Zagreb Club, The - The Zagreb Club
The city of Zagreb is the capital and also the largest city of the country Croatia. Croatian bridge players have developed a bidding system designated as The Zagreb Club, which is very similar to the 5-Card American Standard. The bidding system employs a strong 1 No Trump opening and the so-called Short Club method. Holdings with values of 20 to 22 high card points are all opened with a strong, artificial 2 Diamonds bid. The strong, artificial 2 Clubs opening is considered to be slam-forcing with responses that are Ace-showing. Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Zar Points - 2003 - Aggressive Bidding Hand Evaluation
A mathematical guide to hand evaluation, which differs from the standard, has been developed by Mr. Zar Petkov of Aurora, Ontario, Canada. The conclusion is the result of exhaustive research of many game contracts bid by world-class experts, and follows the 80-20 rule, whereby hand evaluation is 80% initial evaluation and 20% evaluation adjustment as the bidding progresses. The hand evaluation process has two parts: calculating the High Card Points and the Distribution Points.

Basically, the concept demands that the bridge player count the longest suit, multiply by two, add the difference between the second longest and the shortest suit, add the high card points, and then add the controls (Ace is: 2; King is: 1). If the result totals 26 points (25 if the holding contains a 4-card plus Spade suit), then the holding should be opened.

This is a .pdf file format and, depending on your browser, will be automatically downloaded to your computer and automatically opened with Adobe Acrobat or automatically opened by your browser. This information has also only been preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file format for future reference.

Zebra Bidding System
This information is only archived on this site in a .pdf file format for future reference. The defining elements of the bidding system is explained below by one of the two authors.

ZEBRA 2000 as it is played by Krister Ahlesved and Torbjörn Axelsson, both natives of Solna and Linköping, Sweden. This release has been developed during the period 1999-2000. ZEBRA 2000 will never be finished as it is continuously developed. Every summer there is an system check. In the summer of 1999 Torbjörn Axelsson become a Mumin player from which ZEBRA 2000 derive its origin from. The major changes from Mumin to ZEBRA 2000 is in the 1 opening.

This system use 5-card major with a double-coloured 1. Many ideas has been stolen from The Carrot Club, and the NT-bidding from the Scanian team in Skåne (south of Sweden). To put pressure on opponents we use 2-level opening with high frequency. To add some more pressure we use a "mini"- NT (8-11) in favourable zone. Modern bridge is played by very active and aggressive opponents. Therefore, we have spent a lot time defining sequences after opponents interference and in the defence.

Solna, in June 2000
Krister Ahlesved
Torbjörn Axelsson

Zebulon Convention - Preferences System
A No Trump Overcall System for Current ACBL Restrictions published by Mr. John Vega and Mr. Marty Lavine. The concept is the variation on the theme of the Suction convention to meet the requirements of bridge sponsoring organizations, especially ACBL, announced in 1998, with the amended section of the General Convention Chart which relates to No Trump defenses by requiring that direct overcalls other than double and 2 Clubs, must have at least one known suit. The Zebulon convention was later designated as Preferences. The articles by both authors is presented in .pdf file format and will be automatically opened by your browser in a new window.

Note: An article authored Mr. John Vega and Mr. Marty C. Lavine appeared in the September 2000 issue of The Bridge Bulletin, page 65-66, as published by the ACBL under the title of Preferential Treatment.

Von Zedtwitz Gold Cup or Trophy
This trophy was donated by Mr. Waldemar von Zedtwitz in the year 1930 for one of the most highly regarded pair events, and is presented to the winner of the Life Master Open Pairs Championship at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The trophy was initially contested by master players, who had qualified by winning a national championship. It was a four-session event, and the field was limited to 64 players so that a complete movement could be played. The trophy was originally presented on the basis that three wins by one player would secure him outright possession of the trophy.

This feat was achieved by Mr. Howard Schenken in 1934, who also won in 1931 and 1933 with Mr. David Burnstine and in 1934 with Mr. Richard Frey. He also won in 1941 with Mr. Merwyn Maier and in 1943 with Mr. John Crawford.

The trophy, put back into competition by the donor, was stolen in the year 1954, when it was held by Mr. John Hubbel, and the trophy was declared irretrievable lost. It must be noted that the theft followed a television appearance, during which Mr. John Hubbel had exhibited the trophy and provided the address of his bridge club, where the cup was normally displayed openly. The trophy was never recovered and the present cup is an exact replica.

Zero
The lowest possible score on a duplicate board, hence loosely, a very bad score. It also refers tp a lost board in a team-of-four contest. Note that a score on a board of zero points (all four hands pass) may be any matchpoint score from none to top.

Zero Or Two Higher
This is an opening lead convention, the intention of which is to eliminate certain ambiguities of standard honor leads. For example, the lead of a Ten or Nine promises either zero honors or two higher honors in that suit. The lead of the Jack, however, denies any honor higher than the Jack. According to partnership understanding these leads can be used against either a suit contract or a No Trump contract, or against both forms.

Zero ToleranceThe ACBL has printed Guidelines on all of the above. It would be nice if everyone would read this article. This policy has now been established and is enforced at all sanctioned events.

Zia CuebidsThe Zia Cuebid is a conventional tactic that consists of bidding a very weak suit prior to bidding game or slam. The concept is named for the bridge personality, who conceived the idea, namely Mr. Zia Mahmood. The bidder of the cuebid hopes that the opening leader (either opponent) will pick an unbid suit to lead, rather than the Zia-cuebid suit, because a lead of the Zia-cuebid suit might defeat the contract. Essentially the Zia Cuebid consists of bidding the suit, which the defender should not lead, and then bid the game or even a possible slam contract, whereby the lead of the Zia-cuebid suit would most likely defeat the contract. Also, it must be realized by the player employing the Zia-cuebid that the bid is entirely a gamble-bid as to whether or not the leading defender will fall for or even be deceived by this bluff.

Zig-Zag Swiss
See: Dight 2 No Trump

Zimbabwe Bridge Union - Listed by the World Bridge Federation.

Zip Swiss
This is a special version of Swiss Teams designed to be finished in generally a one-session event at the end of a championship play. The normal format is to have the games conducted with five-board matches, five minutes per board, and five matches per game.

Zirinsky Formula
This is a method of determining the victory points long used in Far East Championships. All boards with zero IMPs are scored as one to each team. The winning score is then multiplied by the number four and divided by the losing score. There is a maximum of 8 points possible. The losing team receives the balance of the 8 points. This formula or provision was introduced by Mr. Victor Zirinsky of Hong Kong as a modification to the original concept which gave inequitable results in low-scoring matches. The so-called push boards, with zero IMPs, are scored as one to each team. Then the winning score is multiplied by four and divided by the losing score, with a maximum of eight VPs. The losing Team receives the balance of the eight points at stake. Mr. Victor Zirinsky introduced this method as a modification to the original concept which provided inadequate results in low-scoring matches.

Note: The Zirinsky formula on an eight point VP scale is: 4x(W+P)/(L+P) for the winner, where W=winner's IMPs, L=loser's IMPs, P=pushes.

Note: Additional information as to the person of Mr. Victor Zirinsky would be greatly appreciated, especially photographic material.

Note: At the original online source (now off-line) the student can find additional information, which has been excerpted and presented as follows: Connection to Israel - The Jewish community is strongly tied to Israel. In 1958, businessman Victor Zirinsky was appointed Israel's Honorary Consul in Hong Kong and served until Israel's diplomatic presence was formally established with the appointment of a Consul General as the representative for both Hong Kong and Macau in 1985. Formal diplomatic relations were established between China and Israel in 1992. Today, in addition to Hong Kong, Israel also operates Consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou and an Embassy in Beijing.

Zones - The global game of bridge has been divided up into eight geographical areas called Zones. See: WBF Zone

Zoom - Zooming
This designation, although colloquial or even regional, pertains to bidding approaches, whereby the one partner makes a semi-limited bid and is forced to zoom when holding extra values, mening this partner may not pass. (Note: as employed in the system Honeymoon Moscito.)