N° 78 • OCTOBER 2026

If you are taking your first steps in bridge, there is a lot to be said
for adopting a simplified Strong Club System. In my home town of Nottingham, many beginners were taught not Acol – then the standard system in the UK – but the Nottingham Club, the system on which
C.C. Wei based the Precision Club. The cornerstone of all Strong Club methods is that an opening bid of 1♣ promises 16+ points, enabling responder to immediately judge how useful their hand might be in terms of a part-score, game or slam.
On the other hand, natural systems such as Acol or Standard American Yellow Card will perhaps give you a firmer introduction into developing bidding judgement.
Relay systems, where one player takes control and asks a series of questions without disclosing anything about their own hand can
be extremely effective, but they require a good memory. When I experimented with the Delta Singleton system, it included what was known as an end signal. If you could not remember the response to partner’s asking bid, you could jump to 4♦ which forced partner to bid 4♥. Your next bid concluded the auction.
My view is that Precision is a powerful weapon, but like all Strong
Club systems, it can be vulnerable to the many defences that have been devised when the vulnerability is unfavorable.
The choice is yours!

Number 78 – Monthly – October 2026 – Director of publication Matthieu Jacquier – Publisher Éditions de Presse Spécialisée Le Bridgeur – 33 avenue Emile Zola, 92100 Boulogne Billancourt  – France – Executive Director Karine Meyer-Naudan – Editorial Committee Michel Bessis – Muriel Clément – Philippe Cronier – Mark Horton – Vincent Labbé – Karine Meyer-Naudan – Assistant Editor-in Chief Vincent Labbé – Editorial Secretary Muriel Clément – Adverts Bridgerama+ Muriel Clément 01 42 96 25 50  – Subscriptions 01 42 96 25 50 – Art Director Isabelle Le Squer-Fontaine/Maya – mayatom@me.com – Translation Monika Kummel – Legal Deposit october 2026, N°7.680 – Joint Committee – 1118 K 85690 – ISSN 0184-8127.