CHURCHILL STYLE

Mr. S. Garton Churchill of New York advocated certain methods of bidding. Following are the main elements of these methods.

1. A Weak No Trump Opening - Mr. S. Garton Churchill was one of the first leading American theorists to support the application of this bid, and it gained popularity among many bridge players in the bridge community.

2. A utility 1 No Trump response used for a wide variety of weak holdings. This method was the predecessor or the forcing Rothstone 1 No Trump response.

3. Light opening bids with distributional patterns such as: 5-4-3-2, 5-4-4-0, 6-4-3-0, 5-5-3-0, 6-5-1-1, and so on.

4. Frequent bids in short suits. Mr. Churchill recognized the importance in the application of such all-purpose bids for exploring for a game or slam contract, or for allowing the correct partner to establish and play as declarer the contract.

5. Constructive overcalls and forcing Jump overcalls.

6. Four-card openings in suits of any strength.

7. Picture Bidding, or Jump rebids and responses used essentially to describe solid or near-solid suits as well as slam attempts.

8. No strength-showing forcing opening bids.

9. Sparing use of preemptive bids.

10. Balance of Power bidding.

Mr. S. Garton Churchill was born in 1900 and died in 1992. He was one of the great American bridge players and bridge theorists. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and Harvard Law School. In 1944 he made the decision to resign from bridge playing in general, mainly due to his law practice and his wish to spend more time with his family. His system or bidding style were concepts he advocated as a theorist, and these concepts were generally not accepted by the bridge community until much later. His original theoretical ideas and concepts written in Contract Bidding Tactics At Matchpoint Play and in published articles of The Bridge World magazine.

Mr. S. Garton Churchill won the Life Master Pairs in 1937 and 1948, setting two records in partnership with Mr. Cecil Head. As a partnership they scored 65% as an average for four sessions and 77.40% in a single session. Mr. S. Garton Churchill won the Chicago, after 1965 the Reisinger, in 1932, placed second in 1933, 1939, 1941, and 1942. He was also second in Master Mixed Teams in 1937 and in the Asbury Challenge Teams in 1931. His regional wins included Eastern States Knockout Teams in 1937, 1938, and 1939, the New Jersey State Master Pairs in 1947 and 1959, and the Secondary Senior Pairs in 1959.

See also: A modern version of this bidding system devised by Mr. S. Garton Churchill has been revised by Mr. Kenneth L Lindsay and is posted on his website. This .pdf file is also only archived and preserved on this site for future reference. Please see the original at: Aiga Publications - Dupicate Bridge Instruction and Opinion.

 

If you wish to include these features, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.

 

 

 

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