Precision Club

In the game of contract bridge Precision Club is a strong club system that was invented by C. C. Wei and used to good effect by Taiwan teams in the early 1970s. Their success kicked off a wave of experimentation with strong club systems around the world.

The central feature of the Precision system is that a bid of one club is used to open any hand with 16 or more high card points, regardless of distribution. An opening bid of one of a major suit signifies a five-card suit and 11-15 HCPs. A 1NT opening bid signifies a balanced hand (no five-card suit) and 13-15 HCPs.

After the success of Taiwan (Republic of China) teams in 1970 and 1971 Bermuda Bowls with the system, the entire Italian Blue team switched to Precision club and won yet another World olympiad in 1972. The modifications to the system were made chiefly by Benito Garozzo and he titled it "Super-precision".

In North America, Precision sees relatively limited use as compared to Standard American and later 2/1 game forcing. Precision is generally more efficient (and precise, as the name would suggest) than Standard American, but the bids tend to be less natural and have very specific meanings that must be memorized by the partnership. This has led to its reputation as an advanced player's bidding system. In fact, a disadvantage of playing Precision in North America is that a partnership ends up having to explain their bids frequently to opponents not familiar with Precision.

The most notable today's pair who plays Precision club are multiple world champions Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell.

Main Opening Sequence

  • 1♣: Conventional, 16+
    • Responses:
    • 1♦: 0-7 or any 4441
    • 1♥, 1♠, 2♣ 2♦: 8+, 5-card suit
    • 1NT: 8-10, balanced
    • 2♥, 2♠: 4-7, 6-card suit
    • 2NT: 11-13 or 16+, balanced
    • 3♣, 3♦, 3♥, 3♠: 4-7, 7-card suit
    • 3NT: 14-15, balanced
  • 1♦: 11-15, (2)3-card suit
  • 1♥, 1♠: 11-15, 5-card suit
  • 1NT: 13-15, balanced
  • 2♣: 11-15, 6-card suit or a 5-card suit with a 4-card major
  • 2♦: Conventional, 11-15, 3-suiter with singleton or void in diamonds
  • 2♥, 2♠: Weak two bid, 7-10, good 6-card suit
  • 2NT: 22-23, balanced
  • 3♣, 3♦, 3♥, 3♠: normal preempts
  • 3NT: solid 7-card minor suit, no outside strength

References

  • Reese, Terence Precision Bidding and Precision Play

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