Simplified Precision Club Bridge Bidding System: 2Nd Edition 2021

By Ken Casey

This book incorporates the 2/1 Game Force bidding system for opening majors and the Casey Simplified Precision Club system for opening minors. This book simplifies the traditional Precision Club system by eliminating many of its unnecessary complications. You will only need to add one new convention, the opening 1 bid, to your Standard American system.

This system enables the responder to know the opener’s point count within a 2p range after the opener’s rebid. In addition, the Casey Overcall will improve your part scores by hampering the opponents from finding their spade fit. The book will also help you reach a new level by improving your slam bidding. The advantage of using the Casey Bidding System is that you will open the hand 12.6% more often than with Standard American.

Ken has published more than 15 bridge books. There are 5 core books as follows: Tournament Bridge for Beginning Players (4th ed. 2020), Tournament Bridge for Intermediate Players (5th ed. 2021), Tournament Bridge for Advanced Players (4th ed. 2021), Tournament Bridge for Notrump Contracts (4th ed. 2020) and Tournament Bridge Tips on Defense (4th ed. 2020). In addition, Ken has published two books on bidding, The Casey Simplified Precision Club Bridge Bidding System (2nd ed. 2021) and the Casey 2/1 Bridge Bidding System (5th ed. 2022).

Ken served as a Russian interpreter during the Vietnam War and then spent over 30 years practicing as a tax attorney. Ken also has an MBA in accounting and a CPA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664188501

Ken Casey

Ken served as a Russian interpreter during the Vietnam War and then spent over 30 years practicing as a tax attorney. Ken also has an MBA in accounting and a CPA.

Book preview

PART ONE

THE SIMPLIFIED PRECISION CLUB SYSTEM FOR MINOR SUIT OPENINGS

CHAPTER 1

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PRECISION CLUB

HISTORY OF PRECISION CLUB

In 1963, Chung Ching Wei (better known as C. C. Wei or Charles Wei), with assistance from Alan Truscott, invented the Precision Club system. C.C. Wei was a Chinese-born American who assembled a world-class team to play his system, which became the Taiwan national team. In 1969, the Taiwan team upset the American team in the semi-finals of the Bermuda Bowl World Championships, relegating the Americans to 3rd place. The Italian Blue team, who also played a big club system) won the championship.

Suddenly, the world took notice of Precision Club. In order to promote the system, Wei formed a number of top-level teams to use it. The most successful of these teams came to be know simply as the Precision Team. This team, which was formed in 1970, won the ACBL Spingold knockout tournament, beating the defending champions of the year, who had won the 1970 Bermuda Bowl World Championship.

Italy’s Blue Team, which had retired after beating Taiwan in 1969, adopted a version of the Precision system for its successful return to competitive international play in 1972. Its strongest pair, Giorgio Belladonna and Benito Garozzo, led Italy to 3 more Bermuda Bowl championships in 1973 to 1975, using their version of Precision Club. Their success spawned a wave of strong club systems all over the world. According to Alan Truscott, Precision Systems constituted by far the most popular non-standard method throughout the world at the time of Wei’s death in 1987.

In 1971, Charles Goren popularized Precision Club by coming out with his book, The Precision System of Bidding. Then in 1972, Terence Reese, published his book, Precision Bidding and Precision Play, with a forward by C. C. Wei. In 1973, Wei himself published, Precision System, which was edited by Terence Reese. For $1, you can still buy Wei’s 9-page Summary of the Precision System.

In 2002, David Berkowitz and Brent Manley came out with their popular book, Precision Today. That book was edited by Wei’s wife, Kathie Wei-Sender. David Berkowitz played Precision Club with Larry Cohen for nearly two decades before Larry Cohen went into semi-retirement. Precision Club helped them win more than a dozen big events, including 11 pairs titles. In 2007, Rick Brown published "Natural Precision: Taking It One Step Further.

In 2017, Daniel Neill came out with his well-written Standard Modern Precision: Getting From Here to There. Then in 2019, Dennis Dawson came out with his excellent book, Santa Fe Precision. Another excellent book, published in 2020 is Walter Orchard’s Precision 101: An Easy Way to Learn a Powerful Bidding System. In 2021, Jack Hawthorne published Transfer-Oriented Pinpoint Precision (TOP3)

Today, it is estimated that 1/3 of the experts playing in the major tournaments play Precision Club. This is because Precision Club is a superior system to SAYC in tournaments, due mainly to its ability to interfere with opponents. The most famous Precision team today is the Eric Rodwell and Jeff Meckstroth team. They have a closely guarded secret version of Precision Club. Their trademark tendency is to open and overcall very light. An abbreviated outline of their system, called Meckwell Lite, was published by Eric Kokish.

ADVANTAGES OF USING SIMPLIFIED PRECISION CLUB

The 1st deficiency in SAYC that Precision Club corrects is the complicated system of reverses. In SAYC, a reverse rebid by O is a rebid in a higher-ranking suit than the opening bid. For example, 1♣-1♠, 2♥ or 1♠-2♥, 3♣ shows a reverse. The 2♥ reverse in the above example is often described as follows: about 17p (Downey & Palmer), 16-18p (Audrey Grant), 17-18 (Jerry Olsen), 16-21p, 18-19p, or 16-17p. The descriptions for a jump reverse, e.g., 1♣-1♠; 3♥, are as follows: about 19p (Downey & Palmer), 19-21 (Audrey Grant), 19-21 (Jerry Olsen) and 19+p (Norma Sands).

Audrey Grant wrote the ACBL book, Bidding in the 21st Century. She states therein that the reverse shows a medium hand of 16-18p (with a 4-card 2nd suit or a jump to 2NT with no 2nd 4-card suit) and a maximum hand of 19-21p (with a 4-card 2nd suit or with a bid of 3NT without a 4-card 2nd suit). The majority of players follow the ACBL treatment by bidding a medium hand (16-18p) with a simple reverse or by bidding a maximum hand (19-21p) with a jump reverse.

The Simplified Precision Club (SPC) system has a very specific way of bidding unbalanced hands (any hand with a void or singleton). If O has 15-17p with an unbalanced hand, O opens 1♣ with 5+ clubs and then bids 2♣ with a 5-card club minor, e.g., 1♣-1♠; 2♣. If O has 18-19p, O opens 1♣ and then bids 3♣, e.g., 1♣-1♥; 3♣. If O has 20-21p, O opens 1♣ and then bids 3NT, e.g., 1♣-1♠; 3NT (or 5♣ with a 6-card club suit).

If R responds 2♠, showing 5 diamonds, O with 5 clubs and no diamond support, bids 3♣ with 15-17p, 4♣ with 18-19p and 3NT with 20-21p (or 5♣ with a 6-card club suit). The same is also true if R responds 2♦ or 2♥ (CJT) and O has 5 clubs with no support for R’s major.

If R responds at the 2-level using the Casey-Jacoby transfer (CJT) and O has 15-17p with an unbalanced hand, O transfers at the 2-level, e.g., 1♣-2♥; 2♠. Likewise, if R responds at the 2-level and O has 18-19p with an unbalanced hand (or balanced hand), O makes a super-accept bid at the 3-level with 3-card support, e.g., 1♣-2♦; 3♥. Finally, if R responds at the 2-level and O has 20-21p, O transfers at the 4-level with 3-card support, e.g., 1♣-2♥; 4♠.

Likewise, if R responds 2♣, O raises with 15-17p & 3-card support, e.g., 1♣-2♣; 3♣ or bids 2♦ or 2NT without support. With 18-19p, O bids 4♣ and with 20-21p, O bids 3NT. If R initially responds 2♠ (showing 5♦s), O raises to 3♦ with 15-17p & 3-card support, raises to 4♦ with 18-19p, or raises to 5♦ with 20-21p. Without support, O bids 2NT with 15-17p or 3NT with 18+p.

If R responds at the 2-level using the Casey-Jacoby transfer (CJT) and O has 15-17p with an unbalanced hand, O transfers at the 2-level, e.g., 1♣-2♥; 2♠. Likewise, if R responds at the 2-level and O has 18-19p with an unbalanced hand (or balanced hand), O makes a super-accept bid at the 3-level with 3-card support, e.g., 1♣-2♦; 3♥. Finally, if R responds at the 2-level and O has 20-21p, O transfers at the 4-level with 3-card support, e.g., 1♣-2♥; 4♠. Likewise, if R responds 2♣, O raises with 15-17p & 3-card support, e.g., 1♣-2♣; 3♣ or bids 2♦ or 2NT without support. With 18+p, O bids 4♣ with 3-card support or bids 3NT. If R initially responds 2♠ (showing 5♦s), O rebids 3♦ with 15-17p & 3-card support, bids 4♦ with 18-19p, or bids 5♦ with 20-21p; without support O bids 2NT with 15-17p or 3NT with 18+p.

The 2nd deficiency in SAYC that Simplified Precision Club corrects is the broad 3p range that SAYC assigns to strong unbalanced hands of 16-21p. In SAYC, a medium reverse of a 1♣/1♦ opening usually shows a hand with 16-18p and a maximum reverse usually shows a hand with 19-21p. In contrast, SPC assigns an unbalanced 1♣ opening with 15-17p, an unbalanced 18-19p opening with a 1♣ reverse, and an unbalanced 20-21p opening with a 1♣ jump-reverse.

In Simplified Precision Club, an unbalanced hand of 15-17p is taken care of by an opening 1♣ bid. Although this is a 3p range, support of O’s suit by R’s invitational raise is done with a 2p bid, which effectively converts the system into a 2p range system. For example, in the sequence, 1♣-1♥; 1♠ (showing 15-17p)-2♠ (9-10p), R’s 2♠ support for O’s suit shows an invitational range of 2p. In such case, if O has 16-17p over R’s 2♠ invitational bid, O bids a 4♠ game. If O has only 15p, O passes. If R responds at the 2-level using the CJT and bids 2NT after the transfer (showing a 5-card major), R’s rebid of 2NT shows 9-10p, i.e., a 2p range, e.g., 1♣-2♦; 2♥-2NT; 4♥ (with 16-17p).

The 3rd deficiency in SAYC that Simplified Precision Club corrects is the inability of SAYC to open a weak hand. In SAYC, a bid of 1♣ or 1♦ usually signifies 13-15p. In contrast, in SPC, O bids 1♦ with 11-14p, which means O will open the hand 29.6% of the time. In SAYC, O will open the hand with 13-15p only 17% of the time. In other words, O will open a minor suit 12.6% more often in SPC than in SAYC.

Bridge is a bidder’s game. Bidding is estimated to be 80% of the game at the top levels. Playing Precision Club, you bid more often and avoid playing as much defense, which is the worst part of everyone’s game and the least fun. By opening light, you remove the opponents from their comfort zone. Barry Crane, the most successful bidder in the 20th Century, regularly opened a 1-level bid with as little as 11p (provided he had an Ace). To this day, Barry Crane has won more titles than anyone else in the history of the game. Barry was tragically killed in a robbery in 1985.

The 4th deficiency in SAYC that Simplified Precision Club corrects is the inability of R to show a 5-card major on his 1st response. For example, if O opens 1♣ and R responds 1♠ in SAYC, O has no way of knowing whether R has a 4-card spade suit or a 5-card spade suit. The ACBL rules do not allow R to show a 5-card suit by bidding 2♠. That bid shows that R has a 6-card suit with 6-10p.

Simplified Precision Club solves the problem by adopting a form of Jacoby Transfer, called the Casey-Jacoby Transfer system (CJT). The complete CJT system is as follows: If O opens 1♣ or 1♦ and R bids a red suit at the 2-level, such as 2♦ or 2♥, it shows a 5-card heart or spade suit and asks O to transfer to R’s suit with 2-card support. For example, in the sequence 1♦-2♦; R asks O to transfer to 2♥ with 2-card support. After O transfers to 2♥, R will then bid 2NT with 11-12p (after a 1♦ opening) to show a 5-card spade suit or bid 3NT with 13+p to show a 5-card spade suit. With a 6-card spade suit, R with 11-12p (after a 1♦ opening) will bid 3♥ and with 13+p will bid 4♥.

If O opens 1♣ and transfers to 2♥, O shows 15-17p, e.g., 1♣-2♦; 2♥. R will then bid 2NT with 9-10p with a 5-card spade suit or bid 3NT with 11+p to show a 5-card spade suit (2p more than after a 1♦ opening).

The CJT system is found in Chapter 22. Since the CJT system uses an artificial 2♦ bid by R to show a 5-card heart suit, it is necessary to find another bid to show R’s 5-card diamond suit after O’s 1♣ or 1♦ opening when R has no 4-card major. This bid is the Casey-Jacoby 2♠ Convention, described in Chapter 22.

The 5th deficiency in SAYC that Simplified Precision Club corrects is the lack of interference with the opponents in SAYC. Once you open 1♦, a defender with a long diamond suit is stymied. The same is true if you open 1♣ and interfere with the defender’s prepared 1♣ opening. Most club players are not used to Precision Club and that also helps. In addition, the Casey Overcall effectively hampers the opponents from finding their 5-3 or 4-4 spade fit. To prevent W from showing his spade suit, O, the overcaller, either cuebids E’s opening suit to show a 5-card heart suit or bids 1NT to show a 4-card heart suit.

With a 5-card heart suit (and 10+p due to O’s 2-level cuebid), O cuebids E’s suit, e.g., (1♣)-2♣ or (1♦)-2♦. This 2♣ cuebid will be alerted as showing a 5-card heart suit. If W doubles, R, the advancer, raises O as follows: 0-5p, Pass; 6-10p w3, 2♥; 6-10p with 4-card support, 3♥ (not alertable); 11-12p w3+, 2♠ cuebid if W doubles (not alertable) or 3♣ cuebid if W does not double; 13+p, 4♥.

With a 4-card heart suit and 11-14p, O bids 1NT over E’s opening bid, e.g., (1♣)-1NT. If W doubles, R, the advancer, raises O with 4-card support as follows: 0-5p, Pass; 6-10p w4, 2♥; 6-10p w5, 3♥; 11-12p w3, 2♠ cuebid, and 13+p, 4♥.

If R cuebids 2♠ and E has only 3 spades, E is very likely to pass and if E has 4 spades, E will be reluctant to bid at the 3-level with less than 20 combined points (N-S have at least 10p + 11p or 21p), not knowing whether the E-W team has a 9-card fit. If you find that your part scores are average, try using the Limit Raise Cuebid.

The 2nd way Simplified Precision Club hampers the opponents is by jumping to the 2-level with a 5-card major (CJT) or jumping to the 2-level with a 5-card diamond suit (the Casey-Jacoby 2♠ Transfer). When R jumps to the 2-level, this puts a lot of pressure on East to pass since E has limited knowledge of W’s hand at this point. This additional pressure hampers the opponents from finding a fit in their major.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF USING TRADITIONAL PRECISION CLUB

The greatest disadvantage to traditional Precision Club is its complexity. The SAYC booklet on Precision Club runs to 8 printed pages, leaving out many popular bidding conventions. All of the top ten books on Precision Club have significant variations. In other words, there is no standard Precision Club. Furthermore, most pairs add their own idiosyncrasies.

Most club players have years of experience with various forms of SAYC, play with many different partners, and fear that a whole new system compromises their ability to remember which nuances are played by whom. The result is that it is almost impossible to find another club player who is willing to be your Precision Club partner.

C. C. Wei did the world a great favor by introducing a system which freed up the 1♣ bid. Wei also freed up the 2♦ bid, which SAYC uses as a weak preempt to show a 6-card diamond suit. In SAYC, all the opening bids are used up to the 2NT level. This makes it difficult for an opener to show hands within a 2p range, especially in the higher ranges. Freeing up 2 bids greatly increases a system’s ability to cure this large point range problem.

Wei made his first mistake by squandering SAYC’s strong 2♣ opening bid with a bid showing a 6-club opening. Wei could have easily adopted SAYC’s method of bidding a suit twice to show a 6-card suit, e.g., 1♠-2♣; 2♠. In SPC, after O opens 1♦, a 2♣ or 2♦ rebid by O shows a 5-card minor, e.g., 1♦-1♥; 2♣ shows a 5-card club suit. A rebid by O of his club or diamond suit then shows a 6-card suit, e.g., 1♣-1♠; 2♣-2NT; 3♣.

Wei’s 2nd mistake was to substitute the 2♦ opening in SAYC (showing a 6-card diamond suit with 6-10p) with a bid showing a singleton diamond or a void in the diamond suit. Wei felt this bid was necessary because the ACBL requires that a 1♦ opening must have at least 2 diamonds. If O has 11-14p with a singleton (or void) in diamonds, O is unable to open 1♦. In SPC, O should simply pass these hands and reopen the bidding later if possible (or play defense). Co-opting the opening 2♦ bid to solve this problem squanders a useful bid. In fact, most modern Precision Club systems have abandoned Wei’s 2♦ opening in favor of using the weak 6-card diamond SAYC model.

Wei’s 3rd mistake was to use the 1♣ opening to cover all bids with greater than 16 HCP (high card points), except for the balanced 2NT bid. This makes the 1♣ bid cover a range of more than 9p. The 3 categories of 1♣ openings in Precision Club are as follows: 1♣-1X; 1NT rebid = 16-19 HCP; 1♣-1X;