The ASSIST 1NT and 2NT Opening Bids

Pierre Albarran, one of the founders of French bridge, wrote, over half a century ago, "the sooner a bidding system gives the most information with the highest precision, the better it will be", adding that the key information was about shape, then about honor strength. His bidding systems, including the Canapé system and the one he had developed with De Nexon, may not have followed this precept, but the same issues are still crucial today.

The practical expression of Albarran's principles lays in giving the most information to partner when opening or overcalling. Let's recall the diagrams of probabilities for point counts and shapes:

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

When opening the bidding, one should communicate a point-count range, and a range of shapes, that are likely enough, and yet rather precise. The probability of any given opening bid or overcall is the product of the probability of its point-count, times the probability of its range of shapes.

Choosing ranges of point-count and shapes that are likely, but precise, will more often give such a good idea of opener's (or overcaller's) hand, that partner will be able to drive at once to an effective conclusion that will seriously hamper opponents. This will be bridge in the near future.

Here, then, are the point-count and shape ranges I suggest for NT opening bids.

For 1NT: either a 4-3-3-3 with 12-15 points, or a 4-4-3-2 with the doubleton in a minor suit and 11-14 points (an average of 12.3 points). The difference in point-count ranges with the two shapes takes into account the fact that a 4-4-3-2 is intrinsically stronger than a 4-3-3-3. For 2NT: either a 4-3-3-3 with 16-19 points, or a 4-4-3-2 with the doubleton in a minor suit and 15-18 points.

These aggressive point-count ranges must not give fright; they're somewhat outside tradition, but were checked on many tens of hands in several World Championships, and always showed to good advantage, almost never proving losing bids. The NT opening bids of other systems may need higher point-counts to compensate for the lack of shape information; but ours guarantee 3 or 4 cards in each major suit, an element of distributional information which gives partner a very good chance of being able to choose an immediate conclusion in either NT or a major suit.

When responder needs more information, he can ask for it with a 2 § relay response.

Opener will rebid, with a 4-3-3-3 shape: 2¨ with 12-13 points, 2NT with 14-15.

With a 4-4-3-2 and a minor-suit doubleton, opener will never rebid a 4-card major, so as to increase the probability that responder (with a totally unknown hand) will become declarer.

With 11-12 points, opener will rebid: 2© with 3© and 4ª; 2ª with 3ª and 4©; 3¨ with 4© and 4ª. With 13-14, he will rebid: 3§ with a § doubleton; or, with a ♦ doubleton: 3© with 3© and 4ª, 3ª with 3ª and 4©, 3NT with 4© and 4ª.

Responder will be able, in those rare cases where he now needs yet further information, to ask for it. But, most often, responder will be concluding at this point (actually, most often responder will be able to conclude right on the opening bid!).

Similarly, over a 2NT opening bid, responder may ask for more information with a 3 § relay response. Opener, with a 4-3-3-3 shape (and, thus, 16 to 19 points), will rebid 3NT. With 4-4-3-2 shape (and, thus, 15 to 18 points), opener will rebid: 3¨, with a ¨ doubleton; or, with a § doubleton: 3© with 3© and 4ª, 3ª with 3ª and 4©, 4§ with 4© and 4ª.

Once again, however, let's remember that responder, based on average point-count and on distributional information, normally closes the bidding on the first or second round without needing to ask further questions

Other notes

1. These opening bids satisfy well the main requirements for any opening bid:

• they have likely and well-delimited point-count ranges;
• they show partner a good number of cards (10: at least 3 in each major, at least 2 in each minor);
• they disturb the opponents;
• they enable frequent first-round conclusions by responder.

2. Very often, declarer is opener's partner, who gave out no information at all.

3. Over 1NT, responder, on the first round, may naturally propose game by bidding 2NT, 3©, or 3ª, which opener will take to game with a maximum.

4. Also over 1NT, responder may, with 2¨, ask opener to bid his better major (2© or 2ª), which responder will then normally pass.

5. These balanced hands, lacking distributional strength, rarely allow a slam; however, responder may ask for Aces and Kings (ideally by using 4§ as the Warren convention).

6. Opening bids of 1NT or 2NT may be allowed with a major-suit doubleton, if the doubleton is AQ or AK.

7. The existence of these opening bids simplifies the frequent opening bids of 1§ and 1¨, as outlined in the first figure.