Opening Average Hands: 1♦
Opening 1♣Table of ContentsOpening 2NT
1♦ is the catch-all bid in Eastern Mysticism. It's what you open when you don't have a strong hand, a 5-card major, both minors, a preemptive bid, or a 1NT opening.
Not Your Precision 1♦
One of the features distinguishing Eastern Mysticism from Precision is the completely artificial nature of the 1♦ opening. Precision requires at least two diamonds for this opening bid, with 2♣ and 2♦ reserved for average hands with zero or one diamond. The Eastern Mysticism opening doesn't promise any diamonds at all.
As discussed previously, we made 1♦ completely artificial precisely to avoid Precision-like 2m openings. Precision's 2♣ makes Responder play a guessing game about a 4-4 major fit at the 2-level, which we found incredibly inconvenient. 2♦ at least describes Opener's hand thoroughly, but rules out a final 1NT contract.