SUMMARY OF 羅馬制 ( ROMAN SYSTEM )

Roman system was used by Walter Avarelli and Georgio Belladonna to
win many world championships with the Italian Blue Team.  It has
also been used by a variety of others, including for a time the
Brazilian international team.  A very similar system, Arno (or
Little Roman) was used by another pair on the Blue Team.  The major
reverences on the system are the 1959 _Bridge -- Il Sistema Fiori
Romano_ by Belladonna and Averelli and Vee Packer's English translation
_The Roman Club System of Distributional Bidding_.

HISTORY

Roman System is based on two major concepts: the use of an artificial
1C opening describing a variety of hands that don't qualify for other
opening bids and canape'.  The use of 1C, Herbert negatives, asking
bids, and other features derive from the Vienna System of Dr. Paul
Stern.  (Vienna also features a strong artificial 1NT opening, an idea
adopted by Arno and Romex but not Roman.)  Canape' is the notion
the second suit bid should be longer than the first, and was developed
by Pierre Albarran of France.

Roman System was developed largely by Belladonna and Avarelli around
1950.  The published version of 1959 is perhaps best known, but the
system evolved after that.  There are several differences between the
1959 version and that described in the system summary in Forquet's
_Bridge with the Blue Team_.  I will be following the latter.

CANAPE'

Roman is as pure a canape' system as I know of.  Both opener and
responder bid short suits before long ones, in hands strong enough
to bid two suits.  Opening bids may be in suits as short as three
cards, including major suits.  (In Arno 3-card major suits are not
opened, but a 1D opening can be *very* short.)  There is *no* opening
that shows primary clubs.  Such hands (if below game-forcing strength)
are opened in another suit and clubs are bid next.

The surprising thing about canape' is how well it works.  It is safer
to introduce a longer second suit than a shorter one in later rounds
of bidding.  Partner will seldom need to take a preference to a higher
level.  The method creates great difficulties for the opponents, since
they often find their best suit being opened against them and will
usually not be short in the suit opened.  This gives the Roman pair
uninterrupted auctions more often than players of almost any other
system.  Note that in standard systems, a "4-card major" opening
averages over 5 cards.  In Roman, a major-suit opening has an expected
length closer to 4.

The longest suit is opened in two cases: (1) a minimum hand with only
one five-card or longer suit (not clubs), where opener bids and rebids
his suit; and (2) in a hand worth a jump rebid of the suit.  With two
5-card suits opener bids the higher first with a minimum hand and the
lower first with a better hand.  (Opener's reverse shows extra values,
but not as much as in American methods since responder will seldom want
to take a preference.)

Finally, the obvious difficulty with opening short suits is that you
might have to play there.  Roman overcomes this by making all 1-level
suit openings forcing for one round.  Responder makes the cheapest
bid with a weak hand -- the "Herbert negative".  [AS FAR AS I CAN TELL
THIS IS THE ONLY FEATURE OF ROMAN THAT IS NOT ALLOWED IN GCC EVENTS.
In fact, the negative 1H over a 1D opening may be the only remaining
problem.  A negative 1D over a forcing 1C has always been allowed.
1NT over 1S, denying the values for another bid, is likewise allowed.
The ACBL has recently legalized 1S over 1H used similarly.  All that
remains is 1H over 1D.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to do without
it.  Sigh.]

Once the canape' concept is understood, and Herbert negatives and the
opening-bid structure, Roman becomes an extremely simple system.  I
believe it can be learned more quickly than nearly any system in
widespread use today, certainly including 2/1 and probably including
even the simplest versions of Precision.

DISTRIBUTIONAL BIDDING

In general, the opener first shows distribution within certain strength
bounds and the responder first shows strength.  Opening bids of 1D, 1H,
and 1S show a wide range of strength but at least one suit of 5 cards
or more (but often not the one opened).  Responder's bids are divided
into 0-9, 9-16, 12-16, 12+ and a very good suit, and 17+.  Thus, responder
establishes the safety level while opener describes distribution.  This
results in responder usually being the captain.

SYSTEM SUMMARY

Opening bids with a balanced hand (4432 or 4333, exceptionally 5332):
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1C   (a) 12-16 points, or
     (b) 21-22 points, or
     (c) 25-26 points.
1NT  17-20 points.
2NT  23-24 points.

Responses to the 1C opening:
----------------------------
1D   Artificial negative, 0-9 points.  Opener's rebids:
     With (a), a 4-card major, 1H with 4-4, else 1NT.
     With (b), 2NT.
     With (c), 3NT.
1H/S Biddable suit and at least 9 points.  Opener's rebids:
     With (a): 1S, 1NT, or a raise to the 2-level with 12-14 points.
               2 of a new suit, not clubs, with 15-16 points.
     With (b): 2NT.  On the next round opener can specify the strength
               and the degree of support by steps (see later).
2C/D Shows a biddable suit and at least 9 points.  Opener's rebids:
     With (a): Two of a suit with 12-14, 2NT with 15-16.
     With (b): Jump in NT.
1NT  Balanced hand of 12-15 points.  Opener's rebids:
     With (a): 2M with 12-13 points.  With no major to show, bid 2D.
               With 14-16, bid 2NT.
     With (b): Jump in NT.
2NT  Balanced 16+.  Opener's rebids:
     3D: 12-13 points.
     3H: 14 points.
     3S: 15 points.
     3NT: 16 points.
2H/S Shows HHxxx or better (H=AKQ), and at least 12 HCP.  Opener's rebids:
     Step 1: 12-13 points, no support.
     Step 2: 12-13 points, support.
     Step 3: 14-16 points, no support.
     Step 4: 14-16 points, support.
     (Note: the cheapest club bid doesn't count as a step.  It has another
     meaning.)

Over 1NT opening, Gladiator.  Over 2NT opening, 3C is Baron and 3D Stayman.

Opening with an unbalanced hand:
--------------------------------
1C      (a) 17-20 points with 4 clubs and a second suit at least 5
            cards long.  Over any response opener rebids in clubs.
        (b) Artificial on any shape with no more than 3 losers.
            Over any response, opener shows this type with a jump
            in a new suit and responder, if the initial response
            was 1D or 1NT, shows the degree of support held for
            opener's suit with 9 steps (x represents J or smaller):
            Step 1: xx or xxx
            Step 2: x or void
            Step 3: H or Hx
            Step 4: Hxx
            Step 5: xxxx (single raise)
            Step 6: Hxxx
            Step 7: HH or HHx
            Step 8: HHxx
            Step 9: HHH(x...)
1S/H/S  At least 12 points counting distribution.  1- or 2-suited.
        The suit opened is taken to be at least 4 cards long.  May
        conceal an equal or longer second suit.
2C      Artificial.  12-16 points and 4441 or 5440, but no 5-card major.
2D      Artificial.  17-20 points, same shapes as 2C opening.
2H/S    12-16 points, 5 or more cards in the suit bid and at least 4
        clubs (but clubs not longer).
3C up   Normal preempts.

Responses to the 1D, 1H, and 1S openings:
-----------------------------------------
Note that these opening bids are all forcing.

Negative responses (0-9 points):
   Bidding the next higher suit or 1NT over 1S (Herbert negative).
   Simple raise.
   Bidding game in opener's major.
Opener's rebids over Herbert negative:
   Weak (12-14 points): Rebid of the suit opened or an artificial rebid
        of 1NT showing 5 cards in the suit bid artificially by responder.
   Ambiguous (12-16 points):  Change of suit.
   Strong (17+, probably better 4-5 losers): Jump rebid.

Semi-positive responses:
   1NT (except over a 1S opening, in which case bid 2m) shows a balanced
       hand with 12-15 points.
   Simple change of suit or a jump to 2 of the negative suit (e.g., 2S/1H).

Absolutely positive responses:
   2NT shows a balanced hand of at least 16 points.
   Jump raise of opener's sui (HHxxx or better).
   Jump-shift shows 12+ points and a solid or semi-solid suit.

Responses to the 2C and 2D openings:
------------------------------------
The artificial positive response is 2NT.  Opener shows the short suit
and responder then either signs off in game or bids a suit below game.
Opener responds to the latter by showing hand strength and support:
good support is HHxx, steps are minimum/bad support, minimum/good,
max/bad, max/good.

Any response other than 2NT is a signoff.  Opener bids next step with
singleton, or bids the singleton with maximum and support.

Responses to the 2H and 2S openings (M is opener's suit, OM other major):
------------------------------------
All natural except 2NT, after which opener's rebids are:
3C      5422
3M      6421
3NT     5521
3X      5431, "X" is the 3-card fragment.
4C      5530, 3 cards in OM.
4D      5530, 3 diamonds.

Game bids by responder are now to play, and all other bids are slam tries.

Slam methods:
-------------
Roman Asking Bids are the original CAB.  An unusual jump calls for:
   Step 1: No control.
   Step 2: x
   Step 3: K(x...)
   Step 4: A(x...)
   Step 5: void
   Step 6: AK
If shortness is not possible, Steps 2 and 5 are omitted.  In some cramped
auctions, steps 2&3 and 4&5 may be collapsed, yielding Precision's CAB.

Roman Blackwood and Roman Gerber are used.

========================================================
Arno Club (Little Roman)
========================================================
Arno is *very* similar to Roman, but retains a feature of Vienna that
Roman has discarded: a strong artificial 1NT opening.  In the case of
Arno, it is game-forcing.  The 1C opening therefore does not include
the game-forcing hand, and instead includes a 17-20-point club 1-suiter.
The club hand is shown with the cheapest club rebid, and the club
canape' (which Roman shows with the cheapest club rebid) is shown
with a jump rebid (which in Roman shows a game-forcing hand).

The 17-20 HCP balanced hand is opened 1D, a bid that is perhaps a bit
underused in Roman.  (When opening in a 3-card fragment the lower one
is selected, but otherwise there is nothing in Roman to make a 1D opening
more frequent than 1H or 1S.)  Arno also guarantees 4 cards in a major
suit opened, so 1D may sometimes be bid with club 1-suiter and *very*
short diamonds.  After a 1D opening and cheapest NT rebid (17-20
balanced), Gladiator is used.

Over the 1NT opening, responder shows number of aces by steps [Not one
of my favorite features of this system].

Otherwise, which is to say most of the time, Arno is essentially the
same as Roman.

================================================================
Modified Roman
================================================================
Because Americans have been allowed to use Roman only in very restricted
circumstances, we have had no chance to fiddle with the system.  Roman
is simple and regular, even "natural" once canape' is taken into account.
Any bidding freak will naturally take that as an invitation to install
gadgets.

Relays
------
One obvious direction to take Roman is relays.  As the system normally
works, opener describes distribution and responder establishes the
safety level.  It isn't going very far to have responder simply relay
in many auctions.  The 1NT call is already a strong positive.  Having
it introduce a relay auction is no big step.

Redefining 1NT
--------------
Those of us who believe a natural 1NT opening confers a competitive
advantage and obstructs the opponents more often than it obstructs
opener's side will be dismayed by the 17-20 point 1NT opening.  (I
believe that range is optimal or close to it for constructive purposes,
but nearly useless an an obstructive bid.)  Two directions stand out:

1. Modified Arno.  The 1NT opening need not be game-forcing, and words
   cannot describe my opinion of responding number of aces in steps,
   but something along this line might work well.
2. Kamakazi Roman.  1NT = 10-13 HCP, 1C usually 14-17 balanced, 1D
   includes 18-21 balanced.  Here 1C is a little *less* frequent than
   in regular Roman, since it doesn't include the 12-13 point balanced
   hand, but the 1D opening carries quite a load.  I think this likely
   requires opening 3-card majors, but I see that as a feature rather
   than a bug in any case.
These two methods might be combined, for example using (2) in 1st and
2nd position nonvulnerable or at all but unfavorable vulnerability.

That silly 2C opening
---------------------
Bo-Yin Yang has pointed out that the usual continuations after a 1C
opening uncover all 4-4 major-suit fits and stop the bidding at a low
level when there is not game; and that there isn't an awful lot of
difference between the weak 1C opening and the 2C opening.  Probably
the weak 3-suiters can be included in 1C, and 2C can be the minimum
club canape's.  That frees 2H and 2S for other uses.  Weak 2's?  Naw...

Multi 2D
--------
Nobody uses a straight Roman 2D any more.  While there is a possibility
of disaster even in the standard form, the possibility isn't *much*
greater if weak 2-bids in the majors are included.  This form of Multi
has been described in a number of places, including the ACBL
_Encyclopedia_, but is not allowed under the GCC.

RCO 2-bids
----------
Now if the 1D opening is given a second balanced range, say 23-24, we
will have freed up 2NT, 2S, and 2H.  They might be used as "RCO 2-bids"
as in Power System.  2H shows two suits of the same rank, 2S two suits
of the same color, and 2NT the other two combinations (nontouching or
same pointedness), always of less than opening strength, at least 5-5,
and at any but favorable vulnerability the suits should have good
texture.  These bids aren't awfully frequent but can have a marvelous
effect when they are used.

-- Don Varvel (varvel@cs.utexas.edu)