Wednesday, November 29, 2006 4:20 AM
Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Solo Artists )
PITBULLS :
One
of the most aggravating partners
for me in Bridge is the “solo artist” . They believe
that the game of Bridge was designed for them to “fly solo” .
Partner is only needed to lay down a nice
dummy. Solo artists like their name implies ,
make the decisions for the
partnership. Quite often its them jumping to game or to slam or
overcalling when they have a takeout double.
They take single handed sacrifices
( pseudo of course ) when they have 8 card suits
rather than let partner in on the secret at a lower
level. They make single handed decisions at high levels ( play hero )
instead of taking their plus .They
take dangerous risks like playing or defending XX redoubled contracts without
the balance of power. They make high risk penalty doubles or balances without input from partner. They
do not recognize misfit auctions
& just bid & go for a number.
They avoid lead directing doubles like the plague, preferring just bidding at the game
level instead. They make dangerous penalty
doubles that result in partials turning into vulnerable games. They
miss the point that Bridge is a partnership game or worse they do not care.
One
of their habits that I have noticed is that they conceal the true nature of their
hand from partner & the opponents almost at all costs. If they have a pre-empt that
most people would make a jump overcall ,
they overcall at the one
level. This is to mislead the opponents ,
of course. Partner now makes wrong decisions in competitive auctions so doubles
the opponents. Disaster , because partner mislead her
in the first instance. I watched a player vulnerable
vrs not
with this hand ♠xxx ♥x ♦xx ♣AKJ1098x bid 2♣ rather than
3 when the auction went 1♥-P-1♠-2♣ !!!!! . If thus hand does not qualify for a vul vrs not pre-empt , I do not know what does.
Solo
artists have no regard for opening
bids as it is of no consequence whether partner
knows if you have what you advertised. Susan gave an example of a
hand recently by a known “solo artist” . ♠x ♥A10xxxx ♦KJxxx ♣x Vul vrs not in 1st seat ( Thursday nite
IMPS) he opened 1♥. The opponents got the auction up to the 3 level ( passing partner )
before it got around to him again so he freely bids 3♦ . This vul vrs
not bidding obviously announces to his partner
that he has 8 HCP’s , short of a quick trick for an
opening bid & poor suit quality
in both his suits . Correct ?
Same
solo artist who holds this hand . ♠KQ109xx ♥KQ109x ♦void ♣xx . Everybody vul so LHO opens 1♣ , RHO
bids 1♦ so what do you bid ?
There are a multitude of hands that describe a two suited hand in the majors. You can bid a jump Michaels of
3♦ & describe your
hand in one shot . You can bid 2♣ which can show
a Michaels Q bid by partnership understanding . 2♦ is natural with most
established partnerships. You could even bid a sandwich 1NT or 2NT if that’s
your style. You could double to
announce the unbid suits.
Our solo artist decided to conceal his two suited hand from partner by
overcalling 1♠. I think maybe he
wanted to get both suits in to play the hand ?
I bid
1NT , my partner bid 3NT. True to your nature you
decide to fly solo & back in 4♥ to now describe your
hand at the 4 level when you could have at the 2 level..
This gets doubled & goes one down since partner tables a truly nice dummy ♠x ♥Jxxx ♦KQ109x ♣xxx . The problem though
is the opponents only have 7 tricks in NT so are destined for –500 or –200
themselves. Taking partner out of the
picture by flying solo got what it deserved ,
a cold bottom in matchpoints or –10 in IMPS.
If
you bid your hand properly , you may buy this hand in
3♥ making as your partner has input. What if
partner came down with 2-1 in the majors with wasted cards in the minors ? 3NT goes down & 4♥ goes for a telephone
number. Solo artists
are playing some game but it does not resemble the game of Bridge. Playing with
a poor partner , you may resort to this style but it
is insulting.
Maybe it’s my advanced years , but I can not
tolerate this style of Bridge . They say this style is justified as it “creates action” to win matchpoints/IMPS . This so called “modern bidding” .
I feel this is just an excuse/rationalization
for Solo artists. I want no part of it.
Some solo artists come by their trade
naturally. They usually are decent players who are used to playing with weaker partners for a long period of time. They are so used to
their partner “dropping the ball” they have developed their own single handed style. They do not even realize that their bidding style has just become taking
random shots
& hoping that partner has the right cards.
They do not look for clues given by partner from the other side of the table.
They do not even try to solicit input from partner. ♠Ax ♥Qx ♦KQJxx ♣QJxx & partner opens 1♥ so you bid 2♦ which gets doubled.
Partner passes RHO bids 2♠ which you pass around to partner who bids 3♦. You now decide to
bid 3♠ Western Q but partner bids 4♠. Partner is an expert who
would Q bid in rank order , you know you are
off the ♣AK. So you bid 6♦ anyway & they
cash the ♣AK ! You have not trained yourself to trust & listen to partner.
You hold ♠AKQ1098 ♥J109 ♦10x ♣Kx & partner opens 1♦. You bid 1♠
& partner bids 2♣. You now have two ways to go. You can describe your
hand to partner or hide your hand by making an ambiguous Q bid or forcing call.
You play “recovering the strong jump shift” so a 3♠ bid stands out to
show your good hand & good suit. Instead you muddle the auction with a 2♥ bid & partner
bids 3♦ showing a 6-4 . You now bid 3♠ & partner carries on to 4♠.
You now start guessing partner’s hand as you
make all decisions from your side of the table so with your 13 HCP , you drive the hand to 6 when partner had no input into this auction. This goes 2
down & another 12 IMPs flies away. You never showed your intentions by
bidding 3♠ originally to bring partner into
the picture.
Solo artists drag their partner &
team mates through the mud because they are getting the game confused with single handed pastimes like poker. The skill in Bridge is making correct decisions after you have solicited input from your partner. Solo artists are a strange
group. Like thrill seekers,
they must control
the action & everybody else is irrelevant. Narcissism in a
partnership game like Bridge does not mix very well. They will take one more
bid thereby “bidding your hand for you” so they foster a lack of trust. The
people with whom they play are not partners
in the true sense of the word but just dummys
( pun intended ) .