In this approach, clubs and diamonds show different levels of trump strength:
Using this method, clubs and diamonds distinguish the quality of controls:
Instead of 13-15 HCP, the raises may be distinguished by points. The following approach is outlined in Bill Root and Richard Pavlicek's book, "Modern Bridge Conventions".2 This treatment was part of the Aces Scientific system, played by the former 1960s and 1970s Aces teams in the U.S.:
However, Aces founder Ira Corn originally defined the point ranges more narrowly 3:
Swiss raises are on if 4 and 4 are jump bids.
The following is from Victor Mollo's pantheon of delightful bridge players that include the Hideous Hog and the Rueful Rabbit.4 It features a bidding accident rather than a success, but is worth sharing for entertainment value. Note that in this deal, Swiss is intended to show a singleton, not a balanced hand.
"He replied, 'Let me tell you what happened to me the other day. The Rabbit met me on the way to the club and said he wanted to play that new Swiss gadget where the jump response of four clubs to a major opening showed a good fit, a couple of aces and a singleton. I begged him not to play it. I said that I was unfamiliar with it and did everything in my power to discourage him to no avail. He had read about it, liked it and was going to play it.
Rabbit | ||||
J | ||||
- | ||||
West | QJ42 | East | ||
T9864 | QJT87652 | 532 | ||
AT9 | J653 | |||
653 | Hog | AK97 | ||
93 | AKQ7 | A4 | ||
KQ8742 | ||||
T8 | ||||
K |
West Pass All Pass |
Rabbit 4 |
East Pass |
Hog 1 4 |
Opening lead - 3
"'I cut him the first rubber... I picked up this nice hand and opened one heart. The Rabbit bid four clubs and everything looked fine. His Swiss gadget had come up and it just might work. I bid four diamonds to mark time and West asked "was that the Swiss Convention?"
"'No one answered but when the Rabbit turned several shades of purple I knew we were gone. Things looked even worse when he passed.
"'East took his ace and king of diamonds [and led a third round]. I discarded my king of clubs and led dummy's queen. My only hope was that the heart and club aces were split and that whoever took the club ace would lead a spade, not a heart. Sure enough, East took his ace of clubs and led a spade. I let it ride to dummy's jack, drew the last trump and made my contract.'"
1 Manley, Brent (Ed.). (2011). The Official ACBL Encyclopedia of Bridge.
2 Root, B. and Pavlicek, R. (1995). Modern Bridge Conventions.
3 Corn, Ira G. (1970, December 1). Bridge. The Evening News, p. 3B.
4 Jacoby, O. and Jacoby, J. (1967, September 22). Win at Bridge. Indiana Evening Gazette, p. 18.
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