Thursday, September 21, 2006 4:07 AM

Hand Evaluation – HCPS ( Defensive Hands )

 

PITBULLS:

 

            Looking at Bridge from the top down, you can classify all biddable Bridge hands into two hand types. These hand types are offensive hands or defensive hands. Bridge hands are characterized by their hand patterns & type of HCPs. There are defensive hand patterns & there are offensive hand patterns. The defensive hand patterns are the balanced ones. These hands do not play well but are excellent on defense. The hand patterns are 4-4-3-2 , 4-3-3-3 , 4-4-4-1 , 5-3-3-2 , 5-4-2-2 and 5-4-3-1 are the worst for offense. Hands with 6 card suits or more , 5-5 and 5-4-4-0  patterns are built for offense. HCP’s are also taken into consideration. How many do you have ? Where are they located ? Are your HCP’s located In your short suits or long suits & are they controls rather than queens and jacks ? Does your hand contain HCP’s in defensive quick trick combinations ?

 

            HCP’s of course are an integral part of the game of Bridge. Differentiating between the type of HCP’s contained in an opening bid is a must have skill. The HCP counters seem to lack this skill & seem to be oblivious about the importance of identifying defensive hands. Quick trick myopia is a serious Bridge disease that must be corrected. Kiz Fung held this hand ♠xx 109 AQxxxAKxx & opened 1vul vrs vul. I doubled & Susan redoubled . Perry bid 1 so what should Kiz do ? Her hand is all defense with 3 ½ defensive tricks so she describes her defense with a pass so as not to get in the way of a penalty double. Bidding 2♣ is patently stupid as it deceives partner into thinking that she has an offensive hand instead of the defensive hand that she held. A XX is punitive so the first thought in these forcing auctions should be to punish the opponents but more importantly describe the nature of your opening bid. Kiz , of course,  made the correct bid of pass in this auction so she described the nature of her opening bid & quick defensive tricks to Susan.

 

            The decision whether to make a T/O double , overcall , Q bid or use a systemic toy is usually based on whether we have a defensive hand or offensive hand. If you have a defensive hand , you choose a double. If you have an offensive hand , you bid or Q bid . Bridge is a simple game.  A double is defined

as a hand evaluation concept meaning that you have defense usually measured in quick tricks. If you do not have defense , choose a different bid ! Partner is allowed to convert your double based on the fact that you have shown defense !!  Let partner know whether you have a defensive or offensive hand. Tom Gandolfo had ♠x KQx KxxxAJ10xx , everybody vul he heard the auction go 1-P-2-? So what is your choice of bids ? You do not have a classic T/O double as you do not have the 4th heart. However,  your hand is defensive orientated so you double rather than overcall or make a systemic bid like 2NT. Why commit this hand to 3 of a minor vul when partner could hold spades for a penalty conversion or 5 or 6 hearts for a heart contract ?

 

            In all competitive auctions or forcing pass auctions where you   “own the hand” , it is ultimately going to come down to a basic decision. Do we double them or bid again ? The answer invariably comes down to judging whether your hand is defense or offensive orientated using the above criteria. A tormentee held this hand tonight AQxx QJxxx Ax ♣AQ , opened 1 vul vrs vul. I bid 1NT , they overcalled 2 vul . You bid 2to show your reverse , partner bids 3 & they now bid 4. Is your hand built for offense or defense ? You have the 5-4-2-2 flat pattern so that is defensive in nature. Your HCP’s are concentrated in your two doubleton’s rather than in your long suits so that shows defense as opposed to offense . The nature of your cards are controls which are transferable to defense so what do you do ?

 

            Bidding 4 is not an option as partner may even be raising on 2 hearts with lots of HCP’s on her own. You have already described your hand by reversing so there is captaincy involved. Partner knows more about your hand than you do of his. So it’s up to you to assist partner in making the right decision. Your choices come down to a forcing pass which means I have a preference to play this hand or a double saying my hand is more suited to defending . You double 4 , lead the diamond Ace & the board comes down with 5-5 in the majors ( whew ! ) . You beat 4 for 1100 . The Tormentee bid 4 unilaterally effectively bidding her hand again but incorrectly. You are bidding again & removing partner from the decision so you must be something like AKJx KQJ10xx x ♣Ax that partner does not expect. They doubled 4 , I XX’d with my 9 HCP & Ax of trump so that went for -1600. Hand evaluation makes a difference of 2700 points !

 

            A recent disaster by a Tormentee should have been avoided by thinking defensive vrs offensive hand types. A 4-4-4-1 is a defensive hand type so partners will bend over backwards to double with that hand. This allows partner the opportunity to convert for penalty or bid 3NT. Recently the auction went 3♣-4♣-P-?  so what does the 4♣ bid mean ? It must be an offensive hand type as there was no double. The bid is most likely a two suiter in the majors but it could be any very strong two suiter. The Tormentee thought the bid was for T/O which means partner was making a poor choice of bids , so a 2400 swing resulted. Down 1400 in 6X , when 6 was a claim their way.

 

            In the balancing or re-opening spot , you inform partner whether you have a defensive or offensive hand, One of the worst ambiguities coming from the Goren era of Bridge is jumping to show strength. This is backwards as it uses valuable bidding space & reduces your options. Jumping should show strength thru distribution & not HCP’s. Inform partner of your defensive hand through a double & not jumping. ♠AQ10x KJx x ♣ AKQxx , you open 1♣ & they overcall 1 so back to you. You of course double rather than jump to 2♠ to show your strength. This double describes your hand type & defense so partner has more options including passing 1.  You have ♠x K1098 K1098xx ♣xx & LHO opens 1 , partner passes & LHO bids 1NT. You pass & opener bids 2♠ so around to you again. You want to balance but with what ? You cannot double as that shows defense & you have a very offensive type of playing hand. You bid 2NT & partner bids 3♣ so you equal level convert to 3. All pass & you make 3for 110. 2♠ makes the opposite direction but if you double showing defense , partner converts for –470.

 

            The vulnerability , nature of your controls as well as defensive or offensive determines whether you bid a toy ( offense ) or a double defense. Nv vrs nv a good player held ♠xx AKQxx Axxxxx . The auction went 1♣-P-4♠-? . It is usually a good idea to get into these types of auctions so do you bid 4NT or double for the red suits ? You have defense measured in controls , a 5-4-2-2 , so the double is far more flexible especially on this vulnerability. You double , partner holds ♠xx Jx Qxxx ♣Q109xx so partner exercises his option of passing. Why not bid 5 ? It is equal vulnerability & partner promises defense by her choice of bids. Partner’s action  assists your decision as partner brought you into the decision making process by making a flexible double.. Partner cashes 3 & 1 & 4♠X goes one down. 5X goes for 1100 which is quite an expensive pseudo.

 

            When your side owns the auction, allow partner in on the decision making process by describing your hand as either offensive or defensive. The opponents interfering in your auction gives you lucrative options so let forcing pass theory guide you to the best result. Bridge is a partnership game . You only have to bid your hand once so partner can become part of the decision making process via captaincy.