Friday, November 03, 2006 7:37 AM
Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Taking
your plus )
PITBULLS:
The opponents
pre-empt at the 4 level in a major , partner doubles
for T/O so you have two options bid or pass.
You normally bid unless you have their trump & convert for penalty. There
is an exception though. Since you
are at the rarefied 4 level , partner needs a good
hand to double . Especially if they are nv & you
are vul , you should pass with bad flat hands that you cannot make
anything. Partner rates to have the contract beat in her own hand . If
you have a flat collection of queens , you are not
going to make an 11 trick game for two reasons. One is that you need about 29
HCP’s combined to make an 11 trick game & two the HCP’s rate to be over partner’s HCP’s. You should pass &
just take your plus. If you do not get a plus because the cards are really
sitting right for them , their nv
game making doubled will score less than the vulnerable number you are going to incur by
bidding.
The
only vulnerability , I pull a double with a weak flat hand is if they are vul
& we are not. Otherwise I sit
& ride out partners double. If I have a distributional nothing
, I will bid 4NT which is Lebensohl as most experts play this sequence. Actually if
you do bid vul , you have turned on forcing passes , if they bid
again. You do not bid from a position of weakness at the 4 level , like you would at the one , two or 3 level.
The great unknown should guide you whether you
should just take your plus. If
you are certain
you have a great chance for a slam as opposed to a converting for a penalty , go for it.
If there is doubt
, just take your plus
especially in IMPS. Tonight we had an auction where there was some doubt whether my auction showed 4
spades or not. When in doubt ,
just take your plus.
Why gamble & turn a plus into
a minus in IMPS ? Leave guessing to the opponents.
My
partner had ♠Kxxx
♥Kx ♦xxxx ♣xxx , we were vul against not vul. They opened
1♥ which got raised to
2♥. I doubled &
they bid 3♥ pre-emptively. You still do
not have enough to crawl in at the 3 level vulnerable so you pass. Partner
now re-opens with 3NT & you pass.
They bid 4♥ , partner doubles so
around to you. The 3NT bid should be based on playability ,
probably a 6 card minor with about 20 HCP’s. Does partner have spades ? Probably not as he would have
chosen a double rather than a 3NT bid to re-open. However, you are not sure so you do
not take the chance & just take your plus. You lead a small spade , the board hits with ♠Q10xxxx ♥xxx ♦Qxx ♣x . Partner wins the
jack & returns the queen of trump. Declarer flies with the heart ace & leads the queen of clubs. Partner wins the king , returns a trump which you win & return a club.
Declarer ruffs on the board and leads a diamond to her king which wins.
Declarers hand was ♠x ♥Axxxxx ♦Kxx ♣QJx . A
10 HCP opener opposite a 4 HCP response. You have 6 HCP’s so partner
indeed have her 20 HCP as advertised. They take 5 heart tricks
, 1 club ruff & one diamond for –500 , where the field average was –200 or –300 the other
direction for a failed game.
Bidding misunderstandings are a great
place to default to just taking your plus.
Tonight a 28 IMP swing occurred because my partner did not take the default. I opened 1♣ , he responded 1♥ with ♠xxx ♥AQ10xx ♦xxxx ♣x so I jumped
to 4♠. I have never played with this partner before so he
went into a long tank trying to interpret the bid. 1st clue , if the bid was something esoteric, I would not have tried it with a new partnership. 2nd clue the
opponents have been silent throughout the auction with many spades , if
my bid was a splinter at the 4 level. If you are not sure ,
just take the bid at its face
value & pass. My partner thought I was forcing him to the 5
level with a splinter , so he bid 5♥. I had a strong hand
with 11 black cards so I got to 6♠X for –13 IMPS. At
the other table they got to the wrong spot for –200 so we were about to win 14
IMPS for +620 in spades. This essentially was the match.
Taking your plus is also equated to “accepting your fix” .
The opponents will jam you sometimes so do you just gamble or “take your fix” . The 5 level
is where you just remained fixed , double the opponents
& get out of Dodge. If the opponents take room away from you
, slam exploration is all but
impossible do you take your fix ? Yes , gambling is for Casinos or matchpoints . A player held ♠Ax ♥KQxx ♦xx ♣xxxxx , partner opening 1♣
& he responded 1♥. I overcalled 2♦ & his partner
bid 2♠ showing 5♣ with a decent to good hand. Tom Gandolfo upped
the ante to 4♦ robbing you of any room to show your slam intentions. Do you gamble on partner
holding the magical stiff diamond an all or
nothing approach ? No ,
with the “taking your
fix mentality”, you
should make the underbid of 5♣. Partner who held 19 HCP with a stiff diamond may bid 6 as he has more than he showed
with the 30 HCP in the deck rule in effect.
You
hold ♠xxx ♥KQJ ♦xxxx ♣xxx & in 3rd
seat nv your opponent opens 1♥
. Partner vul vrs not bids 3♥ & your RHO bids
4♥ . The opponents have
fixed you as you should have a good shot at 3NT so do you take your plus or try for the magical 4NT
? I think this is an IMPS vrs matchpoints decision. In IMPS , I
just take my sure money &
double. The ♥KQJ are the most useless cards for partners hand if he tries 5 of
his minor & 4NT is no certainty to make. There is also
another consideration. Will partner interpret 4NT to play & not an
invitation to bid his suit ? Why did you not double 4♥ , if you feel you can make
10 tricks at NT ? 4NT
should be to play but
this is not the hand for it. ♠Axx ♥QJx ♦xxxx ♣xxx is a more suitable
hand. Partner probably should have read your 4NT as natural but did not , so trying to be too precise in IMPS led to a disaster. 4♥X goes for –500 & 6♣ thru the
misunderstanding goes for –800. In effect you were gambling +630 –500 or a 3
IMP gain for a possible minus in 4NT or
a possible disaster if partner misreads your intentions. Take your plus &
leave gambling for matchpoint hounds.
Taking your plus is a hand evaluation basic. In matchpoints,
the story is different as you have to guess the amount of the set against your
possible vul game. In
IMPS , just take your plus !! This is still another difference between the
game of IMPS & match points. Just like rubber Bridge ,
take your sure money
& run.