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The Tangerine Club

The Tangerine Club

Jan Eric Larsson

ToAnu

Palo Alto California April th

Preface Ihave had great times playing it though Together

with Soren Romare who herebyisacknowledged as a

Which of all op ening bids is the least ecient and causes

coauthor of the system we ended up in hearts dou

most trouble in the subsequent bidding A strong

bled and vulnerable resulting in  tricks and

A Roman  A p oints 

points out in a pairs comp etition in Lund Sweden but

My opinion is clear the op ening bid one of a suit in

over the years we found literally hundreds of slams that

the standard system is the worst of all bids Op ening

no one else even susp ected to b e there In short Tan

one of a suit I tell my partner that I have somewhere

gerine can improveyour bidding a lot in b oth pairs and

between reasonable p oints and almost a game on my

teams comp etitions b ecause it is simple aggressive and

own hand In one fell swoopIhave managed to half the

go o d at nding games and slams

total span of p ossibil iti es With partner holding around

So read and b e inspired Mayb e you can nd some

p oints wemayhave trouble making a part score or

idea to b orrow and improve or mayb e you will even

a grand slam may b e easy

wanttoplayTangerine Now it has b een presented in

Strong systems remedy the main disadvantage

English and you may do with it whatever you want

with the standard systems the wide p oint range of

Hop efully you nd it interesting and inspiring or at

the one level op enings The op ening is used to show

least a nice piece of history And that was the main

stronger hands usually from around p oints and up

reason whywe wrote this b o ok aside from wanting to

wards This allows the rest of the op ening bids to b e

b ecome so wealthy that we shall routinely leave mo

limited and the subsequent bidding b ecomes b oth easier

tor yachts as tips to quote Dave Barry from his b o ok

and more precise

ab out American historyDave Barry Slept Here

It is my opinion that strong systems are sup e

FinallyIwould like to dedicate this work to Anu

rior to standard systems esp ecially if the opp onents let

Uus my life companion wife and b est friend

the partnership bid without interference after which

they shouldnt but usually do Even the go o d Goren has

Palo Alto April th

the following to say ab out Precision and other strong

Jan Eric Larsson

systems

Except for Club op ening which is conventional

similar to Clubs in standard metho ds almost

all other Precision bids are also played as part of

Ab out the Author

Standard American Therefore it is easy to learn

But the player who adopts the Precision System

Iwas b orn in Sweden in and Im currently working as a

enjoys the enormous advantage of knowning often

Postdo ctoral Fellow ie a researcher in Articial Intelligence

from the very rst bid whether the partnership is

at Stanford University in California During my student and Ph

in part score game or slam territory

D years in Lund Sweden I played Bridge in lo cal clubs For

a while I b elonged to the junior elite of southern Sweden and

Goren C H Gorens New Bridge Complete

later I played on an average club level

Doubleday Garden City New York p

In addition the bidding may use asking bids and

other sp ecial slam metho ds The p otential weakness

Jan Eric Larsson

of strong systems is the op ening itself There

Knowledge Systems Lab oratory

are two slightly dierent reasons for this First opp o

Stanford University

nents using systematic weak will decrease the

Welch Road Building C

bidding precision Secondly many opp onents use psy

Palo Alto CA USA

chic overcalls The latter may not b e a particularly

Phone

go o d idea but it will takeaway lots of reliabili tyinthe

Fax

bidding

Email LarssonKSLStanfordEdu

The idea of weakstrong systems is to remove

the reason for destructive and psychic overcalls of the

op ening This op ening nowshows either the strong

variantoraweak hand typically a balanced or semi

c

 by Jan Eric Larsson All rights reserved

around p oints If an opp onentin

terferes with a he risks to sab otage the

subsequent bidding for his own side

Tangerine was b orn out of my distrust for the stan

dard system I had some inspiration from other sys

tems the Neap olitan Club the Club Pre

cision and the Swedish system Hjortron Cloudb erry

Tangerine was invented at the same time as Cloud

b erry and precedes the weakstrong with

more than veyears All in all Tangerine is noth

ing new though only a simple systematic version of

aweakstrong and light card suit op enings

Contents Defensive Bidding

General Defense Principles

Tangerine Op ening Bids

Defense against One of a Suit

The

The Op ening

Delayed Takeout Doubles

and Negative Resp onse

Defense against N

and Positive Resp onses

Against Weak Two Op enings

and SemiPositive Resp onses

Against Weak TwoTransfers

N Forcing to Game or Slam

Against Multi 

and PreemptiveResponses

Interference over

Against High Op enings

in Third and Fourth Seat

Against Strong

Against Threesuited Op enings

A Relay Slam System

Defense against

Relays after

Against Unusual N

Against AlternativeTwosuiters

The Strong

Against Gambling N

Resp onses to Strong

Against

Interference over a Strong

Against Transfer Preempts

The Op enings 

Articial Op enings

Op eners Second Bid

Against Strong

N

Against

Jump Shift Supp ort Asking Bid

Against Weak

Interference over and

Against Weak  

Against Transfer Op enings

The Op ening N

Against Short Op enings

Interference over N

Against Articial Op enings

When the Opp onents Double N

Bidding after N

Psychics

System Sp ecic Psychics

The Op ening

General Psychics

The Op enings 

Variants of the System

Choices to Make

The Op ening N

Some Statistics

An AlternativeN

Short Op enings

Preemptive Op enings

The Op ening N

The Op ening N

Romex Invitations

Slam Conventions

Blackwood

Cuebids

Free of a Ma jor

Free N

Trump Asking Bids

Supp ort Asking Bids

Control Asking Bids

Top Control Asking Bids

Distribution Asking Bids

Tangerine Opening Bids

Tangerine Op ening Bids

balanced

The Tangerine Club is a Bridge based

any shap e

onaweakstrong op ening followed by simple but

 diamonds

ecient asking bids light op ening bids of one of a suit

exactly distribution

showing p oints and at least cards in the suit a

 hearts

N op ening of hcp and a balanced hand without

 spades

ve card ma jors a natural op ening showing

N balanced no card ma jor

points and at least clubs and weak two op enings of

clubs

p oints and at least cards in the suit Tangerine is

 diamonds

based on the following principles

 hearts

 spades

 It is a tactical advantage to op en as often as p os

N card suit

sible In Tangerine the onelevel op ening bids

x preemptive

except show p oints and a card

N solid card minor

suit The p oints limit for op ening comes from

x preemptive

the fact that at p oints you have a hand of at

N preemptive with b oth minors

least average strength In addition the weak two

op enings are very aggressive All these light

In third seat the op ening bid range is in fourth

op ening bids gives a tactical advantage on almost

seat it is and the op ening is unambiguousl y

every b oard played Few systems in the world are

strong Since a hand that has passed do es not

as aggressiveasTangerine

have strength enough to try for a game against an

 Tangerine uses hcp and distributio nal p oints Of

op ening bid the third seat op enings maybepsychic

course you mayyour own favorite p oint count

and if the lo cal Bridge laws allow it this is part of the

metho d to evaluate your hands

Tangerine system

 The use of a strong op ening combines tw o

advantages It enables the rest of the op ening bids

The Op ening

to contain a narrower p ointrange making most

auctions easy to control and it allows for Italian

The resp onses to are either negative semip ositive

style asking bids which are easy to use but quite

or p ositive A p ositive resp onse is gameforcing against

ecient in nding and avoiding slams

a strong op ener and the resp onse N is forcing against

the weak variant  A strong op ening may b e a tactical weak

ness at least when it is only mo derately strong

Responses to

as in Tangerine Opp onents are often eager to

 anyshape

use psychics whichtendtomake the bidding

 hearts

more random than usual In order to avoid this

 spades

Tangerine has an ambiguous op ening showing

N balanced

either p oints and a balanced or semibalanced

clubs

hand or with any shap e If the opp onents

 diamonds

try any psychics they risk fo oling themselves

 exactly hearts

 Tangerine adheres to standard natural bidding

 exactly spades

principles as often as p ossible Thus you can

NT anyshape

play most of Tangerine using your knowledge and

exp erience from other systems The bidding after

and Negative Resp onse

 and N may follow most standard

metho ds

After  the bidding is natural but the op eners

jump in a suit is a support asking bid Note that the

 Tangerine never acknowledges the distribu

bids  and  do not clearify whether op ener is weak

tion Instead such a hand is treated either as a

or strong They can b e made with b oth variants

or usually with the card suit in a

minor

Bidding after 

The Tangerine op ening bids are

N balanced

N balanced

 natural nonforcing

natural nonforcing

 natural nonforcing

 cards supp ort asking bid

 cards supp ort asking bid

After a sequence like the bidding is similar asks for heart supp ort and steps shows Txx in

to that whichfollows the op enings  but with hearts see Section Norths  asks for diamond

dierent p oint limits Resp onders weak limit and N control and Souths N shows a rst control see Sec

shows over shows and strong limit and tion Norths asks for club control and when

over shows South shows none with  North knows that South has

the ace in diamonds and kings in the ma jors and bids



and Positive Resp onses

The next example shows a grand slam on p oints

After and a p ositive resp onse the op ener shows the

North South

strong hand with the the closest bid in suit or

 KQxx  Axxxx

notrump whichisalsoatop control asking bid asks

 Kxx  Ax

for aces and kings He mayalsojumpinasuitshowing

 AKQ  xxxx

an indep endent suit which do es not need any supp ort

AKx xx

and asking for top controls Other bids showtheweak

hand with natural continuations

Here the bidding mightgo

Bidding after and a Positive Response

North South

relay top control asking bid



notrump etc

N 

raises natural



suit natural



suit jump top control asking bid

 N

indep endentsuit





The relayisatop control asking bid Resp onder answers

 pass

by showing the numb er of top controls ace king

by bidding a certain numberofstepstherststep

Souths  shows and spades and Norths

shows top controls the second etc After this

N is the relay after which Souths  shows top con

answer a bid in a new suit is a support asking bid with

trols Thus North can see that the partnership holds

ave card suit a jump in a new suit is a support asking

alltopcontrols His  is a trump asking bid and

bid with a six card suit and a bid in resp onders suit a

Souths steps shows Txxxx North can now

trump asking bid After a negativeresponsetoasupport

see tricks and a queen in either clubs or hearts or

asking bid a new suit is a support asking bid with a four

doubletons in b oth would give a th North rst asks

card suit After a p ositiveresponsetoasupport asking

for heart control with well aware that South will

bid or a trump asking bid anewsuitisacontrol asking

show his ace with Norths  is a rep eated control

bid

asking bid and South shows a third control with N

Here are a couple of examples of Tangerine slam

North now asks for club control with and South de

bidding after a op ening The following hands have

nies a rst or second control After the rep eated asking

only p oints b etween them but with asking bids it is

bid South shows a third control and North can bid

easy to nd the small slam

the grand slam Also note that North can keep asking

for controls on a very high level Only bids in spades

North South

and notrump would b e nal contracts

 Axx  Kxx

 Axxxx  Kxx

 KQxxx  Axxx

and SemiPositive Resp onses

xxx

After and the resp onses  and  the bidding

pro ceeds as after a weak two op ening

In Tangerine the bidding might go as follows

Bidding after Weak  and 

North South

raises nal contract

N

suit cards forcing



jump in suit cards invitation



N trump supp ort forcing

 N



After  N resp onder bids three of his ma jor

 pass

with minimum and anything else with maximum He

Souths N shows and a balanced hand Norths mayshow features ie three card suits with a couple

asks for top controls and  steps shows of high cards or bid N with an almost solid card

North sees that the partnership holds of top con suit After this op eners bid in a new suit is a control

trols whichmay b e enough for a small slam His  asking bid

N Forcing to Game or Slam Thus after interference up to N the two level is used

for showing and card suits

When resp onder is very strong he resp onds to with

If the intervening bid is higher than N the dier

N which is forcing to game against the weak hand

ence is that the double shows interest for unbid suits or

and almost forcing to slam against the strong hand

a balanced hand without a stopp er The lower of N

and cuebid shows and the other completely

Bidding after N

balanced

followed by natural bidding

Responders Bid after Interference

 no strong suit

pass anyshape

 cards supp ort asking bid

with opp onents suit

N completely balanced

X interest for unbid suits

 cards supp ort asking bid

X cuebid revealing psychics

suit card suit

After N  resp onders suit is a support asking

cuebid completely balanced

bid with a ve card suit The sequence N N shows

N anyshape

a completely balanced hand ie a hand with no ve

card suits and no four card ma jors After this is a

After an of N or higher the resp onses are

distribution asking bid

Responders Bid after Interference over 

pass anyshape

and Preemptive Resp onses

with opp onents suit

X interest for unbid suits

With preemptive hands resp onder bids according to

X cuebid revealing psychics

the op ening bids after After this a new suit from

suit card suit

op ener is a control asking bid assuming slam interest

cuebid anyshape

with resp onders long suit as trump

Op ener uses doubles and cuebids in the following way

Interference over

Openers Rebid after Interference

pass XX anyshape

The ambiguous op ening usually means that the op

X interest for unbid suits

ponents have sound hands and suits when they interfere

X cuebid revealing psychics

However it is p ossible that an opp onent will try a psy

suit supp ort asking bid

chic overcall For this reason Tangerine always allows

if resp onder passed

a partner to show the suit bid byanopponent in order

cuebid top control asking bid

to reveal psychics The general rule is that a double

is a while a double followed by a cue

In all forcing situations op eners relayshows the

bid reveal psychics The system do es not demand the

next bid and no go o d suit and lowest notrump if

partners to know whether the interference was natural

not one of the previous bids completely balanced

or psychic

Other suit bids are support asking bids with a card

After interfering bids up to and including N b oth

suit

partners simply ignore the bid A double means that

resp onder would have made the opp onents bid while

in Third and Fourth Seat

lower suits are shown a level higher

The op ening is unambiguousl y strong in third and

Responders Bid after InterferenceuptoN

fourth seat whichmakes the auction more sensitiveto

pass anyshape

psychics and resp onder has passed which limits him to

X should have bid opp onents bid

p oints

suit card suit

Responses to in rd and th Seat

N balanced

 anyshape

N completely balanced

 hearts

cuebid anyshape

 spades

N balanced

For example after  the bidding go es as follows

clubs

Bidding after   diamonds

 exactly hearts

pass

 exactly spades

X spades

N balanced

After these resp onses op eners suit is natural and non

 card suit

forcing a jump in suit is a support asking bid with a ve

 anyshape

card suit a raise is invitational and a double raise is a

N completely balanced

trump asking bid

North South

A Relay Slam System

 AQxxx  Kxx

 KQxx  Axxx

Tangerines asking bids are go o d enough to nd most

 x  Axx

slams but some typ e of hands can cause troubles Here

AJx xxx

is an example

With the relay system the bidding might go

North South

 AQxxx  Kxx

North South

 KQxx  Axxx

N

 x  Axx

N

AJx xxx



 

With asking bids the bidding might go



North South

 pass

N

The rst four bids are the same as b efore Norths

N

is the rst shap e relay and Souths  shows a card

 

suit and denies diamonds since South passed 



Thus North nowknows that Souths distribution is

 N

N showed a balanced or hand The 

 pass

bid is a second shap e relay and Souths  must b e a

South has shown balanced with top controls

card fragment South denied spades by passing N

and a Txx supp ort whichobviously must b e Kxx

and clubs by passing and has already denied

for Norths spades After control asking bids in hearts

diamonds Thus Souths distributio n must b e exactly

and diamonds the bidding ends in a doubtful  which

and the shap e relays have ended Norths  the

maygodown one while  is ne with normal breaks

lowest bid after  sets South longest suit hearts

In cases like this it is often b etter to play with the more

as trump and asks for denial cuebids  would have

evenly distributed suit as trump and use the other suit

set spades as trump South bids to show spade

for discarding lo osers However with asking bids there

and heart control but no club controls the controls

is no way of nding out ab out the heart suit ab ove In

concerned are the same aces and kings as where shown

order to solve this kind of problem Tangerine provides

in the top control step resp onse North now knows

a relay system that you maywant to use after

Souths exact hand and can bid the  grand slam

A couple of extra p oints ab out relays

Relays after

 Arelay auction may not stop b elow thelevel

Thus when there is a p ossible ambiguity is

After the op ening a p ositive resp onse relay and

arelay and not a nal contract unless the ma jor

top control step resp onse a new relay asks resp onder

is already set as trump of course

to show his exact distribution using the following relay

 If the relayer breaks out early ie do es not bid

principles

the relay bid this other bid is either a nal con

 Show card suits and extra lengths in ascending

tract if game or a control asking bid Thus as

bid order

so on as the relayer knows enough ab out resp on

 Show card fragments in descending bid order

ders distribution he may end the relay sequence

and use control asking bids instead

 The shaperelays end when resp onders shap e is

known and ab ove

 When using relays the rst shap e relay will often

replace a trump or supp ort asking bid in the relay

 Op eners next relay sets resp onders longest suit

suit The lowest notrump bid should b e used as

as trump the higher of equal length suits while

an asking bid in the relay suit

the bid ab ove the relay sets the next longest suit

etc These bids also ask for control relays

 The relay system will improveover asking bids

only seldom will sometimes fail where asking bids

 Resp onder denies control of a suit by bidding it

work and is more complicated and dicult to

while passing a suit shows control in it so called

use Thus it may b e skipp ed in favor of the sim

denial cuebids

pler asking bids system

 Resp onders notrump always replaces the highest

suit bid b oth during shap e and control relays

The Strong

The use of this relay system is b est explained byan

example Here are the previous trouble hands again

It is p ossible to skip the weak variant of the op en

ing The reason may b e that the ambiguous version is

not allowed where you play that the opp onents seldom After overcalls higher than N X shows interest for un

interfere destructively or that you just dont likethe bid suits Op eners rebids are almost unchanged except

ambiguous version When is unambiguousl y strong that a pass shows a balanced hand instead of the

the system is called the Cranberry Club variant

Openers Rebid after Interference

Resp onses to Strong

pass balanced

X interest for unbid suits

The changes needed to use a strong are few and sim

X cuebid revealing psychics

ple Exp erience has shown that it is probably b est to let

suit supp ort asking bid

the p ositive resp onses b e unlimited rather than trying

if resp onder passed

to use higher bids to limit resp onder The asking bids

cuebid top control asking bid

will usually discover resp onders extra strength anyway

Thus the variants are omitted Of course if op ener

makes a few asking bids and then settles in game while

The Op enings 

resp onder holds p oints he should continue the bid

ding and showtheextravalues

The bidding after the op ening of one of a suit follows

natural principles based mainly on the style of the

Responses to Strong

Swedish Mo dern Standard system Since the op ening

 any shap e

bids are limited to a smaller range a Tangerine auc

 hearts

tion is often easier to control With a strong hand

 spades

resp onder may use asking bids With op ener bids

N balanced

the higher suit with the order of preference is  

clubs

 These light op ening bids is the most imp ortant

 diamonds

tactical weap on of Tangerine and you should always

 exactly hearts

op en on p oints For example

 exactly spades

 Kxxx

 Qxx

The bidding after a p ositiveresponsechanges very little

 Axxx

with the strong The main dierence is that op eners

xx

suit on lowest level except for the relay bid nowisa

support asking bid instead of the weak hand However

is an ideal hand for op ening  The bid is b oth con

it is often b etter to start the slam investigation s with

structive and preemptive

the relaybidanyway

Responses to  and 

Bidding after Strong and a Positive Response

single raise trump supp ort

relay top control asking bid

double raise trump supp ort

notrump

over cards forcing

suit supp ort asking bid with card suit

over cards forcing

raise trump asking bid

N balanced or lower suit

suit jump top control asking bid

N trump asking bid

indep endentsuit

N balanced card supp ort

jump shift supp ort asking bid

When using the unambiguousl y strong a passed

hand may contain up to p oints and the resp onses

Higher resp onses are nal contracts The diamond limit

to a op ening in third or fourth seat uses the limits

raises are reversed in all auctions which means that 

for  and for the p ositive resp onses

shows while  shows A third seat op ening

maybepsychic In this case resp onder shows go o d

trump supp ort with N

Interference over a Strong

Single raises of ma jors can and should b e made with

After the unambiguousl y strong opp onents mayuse

p oints and Jxx or b etter in trump In this way

psychic overcalls but Tangerines system of resp onses

Tangerine will have almost the same constructiveadvan

are designed to handle this The direct cuebid is the

tage as a system using card ma jor op enings while

only bid that has a dierent meaning

b eing more aggressive The probabiliti es are for that

op ener has a card suit

Responders Bid after InterferenceuptoN

pass anyshape

Suit Length Probabilities

X should have bid opp onents bid

suit card suit



N balanced stopp er



cuebid balanced no stopp er



As can b e seen  and  shows a card suit almost suit is a support asking bid with a four card suit and a

three out of four times while  shows cards two delayed raise of diamonds a trump asking bid After a

times out of three Thus it makes sense to raise with p ositive resp onse N is a nal contract the relayisa

Jxx or b etter unless there is another go o d descriptive top control asking bid and a new suit a control asking

bid for resp onders hand bid

North South

Op eners Second Bid

 Kxx  Axx

 Kxx  Axxxx

When op ener rebids he shows minimum with

 Axxx  KQxxx

bids on the lowest level and maximum with

xxx

jumping bids or Rep eating a suit shows

cards while bidding a new suit shows After 

The bidding might goasfollows

and  a jump in notrump shows balanced with

North South

a card ma jor while after  it shows and

 

in the minors



The subsequent auction is natural with resp onders

N

fourth suit as a conventional It asks for

 

additional values additional length or a stopp er in the

pass

fourth suit A jump in the fourth suit showsatwosuiter

in the bid suits

South asks for supp ort with  and North shows Txx

with steps From now on hearts is the agreed

N Trump Asking Bid

trump suit The relay asks for top controls and N

shows South nowchecks the clubs suit with and

After the op ening bids of one of a suit N shows trump

Norths denies rst and second control with  South

supp ort and forces to game It is also a trump asking

now knows that North has the ace of diamonds and

bid After op eners resp onse N is a nal contract the

kings in the ma jors and bid 

relay bid is a top control asking bid and new suits are

control asking bids Here is an example

Interference over  and 

North South

Tangerine uses negative doubles after interference if the

 Axx  x

overcall is a natural suit bid up to 

 AKxx  QJxx

 xxxxx  AKJxx

After Opponents Interference

x Axx

X interest for unbid suits

X cuebid natural reveals psychics

In Tangerine the bidding might go as follows

X suit natural and forcing

suit natural and nonforcing

North South

suit jump preemptive

 N

N balanced invitation with stopp er



cuebid trump supp ort or asks for stopp er





Thus a double plus suit is stronger than a direct bid in

 

the suit After a takeout double Tangerine tries to act

pass

as preemptively as p ossible

South shows trump supp ort with N and North shows

After One of a Suit and a Takeout Double

xxxx in the trump suit with The  bid asks for

pass weak or strong balanced

top controls and Norths steps show Souths

XX

 asks for heart controls and  shows AK or AQ

N trump supp ort invitationa l

South knows that it must b e AK Since North has

suit invitational

ve controls and AK in hearts South can deduce that

suit jump nal contract

he also holds the ace of spades His asks for a club

raises nal contract

control and  shows a second control whichmust b e

a singleton South can now bid the grand slam

After an overcall showing a twosuiter unusual N col

orful cuebid etc Tangerine uses the lowest cuebid to

show trump supp ort and invitational strength the next

Jump Shift Supp ort Asking Bid

lowest to show supp ort and gameforcing strength and

After the op ening bids of one of a suit a jump in a new

jumping cuebids to show supp ort slam interest and a

suit forces to game and is a support asking bid with a

singleton For example after  N where N shows

ve card suit After op eners negative resp onse a new

in the minors resp onder bids

After  N Distribution Responses

X interest for unbid suits  distribution

invitation with spade supp ort  distribution

 gameforcing with spade supp ort  distribution

 slam interest with singleton N distribution

other natural

Interference over N

The Op ening N

Since the Tangerine N is weak go o d opp onents will

often interfere If so the following metho ds are used

The N op ening bid shows hcp and a balanced

hand without a card ma jor Tangerines system is

Bidding after Interference over N

based on double Stayman which matches well with a

cuebid asks for card ma jor

weak notrump

N asks for card suits and stopp ers

suit nal contract

Responses to the Opening N

suit jump invitational

nonforcing Stayman

 gameforcing Stayman

When the Opp onents Double N

N invitational

 nal contract

Tangerines N op ening is weak and sometimes the op

x nal contract

ponents will double for p enalties In these cases Tan

 transfer to 

gerine uses a system based on SOS redoubles to nd a

 nal contract

card trump

The resp onse N is used as an invitation when resp onder

Bidding after the Opponents Double N

has no interest in ma jors The bids  are used to

suit nal contract

transfer the contract to the balanced hand If op ener

N strong unbalanced hand

hasavery go o d t he bids  The transfers maybe

XX spades

used to start slam investigations for example N

pass transfers to XX

N is Blackwood

After the transfer to XX resp onder can pass on a strong

Responses to N

hand Otherwise b oth partners pass on card suits bid

 no card ma jor

card suits and use XX to force partner to continue

 hearts

If the opp onents fail to double b oth partners will pass

 spades but not hearts

North East South West

Resp onder uses the nonforcing Stayman with either a

weak hand when he knows that op eners rebid will b e

N X pass pass

a b etter contract than N or when he wants to make

XX pass X

invitations to game He mayormay not haveanactual

XX pass  X

interest in op eners ma jor holdings

pass pass XX pass

Responders Bidding after N

 X pass pass

 card suit invitational

pass

N cards in the other ma jor invitation al

Here resp onder passes and op ener must bid XX When

 card suit invitational

op ener redoubles resp onder knows that he should

 card suit invitational

play in op eners b est ma jor Thus he bids  and then

The sequence N is gameforcing Stayman Here

redoubles forcing op ener to escap e to his b est ma jor

resp onder is in command and the bidding may not stop

b elow game

Bidding after N

Responses to N

The sequence Nshows a balanced hand which

 hearts

maycontain a card ma jor Here the following re

 spades but not hearts

sp onses are used

N completely balanced

 card suit

Bidding after N

asks for ma jors

After  and  resp onders N asks for card minors

 transfer to hearts

and after N is a distribution asking bid Op ener

 transfer to spades

do es not haveany card ma jor or card minor so he

 transfer to minors

can describ e his exact distributio n

After the transfer bids resp onder can either bid game The Op ening N

nal contract or continue towards a slam with Black

The N op ening shows a long suit not go o d enough for

wo o d and cuebids After N op ener bids and

a preemptive bid on a higher level The following re

resp onder may correct to  These sequences are weak

sp onses are used

With slam interest and both minors resp onder uses 

to transfer to and then cuebids a ma jor With a

Bidding after N

single minor he b egins with and then bids his suit

signo

on the level

 in 

Responses after N

 suit invitation al

 card ma jor

N natural signo

 hearts

preemptive

 spades not hearts

 game forcing

N no card ma jor

After these resp onses all bids from resp onder are nat

An AlternativeN

ural and invites to slam

If the destructive N op ening ab ove is not allowed where

you play orifyou simply dont likeityou can use the

The Op ening

following variant instead where the op ening shows

and in the minors

The op ening bid shows p oints and clubs

Resp onder may use the relay bid  when he has at

Bidding after N Minors

least invitational strength

 signo

 suit invitational

Bidding after

N natural signo

 relay

 asks for

 card suit weak invitation

 asks for TT in trump

N weak invitation

others nal contract

x card suit strong invitation

Raises nal contract

For resp onses to  see Section bidding after the

op ening N

When resp onder is strong or needs to know more ab out

op eners hand he uses the  relay

Preemptive Op enings

Responses after 

 card suit minimum

Tangerines preemptive op ening bids are sound calcu

N balanced minimum

lated after the number of tricks a hand will probably

unbalanced minimum

make plus or tricks dep ending on vulnerabil

x card suit maximum

ity The bidding after preempts is natural Raises and

N unbalanced clubs maximum

games are nal contracts a new suit is natural and forc

The maximum resp onses are forcing to game while af

ing on the three level and a cuebid if higher

ter the minimum resp onses op ener may pass on resp on

ders bid The subsequent bidding is natural

The Op ening N

The N op ening bid shows a solid card minor with

The Op enings 

no or few values outside the suit If resp onder has some

The bidding after the weak two op enings pro ceeds as

values he may pass and hop e that op ener will makeN

after the semip ositive resp onses to

If he is strong he has some asking bids at his disp osal

Bidding after a Weak Two Opening

Bidding after N

raises nal contract

weak op ener passes or bids 

suit cards forcing

 asks for singleton

jump in suit cards invitation

N asks for length

N trump supp ort forcing

After N op ener bids a singleton suit or  with

After N op ener bids three of his ma jor with

avoid after which from resp onder asks for the void

minimum and anything else with maximum He may

suit After NN shows a card suit  cards

show features ie three card suits with a couple of high

etc

cards or bid N with an almost solid card suit After

this resp onders bid in a new suit is a control asking bid

The Op ening N Blackwood

In a natural auction N is used as Blackwo o d and asks

The op ening bid N shows a preemptive hand with b oth

for aces includin g the trump king

minors

Blackwood Aces

Bidding after N

or aces

 asks for void

 or aces

 asks for TT in trump invites to grand slam

 aces

 aces

After N op ener bids N and resp onder shows the

intended trump suit by or  If op ener holds two

After the resp onses a relay in a nontrump suit means

of AKQ in trump he bids grand slam After N

that the asking partner wants to play N

op ener shows voids

Responses to N

Cuebids

 void in 

Tangerine uses Italian cuebids ie second controls may

N void in 

b e shown b efore rst controls A new suit is natural on

no void

the level and a cuebid if higher Direct jumps after

op ening bids are preemptive however

Romex Invitations

Free of a Ma jor

After the sequences  and Tangerine uses

a simple version of the s invitation bids

In a natural auction a raise to of a ma jor trump

suit invites to small slam and asks for either control

Romex Invitations

of the suit bid by the opp onents control in the only

relay relay suit negativeinvitation

remaining unchecked suit or the quality of the trump

trump negative in passed suit

suit whichever is p ossible

suit p ositiveinvitation

When a suit has b een bid by the opp onents or ex

raise nal contract

actly one suit remains unchecked partner should bid

small slam if he has second round control of the suit in

After  N is a p ositiveinvitation in spades A

question N is he has a guarded king and a cuebid to

p ositiveinvitation is ideally made with a card suit

show a rst round control

and split honors such as KJxx and the b est t is a

If no or several suits remain unchecked the free ve

similar suit A negativeinvitation should b e made with

bid asks for trump qualityPartner should bid small

x or xx and the b est t is something likexxx

slam if he holds twoofAKQ If holding AKxxx he

Axx xxxx or Axxx

bids N With a solid trump suit he should consider a

grand slam

Slam Conventions

Free N

Tangerine has a numb er of slam bidding to ols b oth

In a natural auction a bid of N invites to a grand

classical ones that are used in the natural bidding

slam and asks for the quality of the trump suit Partner

after the limited op ening bids and sp ecial asking bids

should bid the grand slam if he holds twoofAKQ If

mostly o ccurring after

he has all true controls aces and kings as opp osed to

The basic assumption is that asking bids are easy

voids and singletons he bids N

to use and ecient often b etter than classical meth

o ds likeBlackwo o d and cuebids In some systems most

of the forcing bidding is natural and sp ecic asking

Trump Asking Bids

bids are deferred until the last moment This is not the

The trump support asking bid o ccurs after the op en

case in Tangerine As so on as there is enough p oints

ing and a p ositiveresponseshowing a card suit

for game a slam investigation can b e started using the

After a relayopenermak es the trump asking bid by

asking bid machineryThismay seem simpleminded

bidding resp onders suit For example 

but exp erience has shown that it works very well Play

 is a trump asking bid Also N is a trump

ing Tangerine will giveyou an advantage on most slam

asking bid Partner now describ es his trump suit bystep

b oards

resp onses where T means A K or Q Pass and XXX

If you want you may also add the relay system de

are used in the step scale if the opp onents interfere

scrib ed in Section to the slam convention arsenal

Responses to a Trump Asking Bid

Top Control Asking Bids

st step

After the op ening and a p ositive resp onse the relay

nd step T

shows the strong hand and asks for the number of top

th step TT

controls ace king Also after op ening one of a suit

th step TTT

and either a trump asking bid or a p ositively answered

support asking bid the relayisatop control asking bid

After this a new suit is a control asking bid while a

rebid b elow game is a repeated trump asking bid

Responses to a Top Control asking Bid

st step top controls

Responses to a RepeatedTrump Asking Bid

nd step top controls

after TTT after T after TT

rd step top controls etc

st step Q KQ

nd step extra card K AQ

rd step extra cards A AK

Distribution Asking Bids

After some bidding sequences it is known that one hand

Supp ort Asking Bids

is completely balanced ie it has no card ma jor nor

card minor In this case the next bid the closest

Support asking bids o ccur after the op ening when

bid is a distribution asking bid For example after

op ener bids new suits b efore a trump suit has b een

NN asks for the exact distribution of the

found and as jumps in a suit after the op enings 

balanced hand the other case is N N

 and 

Distribution Responses

Responses to a Support Asking Bid

 distribution

st step

 distribution

nd step supp ort

 distribution

rd step supp ort T

N distribution

th step supp ort TT

th step supp ort TTT

Defensive Bidding

In most cases the rst support asking bid is made with

a card suit and xxx is a valid supp ort If the

Bridge systems devote much eort to undisturb ed bid

rst asking bid is answered negatively step a new

ding while in practical play more often than not b oth

suit is a support asking bid in that suit now assum

sides comp ete for the nal contract Several conven

ing a card suit If the resp onse is p ositive a new

tions go out the window as so on as the opp onents enter

suit is a control asking bid and a rebid b elowgameisa

the auction and should they use anything but natural

repeated support asking bid answered according to the

metho ds most systems oer no help As a remedyTan

same principles as the repeated trump asking bid

gerine contains a wellsp ecied defensive bidding sys

tem as well as sp ecial defenses against most kinds of

articial bids

Control Asking Bids

New suits after a p ositive resp onse to a trump or sup

General Defense Principles

p ort asking bid are control asking bids

In Tangerine a double is for p enalty in the following

Responses to a Control asking Bid

cases

st step

 If higher than 

nd step second control king or singleton

rd step rst control ace or void

 Under game force pass is forcing

th step AK or AQ

 After two takeout doubles

After a control asking bid a new suit is a control asking

 When three suits havebeenshown

bid in that suit while a rebid immediate or later is

 If our side has made a notrump bid showing a

a repeatedcontrol asking bid

balanced hand

 When wehave doubled a natural notrump bid

Responses to a Repeated Control Asking Bid

st step

In all other cases a double is for takeout and shows

nd step third control

interest for unbid suits

rd step also a second control

If a suit shown by the opp onents may commonly b e

th step single ace

shorter than cards X plus cuebid shows a natural suit

while X plus a jumping cuebid shows a strong hand

Bidding after x X

This defense is used against p ossibly short op enings

suit natural

for example Precisions 

suit jump natural

Only bid defensively if you have real hop es of com

N balanced stopp er

p eting for a contract or cause serious trouble bypre

N balanced stopp er

empting Weak overcalls often servenopurposebut

N balanced stopp er

will tell the opp onents ab out the distribution

cuebid forcing

jump cuebid

Defense against One of a Suit

After a takeout double partner bids his b est suit on the

Here a general rule is that is is imp ortant to b e as ag

lowest level with minimum After this the doubler bids

gressive as p ossible If you haveaweak hand dont bid

as follows

just b ecause you can You will only help the declarer

opp onent On the other hand if you have p oints

Bidding after x X suit

or a go o d distributio n to what you can to comp ete or

cuebid natural forcing

jump cuebid top control asking bid

suit invitation al

Defensive Bids after One of a Suit

N balanced with stopp er

On the top control asking bid resp onders rst step

card suit

shows top controls the second step top control

suit card suit

etc After a jumping cuebid answer showing with

suit jump based on trick count

shortness in opp onents suit a cuebid from the doubler

N in twolowest unbid

asks for the densest suit most Ts

cuebid in highest another

Doublers suit is a signo after a notrump bid A

jump cuebid one or threesuiter

resp onsive double shows interest for unbid suits but de

X in unbid suits

nies card ma jors After strong resp onses to a dou

any shap e

ble the doublers cuebid is a top control asking bid and

starts an articial bidding sequence

After a suit overcall a cuebid from resp onder shows

If an op ening bid may commonly b e made on a suit

trump supp ort or asks for a stopp er while other bids

shorter than cards X plus cuebid shows a natural suit

are natural and nonforcing After the N overcall a

while X plus a jumping cuebid is forcing In order to

cuebid from resp onder is forcing and after a cuebid

pass for p enaltyonatakeout double you need a

N is forcing

card trump and tricks

The Comic N shows either a balanced hand

or a long suit to o weak for a normal or jumping overcall

Partner bids as follows

Delayed Takeout Doubles

In Tangerine most doubles are negative meaning that

Responses to Comic N

they showinterest for unbid suits and asks partner to

XX nal contract against strong variant

bid again For example here is a delayed takeout double

invitation against strong variant

cuebid forcing against weak variant

North East South West

 pass  pass

After the N overcaller passes or corrects with the

pass X

weak variant and cuebids with the strong

The jumping cuebid shows a strong one or three

The East was not strong enough to double at the rst

suiter with at least playing tricks Partner bids N

opp ortunity but now it seems like the bidding is going

with a stopp er lowest minor with minimum the other

to end Therefore he uses a delayed takeout double

minor with top controls or a card ma jor forcing

The following is a repeated takeout double

to game

North East South West

The Takeout Double

 X pass

X

Tangerine uses takeout doubles showing either

points and at least in the unbid suits or and

Here East is strong and still interested in the unbid

any shap e

suits so he rep eats his takeout double

The following is an example of a takeout double after

own suit

North East South West

 pass

pass X

Here East has some interest for unbid suits and thus Against Weak TwoTransfers

makes a takeout double after his own overcall

These are weak two op enings where op ener bids a suit

Here we see a responsive double

lower than the one he has based the preempt on for

example  showing a weak hand with hearts This

North East South West

helps the defenders since they can now use the cue

 X  X

bid a bid in the shown not the bid suit to showa

X

twosuited hand and they maywait one round and then

West has a p ositive and fairly balanced hand

double with interest for unbid suits

Finally here is an example of a competitive double

Defense against Weak Two Transfers

North East South West

X balanced

   

suit card suit

X

cuebid anytwosuiter

pass X takeout

Here Norths comp etitive double shows an invitation to

N anyshape

 while  would b e just for comp etition

Against Multi 

Defense against N

This convention means that the op ener has either a

Tangerines defensive metho ds after the op ening N is

weak hand with hearts or spades or some strong ver

b orrowed from SMPtheSwedish system Sup er Mixed

sion balanced forcing hand with diamonds etc

Precision It allows you to show all one and twosuiters

The defense is similar to that against weak twotrans

Bidding after x X

fers

X  or 

 or 

Defense against Multi 

  or 

X balanced

 or 

suit card suit

 

pass X takeout

N ma jor minor gameforcing

N anyshape



x preemptive

Against High Op enings

N  gameforcing

Here are Tangerines recommended defenses against dif

The resp onse N is forcing After a weak N max

ferent higher level op ening bids

X is for p enalties while  shows  or 

and shows To double a weak N you need

p oints and a go o d suit or and mixed strength

Against Strong

Partner bids as follows

After a strong op ening it is highly unlikely that we

Bidding after N X pass

can playany constructivecontract Thus all bids aim

pass any balanced hand

at showing a lead or a sacrice

x weak with suit

N invitation with twosuiter

Defense against Strong

x invitation with onesuiter

X clubs

suit based on trick count

If partner doubles and you have a balanced hand it is

N in minors

b etter to pass than to try and escap e no matter how

weak your hand is

A similar defense can b e used against other strong two

op enings for example two op enings If the strong

Against Weak Two Op enings

op ening shows a natural suit a double shows a take

out distribution Against a strong N use the N de

Weak two op enings are among the most dicult and

fense

imp ortant bids to defend against Tangerine uses re

versed meanings of X and N against weak but

Against Threesuited Op enings

not against  where X is a takeout double

Some systems use one or two op ening bids to show

Defense against Weak 

threesuited hands for example the Roman Roman

X balanced

 and Precision  The defense is similar to that

suit card suit

against Multi 

N takeout

any shap e

Defense against Threesuiters

Against Gambling N

X balanced

The Gambling N shows a solid card suit The de

suit card suit

fense is

pass X takeout

N any shap e

Defense against Gambling N

X balanced

Defense against Flannery

heart twosuiter

 spade twosuiter

The Flannery  shows with hearts and

suit based on trick count

spades The Tangerine defense is as follows

Defense against Flannery  Against Preempts

X balanced

Here Tangerine has no new ideas A double is for take

 threesuited takeout

out up to  and just shows strength ab ove that which

 minor takeout

usually means that the doubler has a strong balanced

N anyshape

hand

Some systems use  to show the Flannery hand

Defense against Preempts

X takeout or optional

Defense against Flannery 

suit based on trick count

X balanced

 minor takeout

Against Transfer Preempts

N threesuited takeout

anyshape

The idea is of course to let the other hand play but

transfer preempts give the defenders a go o d opp ortunity

Against Unusual N

to use the cuebid in the shown suit not the bid suit

to show a strong hand

The unusual N op ening shows a weak or intermedi

ate hand with in the minors Tangerines defense

Defense against Transfer Preempts

is as follows

X balanced

suit based on trick count

Defense against Unusual N

pass X takeout

X balanced

cuebid anyshape

suit card suit

ma jor twosuiter

 any shap e

Articial Op enings

In order not to give users of articial systems any unnec

Against AlternativeTwosuiters

essary advantages Tangerine provides systematic de

Some systems use weak two bids whichshow alternative

fenses to most articial bids With knowledge of these

twosuiters for example  roundeds or p ointeds 

defenses it is usually simple to select the appropriate

blacks or reds and N ma jors or minors Tangerines

metho ds against any articial system or convention

defense is simple

Against Strong

Defense against Alternative Twosuiters

X balanced

A go o d defense against a strong is very valuable

suit card suit

Tangerines metho ds are on the limit of b eing destruc

low cuebid takeout

tive but haveproven to b e eective They will take

high cuebid takeout

awaymuch of the precision from a strong exchange

N anyshape

When playing in the sadly conservative USA you

are not allowed to use conventions where the primary

Usually it is p ossible to guess whichtwo suits op ener

purp ose is to b e destructive You may not b e allowed

holds Based on this one or two cuebids maybeavail

to use the Tangerine defense If so you may use the

able and if so they are used as a weak and strong take

forcing pass defense instead

out If the op eners partner must bid you may pass

and then double for takeout A direct doubling shows a

strong balanced hand and N shows if it is avail

able

Defense against Strong

Against Weak 

pass weak hand

The op ening bid  with p oints and any shap e is

anyshape

often used together with a forcing pass of Here it is

X blacks or reds

imp ortant not to b e preempted away from go o d con

x max or cards

tracts while keeping the chance of doubling for p enal

N roundeds or p ointeds

ties Some systems instead use  or  as the weak

x natural

bid

N ma jors or minors

Defense against Weak 

With a strong hand pass and bid again on the next

X balanced or in op ening suit

round Otherwise try to bid something at least at the



one level After the ambiguous bids partner guesses

N clubs

what hand it is and tries to bid as high as he dares

diamonds or hearts

In this way the opp onents will regularly have to start

 hearts or spades

their constructive bidding on the twolevel or higher

 short op ening suit

Note that there is no reason for resp onder to try and b e

 short op ening suit

extra preemptive The system shown will cause regular

After  X partner assumes that the doubler holds

trouble anywayItisintended for use against an am

a balanced hand and uses the standard notrump

biguous op ening to o likeTangerines but there

bidding He may pass for p enalties with p oints and

are no practical exp eriences of this idea

trumps the doubler always has at least or if the

opp onents are vulnerable with trumps and go o d de

Against Forcing Pass

fensivevalues New suits and notrump are weak while

jumps to  are p ositive The resp onses  are

A forcing pass usually shows any shap e or some

Stayman as usual If partner escap es to N the

thing similar Here the op eners side is at a p otential

doubler can use as a general force with  as neg

disadvantage since most other pairs will havegiven the

ative resp onse

same strength information but also mentioned a suit

After the transfer bids partners new suit is forcing

for a round and N a general gameforce while simply

Defense against Forcing Pass

accepting the transfer shows a weak hand Transfer to a

pass anyshape

suit that could b e bid naturally on the one level shows

anyshape

p oints After the threesuited bids a bid in the

x natural

short suit is used as a general forcing bid

N in ma jors

x cards

N in minors

Against Transfer Op enings

Some articial systems have transfer op enings An ex

If the passers resp onder may pass shows while

ample is AronRosas whichshows p oints and

the other bids are unchanged This defense can b e used

hearts Here  is a takeout  is a cuebid and

against strong to o In this case a double shows

shows a twosuited hand and X is balanced while

and in a ma jor and a minor

is a natural suit

Defense against Transfer Openings

Against Weak

X balanced

Some articial systems use as the weakest op ening

cuebid takeout

bid showing p oints This is probably a bad idea

jumping cuebid twosuiter

since it do es not preempt the opp onents at all while

other not changed

giving them a chance to double for p enalties

Against Short Op enings

Defense against Weak

X

Some systems use op ening bids where the suit can b e

others not changed

shorter than cards The most common example is Pre

cisions  In these cases Tangerine treats the op ening

As can b e seen the op ening do es not disturb at all

bid as natural while X cuebid is used to showanin

However after Xpassitmay b e a go o d idea to

terest to playintheopponents suit

pass with a strong balanced hand and some clubs if the

vulnerabil ity is right

Against Articial Op enings

Some systems use shortness op enings Delta and other

Polish forcing pass systems where the shortness is usu

ally a singleton or void Other systems use ambiguous

op ening bids in the Polish system Lamb da  shows Here you are most probably going to end up in 

p oints and in either  or  It is also doubled as a sacrice against  or  Instead of

p ossible that op enings like or  show a balanced op ening high with diamonds you may try to fo ol the

hand or minors opp onents a way from a p ossibly go o d suit by op ening

In Tangerine all these bids are treated likevery Theworst that can happ en is that partner starts

weak notrump bids Overcalls on the one level are nat bidding spades If so you will have to rep eat diamonds

ural a double shows a strong balanced hand see the over and over again until youendupin doubled

defense against weak  for resp onses and N Tangerines preemptive bids are based on trick count

shows a with short op ening suit All other bids and quite sound For example

are according to the SMP defense against N

 xx

 KQJxxxx

Defense against Articial Openings

 xxx

X balanced

x

x card suit

N takeout distribution

isagood bid at favorable vulnerabil ityHowever

other according to SMP

you should sometimes make a preemptive bid on say

Psychics

 xx

 Qxxxxxx

In Tangerine there are some obvious situations where

 xxx

psychics can b e useful If allowed these are a part

x

of the system In addition some situation allows for

psychics but are not sp ecial to the Tangerine system

Normallyyou should pass or mayb e op en N Op ening

this as a normal preempt may fo ol the opp onents away

from game or slam and it will also keepthemaware that

System Sp ecic Psychics

your preemptive op enings cannot always b e trusted Of

After passing the op ener do es not have strength enough

course you may fo ol partner to o so do it seldom

to try for a game against a limited op ening bid Limited

Assume that the bidding go es

op enings and overcalls maythus b e psychic in third seat

Since sacrices are often p ossible in these situation the

North East South West

op ener should not b e afraid to resp ond The partner

 N pass

knows that he is limited Go o d trump supp ort is shown

The  is weak and as East you hold

with N so that the op ener who happ ens to b e without

the op ening suit can pass in a reasonable contract

 x

With a bad supp ort and an long suit you may raise

 x

a third seat op ening Thus the bidding maygo

 AQx

AKQJxxxx

North East South West

pass pass  pass

Since partner showed a strong takeout with N you can



almost certainly make but there is probably a loser

in spades so maynotwork What is your b est bid

while neither hand has a prop er spade suit

Bid Ifyou bid the correct the opp onents

With a very weak hand in third seat a go o d psych

will almost certainly sacrice in  while now they

is to start with in the hop e of nding something

will sacrice in 

reasonable b efore the fourth hand realizes that he has

Instead assume that the bidding go es

most of the b oards strength Note that it is forbidden

to psych with articial bids in many places though

North East South West

 pass 

General Psychics

 

There are some go o d situations for psychics that are

and as South you hold

not sp ecic to Tangerine For example assume that

you hold

 Qxxxx

 Jxxxx

 xx



 xx

Qxx

 AQJxxxxx

A

Your partner op ened and could bid  on his own and a fairly balanced hand With less resp onder must

You have an excellent supp ort for him so  is almost bid after after N Resp onses on the twolevel after the

certain and  may b e there What should you bid nonforcing Stayman are weak instead of inviting The

Pass Your partner has a very strong hand and will advantage is that resp onder may immediately b e active

double the opp onents Then you bid  In this way if the opp onents interfere which they often do

you mayavoid that the opp onents sacrice in  which There is also a version with relays after one of a suit

they otherwise certainly would do The relayshows either or stronger hands After

Now for a comp etitive game example Assume that this some bids from resp onder are trump and supp ort

the bidding go es asking bids

Of course it is p ossible to use the op ening  for

North East South West

and hands like in Precision This is however

   

not in line with Tangerines standard approach of ignor

ing distributio ns and it is the authors exp erience

that these  bids are not very go o d anyway

and as North you hold

Two articial versions of the system also exist In

one called the Mandarine Club the meanings of the

 x

op ening bids pass and  are exchanged Thus pass

 AQJxxx

shows and diamonds while  is weak

 xx

with any shap e In the other version the Diamond

Axxx

Heart this idea is taken even further Here pass shows

Your obvious bid is  and the opp onents will certainly

with diamonds  with hearts and

sacrice themselves in  and they mayeven make

 shows the hand The advantage of these versions

it You can confuse the situation a little by bidding

is that the weak bid is dicult to defend against The

Inthiswaywhenyou later bid you seem more

 can b e dangerous to use though and one p ossi

reluctant to do it as if you had a weaker hand Ma yb e

bility is to use the Diamond Heart when nonvulnerabl e

the opp onents will not sacrice themselves if they think

and Mandarine when vulnerable

that  is doubtful Also by bidding you mayavoid

Finally when is unambiguousl y strong and N

a lead in that suit

shows in the minors the system is called the Cran

In short whenever you susp ect that the opp onents

berry Club

have a go o d sacrice against your sound bid lo ok for

p ossibili ti es to bid less solidlylikeifyou had a weaker

Choices to Make

hand and were more hesitant And vice versa if you

think you should make a doubtful sacrice bid it at

If you wanttoplayTangerine according to these notes

once and condently and do not b e forced upwards in

you must agree on a few choices with your partner The

steps

ambiguous places in the rep ort are

Rememb er psychic bids are only eective if they

 The op ening may b e or just

really manage to fo ol the opp onents Therefore use

 You may use or skip shap e and control relays in

them seldom and only in situations where the system

the bidding

will make them harmless for your side

 The op ening N may b e a destructive preempt or

in minors

Variants of the System

 You maywant to use X cuebid as a natural

suit bid against convenient minors ie card Tangerine has b een played in several versions and the

minor op enings in a card ma jor system one presented here is just one of them Some comments

In an older variant  was multi with weak  or

balanced  was weak  or balanced and

Some Statistics

 was weak minors or balanced

In another variant actually the one most played

A systems bidding aggressivity can b e measured by its

 or balanced and  and  was weak  or

mean opening ie howhighonaverage the op ening bid

 were weak in the bid suit and a lower one

is counting pass as as  as etc The

The op ening N according to Carrot ts excellently

mean op enings for some dierent systems are

into the system If used  will always show cards

The Carrot notrump is go o d b ecause it is frequent and

thus has a preemptive eect Note that the subsequent

bidding is troublesome and that the Carrot N has lost

p opularity in recentyears the Carroters themselves

have stopp ed using it

Another convention that has b een part of Tangerine

is after N If used pass show p oints

Mean Openings Cranberry Opening Bids

Culb ertson pass

Precision Club

Swedish Standard  

Standard American  

Acol  

Cranb erry N N

Tangerine

In a standard system you pass on almost of all

Diamond Heart

hands while in Cranb erryyou pass only one in veof

Mandarine

the times in rst or second seat

The general idea is that the higher the average op en

ing the b etter since the opp onents have to start their

Short Op enings

comp etitive bidding on a higher level This is far from

Many systems demand card suits to op en one of a

the only way to rank systems of course

As can b e seen Culb ertsson has the lowest mean ma jor Here are the length frequencies for Standard

op ening a bit ab ove Standard American gains Americans  and Precisions 

from its weak two op enings and Acol from the

Suit Length Probabilities

notrump and card ma jors Tangerine is clearly more

aggressive the average op ening b eing ab ove In fact

SA

there are only a few systems in the world more aggres

SA 

sive than Cranb erry and Tangerine

Precision 

Of course partner will b e as preempted as the op

ponents so if the high mean op ening makes the system

As can b e seen in Standard American and most other

less precise it do es not reect the overall strength of

standard systems with ma jor suit op enings the mi

the system However Tangerine is as precise as or b et

nor op enings usually show a card suit and only in

ter than the other systems so the high mean op ening

and of the cases the op ened suit is shorter than

reects a denitiveadvantage

cards assuming that a minor is op ened  and a

Here are the op ening bid frequencies for Tangerine

Thus a sp ecial defense is not needed

with destructive N

This is not the case with Precisions  This op en

ing contains fewer than diamonds in of all cases

Tangerine Opening Bids

almost a third of the time In MatchPoint Precision

pass

Sup er Precision and other mo dern variants  covers

even more shap es and thus it will contain less than

 

diamonds even more often Tangerines defense where

 

X plus cuebid shows a natural suit is clearly useful here

 

N N

  

In a standard system you pass on almost of all

hands while in Tangerine you pass only of the

times in rst or second seat

The op ening consists for twointervals and the

following table shows how often you have the weak or

the strong variant

Tangerine

total

Thus the op ener has the strong hand almost exactly

three times out of four whichmaybeusefultoknow

sometimes Of course if the opp onents havebidyou

must take this information into account to Of course

you dont have to tell your opp onents ab out these prob

abilities if you dont want to

Finally here are the op ening bid frequencies for

Cranb erry with N as in the minors

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