It is gratifying to know that during the ensuing 46 years, various strong club systems have gained ever-wider acceptance among many world-class as well as national and local players. It was very satisfying when, some six years later in 1963, Howard Schenken introduced his ÒBig ClubÓ system, with the publication of his book Better Bidding in 15 Minutes. It is interesting to note that although he seemed to count only high card points, example distributional-type hands for his minimum one-club opener agree quite closely with our 18 total points.Then five years ago we published our first book on the subject. It's title: Strong Club Standard. That little volume is long sold out. In this current volume we have republished the contents of the original SCS book and have also included the play of the hand as well as defense. It is satisfying to know that our system has proven to be so sound that we have not needed to make a single significant change and that many of the world's greatest players have adopted its philosophy.
Contents
I. Master Hand Evaluation
II. Hands Too Weak for an Opening Bid of 1 C / Opening and Responses to the ÒNaturalÓ No Trump ¥ The ÒHearts-First Principle
III. The ÒWeakÓ 1 D Bid / Examples of ÒNaturalÓ Opening Bids on Hands with Less than 17 hcp or 18 total points
IV. Responses to 1 D, 1 H, 1 S, or 2 C Opener's / Rebids After Opening 1 D, 1 H, 1 S, or 2C
V. The Strong 1 C Opening Bid / Bidding in Competition and the Negative Double ¥ Penalty or ÒBusinessÓ Doubles
VI. Overcalls / Takeout Doubles ¥ Keeping the Bidding Open
VII. Higher Opening Bids / Weak Two Bids in the Majors ¥ ÒUnusualÓ Opening 2 NT for the Minors ¥
The Pejsa 2 D Opener for the Majors ¥ Opening Preemptive Three or Four Bids in the Majors ¥ Opening 3 NT, 3 C, or 3 D Bids
VIII. Other Conventional Bids / Transfer Bids ¥ The Landy Convention ¥ The Blackwood and Gerber Conventions ¥ The Grand Slam Force ¥ The ÒLightner DoubleÓ of Slams ¥ The ÒWeak Suit TryÓ for Slam or Game
IX. Master Play of the Hand / Playing Card Combinations Correctly ¥ Situations to Avoid ¥ The ÒStrip-and-End PlayÓ ¥ The Crossruff ¥ Squeeze Plays ¥ The ÒDoubleÓ Squeeze or ÒTransferÓ Squeeze ¥ The ÒDummy ReversalÓ ¥ Counting the Hand and Placing Key Cards ¥ Suit Division Percentage
X. Master Defense / Opening Leads ¥ Lead of ÒFourth BestÓ and the ÒRule of 11Ó ¥ Discards by Defenders ¥ Defenders' Signals ¥ Covering an Honor with an Honor
Appendix A. Brief Summary of Strong Club Standard
Appendix B. Brief Review of Standard American
