Monday, May 21, 2007 2:44 AM

Hand Evaluation – HCPS ( Quick Tricks )

PITBULLS:

Playing the vulnerability should be a clear Bridge strategy. You make different bids depending on the vulnerability. It’s not quite that simple. Quick tricks must enter in your decision also. You are a disciplined pre-empter on 3 of the 4 vulnerabilities. Not so on the terrorist vulnerability. You hold ♠xxx ♥Qxx ♦KJ109xx ♣x , you are on the terrorist vulnerability with very little defense measured in quick tricks. You do not have a weak 2♦ available, so you pre-empt 3♦ . Tell partner & the opponents you had a heart mixed in with your diamonds J . You are nv vrs vul , in addition, partner is a passed hand. RHO opens, you have ♠x ♥KJ98xx ♦A10xx ♣xx . On the terrorist vulnerability , partner will give you enough leeway so you can overcall 2♥. You do this to setup nv sacrifices against vul opponents or otherwise make a nuisance of yourself in their auction. You have 1 ½ quick tricks , so a 2♥ overcall is preferred to a pre-empt as partner will be able to make a better decision later.

You hold ♠KQx ♥KQJ109 ♦AQx ♣Kx , you are on the terrorist vulnerability. Your RHO surprises you by opening a vul 2♥ against a nv opponent. On the 3 other vulnerabilities , you double & leap to 3NT. You do not want to talked out of your game & partner should not have the strength to balance. On this vulnerability , who cares if partner does not have enough to balance ! A game your way is only 400 anyway & they are heading for 4 or 5 down vul !! If partner does have enough to balance with a double , you are looking at +1400 to +1700. You have nothing to lose by passing on this one vulnerability & a lot to gain. You are all quick tricks with a horrible trump stack for them.

You hold ♠KQJx ♥J10x ♦Q1098 ♣AQ , they are vul & you are not. Partner opens 1♣ , they overcall 1♦. On the other 3 vulnerabilities , passing is silly as 1♦X is not going to compensate for your very probable game. Playing negative doubles , partner will bend over backwards to re-open with a double if she has the quick tricks to do so. Partner has ♠xxxx ♥AK ♦Axx ♣Jxxx so with 3 defensive tricks & diamond shortness will always protect your pass with a re-opening double with that much defense measured in quick tricks. If they are vul , go for the home run of +800 as that will double your game value. Do not look at your HCP’s for re-opening doubles, but pay more attention to your quick tricks.

Penalty doubles follow the same reasoning of course . Vulnerability & quick tricks will determine if you leave in partners penalty double but more care is needed. You open 1♣ with ♠x ♥KQJx ♦Axx ♣Axxxx , they make a T/O double. Partner makes a punitive xx most likely not showing a fit for your clubs. They bid a spade so with your full opening bid & 3 quick tricks you pass the bid around to partner. Partner doubles 1♠ so what do you do ? You have more than partner can reasonably expect on the auction ( 3 quick tricks) & partner is not asking if you have spades so you leave it in on 3 vulnerabilities. On the one vulnerability of vul vrs nv opponents , you can consider pulling the double to 1NT. Why 1NT ? You are making the most constructive bid towards game & describing your defense. Do not pull to 2♣ as partner will think you have a distributional playing hand without the defense you actually hold. You are not wrong siding the NT bid as the spades are with the T/O doubler & not RHO. You must be careful though as partner knows you are vul & they are not & she still doubled 1♠. One level sets can be telephone #’s quite often.

Vulnerability & quick tricks of course , affects your forcing pass strategy. With both opponents vul , you open 1♠ with ♠Kxxxx ♥Axx ♦void ♣AKJxx , partner bids 2♠. Your vul RHO bids 3♦ so you show your playing strength with 4♣. They subsequently bid 5♦ so what do you do ? Partner has heard you bid 4♣ & has heard the bidding. Your forcing pass decision on this vulnerability is very clear. You pass 5♦ saying that you would like to bid 5♠ very badly & simultaneously showing partner your diamond shortness & defensive quick tricks. Partner hears all this but doubles 5♦ anyway. Now what do you do ? You have an excellent playing hand with a lot of defense ( 3 ½ quick tricks ). They are vulnerable so with diamond wastage & with only 15 HCP opposite a 2♠ bid you have no guarantee of making 5♠. The pass & pull part of forcing pass theory is a slam try. You do not want to be near slam after partner just has a 2♠ bid with diamond duplication of value. You pass , 5♦X has 5 quick losers , a 4-nothing beak to worry about & 3 spades to ruff with only 3 trump on the board . Partner will probably rectify that at her first opportunity . They go for 1100 to 1400 , 5♠ goes two down vul. Play the vulnerability , acknowledge your quick tricks along with forcing pass theory.

Quick tricks are a huge part of hand evaluation in every facet of the game of Bridge. Make it a habit to notice them. Think quick tricks for proper hand evaluation for opening bids & almost every other aspect of Bridge bidding. Points – Scmoints.