Tuesday, January 17, 2006 12:59 PM

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Hearts & Spades )

PITBULLS:

There is an axiom in the game of Bridge is when you have found a fit, you do not try and find another trump fit. This undestanding simplifies auctions & allows Q bids to come into the picture. The majors have a unique relationship . If you have support for partner’s major , there is no need to find a fit with the other major. Partner opens 1♥ so you have ♠KQJ10x ♥Jxx ♦xxxx ♣x . This is not a 1♠ response but a 2♥ bid. Why ? because you have found your trump fit already so bidding spades serves no purpose. Your hand is only worth one bid. Another reason is when you bid spades followed by , a simple preference to hearts , you deny 3 trump. This is helpful as partner will not make bad game tries thinking that you have 3 trump on those auctions. Do not introduce ambiguity catering to rare hands where a spade fit may be superior. Usually both contracts are the same when you have a double major fit. Bridge is a game of probabilities.

A tormentee held this hand ♠A10x ♥AQJxx ♦void ♣QJ10xx & opened 1♥ . I responded a spade so she rebid 2♣. I gave preference to 2♥ so now what ? Partner must have 5 or more spades , only two hearts so you “pattern out” & bid 2♠ . Partners hand could be ♠KQxxx ♥xx ♦xxxx ♣Kx , 1430 in spades is on the heart finesse. Passing 2♥ is an impossible bid as you will be on a 5-2 fit taking the diamond tap. Also by passing you have made a single handed decision that game is not probable when slam might be possible . On this auction, if you describe your distribution, your hand is worth 14 HCP +3 for the void 17 Goren pts minimum in support of spades . At one table , opener rebid 3♣ as she felt that the one spade response improved her hand to that extent. Not a bad overbid but an overbid nevertheless. Inexplicably 2♥ was passed at our table.

Some people play a spade response to a heart opener promises 5 spades. I do not go that far but close. If I have a bad 4 card spade suit , I prefer to bid a forcing NT. In earlier days of Bridge a suit had to be “biddable” i.e. some honours in it. 5 Card majors changed that concept but I think this style should remain for this one instance. I only lose in one case , if partner has the weak flannery hand. In matchpoints that is bad, but in IMPS who cares what partial we find ? In all other cases , the 1NT bid simplifies the auctions as we find our minor fits easier. ♠Jxxx ♥xx ♦KQxx ♣Qxx , partner opens 1♥. I bid 1NT & we end up in a minor or heart partial. Therefore, if I respond a spade after a heart opener , partner knows I have 4 decent spades or 5+ spades. The forcing NT with 4 spades catches a lot of spade balancers also as well as causes lead problems for the opponents.

Also if you have a NT type hand with soft values its best to right side the NT. ♠Q10xx ♥xx ♦KJx ♣KJxx , partner opens 1♥ . Your values are very “soft” so getting the NT in to protect your hand is a good idea. I would bid 1NT rather than a spade and over partners minor rebid , I would bid 2NT. Right siding 3NT contracts is an excellent strategy. If game in spades is possible , partner must be strong enough to reverse into spades anyway in many hands.

You hold ♠xxxx ♥x ♦AQxx ♣AJxx , partner opens 1♥. I prefer to bid 1NT rather than 1♠. Why , because you are better prepared if partner rebids a minor. You now have a 2♠ bid available to show a show minor raise. You do not misrepresent your hand by showing where you live in the spade suit. If partner has a stiff spade , this is gold rather than duplication of value. You may get to 6 of a minor making when 3NT goes down as they cash the first 5 spade tricks. This hand came up in the Bermuda Bowl. ♠xxxx ♥Ax ♦J109xx ♣Ax , partner opens 1♥. I respond 1NT & not 1♠ & partner rebids 2♦. Now you have the 2♠ bid at your disposal & you get to +1370 in diamonds as partner holds ♠void ♥KQ1098x ♦AKxxx ♣xx a 21 HCP slam !

I also avoid the ugly practice of bidding one spade after a 1♥ opener with a good 6 card minor. ♠Qxxx ♥x ♦xx ♣KQJ109x . I prefer bidding 2♣ & 3 ♣ non forcing after a heart opener or 1NT if I do not play that system . With a better hand ♠Qxxx ♥x ♦xx ♣AKJ109x , I bid 2♣ forcing to game rather than distort my 6-4 & respond a spade. Spade fits can be found from partners side ! . Bidding spades is not a reverse by partner after a 2/1 . By responding a spade you have impossible rebids and you can never convince partner you are 4-6.

The rank of the two suits spades & hearts allows you the luxury of more suit preference options. My partner held ♠AJ10 ♥QJxx ♦Qxxx ♣Jx , the vul opponents opened 3♣ & the auction was passed around to me in the balancing. Whenever the opponents are vul & I have quick tricks , I try for the home run & balance with a double. I held ♠Kxxxxx ♥Axx ♦Ax ♣Ax so the double gives more options & we play equal level conversion so I may get an opportunity to bid 3♠. With partner’ss hand he has the ideal major suit holding to give me a choice of games. He does not want to guess by single handedly jumping to 4♥ on his 4 card suit so he bids 4♣ . I must bid my lower ranking major first so when I bid 4♥ we have found our fit. If I bypass hearts , I may have a 5 or 6 card spade suit. Partner does not bid his better major but his lower ranking major after a Q bid . On this hand , we get to 4♠ which is a baby contract.