The purpose of the Burnham 'standard' system is to serve as a basis for an unfamiliar partnership to use. This could be in a hosting situation, for an unusual event such as our end-of-season League-of-8 Shindig, or on any occasion when two players are getting together for the first time. The basic system is Benjaminised Acol.

The card can be accessed in two ways:

• as a pdf document which can simply be printed
• as an html document on one of our websites. The particular advantage of this form of system card is that, where the reader sees anything underlined on the card, he/she can click this to access further explanatory content about that particular aspect of the system.

One or two points to note:

• in response to an opening bid of 1♥/1♠, 2NT is game-forcing Jacoby, promising a minimum of 4-card support in a relatively balanced hand. Opener rebids four of his/her major with a relatively minimal opening hand
• splinter bids are used to show a minimum of 4-card support in opener's suit with usually a singleton [occasionally void] in the bid suit. We're all familiar with a relatively straightforward sequence such as 1♥ - Pass - 4♣, but a more generalised rule is that if bidding the suit at one level less would have been forcing, then the bid is a splinter, e.g. in the sequence 1♥ - Pass - 3♠, 3♠ is a splinter bid. 

To view card:

Front/back:         As html page          As pdf

Inside:               As html page          As pdf