Monday, February 20, 2006 7:37 AM

Hand Evaluation – Memorization of Patterns

PITBULLS:

Take the first 8 letters of the alphabet for the English language. abcdefgh now write it backwards hgfedcba . Say the alphabet in 4 level chunks abcd efgh ijkl mnop etc. Take our Arabic number system . recite the first 10 numbers 12345678910 . Say them backwards . 109876564321 . Say them in 4 digit chunks 1234 5678 9101112 . Since you learned these as a child they are automatics responses , correct ?

Bridge players in order to reach the next level of Bridge declarer play , defense , opening leads & bidding must have the most common Bridge patterns memorized to the same degree as the alphabet and the number system. 4432 , 4333, 4441 are the patterns with the 4 card suits , 5332, 5422 , 5431 , 5521 , 5530, 5440 are the 6 patterns with 5 card suits in them as the longest suit. 6322, 6421, 6331, 6511, 6430, 6520, 6610 are the patterns with a 6 card suit as the longest. Some of these patterns with a void do not even have to be memorized as they are rare and you can piece them together at the table. The patterns with the 7 card suit are even more rare but the common ones need to be memorized nevertheless. 7222 , 7321, 7411 are probably enough. That’s all folks !!.

OK these patterns have to be memorized backwards & forwards . Why ? The game of Bridge is played with two visible hands as defender or declarer. The dummy is community property so not just the sole property of the declarer. As defender you build partial patterns in your mind using your hand with the dummy. You have 5 of the suit , dummy as 4 of the suit. Immediately you say 54 so the outstanding patterns can only be 5431 5422, 5440 . If declarer bid that suit , you know partner is void immediately ( 5440 ). They play 5 card majors & end up in another contract. The board has 3 of them , you 4 . This means partner has a singleton 5431 , so lay down your ace & give her a ruff. No guess work as you know partner has a stiff.

Showing out of a suit is the most revealing play in the game of Bridge. You always pause & apply a pattern. They are playing a suit in which you & the dummy have 3 cards. Partner shows out after the 2^nd round. You immediately know that declarer has 5 of the suit which probably equates to 5 tricks ( 5332 ). You trying to find a queen as declarer. You cash some of your suits & note which defender shows out. This gives you an automatic pattern of the entire suit. They show out , you see the dummy & your hand. You have 3 , dummy has 3 & RHO shows out on the 2^nd round. Apply a pattern ! 6331 so LHO has 6 of that suit. You try another suit so you find that your suit in which you are trying to find a queen is distributed 4 in RHO’s hand with only 2 in LHO’s hand . This means the odds are 4-2 in favour of the queen being on your right side on a two way finesse.

Pre-empts are a lucrative source for applying patterns both as declarer & defender. They open a weak two , weak 3 or 4 so you automatically build a pattern as a starting point. With their bidding , the aid of the dummy & your hand, a clear picture of their hand builds up fast. These patterns will guide you to the correct defense , opening lead , declarer play or even bidding time after time. This skill is what makes Bridge players expert at their hobby . It is that simple J . Squeezes , end plays , discarding problems , switches , counting tricks all of a sudden can be planned or figured out with the aid of patterns.

Why are experts opening leads so good ? Do you notice on my panel , Bryan Maksymetz & other panel members translating the bidding into patterns before they make their opening lead ? This is a must have skill for good opening leads. RHO opened 1♠ , bid & rebid hearts. 5-5-2-1 or 5-5-3-0 is your starting point before you make your opening lead . This usually allows you to figure out the correct opening lead & defensive plan. With the aid of patterns you “see” the correct opening lead , correct defense , correct bid or correct line of declarer play. You can guess at all of the above or make it a near certainty . Your choice.

Discussing the importance of patterns with a number of players recently & here is an idea that they have come up with. You play 26 hands every time you play at the club. You play up to 3 or 4 times a week. They advise each & every time you pickup a Bridge hand & sort it , you recite the hand pattern to yourself . This means you may familiarize yourself with patterns 100 times each & every week so you have them ingrained in your memory like the experts. The payback is tremendous believe me.