Saturday,
May 08, 2004 6:34 PM
Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Playing the Vulnerability )
PITBULLS:
Playing the vulnerability is an important
strategy in Bridge . Your
opening bids , overcalls, pre-empts , sacrifices , balancing ,
trapping , penalty double & conversions , defense against NT &
negative doubles all tie into vulnerability. Suit requirements for an overcall
are altered nv vrs vul. Partner needs to take that into consideration for her
opening lead decisions. Maybe time to believe the opponents . I would go as far
as saying I could have a different convention card vul vrs non vul as
my bidding is based on vulnerability.
The vulnerability changes every board. Your overall
bidding strategy in the game of Bridge should be based on vulnerability.
If you decide to be reckless , do not do it vul vrs not or even
equal vulnerability. Give opponents more rope to hang themselves if they
are vul & you are not. Do not rescue vul opponents by bidding.
Bridge players must be very vulnerability conscious at all
times. This is the nature of the beast as far as Bridge is concerned.
Say you had this hand ♠KQJxx ♥x ♦Qxx ♣Kxxx would
you open this collection ? You only have 11 HCP with 1 ½ defensive
tricks so in my opinion it is not an opening bid in 1st & 2nd
. If they are vulnerable & we are not ( terrorist vul ) , it magically turns into an opener. Why ,
because the lead against their possible vul game is so important .
Partner also gives you more leeway with this vulnerability.
Modern bidders open terrible hands
by just using an abacus & counting up their beads. You can do
the same on the terrorist vulnerability ( nv vrs vul ). A
Tormentee opened a non opener against me because she was nv vrs vul
. ♠QJ9 ♥A10xx ♦Kx
♣Qxxx 1 1/2 quick tricks , flat , no spots in her club suit so
just an awful hand with proper hand
evaluation. Hand evaluation dictates this hand a non opener at the 3
other vulnerabilities. Opening this moth eaten collection nv vrs vul
might disturb the vul opponents , so lets fire the first shot.
The vul opponent bids 2♥ & partner makes a
negative dbl so you have an easy 2NT bid as your defense is substandard
with no real duplication for partner to convert for penalty. You can beat 2♥X one trick but it was due to partners hand
which was as strong as your hand ( 11 HCP ) with controls ♦A , ♣K & ♠K .
We
all have toys over the opponents strong NT hands . How to use
these toys is totally vulnerability dependent . You ♠AKxxx ♥KQJxx ♦Ax ♣x , they open a strong NT to your right . Do
you bid your toy to show the majors ? If they are vul & you are
not , do not even think about it . You double in case they are in
trouble vul against not . Go for the throat
first & your nv game second. Equal vul you should also
double as it leaves the most options open . If you are vul & they
are not , this hand is best described by
using your toy to describe a major suit hand . You getting to your vul
game is more important than looking for
a non vul set. You raise partners major bid to 3 to show this hand.
Avoid
risks when you are vulnerable & they are not. Vul a Tormentee
had ♠QJxxx ♥xx ♦Kxxxx
♣Q & the non vul opponent opened 1♣ & RHO bid 1♥ . Do you bid 1NT for the unbid suits ? Of course not
, as you are forcing the auction to the two level vul vrs not &
inviting disaster in a possible misfit auction. If you do bid 1NT , it goes
double to your left & you are in –1100 territory against nv
opponents. Playing the vulnerability means make your risks in line with
the vulnerability. Save your specialty toys for the right
vulnerability.
Two
hands that were disasters in Beijing came from not respecting or
“playing the vulnerability”. The opponents opened 1NT & you have a nice
hand but you are vul vrs not. The opponents “play the vulnerability “
also so they are looking for a set on this vulnerability. I would bid with this
hand on every vulnerability scenario except this one. If partner can not
balance , we do not have game so doubling 1NT is too risky on this one
vulnerability.
Scotland Round 2♥X -800
Board 3. Dealer
South. E-W Vulnerable. |
||
|
♠ K 6 5 2 |
|
♠ A T 9 4 |
|
♠ J 7 |
|
♠ Q 8 3
|
Venezuela 3♦x -500
Board 32. Dealer
West. E-W Vulnerable. |
||
|
♠ 6 3 2 |
|
♠ K 9 8 7 4 |
|
♠ A |
|
♠ Q J T 5 |
Again vulnerability rules the scene.
You open 2♦ vul vrs not on a shaky
suit & it gets passed out to the balancing chair. You have a 6-4 but it is
the wrong vulnerability to violate captaincy & bidding 2♥. The opponents play the vulnerability also so the risk
does not justify the reward. Partner passed , so no game your way & RHO is
doubling presumably to T/O to the majors. Bidding again shows distain for the vulnerability.
Say
you had this hand ♠AJxx ♥A1098 ♦x ♣AQ10x ,
partner opens 1♦ & LHO bids 2♥ . Do you pass for penalties or make a negative
double ? This answer is totally vulnerability dependent. You would pass for penalties with all
vulnerabilities except one. If you are vul & they are not you make a negative
double so you can get to your +1370 in clubs. Partner has ♠xx ♥x ♦AKQxxx ♣KJxx and
his re-opening double is vulnerability dependent also. I would re-open
with a double in all vulnerabilities except one as I have my 2 ½ defensive
tricks for my opener. If partner passes , he is short in diamonds so lets take
our set. However vul against not , I reopen with 3♣ hoping to find a nice vul
3NT or minor slam . I do not give partner a chance to pass 2♥ x for penalties on this one vulnerability.
You have ♠x ♥xxx ♦QJ109xx ♣AKx & 1♠ gets passed around to you . What
is your balance ?? Again it depends on the vulnerability. I would
balance 2♦ with every vul except one. If they
are vul & we are not, I would double
. When this hand was held , partner
held ♠KQJ109 ♥AQJ9x ♦A
♣xx & trap passed. Do not
forget trapping is vulnerability dependent also so adjust your balancing
doubles accordingly. Partner would not risk passing with
that hand in other vulnerabilities. Opener had ♠Axxxxx ♥Kxx ♦Kx ♣QJ and
goes down 5 doubled & vul for 1400 !
With
weak twos you make off shape doubles in he re-opening chair with
the appropriate vulnerabilities in
order to catch them speeding . ♠xx ♥AQ10xx ♦AKxxx ♣x
The opponents open a weak 2♠ so
around to you in the balancing . If they are vul & you are not , you
should double as you have defense as well as having an offensive
hand . With all other vulnerabilities , bid your heart suit to show the offensive
nature of your hand. If partner does not convert & pulls your double to 3♣ , 3♦ is equal level conversion so does not show a strong
diamond one suiter. Bid the lower ranking of your two suits so partner will
correct to hearts with no diamond fit. ♠xx
♥Jxx ♦xx ♣Jxxxxx
Of
course my favourite subject of D.S.I.P. doubles definitely plays
the vulnerability. If the opponents are vul , you bend over backwards
to make a D.S.I.P. pass or double as converting
for penalty vul yields nice results .
Being able to get the opponents from either side of the table is
one of the nice features of D.S.I.P. theory . Sacrificing our way is of
course vulnerability dependent , so D.S.I.P. theory gets a work out with the appropriate
vulnerability.
The
strategy of trapping is vulnerability dependent . I do not trap vul
vrs non vul. I overcall 1NT with a stiff honour or double if I have to or
somehow invent a bid to get in the auction. This is in part because you
do not get rewarded at 50 a pop if the auction gets passed out but also to protect
partner vul vrs not vul in the balancing. He does not have to
protect my hand because there is no hand to protect on this one
vulnerability ! I will trap at the one level as responder with 19 HCP
expecting partner to re-open on the 3 other vulnerabilities , though.
One level penalties can be quite devastating vulnerable.
A
tormentee had a simple decision tonight based on playing the
vulnerability & basic hand evaluation. ♠Kxx ♥AK9x
♦Ax ♣Jxx
Both nv they opened 3♥ & partner
doubled at the 3 level . This decision involves whether to make a slam try or
convert for penalties . 3NT is out of the question. Your side has
30 + HCP’s & your hand is all quick tricks for defense. In addition , you
probably have 3 trump tricks. You decide that a slam is too iffy so you pass. This goes for +1100 or
+800 with bad defense. 3NT is an atrocious bid as it does not
even describe your hand while rescuing the opponents with equal
vulnerability. Partner is supposed to read you for strong NT values with 3
heart stoppers for a forced 3NT bid ? What would you bid with 9 HCP
& a couple of heart stoppers ?
Bidding 3NT on equal vul means that you feel they are only going 2
down when they have 3 trump losers & 30 HCP’s to overcome ? The only
excuse I can see is “partner I did not notice the equal vulnerability “.
The
acts of terrorism of course are vulnerability dependent. Openers ,
pre-empts & overcalls cry out for leeway by partner
on the terrorism vulnerability of nv vrs vul.
My partner held ♠Kxx ♥Jx ♦xxx ♣xxxxx & I opened 1NT with the opponents
bidding 2♦ for the majors. NV vrs vul you can risk
bidding 2NT & trying a club partial. Of course , you would never
make the bid on any other vulnerability as the risk vrs the
reward makes no sense. Shooting dice is for the terrorist
vulnerability only. Going 3 down vul even undoubled is –300.
No
bidding question is complete without the vulnerability being included.
If someone asks a bidding question but does not include the
vulnerability you can not answer as vulnerability dictates the
answer about 80 % of the time !!