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© Copyright 2002, Jim Loy
The Symmetric Relay is a relay Precision bidding system. The only forcing bids are relays, usually the cheapest bid. Most other bids are standard Precision. The relay bidding uses some tables (below) which can be used in a variety of situations, and even more than once in the same bidding sequence. These tables add some "symmetry" to the system, and are useful in memorizing the system. Here is a brief description of the entire system (bids not shown are mostly standard Precision):
| 1C | 16+ | ||||
| 1D | Neg. (0-7 or 0-9 balanced or less than 2 controls) | ||||
| 1H | 19+, relay | ||||
| 1S | 2nd neg (0-4 or 0 controls) | ||||
| other | 2 steps up from positive response | ||||
| 1M | 4+ card suit | ||||
| relay | cheapest bid | ||||
| 1NT | 4+S, 2-suiter table | ||||
| 2C | 4+C, 2-suiter table | ||||
| 2D | 4+D and 5+ in first suit, 2-suiter table | ||||
| 2H | reverser=4 in first suit and 5+D, 2-suiter table | ||||
| other | 1-suiter table | ||||
| 1NT | Flat table (4333 or 4332) | ||||
| 2m | 5+ card suit, 1-suiter table | ||||
| 2H | 5+C and 4D, 2-suiter table | ||||
| 2S | 5-5 or longer in minors, long 2-suiter table | ||||
| 1D | Nebulous, 11-15 | ||||
| 1H | Natural or GF relay | ||||
| 1S | 4S and minor or black 3-suiter | ||||
| 2C | relay | ||||
| 2D | 3-suiter table, high shortage | ||||
| 2H | 2-suiter table with C | ||||
| 2S | 3-suiter table, low shortage | ||||
| 2NT | 2-suiter table with D, zoom into 2-suiter table. | ||||
| 1NT | 4H and minor or red 3-suiter | ||||
| 2C | relay, same as above | ||||
| 2C | 5+C and 4D, 2S=relay: 2-suiter table | ||||
| 2D | 4C and 5+D, 2S=relay: 2-suiter table | ||||
| 2H | 1S and 3H, bad hand | ||||
| 2S | 5-5 or longer minors | ||||
| 1M | 11-15, 5+ card suit | ||||
| 1NT | GF relay, same as 1C-1M-relay except that 2H shows other major instead of "reverser" (as a 5+ card suit was shown) | ||||
| 1NT | 12-15 balanced, maybe 5-card major, maybe 5-card minor and two doubletons | ||||
| 2D | GF relay Stayman (see Intro to Relays - A 2D Relay Stayman) | ||||
| 2m | 6+ card suit | ||||
| relay | cheapest bid, 1-suiter table | ||||
| 2H | 5-5 or longer table in majors |
Besides the above (and the GF relay Stayman), we have five important tables.
Here is the 1-suiter table ("high shortage" means that the highest ranked of the three remaining suits is the short suit):
| 2S | high shortage |
| 2NT | middle shortage |
| 3C | equal shortage (7222 or 6322) |
| 3D | low shortage, zoom (5332) |
| 3H | low shortage, 6331 |
| 3S | low shortage, 7330 |
| 3NT | low shortage, 7321 |
These tables show specific bids instead of step-1, step-2, etc. That feature of the tables is the "symmetric" part of the system. Once we are in the 1-suiter table, 3H will be a low shortage (or other shortage already shown) with 6331 regardless of the previous sequence of bids (except after a negative response to 1C when all tables are two steps up). And the table is reuseable in the same bidding sequence. 3H directly shows "low shortage, 6331," while 2S-2NT(r)-3H shows "high shortage 6331," and 2NT-3C(r)-3H shows "middle shortage 6331;" 3H shows the same shape (6331) in all of these sequences of bids. This "symmetric" feature makes memorization easier. There is nothing particularly magical about this, the table was just rearranged somewhat to make this possible. Some of the other tables (below) also have this "symmetric" feature.
Further relays show shape reusing the above table, and then the exact distribution using the numeric principle (see Intro to Relays - A 2D Relay Stayman).
The 2-suiter table:
| 2H | reverser, 4 in 1st suit, 5+ in 2nd suit |
| 2S | 5-5 or longer |
| 2NT | high shortage |
| 3C | equal shortage |
| 3D | low shortage, zoom (5431) |
| 3H | low shortage, 6421 |
| 3S | low shortage, 7420 |
| 3NT | low shortage, 6430 |
Here is the 3-suiter table, which does specify steps instead of specific bids. Two long suits are already known:
| step1 | high shortage |
| step2 | low shortage, 4441 |
| step3 | low shortage, 5440, zoom (long in high suit) |
| step4 | low shortage, 5440, long in middle suit |
| step5 | low shortage, 5440, long in low suit |
5-5 or longer table
| 3C | high shortage |
| 3D | equal shortage (6511) |
| 3H | low shortage, zoom (5521) |
| 3S | low shortage, 6520 |
| 3NT | low shortage, 5530 |
And the flat (4333 or 4432) table:
| 2D | 4-4, same colors or 4333 long major. After 2H relay, 2S=4333 or zoom (doubleton naturally) with 4-4 |
| 2H | 4-4, same rank (major or minor), same as above |
| 2S | 4333, long minor |
| 2NT | 4-4, same shape (pointy or round tops), zoom (doubleton naturally) |
Notice that the above table is not typical of this system, as you show the doubleton using the natural principle (Intro to Relays - A 2D Relay Stayman) instead of the numeric principle. For consistency, I would prefer the numeric principle.
After the next relay, show number of controls not already shown, and then Denial Cuebids to show where the controls are.
Other relay systems (Moscito, the Ultimate Club, and a few Weak Opening Systems) use "symmetric relays." They use tables much like the above.