Rev. 09/14/13

Opening 1 NT with a Singleton*

There is not now, nor has there ever been, any regulation which prohibits a player from opening (or overcalling) a natural NT with a singleton if sound bridge judgment dictates doing so. What IS prohibited is any agreement that such bids do not promise balanced hands.

Example: A forcing club system with five‐card majors and diamond openings promising 3+ may force 1NT on 4‐4‐1‐4 or 3‐4‐1‐5

Repeated openings with a singleton by any player will tend to create this implicit and illegal agreement with his partner, and he may be proscribed from the practice if his reputation precedes him.

Players may use their bridge judgment to open or a notrump with a singleton provided that: It is a rare occurrence (no more 1% of the time, partner expects you to have at least two cards in each suit, and there are no agreements whiche enabl the partners to discover a singleton.)

When a NT opening hand contains a singleton or , the Director needs to look into the overall system to determine whether an infraction has occurred. Petitions such as "I just felt like it" or "It seemed the right thing to do" should be looked at askance, and the burden of proof that the action was "good bridge" is on the bidder. If these tests fail to support the bid, then the opponents should be protected from damage. It might be appropriate to assess a procedural penalty for violation, particularly if the offender hasy a histor of transgressions of a similar nature.

NOTE: There is one conventional 1NT opening permitted on the General Chart. It is a forcing 1NT opening indicating a hand of 16+ HCP which may be balanced or unbalanced. An example is the Dynamic 1NT, a cornerstone of the Romex system. Because it is a conventional responses are allowed to this specific 1NT opening.

Also, there two types of conventional unbalanced notrump permitted. The first is a two‐suited takeout, i.e., the . If used at the one level by an unpassed hand (aka Sandwich Notrump) or as non‐jump overcall, it requires an alert. The second is a three‐suit takeout similar to a . This always requires an alert.

*Taken from ACBLscore Tech Files, located in Tournament Mode of ACBLscore. Attributed to John “Spider” Harris.

Five On‐Line Resources

Rev. 09/14/13

Laws of http://www.acbl.org/assets/documents/play/Laws-of-Duplicate-Bridge.pdf

Duplicate Decisions http://www.acbl.org/assets/documents/clubs/Duplicate-Decisions-2008.pdf

General, Mid‐Chart, and Super Chart Conventions http://www.acbl.org/assets/documents/play/Convention-Chart.pdf

Alert Chart http://www.acbl.org/play/AlertChart.pdf

Alert Procedures http://www.acbl.org/play/alertProcedures.html