Posted 2022-July-07, 10:43
Your title was "...or simply improve hand evaluation?"
I know we covered the rest of the title - you can switch to strong NT if you feel it will help; given the bridge population, it is likely that you and your partner will at least have better hand evaluation, and access to more solid advice, in the "what we all learned" system than something fringe, never mind the "the awful K/S hands are awful - and they're all or nothing because we're the only ones in this situation".
But if you play K/S, you are playing sound minor openings. Maybe with the "overstrength weak 2" added (but that's not an issue, it doesn't pass 1 or 2NT). If your, or your partner's, evaluation of that hand is "opposite partner's strong NT opener, I want to play 1NT"; I don't think switching to strong NT will help. If your, or your partner's, immediate visualization of partner's hand is "random 12-count", that's a basic lack of understanding of the basics of K/S, and maybe it's time for a review (NB: K & S's actual book works much better here for understanding than the KSU summary I posted earlier. Unfortunately, you have to deal with the fact that the people K & S were talking to were Goren players, not modern "ACBL's Correct Bidding Lessons" players. Note also that this "failure to internalize how K/S works" is a standard issue I've found when people ask me to help them with weak NT - even serious flight A players. Too much evaluation goes on subconsciously before it gets to "wait, things are different here"). If your, or your partner's, understanding of your system doesn't include "when it goes 1♦-1NT, partner is going to pass with all but the strongest strong NTs" and therefore this hand isn't a 1NT response (whatever response it is), then that's a flaw in partnership understanding of how K/S works, and, well, "good judgement comes from experience. experience comes from bad judgement."
You showed the hand with a sentence of "I guess I have to shrug and smile at the missed games". You should never miss this game, and if a lot of the "missed games" are like this, then that's not a fault of the system (well, okay, I'd rather have "good 9s" in 2NT than "bad 10s" in 1NT. I think that your explanation of your system triggered my "they play it, but they don't truly understand it yet"), it's an evaluation issue. Yes, what to do with the "good 8, decent 9" that would invite opposite a strong NT but your system doesn't have a bid for will bite you occasionally (and will pay you back when the limit is 7 tricks and you're +90 into -100). That's why real K/S doesn't do that, they put those hands into 1♦-2♣. Which causes its own issues.
Yes, putting all the balanced hands into 1♣ solves a lot of these issues; as always, it causes others. And if your partnership has this level of "haven't internalized the system" already, adding more isn't going to help.
When I go to sea, don't fear for me, Fear For The Storm -- Birdie and the Swansong (tSCoSI)