Boss makes a number of claims…
(i) In his first two bids, Opener gives responder his point count within
a narrow range of 2 or 3
points and also at the same time, in some cases, the precise number
of cards in his best suit.
(ii) With a single exception, he does this using natural bids.
(iii) He has no difficulty in bidding an unbalanced, 15 or 16 point
hand.
(iv) His second bid is usually low enough for further information to
be exchanged before settling
upon the final contract.
(v) The system is comprehensive, unambiguous and quite easy to learn.
It is fully explained in
just 6 pages.
Boss is an acronym for " Bidding Order Shows Strength ". Before
proceeding a few explanations are necessary.
Biddable Suits and Long Suits.
A biddable suit is a suit with 4 or more cards. A long suit is a suit
with 5 or more cards.
Distribution.
The distribution of the cards in a hand is shown in ranking order; so
5 4 3 1 means 5 spades,
4 hearts, 3 diamonds and a singleton club.
Touching Suits and Non-Touching Suits.
Touching suits are two suits where one of the suits has a ranking order
immediately above or below that of
the other suit. There are three pairs of touching suits: Spades and Hearts,
Hearts and Diamonds, Diamonds
and Clubs. There are just two pairs of non-touching suits: Spades and
Diamonds, Hearts and Clubs. The only
remaining pair is Spades and Clubs, which is not classed for our purposes
either as touching or non-touching.
No - Trumps
An opening bid of 1NT shows 12 to 14 points and a balanced hand, vulnerable
or non-vulnerable. A bid of a
suit followed by minimum no-trumps shows 15 or 16 points and a bid of
a suit followed by a jump in no-trumps
shows 17 or 18 points. With 19 points, Opener goes straight to 3 NT which
sometimes requires a double jump.
Losing Trick Count.
The losing trick count is not an essential part of Boss but it can usefully
be used in conjunction with it. For the
benefit of those who know about it and wish to use it, the number of losers
is given from time to time along
with the number of points.
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