INTRO (1NT Redouble=0)

This is an escape mechanism when opponents double your partner's 1NT Opening. If, as OCP does,
you are sometimes opening 1NT with 10-12 hcp, it's absolutely essential to have an escape
mechanism such as INTRO (but there are loads of other ones, so take your pick). A lot of people
just play "System Off" once opps double their 1NT Opening, otherwise Responder has no easy
escape into a long Minor suit.
INTRO goes a fair way further than that. The scheme of actions by Responder using INTRO is as
follows:-

 Immediate 2-level suit bids are weak and "to play", promising a 5-card or longer suit
 Immediate 3-level suit bids are invitational, promising at least a 6-card suit in an
unbalanced hand where Responder has at least 1 shortage and no desire to play in 1NTX.
 Redouble shows a weak hand with either 4333 or 4441 distribution and asks Opener to bid
their cheapest 4-card suit. Responder then passes with any 4333 hand or bids the next suit up
if they have a 4441 type and Opener has bid their singleton. Bidding stops as soon as at least
a 4-3 fit is found.

Optionally you can add an invitational 3-suiter hand-type to the Redouble (ie: 11-13 with 4441 or
perhaps 5431 shape). This is shown by raising the suit Opener bids if they have hit one of your 4-
card suits, or bidding 2NT if Opener has hit your shortage.or bidding 2NT if Opener has hit your

Pass commands Opener to redouble and is either:

 Weak with any 4432 distribution. With this hand-type Responder bids his lowest 4-card suit at
the 2-level over the redouble and 4-card suits are bid upwards until at least a 4-3 fit is found.h
 Strong (Any hand that wants to defend 1NT redoubled goes this route and Responder simply
passes over the redouble by Opener, forcing Opps to takeout or risk 1NT redoubled making)
or:or
 [Optionally] Invitational with an 2-suiter, normally at least 5-5 in shape. Responder shows
this hand-type by jumping to the 3-level in their lowest-ranking suit over the redouble.
Opener passes(or raises) or bids the cheapest suit in which they would not accept an
invitation to game. E.g.: in the sequence 1NT-(X)-No-(No)-XX-(No)-3♦-3♠-4♥ Responder
shows an invitational 2-suiter with 3♦.age.

Opener's 3♠ bid says "I prefer Spades to Diamonds, but have no game interest there, but
I do have game interest in Hearts if that is your second suit"

When 1NT is doubled, no scheme of responses is 100% fool proof. (One weakness with INTRO is
when Responder has a weak 1444 distribution with a singleton Spade and Opener has 4333
distribution with a 4-card Spade suit. This means playing in a 4-3 fit at the 3-level, almost
certainly doubled and one alternative is to treat 1444 hands (i.e.: with a singleton Spade) as if
they as were 2344 shape). INTRO does cater for most eventualities, however, and most
importantly does give Responder a mechanism both to escape with a weak hand lacking a 5-card
suit to punish opponents when they have a hand capable of defending 1NT.
PESKY
As stated above, INTRO itself doesn't really cater for 4th-in-hand penalty doubles, because
Responder is in the protective position over such a double and therefore Pass is not really an
option without giving up the main purposes behind INTRO.

PESKY (stands for Piglet ESKapologY LOL) turns this around by concentrating on Opener's actions
over a 4th-in-hand double but is fairly close to INTRO otherwise. So, after 1NT-(No)-No-(X)-??
(where the Double is for penalties). Opener can assume that Responder

 Doesn't have a hand worth an invitation

 Doesn't have a 5-card or longer Major
 Is unlikely to have a weak unbalanced hand with a 6-card Minor

...because if they had any of those three things, they would be bidding over 1NT (which they didn't
do).

Opener therefore:

1. Bids 2♣ or 2♦ with a lower to mid-range hand and a 5-card Minor. Responder normally
passes, but over 2♣, they may bid 2♦ with 5-card or longer Diamonds and no good tolerance
for Clubs.
2. Redoubles with any lower to mid-range hand with any 4333 distribution. responder bids a suit
and we accept any 4-3 (or better) fit.
3. Passes with any maximum hand or any lower to mid-range hand with 4432 distribution. This
Pass requests Responder to Redouble if they have a hand near to invitational strength, or to bid
4-card or longer suits upwards if weaker than that.

Now:
 If Responder Redoubles, Opener passes with a maximum hand, or bids 4-card suits upwards if
they are lower to mid-range.
 If Responder bids rather than redoubling, we wriggle upwards until we hit at least a 4-3 fit.
So, the meaning of Pass, Redouble and Bids by Opener is almost identical to those by
responder in an INTRO situation, although subtly different.

PESKY has the advantage over other conventions designed to cope with 4th-in-hand doubles that
Opener's actions closely mirror Responder's actions in INTRO rather than being pretty different.

OCP System Change Log

Introduction to PESKY (26-May-2017)
PESKY is a suggestion for use after a 4th-in-hand penalty double of our 1NT Opening (i.e.: 1NT-
(No)-No-(x)-??. PESKY concentrates on Opener's actions over the Double, and closely mirrors
Responder's actions in INTRO. Opener is 2nd-in-hand over the penalty double and therefore a
forcing pass is an option for them.

With PESKY, Opener bids with a 5-card Minor and redoubles with 4333, both showing lower to
mid-range hands (Responder normally passes if Opener bids something, and wriggles upwards
over a redouble). A Pass by Opener shows either a maximum hand or a lower to mid-range hand
with 4432 distribution. Responder now redoubles with a hand just short of an invitation, and
wriggles upwards if they can't afford to play in 1NTXX even opposite a maximum hand. If
Responder redoubles, Opener passes with a maximum hand and wriggles upwards themselves
with a 4432 hand not prepared to chance 1NTXX.

See the INTRO section of the 1NT Page for full details.