Newest MOSCITO verions
MOSCITO is a completely artificial system, but it tends to show suits whenever it can. It's imo more "natural" than precision, because after every limited opening a 4+ card suit is known (precision 1♦ is usually 2+♦, but in some variations it can be even shorter). Australia's Paul Marston is the main ambassador of the system, his current CC can be found here
The latest changes are the following:
- 2/1 responses have always been a problem. He went from NF to GF and now he uses transfers (from 1NT and up). These are handy particular in constructive auctions where you want to show a side suit before supporting, or when you want a natural auction. It also gives the possibility of 2 kinds of 2-level raises: transfer to the Major is 9-11 and constructive, 2M is 6-9. Relays are great for slam investigation, but for games they don't have an edge. You can't find stoppers for 3NT, so sometimes you get to wrong games. This is imo a big improvement, because it still keeps the possibility to signoff (although I think he uses them only with good hands).
- He now uses the step-relay over 1♦ and 1♥ openings as 2-way: either GF relay or a normal 1NT response. He uses a natural relay scheme, which allows him to play this way. With an artificial relay scheme (like I play) it's nearly impossible to handle. What can responder do after 1♦-1♥-2♦ (showing a single suited hand with 6+♥) when you know 2♥ is a relay? With natural responses it's easy most of the time. The relay structure has lost some efficiency imo, but the tradeoff is probably worth it.
- 1♣-1♦ as any GF (except 5440's) and 1♣-1♠ as double negative, other responses are semi-positive. I always liked this structure, because you get lots of interference over 1♣ openings. When responder shows a negative, RHO can ruin the auction and cripple our abilities to fight partscore battles. When you know that opposite a 15+HCP 1♣ opening, responder has a semi-positive hand most of the time, and rarely a double negative, then it pays off to get those semi-positives in right away (I think it's GF 30%, SP 60%, DN 10% or similar). There's hardly a tradeoff, it's a pure improvement: the relays for GF auctions go 1 step up, but those for semi-positives go down at least 1 step. So percentagewise the relay structure improves.
- 4M-6m hands are now always opened in the minor. Before, you had a choice of opening the Major, usually it depended on the suit quality of the Major. I still like the MAFIA approach, but handling competition is probably one of the reasons why he changed. Missing a nice 6-3 minor fit to play in a 4-3M fit isn't always the best choice.
8 reactions:
Frederic,
Where can I find the newest version of Marston's Moscito?
Andrzej Kolinski (prezes@blotka.ca)
TIA
Je souhaiterais jouer le Moscito.
_ A quel niveau de compétition (en France) est-il possible de le faire)
_ comment trouver une documentation cohérente sur l'ensemble du système. Internet donne des résultats variés, la méthode, comme votre post l'indique semble en évolution perpétuelle.
_ y trouver vous un grand avantage en compétition, particulièrement pour les mains fortes ou faibles.
I'm going to respond in English since my French is really poor (I understand it well, but I can't write at all) and you seem to understand English well enough. :-)
- I have no idea about system regulations in France. Using WBF colour codes, it's classified as a RED system. I live in Belgium and we use these colour codes, however there are many other countries that don't use them at all (like the USA for example). So I think you better ask some friends or check online to be sure.
- There are indeed several versions around. I played a lot with Richard Willey (he actually thaught me the system), who uses transfer openings (1D shows Hearts, 1H shows Spades, 1S shows Diamonds). The other variants usually don't have transfer openings, which is imo an inferior approach. Here's a link to his notes from 2002: http://homepage.mac.com/bridgeguys//pdf/MoscitoNotesRichardWilley.pdf
- There are imo a lot of advantages in imp scoring. Slams (small and grand) are usually very easy to bid because of the relays, games can be bid quite agressively, and partscores are playable which is good enough. You won't lose many imps because you ended up in an inferior partscore which still makes, so that's the tradeoff for us. In matchpoints the advantage is pretty much gone because you go against the field a lot of the time. This is caused by the general philosophy that partscores don't have to be perfect, just playable. We frequently end up in 2 of a Major in a 4-3 fit while we have a 9 card minor fit as well, or when the rest of the field is playing a NT contract. Sometimes it wins, but sometimes it just doesn't... So if you're looking for an all-around system, I would advise you not to play it if you're playing a lot of matchpoint events.
Thank you Frederick for your perfect answer.
_ I will ask a french empire with the red system indication.
_ I have found moscito2005.pdf and the convention card of Paul Marston. But even these 2 documents doesn't fit very well. They used transferts for opening, as you do.
To make a synthesis of all informations, I have a kind of tree structure on a word processor, which is easy enough to feed. It is also easy to look for help while playing (on the web).
The idea of transferring on 2/1 seems very good too.
I will check the documents you have indicated on your post.
_ thank you for telling your experience about moscito. It is the first time I get any. I just want to play it on the web for intellectual challenge, and because I am fed up with traditional systems.
Sorry for my poor english, but if you understand french, this english could be understandable too.
Hi I have found http://homepage.mac.com/bridgeguys/pdf/MoscitoNotesRichardWilley.pdf quite useful in understanding the system. It is reasonnably current as far as i can tell (probably want to use new responses over 1C though as listed in annexes). As far as i can tell moscito is not restricted in France since it is a strong club system, other openings do show a suit and the relay is at least inv+ (would say you cannot use the newest stuff where relay is either strong or balanced but that's about it) . I play in Paris if anyone is interested exploring/practising this summer
This version is from 2000 or 2001, so actually it's not up to date at all anymore. However, it describes the way you have to play the system really well. BTW, this is the version I still play, but slightly modified, so it's still efficient. :-)
Note: the 1S-1NT relay is NOT invite+, it can be as weak as 0HCP!
Yes indeed i found this document quite useful and although it is not the latest version it seems a good way too start. (there seems to be some debate on brigebase forums whether the newer versions are actually improvements). Thanks for pointing out that 1NT over 1S is 0+, it turns out that in the french code 1NT forcing over 1H or 1S is allowed (nothing is said about 1S having to be natural in the first place :))
its information thank
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