Wednesday, June 08, 2005 4:06 PM

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( 6-4's )

 

PITBULLS:

 

            There are two patterns in Bridge to which you should pay special attention 6-4’s & 5-5’s. Contortions have been made in HCP systems to give them the respect that they deserve. The rule of 20, ZAR points have tried to properly evaluate these powerful playing hands. With controls , these hands should be opened with as little as 10 HCP . ♠AJ10xxx ♥AJxx ♦xx ♣x or ♠AJxxx ♥xx ♦AJ10xx ♣x are both opening bids. Their playing strength is just too great not to fire the first shot in the bidding. These distributions without the controls are not openers though so will only cause headaches for partner.

 

            OK you do open these hands & partner bids a forcing 1NT. Now what ? A demented match point player advises that with weak 6-4’s you just rebid your 6 card suit & with intermediate 6-4’s you can show your 4 card suit . Wrong , wrong & wrong ! A 1NT response says I do not have a fit for you , so pick another suit. So bid your second suit ! A 6-4 is not a single suited hand,  the hand has 2 suits & the 1NT responder has already said I do not like your first suit ! You open 1♥ on ♠x ♥AJxxxx ♦xx ♣AJ10x , partner bids 1NT . If you bid 2♥ , partner is going to pass with ♠xxx ♥x ♦Axx ♣Kxxxxx . You play 2♥ going down when +1370 in clubs has a good chance. Especially if you are 6-4 in spades & hearts , do not even think of bypassing your 4 card heart suit. I have seen spade partials go down when +620 in hearts is against the wall !

 

When responder bids a 2/1 or a suit rather than a forcing NT , the rules of the 6-4 game change. Why ? because the responder still may have a fit with your first suit so now the standard idea of showing the HCP strength of your 6-4 makes sense. In 2/1 auctions , since we are forced to game anyway,  it really makes sense to give this additional information to partner. You will always find your correct fit in a forcing to game auction anyway. Therefore in 2/1 auctions , show 6-4’s the standard way. With a minimum hand , rebid your 6 card suit. With a better hand , show your 4 card suit initially & later rebid your 6 card suit.

 

            In other auctions , where partner just responds a suit , it is best to show your 6-4’s the standard way. There is a sinister reason for that approach. If partner bids 2NT either invitational or invitational plus ( Godfather )  , you may want a way to bail out of 2NT. Showing a weak 6-4 allows you the luxury of escaping from 2NT whereas showing the 6-4 the other way , means a game force is on after partners 2NT response. This treatment is necessary as the godfather 2NT changes captaincy so you must describe the strength of your hand to her.

 

            Over a forcing 1NT , we show 6-4’s the non standard way so Gittleman has come up with relays to allow you to escape from responders 2NT bid with a 6-4. You have a weak 6-4 & you have bid your 4 card suit first after partners 1NT response. Partner bids 2NT invitational + ( Godfather ) ,  you have opened on a nice 10 HCP ♠AJ109xx ♥x ♦KQ109 ♣xx so you want to escape from 2NT. Relays are our standard tool to escape & we follow the Lebensohl model. If we bid naturally ,we are on a game force , so we bid 3♣ as a relay. Partner bids 3♦ as requested so now you escape to 3♠. +140 here we come if the 2NT was just invitational. We need relays only on the forcing 1NT sequences as we break the standard 6-4 understandings !!

 

            An established partnership should have a way of describing a 6-4 hand after a 1NT opening bid. Re-Stayman which most of us play now gets in the way of the standard way of describing a 6-4 ( bidding Stayman followed by bidding your minor at the 3 level) . A rarely used Stayman bid comes to the rescue to describe these difficult hands. You just start with Stayman & when partner bids 2♦ , you simply raise to 3♦. This sequence shows any 6-4 with a 6 card minor. Opener bids 3♥ as a query & responder uses step responses to show a 6 card club or diamond suit. ♠KJ10x ♥x ♦Jx ♣AK10xxx .

 

1NT-P-2♣-P

2♦-P-3♦-P

3♥-P-3♠-P                          3♥ asks & the 3♠ reply ( lower ranking) means I have the lower ranking minor. 6-4 described by the 3 level !!