king) and a seven-card suit; and 4 and 4 as (South African) transfers showing a 7-8 card suit, and 3-6 high-card points.
• Bergen raises and 1-2-3 stop.  (Inane.)  (The defense:  Double of an artificial bid is lead directing.) 
• Fast arrival after two-over-one.  (Inane.) 
• The meaning of jumps to the 3-level over 1 or 1 (mini-splinters, flower bids, preemptive, or strong).
• Bidding 2 after a 1 — 1NT start with only two clubs and the accompanying system that follows.  This allows you to find or reject heart fits, and also to stop at 2 with notrump invites and spade invites.  Stopping at 2 is the big plus.
• The meaning of double in "expert defenses" against unusual notrump and Michaels is wrong.  The correct meaning is: "You have some values but don't know what to do this turn, and you won't know what to do next turn.  Stay involved partner." 
• Jacoby 2NT.  Two-over-one works and does not lock you into opener's suit.
• Drury.  Necessary if you open light in third and fourth seat.
• Namyats and 3NT = minor-suit preempt.
• System on over interference, or after your notrump overcall.  And by the way you open 2NT, next hand bids 3 — what do partner's bids mean?
• Good-bad 2NT.  (2NT = do the right thing is better.) 
• Lebensohl.  (Will go onto the proven list when the world realizes that the correct rebid is doubler's longer minor.) 
• 3 over 1 = 5-10 points and clubs.
• 1 — 1NT - 2 showing 4=4=1=4 in our system.
• 1 — 1 — 2 = three spades and unwillingness to bid 1NT in our system.
• Rebidding 1NT with a singleton.  A computer study convinced me this is wrong.
• Skipping diamonds to bid a four-card major in standard.
• Smith echo versus notrump.
• All rigid lead and signaling systems.
• All the rules that stop you from jumping to the 2-level with a strong hand over partner's one-bid.
• The "two-over-one except ...  " system.
• Preemptive jump overcalls.  If they work for you then they are not a bad idea.
• All continuation systems after an inverted minor.
• A bidding structure that incorporates both long-suit and short-suit game tries.  The senorita asserts that these are equivalent.
• Forcing notrump with three-card support and sub-minimum hands.
• Michaels.
• Double - Zero — Pass - One.
• Exclusion Key-Card Blackwood = a jump into a side suit that is higher than game in the agreed trump suit.  The jump can set trumps.  The jumper is probably unlimited.  Here is an example from our study of 2 openings:

  A J x x		K Q T x x x
  —		A J x x x x
  x x		—
  A K Q x x x x		x
  2		2
  3		5
  5NT		6
  7 (7 )		Pass(7 )

• Last Train.
• Joe Kivel's responses to a strong jump shift = raise one level for each honor (ace, king, or queen) in the suit.
• Preemptive jump shift responses. 

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