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The Differences between Acol and Standard American |
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This document outlines the differences between the Acol and Standard American bidding systems. It is written from the perspective of an Acol player who wishes to learn Standard American. |
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The basics
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Both Acol and Standard American are so-called natural systems (as opposed to a system like precision ♣). But Acol is rather more natural than Standard American. Playing Acol all 1-level openings promise at least 4 cards in the suit (perhaps with the exception of exactly 4333 shape (four ♠'s) when some prefer 1♣ to opening the 4-card ♠ suit). Playing Standard American a 1♥ or 1♠ opening always promises at least a 5 card suit, so sometimes 1♣ or 1♦ has to be opened with just a 3-card suit. |
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The other major difference between the two systems is the No Trump structure. In Acol a 1NT opening is 12-14 but in Standard American it is 15-17. This also affects the No Trump rebid range and this is discussed in detail later. |
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Major Suit Openings |
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| Hand A |
Hand B |
With Hand A you might consider opening 1♥ if playing Acol, |
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but a weak 1NT is probably best. Playing Standard American |
| ♠ |
A53 |
♠ |
A5 |
you cannot open 1NT as that's 15-17, and you cannot open 1♥ |
| ♥ |
AQ65 |
♥ |
AQ654 |
as that guarantees 5 ♥'s. So open 1♣. |
| ♦ |
65 |
♦ |
65 |
Hand B is a clear 1♥ opener in either system. |
| ♣ |
QJ62 |
♣ |
QJ62 |
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Responses to a major suit opening |
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| Hand C |
Hand D |
With both of these hands partner has opened 1♥. Here we see |
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one of the main advantages of playing Standard American - |
| ♠ |
1042 |
♠ |
J1042 |
responder knows that opener has a 5 card suit and so can |
| ♥ |
K98 |
♥ |
K98 |
always happily raise with just three card support. |
| ♦ |
J9432 |
♦ |
J943 |
With Hand C an Acol player would have to respond 1NT but in |
| ♣ |
K7 |
♣ |
K7 |
Standard American it's 2♥. With Hand D an Acol player would |
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respond 1♠ but 2♥ is better if you know that partner has 5 ♥'s. |
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Minor suit openings |
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| Hand E |
Hand F |
With Hand E an Acol player would open 1♦ and rebid 1NT |
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(15-16) over a major suit response. In Standard American the |
| ♠ |
AQ5 |
♠ |
J652 |
best opening is 1NT (15-17). |
| ♥ |
KJ3 |
♥ |
AQ63 |
With Hand F an Acol player would open 1NT, or otherwise 1♥ |
| ♦ |
K9432 |
♦ |
AQ6 |
if he is one of those players who does not like to open 1NT with |
| ♣ |
K7 |
♣ |
87 |
a weak doubleton. A Standard American player has to open 1♦ |
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- the better minor, a major suit opening promises 5 cards. |
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Responses to a minor suit opening |
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| Hand G |
Hand H |
With both of these hands partner has opened 1♣. |
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With Hand G an Acol player would support with 2♣, but |
| ♠ |
J42 |
♠ |
42 |
a Standard American player would have to respond 1NT |
| ♥ |
J98 |
♥ |
K982 |
as partner may well not have 4 ♣'s. |
| ♦ |
632 |
♦ |
632 |
With Hand H it's the same in both systems – bid 1♥. |
| ♣ |
AQ76 |
♣ |
AQ76 |
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Responding with a new suit at the two level |
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| Hand J |
Hand K |
With both of these hands partner has opened 1♠. |
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With Hand J an Acol player would bid a descriptive 2♣, |
| ♠ |
42 |
♠ |
Q42 |
but a Standard American would have to bid 1NT because |
| ♥ |
J98 |
♥ |
J98 |
a new suit at the two level guarantees 11 points when playing |
| ♦ |
Q32 |
♦ |
J3 |
Standard American. |
| ♣ |
AQ762 |
♣ |
AQ762 |
With Hand K an Acol player would again bid 2♣ but in |
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Standard American he simply raises to 2♠ as he knows it's an |
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8 card fit
and he is too weak for a new suit at the two level. |
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INT openings and NoTrump rebids |
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Now I said just now that a new suit response at the two level promises 11+ points when playing Standard American (but only 8+ when playing Acol). Why is that? |
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| Hand L |
With Hand L you open 1♥ and partner responds 2♦. What now? |
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An Acol player would bid 2♥, after all, his initial opening promised only 4 ♥'s |
| ♠ |
KJ |
and partner may well have 3 card support. |
| ♥ |
K9742 |
But a Standard American would be loathe to rebid this motley suit and 2NT is best. |
| ♦ |
Q7 |
This NoTrump rebid is 12-14 points and that is the reason that responder's two |
| ♣ |
KJ76 |
level bid has to be 11+ , because opener may be forced to bid 2NT with just 12 |
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points or so. |
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The structure for No Trump bids is as follows: - |
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Two Level Openings |
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The strong 2♣ opening is the same in both systems. In America most players play 2♦/♥/♠ as all weak bids whereas many Acol players will use 2♦ as something more constructive, such as a Benjamin two opening or a multi two diamonds. There is absolutely no reason why you cannot play either Benjamin twos or the Multi 2♦ along with Standard American, but very few Americans have adopted the approach. So most Americans make do with just the one strong opening and more advanced Standard American players play 2♦ waiting and 2♥ negative responses over a 2♣ opening. |
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The 2NT response to an opening bid. |
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The traditional meaning of the 2NT response to any opening bid is the same in Acol and in Standard American – a balanced 11-12 points and no 4 card major. But there are variations: |
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In SAYC (a very specific basic variation of Standard American) the 2NT response to 1♣/♦ is 13-15 and forcing, but very few players play that. The 2NT response to 1♥/♠ is played as Jacoby 2NT by most more experienced Standard American players. |
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A popular treatment for 2NT in the UK is the Baron 2NT, this is probably better than playing 2NT as 11-12 but I would still play Jacoby 2NT over major suit openings. |
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A few more minor differences: |
Consider these sequences: - |
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| 1♥ - 2♣ - 2♥ |
In Acol this 2♥ bid is passable. In standard American a two level response promises another bid (unless opener rebids 2NT). |
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| 1♥ - 2♣ - 3♥ |
In Acol this sequence is invitational, but in Standard American the 2♣ response guaranteed 11+ points and so the sequence is game forcing. |
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| 1♥ - 2♣ - 2♦ |
In Acol this 2♦ bid is passable. In Standard American it is forcing. |
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| 1♦ - 1♠ - 1NT - 2♥ |
In Standard American this sequence is weak and opener should pass or correct. But playing Acol the 1NT rebid is 15-16 and so opener may decide to press on if he has an exceptionally good hand for ♥'s. |
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| 1♦ - 1♠ - 1NT - 3♠ |
In Standard American the 1NT bid is weak and the 3♠ bid is invitational. But in Acol the 1NT bid is 15-16 and so 3♠ is forcing. |
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You might like to have a look at the ‘is it forcing' document in order to brush up on what's forcing in either system. |
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There is an advanced variation of Standard American called two-over-one and that is what most experienced players play. |
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For those of you familiar with Acol I can recommend the book by Sally Brock which assumes a basic knowledge of Acol.
The most popular variation of Standard American, especially for use with casual partnerships on the internet, is SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card). The SAYC book by Ned Downey and Ellen Pomer is excellent and is the only really comprehensive book about SAYC. |
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Pattaya Bridge Club - |
www.pattayabridge.com |
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