Muiderberg versus Major + 4 clubs

A dutchman I use to play with a lot on MSN Zone introduced me over a decade ago to Muiderberg, also know as "dutch twos". If you are not familar with this convention, it is an opening bid of 2H/2S to show the bid major and either minor.

This convention shows (by rule) exactly a 5 card major, and is commonly combined with the Multi 2D. The concept being that partner can accurately judge how high to preempt in the major if he has a fit. Since I started playing this convention, I have had very nice success with it. But as I became more and more a fan of ZAR points and using ZAR points as a guideline for opening light, I found that I was using Muiderberg less and less, and when I used it I was getting to high.

Muilderberg, as originally envisioned, is based on "preempting" 2H/2S with less than an opening hand. HCP ranges I have seen vary wildly. The range I was taught was 8-11 hcp, in third seat can be up to bad 13 hcp. The standard range seems to be 6-10 (chris Ryall's weak two archieve), some move this up a notch 7-11 (many precision players). If you ahve the computer game "JACK", it moves the range up and down, using 5 to 11 hcp. Some have even "bastardized" the hcp range to be 11-15 HCP (as quoted by BBO poster Gerben42).

I was happily playing 8-11. We found a lot of very light games, and useful sacrafices against opponents. My happyness has decreased since I have convinced most of my partners to open hands based on ZAR points. Zar point are well worth the read if are new to it. Here is a link to Zar Points Aggressive Bidding. Basically, you count your longest suit, multiply by two, add the difference between you second longest and shortest suit, add your hcp, and then add your controls (aces = 2, kings = 1). If this totals 26 points (25 if you have a 4+ spade suit), you have an opening hand. As it turned out, time after time, hands I would normally open with a Muiderberg two bid, had sufficient ZAR points for a normal opening bid. The reason is simple, a 5-5 hand is either 14 or 15 ZAR points, when you add the average of just 10 hcp to that, you are at 24/25 zar points. So even one ACE among the ten high card points, and you have a ZAR opener. If you have spades ( so only need 25 ZARs), a 5530 hand with just an AK (total of 7 hcp) is enough. Make the hand 5440 and add a jack, still an opener.

Not all hands were "ZAR openers" but many where, and if you add the fact that vul, you are opening a lot of the weaker hands with Muilderberg anyway, and I quickly found that what once was a bid I used a lot, I wasn't using much since I opened them 1M!

Some address this problem by having an opening bid of 2M promise five card suit, and say nothing about the minors. Well, sure with 5332 hands, even 11 hcp might easily not reach the required ZAR points. But I am not fond of such a preempt as if partner lacks your suit, you have no "fit" to run too (of course he can have his own long suit).

So with fewer and fewer chances to use my 2H/2S opening bid, I started exploring for other alternatives. Then I discovered the method of Henri Schweitzer (ritong on BBO). Henri uses an opening bid of 2H or 2S to show Five (or more) in the bid suit, plus four (or more) clubs and a minimum opening hand. In fact, playing ZAR point rules, many of the VERY SAME hands that use to be opened 2H/2S can still be opened 2H/2S (but now the minor is known). Further, some of the weaker hands that everyone will open 1H/1S can be opened 2H/2S giving a perfect description to your partner

A couple big benifits showed up immediately. First, when you open 2M, with weak hands, you partner can look at his clubs and decide what to do. With strong hands, he can bid 2NT and get precise distributional info to go along with you know two suited minimum, and it frees us a 2C rebid by opener as Riton 2C.

The point count I use for the 2H/2S opening bid is close to that used by Henri's but much more wide ranging. He plays 2H/2S to be 12/15 hcp. Let's translate these into ZAR points. His minimum, 12 hcp plus and average 5431 would be 25 before he adds controls. With 12 hcp he will have at least one control. Add three more points to that minimum (for his 15) and he is up to 29 Zar points. Of course with 15 hcp you can have from one to seven controls. So with 5431, 15 hcp can be from 26 to 32 ZAR points. But this 2H/2S bid can have five, six, seven in the major and 4/5/6 in the minor. So the ZAR points can really begin to soar. A theoretical working minimum for my opening 2H/2S is 7 hcp (with 5-5, and AK). I would think that 30 ZAR points would be a top for this bid, so a maximum hcp would be on hands with 5431 and fewest possible controls. This works out to be the same 15 hcp Henri uses. But with five controls and this distribution, 12 hcp would be around the limit.

Of course, I am not a strick follower of ZAR points, so some 13/14 point hands with five controls might not be strong enough to treat as "extra values". But I have an advantage over Henri's method. My extra values are never that much extra. And my two suiters (open 1S then jump to 3C) are never THAT strong (I play MisIry transfer opening bids to show all truely strong two suiters). So 1M-1x-3C would is not forcing the way I play, but does show "extra values".

So the working range for "Henri's Two's" is the exceptional 7hcp to a bad 15 hcp (2 controls or less generally).

The responding schedule to these two bids are

• Pass - to play (with long suit, pass and run when doubled)
• 3Clubs - to play
• 2NT - game force
• New suit - encouraging, but not forcing
• Game bids, signoff

Over 2NT, opener

• Bids 3Clubs with five (means less hcp of course)
• Bids new suit to show three (5431)
• Three of major to show 5422 poor hand
• Three notrump to show 5422 good hand
• Above 3NT shows longer major than five.

So call this Clubberg plus, call it club-limited-strong Muilderberg, or call it Henri's Twos, I have adopted it. The big side effect, is that opener can rebid 2C with good hands (Riton 2C) and no clear direction to seek more info.