First make certain that
NO other BETA opening bid other than 1
♣ or 1N is appropriate - if there is then one must use it and never choose either 1
♣ or 1N.
Now a decision between 1
♣ and 1N must be made. If 1N satisfies all rules then it must always be preferred to a 1
♣ opening.
In the case of 1N after making all necessary HCP adjustments. BETA uses only a 12-14 1NT opening.
In beta good 3rd hand 12-14 1N openings are encouraged BUT we will not
shade to 11 HCP.
BETA's 1
♣ opening is usually 12-18 but maybe shaded
to a good 11 in third or fourth opening positions. With 18+ prefer a 2
♦ opening]
The distribution restrictions on our 1N openings must be adhered to in
all positions these are:: No 5 card Major or Diamonds, No void or
singleton, at least 4-3 in the minors, a 3 card minor must be headed by one of
A¦K¦Q and allowed distributions are 2245, 2236, 33{43}, {24}{43}, {23}44, {23}35.
So we prefer 1N whenever we can instead of 1
♣ with the mild pre-emption it offers. The theoretical reason
for this preference is that the IN opening may contain a single 4 card
Major about 20% of the time with a distribution of {24}{34} - an ideal
1N distribution. So are {23}44 & {23}35.
Now {34}{33} hands are always opened 1
♣ and any of the above mentioned
that fail the Hxx test in a 3 card minor are also opened 1
♣.
The
limitations Beta places on a 1N opening are aimed at practically
making a safe minor suit exit from 1NT * as partner can bank
on finding at least 3 card minor suit support with transfers of ** for 2
♣ & 2
♣ for 2
♦.
A 2
♣ inquiry can be made to obtain detail of the 1N opening with high precision: 2Ma: 4 cards; 2D: 4 cards; 2N: 4 Clubs and 3
♣: 5|6 Clubs
These restrictions have reduced the % occurrence of a 1NT
opening in BETA to be significantly lower than its occurence in ACOL.
On the plus side a significant increase in the frequency of a 1
♣
opening - this fits very well with the mathematical 'theory of
information' - and Beta uses this advantage to its limit. See our
1♣ opening for full details.
The importance of our 1NT opening lies in its reduction of the frequency of 1
♣ openings.