Bourke Relay Below is the article from Chris Ryall describing the Bourke Relay. I've taken the liberty of slightly changing the spacings and margins. Article 112304 of rec.games.bridge: From: Chris Ryall Subject: Re: The Bourke Relay Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 22:39:56 +0100 Larry Stuart-Jones wrote - >>Can anyone summarize the convention, or direct me to a complete >>description of the convention? > >One of the chapters of Tournament Acol, by David Bird & Tim Bourke >(Gollancz 1995, ISBN 0575061138) discusses the Bourke Relay. I >think of it as "3rd suit forcing", by analogy with 4th Suit Forcing. Not quite - the relay is a *game* force 1S 2D Defined as the lowest unbid suit. It 2S 3C* denies a natural limit bid so with 12 .. and 2-3 spades a natural 3S might be best here. You should adjust wrt the soundness of your openings (ours are light, especially if suit rebid). In response show the following in order of economy (except suits before NT). o Qx or better support for responder o Any unbid 4 card major o Min NT with a balanced hand and values elsewhere >Opener may raise the relay suit if it is their own 2nd suit. o I'm not sure if 'raise' means anything as 1H 2C the relay is totally artificial. However 2H 2S* 'raise' of a major would show four and 3S! deny Qx or Jxx in clubs - (in our style) >Instead of using the relay, responder at their 2nd turn may jump >in a new suit, which is a support splinter bid, according to the >book. (I don't remember whether this is "officially" part of the >BR itself - have lent the book to someone else!) As it's Bourke's bid he can define what he wants! 1D 1H Certainly the relay allows special meanings for 2D 3S! quite a few bids. I think this would be a splinter in anyone's methods though (on the new suit would be forcing, so jump=splinter rule) There are a number of spin off benefits to the 1C 1S relay. It makes 3 level support of opener's suit 2C 2D* totally forcing allowing low level cues. Similarly 2NT 3C(F) a return to responder's suit becomes a strong one suited hand needing (logically) less than Qx support If it suits your style - you no longer 1C 1H need to employ the strong jump shift. We have 2C 2D* abandoned 1st round game forces entirely and use 2NT 3H (F) eg 1D-2S! as a non-forcing fit jump. Bourke uses the relay after 2/1 as well. That would depend on your style. 2/1 auctions eat some space but this doesn't affect the relay too much. If you play 2/1 GF you don't need it. We play 2/1 GF .. unless either of us rebids our suit - and we don't use it either. Our problem auction would be a strong 1 suiter after opener rebids simply. Note: Using the relay the game force always occurs on the second round of bidding. So you have to be able to make a game force opposite *any* opener's rebid. ie you need structures over 1NT rebids and probably play 4th-suit=GF (or something in the 3rd round to the same effect). The relay affects all your approach forcing sequences and is particularly important when you *don't* use it. Some sequences need no longer be forcing. Tim and David say 'tournament Acol' in their book but like Klinger's power 2D I see this as merely a marketing ploy. This isn't Acol, and I have taken that word off my own system card. Anti's: The main problem is when you want to express a limited hand that has both majors naturally. Problem is that the second major may become the relay and 3 of it may be too high. A couple of years ago we discussed 1C - 2D! as a sort of 9-11 Flannery with 5H+4S. I quite fancy this as we play a 3+ club opening, and the fit jump preempt is better bid as a straight 3C! It's 1D opposite both majors that's the real bugbear - but not a common problem in practice I have found it *very* liberating with many more solid, expressive 3 level sequences. I also looked at Klinger and found 'power' rather scripted and less fluid in action. BR is Recommended. Our best results at the table have come from those 1st round fit jumps! chris -- Chris Ryall (in France 5-25 August)