2007-10-15 05:08
Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( Masterminding )
PITBULLS:
Bridge
is a partnership game. One partner bids her own hand , the other partner bids her hand so a mutual decision can be made to arrive at the final contract.
It is paramount that you bid your “own hand” & not place cards in partner’s
hand to justify your own bid. Giving too much leeway for the possibility of
partner not having her bid is
also an example of not “bidding your own hand” & is also a very serious Bridge mistake. The Meckwell
partnership has no criteria for an
opening bid. They often miss games & slams because they are giving each
other too much leeway. They justify it as a
“cost of doing business” their way ,
which is to induce the opponents to go wrong. Many pros have this mentality.
A
local pair Willard & Fowlie have this arrangement . I have seen Fowlie
bid a 14 HCP like he had 6 to compensate for the possibility that his partner
not having his bid. This of course is nonsense as how do you show the 6 HCP hand . Bid the same way ? Bridge bidding becomes a 3 ring circus &
randomness takes over. A truly dreadful way to play a partnership game like
Bridge.
A Tormentee & her partner had a silly auction in a team
game recently. The Tormentee had ♠Axx ♥x ♦AJ9x ♣AQJ10x & RHO opened 1♦. She overcalled 2♣
& her vul partner bid 2♥. Basic Bridge now
comes into play. Partners 2♥ bid is a one round
force showing around 10 + HCP.s . The bid can be slightly shaded with a club fit. You have 16 HCP with two stoppers in the
opponent’s suit so you do not need to hear anymore ( 16
+10 HCP = game ) so you bid your 3NT.
You have bid your own hand ( 16 HCP ) as you would have bid 2NT with ♠Q10x ♥x ♦AJ9x ♣AQJ10x or even ♠J10x ♥x ♦AJ9x ♣AQJ10x .
Say you make the underbid
of 2NT which is not describing
your hand & partner bids 3♣. This means partner is light for his bid
possible ♠KQxx ♥J10987 ♦x ♣Kxx or the equivalent. You have underbid your hand by an Ace , so do you take the risk of missing a vul
game in IMPS ? Of course not , so you
bid 3NT.
Partner tables ♠Jxxx
♥xxxxx ♦x
♣Kxx which is an out & out psychic bid. He tried to justify his
bid by saying what if you held
good hearts ? This is not bidding your own hand but bidding
partners hand . It is the “wishful thinking” aspect of
singlehanded bidding. Even if partner does have hearts ,
you will probably get too high as you are 6 HCP short of your bid. This is
nonsense bidding. Bid your own
hand & let the partnership decide.
A few
hands later the auction goes ♣1-1♦-P-1♠ ♠AKQxx ♥xx ♦xxxxx ♣Q & the opponents rebid
2♣ bringing the 30 HCP rule into effect as they are bidding your stiff. If
partner has a dead minimum overcall of ♠xx
♥Ax ♦AQ10xx ♣xxxx you are odds on to
make 6♦. If partner has a
light 11 HCP overcall , ♠xx ♥Ax ♦AKxxx ♣xxxx you are cold for 6♦. In support of diamonds , your hand
has grown into a slam try. Therefore , you compete
to 2♦. Why are you not
bidding your own hand rather than
“masterminding” on the assumption that partner does not have his bid ? What if partner does have his bid ?
Have you described this huge
diamond hand ? Partner now bids 2♥ so now you have a 2nd
chance as he is taking a push. You
now retreat to 3♦ & showing a hand like ♠KQxxx ♥QJx ♦xxx ♣xx . If you just bid your
own hand & not worry about if
partner has his bid , you will get to your simple
games & slams.
Masterminding
is an obnoxious singlehanded
approach to the game of Bridge. You are not bidding your own hand , but bidding partners hand for her. The pro’s do
it all the time when playing with a client. They either luck out or they do not. In my opinion , the
game of Bridge is degraded that way. Good players become extremely insulted when partner bids single
handedly or masterminds. The solution ? Play partnership Bridge.