Tuesday, May 23, 2006 8:28 AM
Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( Competing Concepts )
PITBULLS:
What does competing in Bridge
& Kenny Rogers have in common ? You must know when
to “hold them & when to fold them” . Use hand evaluation skills in order
to compete better. Here are my basics.
Use the law of total tricks & bid the heck out of your
4th or 5th trump.
Appreciate your 4 & 5th trump & so do not make the same bid
that you would with 3 trump !
By upping the level of bidding, you are making a nuisance of yourself
as far as the opponents are concerned . Simultaneously you are showing partner
that 4th or 5th
card in her suit. Showing your fit early is a Bridge basic. Against
Peter Jones with them vul a Tormentee
held ♠KQ ♥xxx ♦xxx ♣xxxxx , they opened 1♠ & I overcalled 2♣.
You hear a 2♦ bid so now what ? They have opened & made a 2/1 so what
should you bid if anything ? A jump raise to the 4
level after a minor 2 level overcall is pre-emptive
so let’s tell partner that I have the 5th
trump & not much else . A bid of 3♣ is
ambiguous so may show a more defensive
orientated hand as opposed to an offensive hand. The Tormentee bid 3♣ so I had no idea what she held. Showing defensive
hands vrs
offensive hands is was one of the
underlying concepts for inventing D.S.I.P.
theory. You jump to show offensive hands & double to show defense.
A pass is a descriptive bid in competition.
Usually it means that I lack trump
support for partner or
I have wastage in their suit or just not enough ammunition to compete. A Tormentee held this hand ♠x ♥xxx ♦KJ109 ♣Jxxxx , we were vul . I opened 1♦ , they overcalled 1♠. Hand evaluation time . Do I have wastage in their suit ?
Hardly as you have a stiff in their suit. Do I fit partner’s suit
? Yes not only do I have the 4th trump but my spots are so
good I can promote the
suit to a 5 carder. Can we be jammed if I pass ? Yes , they have the spade suit & if they go to the 3 level,
we are doomed because we cannot “back in” at the 4 level. So you bid 3♦ ( pre-emptive) & as
expected they bid 3♠ . Partner bids 4♦ so his LHO opponent
makes a match point double as he figures they can make 3♠. Partner makes 5♦ , so just one doubled
overtrick. This did not happen at our table as the Tormentee
passed at the one level as she only had 5 HCP’s. They
played it in 2♠ making 3 for –140 so
a horrible result for us. My hand was ♠xxx
♥x ♦Axxxx ♣AKxx , you cannot touch 5♦ with any defense. Do
not hide trump fits
from partner.
Another
tip for competing is throw out the silly
splinter in competition.
You do not need it. Play jumps
after a major or minor opener & they overcall as “negative free bids” or weak jump shifts .
This allows you to enter the auction early
with your long suits which allows
your side to compete better. You
find your sacrifices ,
games or best partials because you are showing partner your
hand. When they overcall in a major & you pass with a nice long suit , you risk getting
jammed out of the auction completely. A rule for competing is get into the auction at the earliest opportunity. Splinters – humbug.
Splinters are just a way of putting you in a straight
jacket so you can not bid
your long suits , in my opinion.
Playing
the vulnerability is a competitive skill.
Bid differently nv vrs vul or when partner is a
passed hand. Partner will give you leeway in those situations. Be disciplined
on the 3 other vulnerabilities. Get to your vul games , so leave
+170’s to matchpoint players. Avoid risks when the vulnerability is not
in your favour. Minimum equal level conversions &
vulnerability guides your decision to make an overcall vrs
a T/O double.
The competitive double ( D.S.I.P. ) is an excellent tool for competing.
Differentiating between defensive
hands & offensive hands is an
important hand evaluation skill
for competing. A Tormentee had a good hand last night
14 HCP with a 5 card spade suit. The auction went 1♣ so she overcalled 1♠
with her 5
card spade suit. They made a negative double & I bid 1NT. The opener bid 2♥ so the Tormentee wanted to compete but did not know how ! She had a defensive hand with 14 HCP’s but she did not
have a heart stack as they found their 4-4 fit. A double says partner I wish to compete but I do not know how or where. I am
transferring the decision to you but I hold “cards” to assist you in your
decision. This did not happen as the Tormentee passed
& around to me. I did not want to sell out so I bid 2♠ on my doubleton.
This was a poor result as partner made +110 in spades but I would have made a
minimum of +150 in NT. How do we get back into NT ? If
I had known partner had a good hand by her doubling ,
I would have bid 2NT. D.S.I.P. or competitive doubles help you compete more
effectively.
Patterns are a tool
to assist you in competing. You avoid misfits by applying patterns. Letting
the opponents play misfits is a
great skill. When you have a suit or the offensive patterns like 5-5 , you compete more vigorously. Duplication of value ( splinter
theory ) helps you compete. D.S.I.P.
doubles were invented based on the duplication
of value concept in their suit.
In a competitive auction , you pass with their suit after competing . Partner doubles to ask permission to compete again with a
good hand so you now convert for penalty. As either
partner can make a competitive D.S.I.P. double ,
the auction can get converted from either
side. There is no more bidding in front of partner who may want to double them for penalty.
D.S.I.P.
theory has been in the works for 6 years , Tom
Gandolfo , BJ Trelford , Stan Cabay
& I have been working hard to iron out the kinks. Time to bring the concept
out of the closet . D.S.I.P. competitive doubles are
an expert way of
competing already endorsed by top experts due to the Eric Kokish influence. Eric & I have been corresponding
. He likes the work we have done on the D.S.I.P. double structure. There
is more than meets the eye but the initial concept is simple. Throw trump stack doubles
in the waste basket as an initial
double when you are competing.
The rest just falls in place ( 250 articles J ) .
Competing is a hand evaluation skill. Recognizing misfits via patterns ,
evaluating your controls instead
of soft values , evaluating shortness in the opponents suits by looking at your
own hand or applying patterns. The
art of balancing is a competitive skill. Evaluating hand types ,
flat defensive hands with soft values as opposed to distributional hands with
controls. Appreciate the level of the
auction. D.S.I.P. doubles converge to cooperative penalty doubles at higher
levels. Gamble intelligently & play the odds like a good poker player. Take
your fix by going for the plus at
the 5 level & auctions where
you are not certain if you have a plus your way. Appreciating captaincy &
not bidding your same hand again is a competitive skill. Once you are “all in”
(poker expression) , partner is captain of the
auction. Appreciate the balance of power.
This means using the 40 HCP in the deck rule.
Count our points & their points in the auction. Appreciate that there are three types of auctions
. Those auctions that you own ( forcing pass
theory ) , those auctions that you are just competing
& those auctions the opponents own.
A
lament from some Tormenttees as that “I pass when I
should be bidding & bidding when I should be passing”. Poor hand evaluation
is the culprit . Competing
is not just “braying lack a jackass’ but rather an application of your hand evaluation skills. Good competitive judgment is just a result of your developed
hand evaluation skills.