Sunday, February 12, 2006 1:53 AM
4 card Fits
PITBULLS:
4 card fits with partner are not made for defending low level partials.
The 4th card in partners trump suit is too valuable for offensive
purposes. Bid one for the gipper with that 4th trump ! A Tormentee tonight had A10xx and an outside King and the auction
went 1♣-1♠-1NT-? . Bid 2 or 3 spades with the hand ! The
1NT bidder has announced that the spade is now onside as you have the
unexpected Ace. A double of 1NT should show the limit raise in spades or
better. Selling out with a 4 card fit
for partner is just not done. The
other tables result was +140 in spades and the tormentee got +50 in 1NT but my
partner could have made the hand. +90 +140 is a 6 IMP loss and the tormentee
lost 3 IMPS anyway. In matchpoints , +50 would be a horrible score.
In
fact the 4th trump is so important that my partnerships have a bid to show that 4th card. One of a major , 3 of a major shows the 4th trump with simple raise
values ! We shoved the limit raise into our Jacoby 2NT structure to free up the
former limit raise bid . Same with our minor structure as the 5th card
is very important to announce immediately. The limit raise in a minor is
included in the inverted minor structure. This frees a jump raise in a minor to
show simple raise values with 5 trump.
Bid your 4th major suit card and your 5th minor suit card
immediately .
The
“law of total tricks” is based on
that 4th trump & the 5th trump in a minor. Having a 9
card major fit , plays better
than a 8 card fit , yet there is no HCP value given to the 4th
trump. Therefore you need another way to announce the 4th trump to
partner. Making a simple raise with 4 trump in the day and age of 5 card majors
is lame bidding. This is a hang over from 4 card major days. I cringe when
partner makes a simple raise to my overcall or opener with 4 trump . Can not
partner find a better bid with that 4th trump ?
Back
to patterns again. There are offensive hand patterns and defensive hand
patterns. Bid the heck out of your offensive
distributions. Do not sell out
with 5-5’s or 6-5’s or 7 card suits. These distributions are custom built for
offense & not defense. Do not sell out when you have a 4 card fit for
partner. The 4-4-3-2 , 5-3-3-2 , 4-3-3-3 , 5-4-2-2 hands are made for
defending, These hand types do not
play well offensively. Do not be a slave to the HCP system . Hand patterns should
dominate your Bridge bidding
decisions. Your competitive bidding will improve and selling out when you
should not will occur less and less frequently.