BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

AS DecLAReR, what would you open on this hand, (a) if you are using ‘normal’ Acol methods, and (b) if you were playing Benjaminised Acol (Weak Twos)? CLeARLY, the hand is much too strong to open at the one-level. Therefore, using normal methods you must open 2NT — not ideal on a semi-balanced hand, but you are not strong enough to open 2 ♣ , and nor do you have eight playing tricks for a 2 ♥ opening — at least you have stoppers in each suit.

The tournament players who use ‘Benji’ should have a big advantage on this type of hand, but they don’t make full use of it.

So, today’s example is a tip for the future. (Note that use of Benji is not normally permitted at the rubber bridge table — for historical and social reasons!). Because opening 2 ♥ and 2 ♠ are weak bids (6-10pts — pre-emptive), the strong eight-playing trick hand is opened with 2 ♣ , and the suit is subsequently revealed on the next round of bidding (similar to standard Acol). And, as normal, 2 ♣ is a two-way bid, because a rebid in NTs will show a balanced hand within an agreed point range. My tip is to use a third option for 2 ♣ , which is much ignored, but it is common sense, and is a big advantage for ‘Benji’, as we’ll see tomorrow.