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 AKxxQxxx 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 5x 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 …