Sunday, October 22, 2006 9:23 PM

Hand Evaluation - Bidding the Table

PITBULLS:

One of the ways to combat terrorism in Bridge is to “bid the table” & make the most constructive bid you can make towards game . The opponents with “modern bidding” are trying to impede your progress & use every tactic they can to keep you out of your rightful game. One of the weapons to use when they do this , revert to using NT as natural.

When they are nv & you are vul , I prefer to use a NT bid in the sandwich as 16-18 but on this one vulnerability only. Why , because the opponents are deliberately opening light & responding light as a tactic. Describing your distribution & HCP with one bid gets your side off to the best start possible. A doubled vulnerable set is rare because the NV opponents do not trust their openers or responses.

The 2NT bid should be natural as the most constructive bid towards game when weak 2’s , weak jump shifts or weak jump overcalls are flying around. Again , this is because the natural 2NT gets your message in immediately. My partner & I had some good auctions to counter act the opponents when they were trying to talk us out of our vul game. Barry Pritchard nv vrs vul opened 1♥ & Faith bid 2♠. I held ♠K10x ♥J10x ♦KQx ♣AK10x so bid 2NT directly. Partner bid 3NT & I made a baby +630. At the other table , my hand passed so they bought the contract for 2♠ . Yes , I took a risk by bidding but they took a risk by not bidding.

Another hand, my RHO passed with everybody vul so in 3^rd seat they opened 2♠. I held ♠AJ10 ♥Q10x ♦K10987x ♣Q & “bid the table” . RHO could not open so partner must have something. If I bid 3♦ that is not very constructive. I announced my two spade stoppers by bidding 2NT so we reached 3NT. This was worth 12 IMPS as they played a partial at the other table. In another match , they opened 2♠ nv vrs vul & RHO bids 3♠ nv. I crawled in with a double to which partner must give leeway. Why , because I am “bidding the table” . I hit partner with a good hand & he bid 4♥ with a 3 card heart suit to the Ace hitting my 5 card suit so we made +650.

My partner held a 5-5 in spades & diamonds but only a King & a jack in HCP’s. Vulnerable , I opened 1♣ & the NV opponents interfered with 2♣ natural. My partner passed & they bid 2NT which I doubled so they scampered to 3 ♣. I show a huge hand so he now has enough to compete but in what suit ? His diamonds are better Kxxxx as opposed to Jxxxx in spades but what is the most constructive bid towards game ? You bid 3♠ because there might be a chance of a vul 4♠ game whereas an 11 trick game in diamonds is far off.

The most common meaning for bidding the table is taking into consideration passed hand & the vulnerability. By bidding the table you know when it is safe to enter the auction & how high. A simple example came up recently. My partner held ♠x ♥AKxx ♦AKJ10xx ♣Qx & his RHO passed nv . He opened 1♦ , they pre-empted 2♠. Partner passed & the passed hand NV blasted to game. The opponents have told you it is your hand & most likely they own all 10 HCP in spades opposite your stiff. This gives you the green light to choose your contract. A 4NT bid describes your 6-4 nicely as you pull partners 5♣ to 5♦ so she realizes you are 6-4 in the reds. You make 6♦ but the opponents may not let you play it there.

Homeland Security has colour coded terrorist actions in Bridge. You must fight back or they will kill you. Make the most constructive bid towards game when they the terrorist alert system is yellow or higher. Your teammates will approve of this message.