Blue Team Club System

The Blue Team Club System was devised by Mr. Benito Garozzo, and it would be nice to pay your respects to the man at the above Internet addresses. During his time as an active Bridge Player, Mr. Benito Garozzo was viewed by his peers as perhaps the best bridge player of his time. That is quite an accomplishment. Mr. Benito Garozzo was a major contributor in devising the Blue Team Club System. The Blue Team Club was based upon a bidding system called Neapolitan, which was played successfully by many bridge players in Italy. However, since 1965, Mr. Benito Garozzo has gradually revised the Neapolitan and renamed it the Blue Team Club system.

The Blue Team Club System is based on the principle that a 1 Club opening is forcing. The style of this system is called Canape, and this means that the opener can/should bid the short suits before he bids the long suits. Canape is a bidding method in which the opener bids his long suit on his rebid and was developed by Mr. Pierre Albarran from France.

In essence, if the opener has a No Trump range, then the opener will open No Trump. It is that point range not covered by No Trump which the Blue Team Club System addresses. Secondly, a hand containing 17+ points and which is unbalanced is opened with 1 Club, even though the distribution is 4-4-4-1. And thirdly, a hand with 8 plus Quick Tricks will be opened with 1 Club, even though the strength is less than 17 points, using the 4-3-2-1 count. It is very important to remember that the responses are Step Responses, attempting to impart as much information as possible before reaching the best contract. These are the basic principles of the bidding system.

Since the responder is forced to bid, he follows certain guidelines to offer descriptive information about his hand. This is done by showing the number of controls he possesses. Each Ace is counted as 2 Controls. Each King is counted as 1 Control. The meaning of each response is listed below.

Responder
1		0-2 Controls less than 6 points
1		0-2 Controls 6+ points
1		3 Controls (1 Ace and 2 Kings, for example)
1 NT		4 Controls (2 Aces, for example)
2		5 Controls (2 Aces and 1 King, for example)
2		6 Controls (2 Aces and 2 Kings, for example)
2		shows a 6-card suit with 2 honors shows 0-5 points, not forcing
2		shows a 6-card suit with 2 honors shows 0-5 points, not forcing
2 NT		7 Controls (2 Aces and 3 Kings, for example)

1. Any response starting with 1 Spade and above, showing at least 3 Controls, is a game-forcing response.
2. If the responder bids 1 Heart, the responder should bid again because of his point range, although weak in controls.
3. The negative 1 Diamond response allows the responder to pass at his next turn, unless the opener jumps in another suit.
4. If the opener rebids No Trump, the responder can use Stayman to find the best suit.
5. If the responder does a Jump Shift at his rebid, the responder shows a solid suit with 13+ points.
6. Jump rebids of 4 Clubs and 4 Diamonds by the responder are transfers to 4 Hearts and 4 Spades respectively.

The chance of an intervening call was taken into consideration when using the Blue Team Club System. The overcall is generally on the One Level and normally does allow for a Weak Two Bid on the Two Level. Depending on the overcall, the responses are somewhat altered.

Opener	Left Hand Opponent	Responder
1 x	Doublex	Pass shows 0-3 points Redouble shows 3-5 points (possible values in Clubs) 1 Diamond shows 4-5 points All responses with 1 Heart and above remain the same
x	x	x
Opener	Left Hand Opponent	Responder
1	1	Pass equals the 1st Step Response Double equals the 2nd Step Response A Cuebid could equal 5 Controls Other responses are showing Controls 2 Hearts or 2 Spades are the same as above
1	1 1	In this situation: Responder: 1st cheapest bid = 3 Controls Responder: 2nd cheapest bid = 4 Controls Responder: 3rd cheapest bid = 5 Controls, etc. (A Cuebid could equal 5 Controls)
1	Jump Overcall 2 2 2	Responses have the same pattern. Pass is the weakest bid Double equals 6+ points Suit responses are one-round forcing No Trump equals 3-4 Controls A Cuebid shows 5+ Controls

These are the basic principles for the Blue Team Club System. In order to clarify it further, the bridge player will have to buy the book for further explanations and examples. The intervening call does alter the bidding auction and disturbs the Line of Communication between the two partners, and therefore needs practice and experience. To begin introducing examples would mean making this short version into a long version, but the intent was to bring the basic guidelines to the forefront without writing a book. If you wish to make the Blue Team Club System a part of your Partnership Agreement, then an explicit understanding of the basics and knowledge of the advanced features should be fully understood.

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.