Correct contract bridge / by E.V. Shepard ; including the official Laws of contract bridge adopted by the Whist Club, New York, and by all the leading clubs in America.

POWERFUL HANDS

I57

In 1928 I introduced a feature that increased the
safety of the system and rendered procedure more
flexible, as described below:
Pass partner's opening bid of I-No Trump, unless you have either a sound assist or a strong takeout, but if partner opens with 2-No Trumps proceed
as follows:
I. Bid three of any 5-card suit once stopped or
any 4-card suit twice stopped, unless you hold honors
in all four suits-then bid 3-No Trumps;
2. Lacking a biddable suit, assist the no-trump
with an evenly divided hand, provided you hold a
minimum of one sure trick or 3 probable tricks,
otherwise pass.
Complete details of this system will be found in
Chapter XXV; the above sketch of the subject will
answer our present purpose. The hand given below
illustrates general procedure, affording some comparison between this and the short suit system.
852
q2 Q9
4 J6
0 Q95432
K K Io94 Y * 73
V K 8 7 3 2 A B v A J I 5 4
4 984 4& K 10 3 2
08 Z J6
4 AQJ6
<> 6
AQ75
0 AK Io7