ACBL GENERAL CONVENTION CHART

The conventions listed below must be allowed in all ACBL sanctioned tournament play (other than in events with an upper restriction of 20 or fewer masterpoints and events for which the ACBL conditions of contest state otherwise) and at club-level events with multiple-site overall masterpoint awards. However, clubs have full authority to regulate conventions in games conducted solely at their clubs. (Nothing in the preceding language shall be deemed to preclude the limitations of the Classic Card in events for which the Classic Card has been authorized.)


DEFINITIONS

  1. An opening suit bid or response is considered natural if for minors it shows 3 or more cards in that suit and for majors it shows 4 or more cards in that suit. A notrump opening or overcall is natural if not unbalanced (generally, no singleton or void and only one or two doubletons).
  2. A sequence of relay bids is defined as system if, after an opening of one of a suit, it is started prior to opener's rebid.


ALLOWED

OPENING BIDS

  1. ONE CLUB OR ONE DIAMOND may be used as an all-purpose opening bid (artificial or natural) promising a minimum of 10 high-card points.
  2. FORCING 1NT OPENING BID indicating a balanced or unbalanced hand and a minimum of 16 HCP.
  3. TWO CLUBS ARTIFICIAL OPENING BID indicating one of:
    1. a strong hand.
    2. a three-suiter with a minimum of 10 HCP.
  4. STRENGTH SHOWING OPENING AT THE TWO LEVEL OR HIGHER that asks for aces, kings, queens, singletons, voids, trump quality and responses thereto.
  5. TWO DIAMOND ARTIFICIAL OPENING BID showing one of:
    1. both majors with a minimum of 10 HCP.
    2. a strong hand.
    3. a three-suiter with a minimum of 10 HCP.
  6. OPENING SUIT BID AT THE TWO LEVEL OR HIGHER indicating the bid suit, another known suit, a minimum of 10 HCP and at least 5-4 distribution in the suits.
  7. OPENING NOTRUMP BID AT THE TWO LEVEL OR HIGHER indicating at least 5-4 distribution in the minors.
  8. OPENING THREE NO TRUMP BID indicating either
    1. a solid suit, or
    2. a broken minor.
  9. OPENING FOUR-LEVEL BID transferring to a known suit.


RESPONSES AND REBIDS

  1. ONE DIAMOND as a forcing, artificial response to one club.
  2. ONE NO TRUMP response to a major suit opening bid, forcing one round. Cannot guarantee game invitational or better values.
  3. Conventional responses which guarantee game forcing or better values. May NOT be part of a relay system.
  4. TWO CLUBS OR TWO DIAMONDS response to third or fourth seat major suit opening asking the quality of the opening bid.
  5. SINGLE OR HIGHER JUMP SHIFTS (including into notrump) to indicate a raise or to force to game.
  6. ARTIFICIAL BIDS over strong (15+ HCP), forcing opening bids and after opening bids of two clubs or higher. (For this classification, by partnership agreement, weak two-bids must be within a range of 7 HCP and the suit must contain at least five cards.)
  7. ALL CONSTRUCTIVE CALLS starting with the opening bidder's second call.
  8. CALLS THAT ASK for aces, kings, queens, singletons, voids, trump quality and responses thereto.
  9. ALL CALLS AFTER A NATURAL NOTRUMP opening bid or direct overcall . Except no conventional responses or rebids are allowed over natural notrump opening bids or overcalls with a lower limit of fewer than 10 HCP or with a range of greater than 5 HCP (including those that have two non-consecutive ranges). Further, a conventional defense to a conventional defense is not permitted.


COMPETITIVE

  1. CONVENTIONAL BALANCING CALLS.
  2. CONVENTIONAL DOUBLES AND REDOUBLES and responses (including free bids) thereto.
  3. NOTRUMP OVERCALL for either
    1. two-suit takeout showing at least 5-4 distribution and at least one known suit (At the four level or higher there is no requirement to have a known suit.) or
    2. three-suit takeout (as with a takeout double at least 3 cards in each of 3 suits.
  4. JUMP OVERCALL INTO A SUIT to indicate at least 5-4 distribution in two known suits and responses thereto.
  5. CUEBID of an opponent's suit and responses thereto, except that a cuebid that could be weak, directly over an opening bid, must show at least one known suit.
  6. DEFENSE TO:
    1. conventional calls (except see #9 RESPONSES AND REBIDS above).
    2. natural notrump opening bids and overcalls, except that direct calls, other than double and must have at least one known suit.
    3. opening bids of two clubs or higher.
  7. Numbers 4 through 8 under RESPONSES AND REBIDS above APPLY TO BOTH PAIRS.


DISALLOWED

  1. Conventions and/or agreements whose primary purpose is to destroy the opponents' methods.
  2. Psyching of artificial or conventional opening bids and/or conventional responses thereto. Psyching conventional suit responses, which are less than two notrump, to natural openings.
  3. Psychic controls. (Includes ANY partnership agreement which, if used in conjunction with a psychic call, makes allowance for that psych.)
  4. Forcing pass systems.
  5. Relay (tell me more) systems.
  6. Opening one bids which by partnership agreement could show fewer than 8 HCP. (Not applicable to a psych.)


CARDING

Dual-message carding strategies are not approved except on each defender's first discard. Except for the first discard, only right-side-up or upside-down card ordering strategies are approved. Encrypted signals are not approved. In addition, a pair may be prohibited from playing any method (such as suit preference systems at trick one) when they are deemed to be playing it in a manner which is not compatible with the maintenance of proper tempo (much like dual message signals). This decision may be appealed to the tournament committee.

NOTE: Sponsoring organizations may allow conventions from the Super-Chart and Mid-Chart (For exception, see ACBL Mid-Chart #3) provided the requested conventions are listed on the sanction application, approved by Management, included in all tournament advertising (not required for use of Mid-Chart conventions in separate Flight A events and brackets of KOs with a designator of 1,000 or more masterpoints), and posted at the tournament site.

Unless all these conditions have been fulfilled, conventions not on the ACBL General Convention Chart MAY NOT BE ALLOWED.

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