Am I allowed to open at the "one" level with hand like AKQxxxx xx xx xx?

Question

I am concerned about a ACBL rules that says that an opening "one" bid cannot be weaker than the top of a "weak two" bid. With this hand, many might open with a "weak two, " and many others might preempt at the three level.

The hand has only nine points according to the Milton Work count but I can get to 12-13 in one of two ways: 1) Counting 1 point for each of the three doubletons brings me to 12. 2) Alternatively, I add two points for each suit card over five, so the sixth and seventh give me four points, bringing the total to 13?

The rules also say that a slightly stronger hand of only 10 hcps, AKQxxxx JTxxx x void is allowed to open with a "strong" two clubs. The reason is that it can make game with "minimal" help from partner, e.g. a low eighth trump and the Q above the JT.

Finally I don't want to weak bid when I have such a good suit and my hand is "average" in high card points (for defensive purposes). AKQ are nine points and I add a tenth for the long sequence, because the J is likely to be swept up by my three top cards.

Am I, in fact, allowed to open this hand with one of a suit?

See the section on allowed bidding agreements.

Answer 1

The ACBL Convention Charts are a list of allowed agreements in the ACBL (but not necessarily other organizations). You would need to determine which convention chart was being used by the particular competition you were involved in.

Let's check a few. Please note the following applies to 1H and 1S and not to the minors, which have different rules related to them (though in this case, likely the same - just being clear it's slightly different spots in the rules.)

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On the Basic chart, the rule that would control what you may mean by "1 Spade", is the following:

Opening Bids

1. Any Natural opening bid in a suit, as long as it shows at least Average Strength.

Further, let's define terms:

(1c). “Average Strength”: A hand that has at least 10 HCP or meets the “Rule of 19”.

(17). “High Card Points (HCP)”: The total number of points in a hand based on honors, counting 4 for an Ace, 3 for a King, 2 for a Queen, and 1 for a Jack.

(27). *** “Rule of N”: A method of determining hand strength computed by adding the High Card Points of the hand to the number of cards in the two longest suits. To meet the “Rule of N”, this total must be at least N. *

There is no relationship to the Weak Two range here; what is specifically controlled is whether the "1 Spade" bid is considered permissible.

So we must evaluate your holding here, and see if it fits the range for "Average Hand".

• HCP: It has 9 high card points, and does not meet this standard.
• Rule of 19: The distribution is 7-2-2-2, and with 9 HCP, it is evaluated at 9+7+2 = 18. Thus, it does not meet this standard.

Thus, it is not permissible under the ACBL Basic Convention Chart to have an agreement to open this hand 1S, as a natural bid.

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On the Basic+ chart, the rule is:

Opening Bids

1. Any opening bid in a suit which is Natural, as long as it shows at least Near-Average Strength.

Defining Near-Average strength:

(1b) “Near Average Strength”: A hand that has at least 8 HCP or meets the “Rule of 17”

This hand is "Near Average Strength", both because it has 9 HCP and 18 "Rule of N" points. This would be allowed on Basic+ to be opened 1s.

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On the Open chart, the following rule applies as to what is disallowed - Open allows all agreements other than what is disallowed.

1. *** A Natural or Quasi-Natural 1-level opening bid in any seat that could contain less than Near-Average Strength.

This hand is Near-Average Strength, as previously discussed, and so is permitted.

Open+ is more permissive than Open, and so also permits this hand to be opened 1s.

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In summary, here are the options:

Chart	1S permitted?
Basic	No
Basic+	Yes
Open	Yes
Open+	Yes

Answer 2

If you're playing on the Basic Chart (0-"750 or lower" limit game) then you have to be careful. Otherwise you're fine. If you're thinking about opening much lighter than standard in the first two seats, the under-750 games aren't really for you.

As others have said, there's nothing regulatory about top of "weak 2" being higher than lower of "1". There are hands that could be opened 2, or 1, depending on state of play, opponents, vulnerability, differing styles between the partners, or what side of the bed one got out of today. And that's fine.

One thing I would warn you of is Walrus thinking. AKQxxxx Txx 9x x is not a 9-count even the way KQJxxxx Kxx 9x x is (to me that's an obvious 3S opener). X-counts are not alike, and some get upgraded and some don't.

The only "too strong for" thing the Charts talk about is "if two hands are exactly the same except that an honour is replaced with a low card in the same suit, you cannot open the hand with the low card and pass the hand with an honour." This stops all the complaining that "it's ludicrous that I can't open AKxxx QT9xxx x x if I pass QJx QJx QJxx QJx". But that's only for the Open charts, related to passes rather than weak 2s, and not relevant to the question.

To discuss the second half of your post: yes, the Open chart says that you can agree to open an artificial 2C on any hand, provided it promises Average Strength. Yes, that means that you can decide to open xx AKQJxxxxx xx -, 2C. This is a common agreement, usually by weaker players, that 2C doesn't promise defence. It causes two problems, one that it goes 2C-(2S)-p-(4S) and neither player knows if 4S will make or go -1100; and when the star player opponent finds out that they opened 2C and he can make 6H, a meltdown of catastrophic proportions occurs. It's a bad agreement, but it's legal.

The problem has always been disclosure - how do the "strong, doesn't promise defence" people make their "obvious 2C" agreement known to the opponents?

Now, there's two solutions:

• 2C Artificial, not Very Strong (which requires AAK or AKKK minimum for it's distributional versions) is not allowed on the Basic or Basic+ chart. I'm guessing the regulators hope that if newer players can't play this poor agreement, they won't.
• for Open(+), the new Alert Procedure now explicitly states that if your 2C opener isn't guaranteed Very Strong, you must Alert it. Every time. And explain that it may not have defence. Now, the strong opponents are on an equal footing.

Answer 3

Nothing in the ACBL chart of allowed conventions says "that an opening 'one' bid cannot be weaker than the top of a 'weak two' bid. Under the Basic chart, any natural bid showing at least average strength (defiend as 10 HCP or rule of 19, slightly stronger than the specified hand) is permitted. The rule for a weak two in the Basic chart is:

Any Weak Natural opening bid in a suit at the 2-level showing at least 4 HCP and has a Range not greater than 7 HCP.

This would clearly include a hand with 10 HCP, as a range of 7 with its lower limit at 4 has its upper limit at 10. But it would seem that a range of 5-11 would also be permitted under this rule.

Thus a hand of

AKQxxxx Jx xx xx

would be legal as either a 1S or a 2S opening under the ACBL Basic chart rules. A hand of

AKQxxxx xx xx xx

would be legal as either a 1S or a 2S opening under the ACBL Basic+ chart rules.

In general a natural Hand including 10 HCP will be legal at either the 1 or 2 level in ACBL Basic (and all higher charts), and one with 9 HCP will be legal at either the 1 or 2 level under ACBL Basic+ rules (or any higher chart).

Any statement that a weak two bid must be weaker than any opening bid under ACBL rules is incorrect. It might be advisable for a pair to agree to such a rule as part of their system, but it is not required. In fact there is no length requirement for a weak 2, although most systems include such a requirement.

A hand of xx KQxxx KQx xxx is valid as either a 1H or a 2H bid under Basic+. (I personally would pass this except in third seat, however.)

If an event is being played subject to the ACBL Basic conventions chart (and not any higher chart) then an agreement to open AKQT987 T9 T9 T9 with a bid of 1S is illegal.

The definitions of HCP in the charts is strict, with no room for interpretation. It refers to the classic Work-count of 4, 3, 2, 1 for A, J, Q, J with no adjustments.

Under the Basic chart players may not agree to make a 1-level bid unless it contains 10 HCP, or passes the rule of 19 (HCP plus length of two longest suits is at least 19). This hand does neither. The chart says:

If an Agreement would be disallowed unless it satisfies a specific High Card Point or shape requirement, a player may not use judgment to include hands with fewer High Card Points or a different shape.

Answer 4

That hand counts 21 playing points so is short of a two demand and must be opened at the one level.

A better question is whether one club would be reasonable to open with then jump shift into the strong spade suit.