OCP Opening Bids

OCP is a Super-Precision System but most of the Opening Bids are similar, if not identical, to those found in Standard Precision, although there are exceptions. With a few exceptions, it is in the responses and continuations that this system diverges from Standard Precision as described by CC Wei, Eric Jannerstern and others. This page does not attempt to deal with those responses and continuations, but simply shows what the requirements for each Opening Bid are. The left-hand side of the page covers the so-called "Simple System". On this page, each Opening Bid is itself a link to the page that deals in much more detail with that Opening, and the responses to it and subsequent continuations. The whole of the system is not summarised on this page, which does not deal with the Asking Bids or topics such as the system's extensive use of Lebensohl.

On the right-hand side, the Opening Bids in the so-called "Complex System" are described (Where they are different from the Simple System, they're highlighted in light blue). The differences between the two are in the 1 Opening, and all of the Openings between 2 and 3 inclusive (with the exception of 2NT and 3). Everything else is exactly as in the 'Simple System'. It has to be said here that 95% of the benefits of playing OCP come with the Simple System. The Complex System is great fun to play (as is the Simple System, of course), but the advantages that are gained from playing the Complex System rather than the Simple System are tiny compared to the advantages to be gained from playing either version of OCP rather than almost any other system.

Simple System

The full range of OCP Simple System openings is as follows:-
1 This opening shows any hand with 16 or more points. The only exception is
  • 16-23 point hands with any 4441 distribution. (Opened with 2)
    Note: 24+ hands with 4441 distribution are still opened with 1
1 11-15 points with any distribution unsuitable for an opening of 1, 1, 1NT or 2. In practice this usually means one of the following hand-types:
  • When Vulnerable, 11-12 point balanced hands, or semi-balanced hands with a 5-card Minor.
    When not Vulnerable, 13-15 point balanced hands of this type.
  • Unbalanced hands with a 5+-card Diamond suit and no longer suit.
  • Any 4441-shape hand.
  • Hands with 4-card Diamonds and 5-card Clubs.
  • Hands with a weak 6-card Club suit not strong enough for a 2 Opening.
1 11-15 points with a 5-card or longer Heart suit. If a Spade suit is also held then it will be shorter. Hands with a 5-card Heart suit and a 6-card or longer Minor are opened with 1
1 11-15 points with a 5-card or longer Spade suit. Hands with a 5-card Spade suit and a 6-card or longer Minor are opened with 1. 5-5 hands with both Majors are also opened with 2NT.
1NT When Vulnerable, 13-15 points with any balanced or semi-balanced distribution not containing a 5-card Major.
When not Vulnerable, 10-12 points (This also affects the 1 Opening).
2 11-15 points and either:
  • A reasonably strong 6+-card Club suit (QJ10xxx minimum), or
  • A 5-card Clubs suit and a 4-card Major, or
  • A 6-card Clubs suit and a 4-card Major with a void in Diamonds
2 16-23 points and any 4441 distribution
2 Weak 2. Typically 5-9 points and a 6-card or longer Heart suit.
2 Weak 2. Typically 5-9 points and a 6-card or longer Spade suit.
2NT A Multi-style Opening, showing one of
  • 5-9 points with at least 5-5 in the Minors, or
  • 11-15 points and exactly 5-5 in the Majors, or
  • A 3 or 4-level pre-empt in Clubs.
3 11-15 points with a 6-card Club suit and a 4-card Major (not with a void Diamond)
3 Normal Pre-empt
3 Normal Pre-empt
3 Normal Pre-empt
3NT Gambling (Acol-style). Typically a long solid minor with no outside stops
4 A good 4-level Pre-empt in Hearts
4 A good 4-level Pre-empt in Spades
4 A poor 4-level Pre-empt in Hearts
4 A poor 4-level pre-empt in Spades
4NT Extremely Unusual :)! A 5-level pre-empt with both Minors, at least 6-5

Complex System

The full range of OCP Complex System openings is as follows:-
1 This opening shows any hand with 16 or more points. The only exception is
  • 16-23 point hands with any 4441 distribution. (Opened with 2)
    Note: 24+ hands with 4441 distribution are still opened with 1
1 11-15 points with any distribution unsuitable for an opening of 1, 1, 1NT or 2. In practice this usually means one of the following hand-types:
  • 11-12 point balanced hands, or semi-balanced hands with a 5-card Minor when vulnerable.
  • 13-15 point balanced hands, or semi-balanced hands with a 5-card Minor when not vulnerable.
  • Unbalanced hands with a 5+-card Diamond suit and no longer suit.
  • Any 4441-shape hand.
  • Hands with 4-card Diamonds and 5-card Clubs.
  • Hands with a weak 6-card Club suit not strong enough for a 2 Opening.
Note: Although the 1 Opening is the same as in the "normal" version of this system, the Responses are completely different. This is the core difference in the Complex System, with the 1, 1 and 1NT responses showing point-count ranges and 2 upwards being Alpha Asks.
1 11-15 points with a 5-card or longer Heart suit. If a Spade suit is also held then it will be shorter. Hands with a 5-card Heart suit and a 6-card or longer Minor are opened with 1
1 11-15 points with a 5-card or longer Spade suit. Hands with a 5-card Spade suit and a 6-card or longer Minor are opened with 1. 5-5 hands with both Majors are opened with 2NT.
1NT When Vulnerable, 13-15 points with any balanced or semi-balanced distribution not containing a 5-card Major.
When not vulnerable, this shows 10-12 points (This also affects the 1 Opening).
2 11-15 points and either:
  • A reasonably strong 6+-card Club suit (QJ10xxx minimum), or
  • A 5-card Clubs suit and a 4-card Major, or
  • A 6-card Clubs suit and a 4-card Major with a void in Diamonds
2 A Multi-style Opening, showing one of the following:
  • A Weak 2 in either Major (notionally 5-9 points and a 6-card suit), or
  • 16-23 points and any 4441 distribution, or
  • 11-15 points and 8 Acol-style Playing Tricks in a hand with a 5-card Major and a 6-card Minor
2 Reverse Roman, showing 11-15 points and 4-card Hearts with 6-card Diamonds.
2 Reverse Roman, showing 11-15 points and 4-card Spades with 6-card Diamonds.
2NT
  • 5-9 points with at least 5-5 in the Minors, or
  • 11-15 points and exactly 5-5 in the Majors, or
  • a 3 or 4-level pre-empt in Clubs.
3 11-15 points with a 6-card Club suit and a 4-card Major (not with a void Diamond)
3 A Multi-style Opening, showing one of
  • A 3-level pre-empt in either Major or
  • a 4-level pre-empt in either Minor or
  • 30-31 balanced.
3 5-9 points and at least 5-5 in the Majors
3 A Multi-style Opening, showing one of
  • An Acol Gambling 3NT or
  • 5-9 points and at least 6-6 in the Minors, or
  • 11-15 points and at least 6-6 in the Majors, or
  • 32-33 balanced
3NT (Not used at present)
4 A good 4-level Pre-empt in Hearts
4 A good 4-level Pre-empt in Spades
4 A poor 4-level Pre-empt in Hearts
4 A poor 4-level pre-empt in Spades

Hand Evaluation

Precision does not normally "count" distribution points when assessing an Opening Bid. Hence a 15-count with a 6-card Major does not get "promoted" to a 1 Opener automatically. General playing strength does play a part, however, particularly when all the points held are "pure" (ie: pulling their full weight and in the long suits) and controls are good (Controls in the Precision sense of Aces and Kings). Hence a hand such as...

AQJxxx
AKJxx
xx
-
...would certainly be promoted to a 1 Opener, since game is a good prospect in whichever of Opener's suits Responder can tolerate, let alone support, whilst...

KJxxxx
KQ9xx
A
Q
...would definitely not be promoted, despite the 6-5 shape, since the Minor suit honours are not pulling their full weight and the porous nature of the Major suits would mean that fairly good support from partner would be required.

Having said that, most Precision pairs adopt a fairly aggressive style of bidding, particularly when it comes to Weak Twos and Pre-empts. Many pairs use Multi-style 2-level Openers (and some also at the 3-level). This takes the pressure off some of the Opening bids in that the more extreme distributions, or ones that are difficult to handle, can be handled elsewhere. For an example of the ways in which that can assist, see the Complex System Notes (links in the left-hand menu). These kinds of bids are commonly disallowed in Pairs events and short Teams matches, however, and so are not included in this system.

General Issues

It will be seen from the Intermediate Openings above that any hand containing a 5-card Major is opened with 1 or 1 even if the hand is semi-balanced or contains a longer Minor suit. This is not just because of the premium for Major suit contracts, but also because it puts less strain on the 1 and 2 Openings, the responses to which are complex enough the possibility of a 5-card Major entering the picture.
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OCP System Change Log
Responses to Two Diamond Opening (16-Dec-2016)
This is a major overhaul of the Simple System 2 Opening:
  • The 2 Response and continuations are largely unaffected, except that some hands that would originally have bid 2, now do something else.
  • The 2 Response now shows any 0-4 single-suited hand. Opener bids 2NT with a lower-range hand, but Oliver's Twist at the 3-level with an upper-range hand.
  • The Responses from 2NT through to 3 are now all 2-way transfers, showing either:
    1. 0-4 HCP with any any touching 2-suited hand or even 4333 or 5332 where the suit above their 4+-card suit is at least 3-card in length, or
    2. 14+ with any 2-suited hand, normally transferring into the cheapest or lower-ranking suit, but optionally into the high-ranking.
    Opener completes the transfer with a 4-card holding in the transfer suit and relays in the suit above with a singleton in the transfer suit. If Opener bids the transfer suit, Responder normally passes with any 0-4, but with 14+ treats the bid as Gamma. If Opener skips the transfer suit, again Responder normally passes with 0-4, but with 14+ bids their second suit as Eta (Cheapest bid in NT's normally is Gamma in the suit Opener actually bid.
  • For full details, please see the re-written 2 page.