This month we will look at another great French bridge player and writer. JEANMARC ROUDINESCO (1932-2001) belonged to a distinguished Parisian medical family. His father had been physician to Degas and Renoir and Jean-Marc himself seemed destined for a medical career until he was attracted by the world of bridge where he quickly established himself as an international player and leading writer.

Among top experts Jean-Marc is remembered as the author of a long and detailed work on bridge probability theory entitled “The Dictionary of Suit Combinations”. However among French club players he is better known as the inventor of a simple bidding device known as LE ROUDI in his honour.

This was a way of finding an eight card major suit fit after the opener has bid one in a minor, the responder has bid one in a major and the opener has rebid one no trump (UN SANS ATOUT) showing a balanced hand of 12 to 14 points. If the responder has five cards in his major and a minimum honour point count of 11 he makes an artificial enquiry bid of two Clubs. The opener then shows his holding in his partner’s major. With three cards he bids two of the major. With only two cards he makes a denial bid of two Diamonds (DEUX CARREAUX). The responder then decides on the final contract depending on his own strength. At the worst he can sign off in two No trumps as he can depend on a minimum combined point count of 23.

In the U.S.A. where Standard American is much the same as Standard Francais some players use the same device which they call CHECKBACK STAYMAN or CHECKBACK for short.

So can you use Checkback when you are playing an Acol type Weak No Trump convention? The answer is “Yes” although it crops up less frequently as opening bids of one of a minor are not so common. However the responder can make his enquiry bid of two Clubs (DEUX TREFLES) with a lower minimum count of only 8. This is because partner’s one No Trump rebid will show a 15-16 count. So a two No Trump contract will be reasonable if opener makes a two Diamond denial.

A quick look at the web discloses that one of France’s leading writers on psychoanalysis is Professor Elisabeth Roudinesco, A pupil of Foucault, biographer of Lacan and friend of Derrida she probably has little time for bridge. However if she does sit down for a few hands with Sorbonne colleagues I like to think she will use her namesake’s convention- LE ROUDI.