Tuesday, March
25, 2003 1:35 AM
Hand
Evaluation – Tactics ( 4 of a Minor )
PITBULLS:
4 of a minor has a
common nuance whenever it is bid . The fact that you
bid deliberately beyond
your 3NT contract means that the bid is always descriptive when bid directly
. Let’s examine all the situations when a raise of partners suit
directly to the 4 level occurs
& also discuss opening 4 of a minor .
Nick
G says that all 5 of a minor
openers should be opened at the 4 level .
This he believes , draws the opponents into the fray
unwisely so you can have your cake & eat it too. The bid gives partner way more options. Nick says partner
is now in the position to bid 5 of a minor as a sacrifice
, 5 of a minor to make or double the opponents . 4 of a minor implies a
long broken suit & probably some outside stuff .
This makes the bid safe at the 5 level or else you would have opened it a
gambling 3NT or at the one level if too strong .
There is no
intelligent way of describing your 8th card
to partner by passing or after opening at the one level. Reserve the 4 level to describe
these hand types but agree that the bid is not
pre-emptive but descriptive.
A Tormentee held this hand tonight ♠Ax ♥x ♦QJ1098xxx ♣Ax 2nd seat nv vrs vul
. She opened 4♦ a la Gartaganis & the opponents got muddled & played it
at the 5 level for +500 the tormentees way. At my table , my partner opened 1♦ , they overcalled 1♠
, I passed & they bid 1NT. A 4♦ bid would now
describe your 8th diamond & put partner in the picture however , you chose to bid 2♦ which pretty well hides your real hand from partner. They find their heart fit &
leap to 4♥ . Since you have hid
your hand from partner , you now take single handed action & bid 5♦ which is a pseudo
sacrifice against 4♥ which goes at least
1 down. You go 3 down for –500 as partner had no input at all in this auction.
Since
opening 4 of a minor is not a pre-empt , 4NT by responder is to play. This is
very important. Kickback is used as KCB ( 4♦ after 4♣ &
4♥ after 4♦ ) . 4♠ is natural after 4♦ so both 4♥ & 4♠ is natural after 4♣. Tom Gandolfo held ♠AKxx ♥Kxx ♦Ax ♣K1098 & I opened 4♦ with ♠J ♥Jxx ♦KQJ1098xx ♣Q . Tom can bid 4NT to
play or 4♥ KCB. If I have an
outside Ace I will bid 5♣ , so Tom can now right
side the contract with 6NT. Of course , 4NT right
sides the contract immediately.
What
does a rebid of 4 of a minor mean ? In my mind this is a 4 of a minor opener that is too
strong. Susan Culham held ♠Axx ♥x ♦xx ♣AKJ10xxxx , opened 1♣ with
partner responding 1♥. Now what is your rebid ? A 3♣ rebid shows 16-18 HCP in standard
bidding. In my mind , this hand is almost stronger
than that range with the playing strength. If you bid 3♣ , you get to 6NT off the AK of hearts for a disaster
as 6♣ is cold. Even though you go past 3NT , I
feel this hand is a 4♣ rebid. If describing your hand to partner means
you bypass 3NT , so be it. The old fashioned jump to 4♣
to show a strong major raise is redundant to a splinter.
Even
when partner is a passed hand , a jump raise to the 3 level in a minor is pre-emptive . There still are balancers
lurking so keeping them out when you hold a lowly minor makes tactical
sense. This is not true over takeout
doubles also so you can “right side “ your 3NT when
that is bid and keeps out low level lead directing bids by the opponents. When
the opponent or
partner overcalls , you have a Q bid to show the limit raise . Therefore a jump raise is descriptive and bid to
make a nuisance of yourself .
What should a jump raise to 4 of a minor mean in
competition when a Q bid is available
? Taking a page from Nicks book , I think the bid
should be an implied jump to 5 of a minor
based on distribution . It gives one more chance for the opponents to hang
themselves & allows partner to maybe Q bid if there is more
. A jump to 5 of a minor after
partner opens a minor ( not overcalls a minor ) does not exist with these understandings. You
do not need two pre-emptive bids if the opponents
overcall ( 3 level pre-emptive) so make the one at the 4 level a distributional game force equivalent to a
jump to 5 of a minor .
If
left alone , what does a jump raise to 4 of a minor
by responder mean ?
It has to be pre-emptive as there are other bids available
. I think the bid has to quite weak and distributional as you are
deliberately jamming your side past 3NT . Last
Thursday nite I held
♠Q ♥xx ♦QJ1098xx ♣1098 , vul 1st
seat Tom opened 1♦ . I cannot pass with this many trump and 3♦ as a limit raise does not do the hand justice .
Bidding 1NT on this collection does not appeal to me so I am weak enough to jam
the contract past 3NT . I bid 4♦ , LHO bid 4♥ . Tom held ♠AJxx ♥x ♦AKxx ♣Qxxx so made a good psychological bid of 5♦ . He does not expect
this to make but vul against not vul
it will put maximum pressure on LHO . LHO took the bait ,d bid 5♥ & that contract
takes good play just to go down one !! Meanwhile 5♦x goes for 500 and a
nice swing for us.
What
should a raise to 4 of a minor mean over a take out double ? In Japan , Judy G had this hand ♠xxx ♥AKJx ♦K10xx
♣xx and partner opens 1♦ and RHO doubles . An
immediate redouble might work out better but Judy chose to bid 1♥ . Nick rebid 2♦ and RHO doubles again . What does 4♦ mean
? It has to be pre-emptive because you had a redouble available .
There is never a need
to bypass 3NT from a
position of strength . At the
other table they were in 3NT for 430 and at this table the 4♦ bid was passed for 130 . A direct 4♦ raise over a takeout
double is pre-emptive as 3♦ is a limit raise.
Passing
8 card suits or opening 8 card
suits at the one level is very poor bidding , in
general. You trap yourself
by not describing your hand to partner properly. An experienced
player held this hand ♠xx ♥A10x ♦KJ10987xx ♣void & passed first seat ! The opponent opened his void and partner overcalled 1♠. Around
to him again. What do you bid now as you trapped yourself
? Say you make a non forcing 2♦ bid. Partner with ♠Axxxx ♥Kx ♦Ax ♣xxxx will pass & 6♦ is lay down . Partner may even pass with ♠AQxxx ♥Kx ♦Ax ♣xxxx
so a grand slam is made with the spade king in declarers
hand. Once you have made the terrible pass in first seat you must figure out a way of
playing “catch up” so maybe a leap to 5♦ is best. Anyway , I recommend an opening
bid of 4♦ with this hand which
is descriptive & not
pre-emptive. Ghoulie hands should be
described by Ghoulie methods .
Start the bidding at a high level works best from my experience.
Pitbulls ,
please discuss your 4 of a minor
understandings …