Mini-Roman or Mini-Roman 2 Diamonds is
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions o ...
convention
Convention may refer to:
* Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct
** Treaty, an agreement in international law
* Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...
whereby the opening bid of 2 shows a three suited hand and 11-15
high card points
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pote ...
(HCP). The convention is meant to help responder to judge, more quickly, the right level of the contract and the best trump suit (or if notrump would be better).
History
The
Roman Club
Roman Club ( it, Fiori Romano) is an artificial bridge bidding system devised in the 1950s by Giorgio Belladonna and Walter Avarelli of Italy's Blue Team. They used it to win twelve WBF World Teams Championships, three Olympiads and numerous Eu ...
system, developed in the 1950s, included a treatment of these three suited hands with 2 showing a weaker hand and 2 a stronger hand. A response by partner of 2NT was forcing to game.
The
Blue Club
Blue Club is a bridge bidding system, developed mainly by Benito Garozzo. It was used by the famous Blue Team and became very popular in the 1960s. It has gained a strong following ever since.
The main features are:
* Strong club system: 1 open ...
system of bidding was developed and became widely popular in the 1960s and included a 2 bid to show a 4-4-4-1 hand with 17-24 HCP
Description
An opening bid of 2 shows one of two distributions: 4-4-4-1 or 5-4-4-0 (the five card suit is usually not a
major suit In the card game contract bridge, the major suits are spades () and hearts (). The major suits are of prime importance for tactics and scoring as they outrank the minor suits while bidding and also outscore them (30 per contracted trick for major ...
) and 11-15 HCP
The Mini-Roman 2 opening is a
forcing bid. Responder has the following options.
* 2:
Pass or correct and non-forcing;
* 2:
Pass or correct to 3 and non-forcing;
* 2NT: Forcing, asking opener to bid his short suit.
* 3 or showing a long suit and interest in game in that suit or notrump if Opener is near the top of the bid.
Opener's rebids:
* Over 2: pass or bid
2;
* Over 2: with hearts, bid 3, pass with spades;
* Over 2NT bid the short suit:
The advantage to the system is the power of the short suit. The hand lends itself to a cross
ruff
Ruff may refer to:
Places
*Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
*Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
Other uses
*Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...
.
A disadvantage is the loss of the 2 bid for other purposes including
a weak 2, a
Strong two
In contract bridge, a strong two-bid (also known as a forcing two-bidFrancis et al (2001), p. 443.Francis et al (2001), p. 163. The strong two-bid was the cornerstone of the Culbertson system.) is an opening bid of two in a suit, i.e. 2, 2, 2 or ...
or a
Multi 2.
Variations
There is a wide range of variations available to this convention (usually subject to partnership agreement) and these include:
* The singleton or void will always be in a
minor suit In contract bridge the minor suits are diamonds () and clubs (). They are given that name because contracts made in those suits score less (20 per contracted trick) than contracts made in the major suits (30 per contracted trick), and they rank low ...
. This allows for an easy exit at the two level, should responder not have many points.
* The opener shows the singleton or void by bidding the suit under it (3N = ). This is sometimes referred to as the submarine treatment.
* The convention is not used when holding a singleton spade
See also
*
Multi two diamonds
Multi-coloured 2 diamonds, is a contract bridge convention whereby the opening bid of 2D shows a defined range of hand types. These always include a weak-two bid in a major suit, and the second option, that must be a strong. The inherent ambigui ...
*
Weak two bid
The weak two bid is a common used in the game of contract bridge, where an opening bid of two diamonds, hearts or spades signifies a weak hand, typically containing a long suit. It may be deployed within any system structure that offers a forcing ...
References
{{WPCBIndex
Bridge conventions