BLUE TEAM
CLUB OPENINGS

Blue Team became the popular name for the Italian International Bridge Team, which had many international successes from 1956 to 1975. The captain and the members of the Blue Team devised a bidding system, which is still played today. The Blue Team Club was the result of the efforts of the Italian Bridge Federation, Mr. Carl Alberto Perroux, the team captain, and the team members, who dedicated themselves to the study of the game of bridge.

There are certain guidelines basic to the Blue Team Club, and it must be realized that the foundation, and thus the additional responses, have been altered over the course of many years.. Several partnerships continue to play the Blue Team Club, although with certain modifications. Since it is a bidding system, we attempt to represent the system as best and as complete as possible. The attempt is to present the basic guidelines as well as the responses, each handled separately.

As the name implies, the opening will be 1 Club. The significance of this 1 Club opening is that it is defined as 1. forcing, and 2. shows 17 or more points using a 4-3-2-1 count. Sometimes it is also a distributional factor which may define a 1 Club opening with slightly less than 17 points, or a weaker 1 Club opening with exactly 17 points.

1 :

shows 17 points plus, and is forcing

All other openings on the one level are natural limit bids, showing limited strength and minimum card length.

1 :		12-16 points, natural limit bid, 4-card suit plus
1 :		12-16 points, natural limit bid, 4-card suit plus
1 :		12-16 points, natural limit bid, 4-card suit plus

A 1 Diamond opening may be opened with only 3 cards in the Diamond suit, but with two suits of equal length, the opener bids the higher-ranking suit. However, with two suits of unequal strength, the opener will open with the shorter suit, unless the hand is a minimum and the longer suit is a higher-ranking suit.

An opening of 1 No Trump can indicate either one of two holdings.

A. 1 No Trump		13-15 points, balanced		shows a Club suit and exactly 3 cards in each Major suit
				distribution is either 3-3-2-5 or 3-3-3-4
B. 1 No Trump		16-17 points, balanced

An opening of 2 Clubs shows a good Club suit with at least 5 cards and 12-16 points. In the case that the opener has a second suit, then the opener may have a minimum of 15 points. The second suit will be shown on the rebid.

An opening of 2 Diamonds shows a powerful 3-suited hand with a distribution of 4-4-4-1 or 5-4-4-0. The strength lies between 17-24 points.

An opening of 2 Hearts or 2 Spades were originally Weak Two Openings with a normal range between 8-11 points and a 6-card suit. Many partnerships have changed the meaning of the 2 Hearts and 2 Spades openings to mean 12-16 points, a 5-card Heart or Spade suit respectively, and a 4-card plus Club suit.

In the original version, a 3 Clubs opening is considered a natural preempt and indicates a minimum of 7 Quick Tricks, including 1 Quick Trick outside the Club suit.

An opening of 2 No Trump is based on a balanced hand with 21-22 points.

An opening of 3 No Trump is the Gambling Three No Trump.

If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.