If you want to open the auction because you have opening points (11-19) for a normal 1-level opening bid you usually open one in a suit. In the 1NT-chapter is described when you open 1NT. When you cannot call 1NT, then you must call a suit (there are some seldom occurring exceptions as we will see later on at the high-level opening calls).
The kind of suit you call is determined by the distribution, in particular by the length of the major suits:

• with two 5+cards in the major suits you open 1© (and sometimes 2NT)
• with one 5+card in a major suit, you have to open 1 in the corresponding major suit.
• You know already that in MAF, with a 4-card in one or both of the major suits you are not allowed to open a major suit. Here we determine that when you have got a hand like that, you open 1§ if you also possess 2 or more clubs.
• If the lengths of your major suits both are less then 4, then you are normally not allowed to call clubs. We will soon see that there are exceptions, and later on also why there are exceptions on this last rule.
• If you are not allowed to call clubs there is only one suit left, so in that case you will have to call that one: 1¨. This is the case, either because you're short (<=3) in the majors or because you possess a singleton clubs.

You just acknowledged one of the main properties of the MAF opening calls.

But there is more. In MAF you look primarily for a major suit fit (Majors Always First). For a fit in a suit you and your partner need preferably eight cards in this suit. There are three kinds of fits, and MAF has tools to find any type of fit present, very early in the auction.

• The 5-3(2)-fit after an opening bid of 1ª or 1©.
• The 4-4-fit after an opening bid of 1§ and in a different way (Stayman) also after an opening of 1 or 2NT and sometimes (it happens now and then) after 1¨ (MAD+++).
• The 3(2)-5-fit after an opening bid of 1¨, sometimes also after a 1§-opening (Joker), and in a different way (Jacoby) here also after the 1 or 2NT opening bid and occasionally after 1¨ (MAD+).

In order to find the fit, we must remember again: "Majors Always First", i.e. the responder must primarily study his hand for possible fits in the majors suits, while of course taking into account the nature of his partner's opening bid. We have seen now, that all opening bids are designed in way, that they transmit information about the major suit lengths. We also saw how it worked with the major suit openings and with notrump.
So after 1§ the responder must look for 4+cards major suit. His first response must confirm or deny a possible major suit fit. This is done by always calling the lowest major suit if there is one, even when there also is a long nice minor suit.
Such a major suit response is always forcing. MAF takes the risk of having to play the fitting suit on 2-level with minimum (17 hcp) hands, which is something that often, but not always, is funny.
In case one of the partners possesses both major suits, or the responder owns a 5-suiter it's getting funny. For these cases the Joker convention has been develloped. This is a very important convention in MAF, since it has to be applied vey often.
Sometimes a Sohl response is done. This is a forcing "multi way response", comparable with the Stayman response on a 1NT opening. You have seen already that "sohls" may be applied after major suit opening bids, but in MAF they may be applied after the minor suit opening bids too. Sohls may lead in certain cases to a postponed denial or confirmation of a major suit possession. After a 1§ opening the sohl response of 1¨ denies the 4-card major suit.

Many times after a minor suit opening, the exploration for a major suit fit will be negative. For those cases the system offers escaping possibilities to safe alternative contracts.

• the first escape is easy to find and leads often to a 1NT contract, and sometimes to 2 or 3NT:
  • in case of a 1§ opening, nearly always to be played by the opener.
  • in case of a 1¨ opening, nearly always to be played by the responder.
• If both, the major suit and the NT contracts, are not feasible, the emergency gate to a minor suit contract must be opened. This generally leads to contract on 2- or 3-level. Usually it pays more to play 1NT in such cases.

This introduction was needed here, because in this stage of the description, it is possible to show the structure of the fundamentals of MAF.
You probabably would not discover the kerlnel of MAF when the author did'nt emphasize this. The approach to bridge by MAF is rather different from the common approach. Now knowing the principles, it's easier understand details. Now you have an idea of how MAF works: M.A.F. = Majors Always First.
The following part of this chapter will describe all further details of the 1§ opening. The 1¨ will be discussed next in the 1¨ chapter. You probably would not be able to discover the basics of MAF soon, without being attended on it by the author. Now the understanding of some details will be easier, because the purpose of it should be clear. If you did not grasp this introduction, you should read it again before going on.

 
If you arrived here because you wanted to read about the "sohl principle" then we give you the opportunity to link to various other paragraphs where remarks are made about "sohl":

1¨-Sohl	1©-Sohl	1ª-Sohl	1NT-Sohl	2©/ª-Sohl	2NT-Sohl	3NT-Sohl
the SOHL overview

In the 1§ diagram in this chapter three things are observed immediately:

• You only need a doubleton in club to open that suit on 1-level
• The really multi-way character of this opening.
• The multi way-character of the 1¨ response. Knowing that every 1-level opening has it's Sohl response, this must be the "Clubs-Sohl". You can be sure of this, when you notice that this response is also the cheapest response possible (all sohl's are "cheapest possible responses on 1-level opening bids"). More details about this response are under this link.

The order of the various meanings of the 1§ opening is random. We will discuss them briefly.

  a: The strong 18-19 hcp's balanced hand (no 5-card major!).
In dutch Acol, and some other systems too, you open 1« and, if if there is a next turn you call 2NT, to show your strong hand. We all know (Acol players also out of experience) that if one player has 19 HCP's in his hands, the average for the others is exactly 7 HCP's. So the odds that your partner will pass after 1« are considerable.
I learned a trick from mr Jaap van der Neut to avoid this disadvantage:

Do a low level forcing opening, enable your partner to show that he may be weak (through a sohl response),
then:

Rebid 1NT on your partner's response, if it shows he might be weak, else just bid 2NT or in case of a major suit fit e.g. 4 in that major suit.

In this way you always reach your goal: 'a nice contract'(!) on a 'safe level'(!) and your partner has been informed about your type of hand. If your partner is really weak (p: or q:, look at the diagram) he should pass or call his 6-suiter (without jumping), otherwise (r:, s:, t: and u:) he should call 3NT
I do not know if Jaap van der Neut is the genuine inventor of this manoeuvre. Anyway I call it the NeuT-NT convention.
You probably did not know, that the dutch noun "neut" is often used as a funny indication for "a small glass of schnapps". That is why some dutch people will laugh when you tell them about your improved bridge performance with the neut.
After NeuT-NT 1NT bid , the bidding cannot proceed like a normal 1NT opening had been done. Up to 3¨ all bids have meanings already. It's clear already that there cannot be a major suit fit after this Sohl response and 1NT rebid. You can either pass, do one of those 'second Sohl responses' or call 3NT. Calling 2NT may cause misunderstandings; as a matter of fact this should give 10-12 hcp's. Because their is no point in this and we need a limit rase, we will make an exception for after the NeutNT: 2NT is the limit raise and with 10-12 3NT is called)

  b: Of course the 1§ opening can be real too. This must always be at least a 5-card. There is a very special reason not to accept the 4-card in the opening. This reason will be discussed in the 1¨ chapter.
With the rebid, 2§, the 5 suiter is shown. This rebid is never forcing and therefore it is also nice to require 5 clubs.

  c:Due to the regulations of the bridge leagues (and the the limitations of MAF) it appeared to be impossible to construct in MAF a "natural" (easily memorizable) 2-opening bid for weak hands with long clubs. For this reason these particular hands end up here, not nice but better something than nothing. If you are interested to find your way to other preemptive openings in MAF, you should look at the overview that was made for this.

  d: De 4-kaart hoge kleur:
A response of 1¨ denies a 4-card major suit. A response of 1© shows a 4-card in this suit and does not deny the possession of a 4-card ª. A response of 1ª denies the possession of a 4-card ©.

In the rebid the major suit is shown by calling it on 1-level. If this has become impossible (after 1¨ there never are problems !!) and when there isn't a fit, the rebid is 1NT. In case of a fit, this is shown by repeating the suit at an appropriate level, assuming the responder possesses 6-9 points.
Any second response on 2-level is always a 5-suiter. The 4-card major suit is never intrduced on 2-level.
The 2§ response points to a 5-suiter, >=10 points and denies the possession of 4-cards in each major suit. If you cannot do this bid either, you, as a responder, must choose between 1¨ and, only with >=15 points, 1NT.
When the opener rebids a major suit, which is supported by the responder, then he, on his second turn, must show directly the fit as well as his strength, by repeating that suit on the appropriate level

  e: Strong three suited hands are always difficult to describe. In MAF this is solved by introducing the SHiD+++ convention. Please take notice of the fact that clubs must be always one of these three suits. As soon as the SHiD-bid is done, the partner knows all the suits. A singleton/void in clubs is shown in a completely different way, as you will see at the 1¨ opening bid. If you are interested to see how other strong hands are opened we invite you to study the appropriate overview

Don't try to learn all these conventions all by heart. Try to understand the ideas behind them, especially the Sohl and Joker/MaC conventions. After the Sohl response, the responder's hand has to be described. In the next table the agreements are shown systematicaly. After the Sohl response a second response must be made in order to inform the opener about the responder's hand. Next link shows some more ordered information about the second response after the sohl response.

If the opponents do not disturb the bidding level will never be irresponsibly high. If they do disturb, then act as described in the relevant tables.

The follow up bidding is always natural. So this should be based on the discovered mutual strengths and fits or misfits which generally are best known by the responder. He is most likely to do the final bid, or try for a game by means of a limit raise. The well known criteria for total hcp's needed to bid limit raises, games and slam are universal and so they are applicable for MAF too. When bidding for trump contracts the distribution hcp-values may be added to the real hcp's, just as in any other system.
In the chapter about the Jacoby 2NT convention the control bidding after finding the major suit fit is explained. The WhA? convention has a similar function when a minor suit fit has been established.

If you start playing MAF you should first get experience with the basics. The many conventions should be incorporated into your system one by one, each time when you are ready for this. Any way try to understand the principle and the purpose of each convention separately. This makes it easy to remember them. Read about them and only if a certain convention appeals to you apply it.

when your screen resolution is not higher than 1024 x 768 pixels :
View the diagram "full screen" (in Netscape: 'open [frame] in new window' under the right mouse button.)

1 § At least a 2+card in § pass 5+card in §, other responses are all forcing <=2             nearly always forcing 1 ¨ Clubs Sohl, always forcing, denies 4+MaS if >6 hcp's   a: balanced rebid: after 1¨ 1NT, else 2NT*** 18-19   p: weak, no 5+card § < 6 b: 5+card § rebid after a 1-level response: 2 § 11-19 q: 6+card « 2nd response: 2©/ª or 3§/¨   <6 c: 6+card § rebid after a 1-level response: 3§ lhoSSohl 8-10 next meanings all, except "v:", deny 4+ in major suits:   d: 4-card © or ª rebid: after 1¨, 1©/ª, else 1NT 11-14 r: 5+card §* 2nd response: 2§ or 1NT 6-11 e:4/5,4,4,1/0-distr. rebid: 2©/2ª/3¨ short suit 15-19 s: 5+card ¨* 2nd response: 2¨ or 1NT 6-11 short in ¨,©,or ª SHiD+++   t: balanced * 2nd response: 1NT or pass 6 - 9 type frequency % absolute relative a: 1.258 7.39 b1: 3.952 23.0 b2: 0.565 3.31 c: 2.073 12.17 d: 7.579 44.50 e: 1.604 9.42 total: 17.031 100.00 b1 is 11-14, b2 is 15-19 u: balanced * 2nd response: 2NT 10-12 v: exploring intentions,  secret & mysterious goals! >=12 1 © 4+© or 4/4 ©/ª or 4/5 ©/ª etc. ** Joker >=6 1 ª 4+ª or ( 5/4 ©/ª and >=10) ** Joker >=6 1NT balanced WHIMS >=15 2 § 5+card §, no 4+card major suit * >=12 2 ¨ 5+card ¨, no 4+card major suit * >=12 2 © splinter, void/singleton in ©, SHiD+ >=12 2 ª splinter, void/singleton in ª, SHiD+ >=12 2NT 5,5 in ©/ª, forcing WHIMS >=12 3 ¨ splinter, void/singleton in ¨, SHiD+ >=12 * No 4+card major suit, while in that case 1©/ª is an obligate response always. ** Show the 5-suiter at the 2nd response when >10 HCP's. Joker   *** This the Neut-NT convention © Chiel Verwoest

return to : LINKS GENERAL OVERVIEWS

The diagram contains some indications as to the rebids in normal situations. As to the possible responses we observe several remarkable things:

• The number of possible responses is rather few. This is because the opening is forcing and most responses are forcing. You have to be careful with the scarce bidding space.
• By directly introducing a minor suit on 2-level the holding of spades is denied and a strong hand is shown. Playing 1NT is clearly considered to low.
• As an responder you can sign off the major suit with strong hands, by introducing a minor suit directly, while passing the 1NT bid.
  
• Having a weak hand, that may also contain a 5-suiter in one of the minors, the major denying response is the 1¨ Sohl, leaving the 1NT open for playing. When the opener call his major suit, which he should do if he can, you can call 1NT for playing. On a rebid of 2§ you may pass or respond 2NT. Calling a new suit is only allowed with a 6-card.
• The SHiD-splinters emphatically do not deny the possession of a 4+card in the [other] major suit. The opener has to bid, taking the cheapest route, so denying cheaper suits, his 4-suiters. The responder must anticipate and so be prepared for any rebid. The responder must also be very aware that the trump suit still has to be found.

In the next table is illustrated completely how the bidding proceeds after a 1¨ club sohl response. In case e:, SHiD+++, there will always be a fit, so a game bid seems possible with most responding hands, because the opener is very strong.

second rebid on a 1¨ ( the club Sohl) responding partner of a 1§ opening opener Opening hand Rebid opener after 1¨ response responding hand   p: q: r: s: t: u: v:   weak 6-card « 5-card § 5-card ¨ balanced balanced mysterious     <6 0-9 6-11 6-11 6-9 10-12 ??   a: bal. 18-19 1NT NeuT-NT   pass 2©/ª/ 3§/¨ 2§ 2¨ 2NT * 3NT * ?? b: 5-card § 2§   pass pass/2« 3§ pass/2¨ pass 2NT ?? c: 6-card § 3§   pass pass pass pass pass pass pass/?? d: 4-card ©/ª 1©/ª   pass/1NT 2« 1NT/2§ 1NT/2¨ 1NT 2NT ?? e: 4/5,4,4,1/0 2©/ª / 3¨   SHiD+++ SHiD+++ SHiD+++ SHiD+++ SHiD+++ SHiD+++ SHiD+++      *   exception for the Neut NT rebid

The opening of one 1§ occurs relatively often, especially the cases b: and d:, as you can read in the frequency table in the diagram. These opening hands commonly have 11-14 hcp's. Balanced hand with 15-19 hcp's are opened differenly (1NT or NeuT-NT) just like most unbalanced hands of that strength. You and your partner should be able to control this often returning situation. That is why you must have good control of all responses.
This may look complicated, but remember "the proof of the pudding is the eating": It all works smooth and natural. After 1.5 or 2 rounds of bidding generally you both know the necessary essentials as to distribution and strength of your partner.
When you enjoy your pudding you should also try the other ingredients a:, c: and e:. Do not be afraid of getting addicted. After all, pudding is a very soft drug.

The diagrams contains, just like you should have expected, nearly all data with respect to the club opening. Where they do not contain the data itself, you may find the appropriate links to detailed information. If you want to see examples, please make your choice on the example page, where many possibilities are offered.

The introduction of the sohl responses makes the system very vulnerable to bidding disturbances by the opponents. The defense system contains agreements how to handle these disturbances. As to the subject of this page, you should have a look at overview DEFENSE after 1§/1¨ openings where most of the possible interventions are discussed shortly.