Thursday, May 05, 2005 6:27 AM

Hand evaluation - Opening Bids ( criteria )

PITBULLS:

           Here is an article from the net by Karen Walker on opening bids . To say we agree with her is a huge understatement. She starts her article by explaining the importance of quick tricks for openers in the game of Bridge. The requirement for defense measured in quick tricks never went a way for an opening bid. Modern garbage openers are just random acts of terrorism forcing partner to field them , in my opinion.. “Modern openers” adds ambiguity which is not needed in any language. Modern bidders confuse destructive competitive tactics with systemic opening bids. There is more hand evaluation required for an opening bid than just totaling HCP’s. Having quick tricks required for an opening bid is not a Bob Crosby invention. It was first written up by the whist players in 1860. They realized the importance of quick trick combinations in a trick taking game like whist or Bridge. The rest is history  and remained so in the literature of Bridge  until Precision or Polish clubs players relying on the inference of the forcing club system started making garbage openers. They gave each other unbelievable leeway with invites , secure in the fact that game or slam would not be missed as they did not open 1♣. The “newness of garbage openers” paid off big time in weak regional fields as everyone was conned with the non openers just like a psyche did in the earlier days of Bridge. Like everything else new in Bridge , garbage openers were overdone so with the novelty wearing off,  people are now handling them better. I certainly had no trouble watching Ray , Maurice , Osama & the late Steve Willard open garbage against me. Nick & Judy & Kilimo play a forcing club and hence open garbage. As long as you are aware of it , it should give you no problems. There is no element of surprise now as this is the 21 st century. They give me no trouble & help me play hands or use the opponents as stepping stones to ferret out duplication of value in some situations. Sets quite often offset the element  of surprise of  any perceived competitive advantage opening garbage might bring you. I subscribe to light aggressive openers also but with the discipline of quick tricks backing me up rather than the fact that I play a forcing club. Basing openers just on HCP’s is very weak Bridge as I have open tried to prove in my articles to you for many years.

            Do not take these semi  “systemic bids” by forcing club players as a “modern “ way of opening . That is drivel . Karen Walker wrote the following article in the year 2000 in the height of the “crazy period “ as the Bridge World magazine calls it. Note her reference to quick tricks all the time. You must buy into garbage openers as a religion or as an urge to psyche & swing . I have bought into the religion of garbage openers on the terrorist vulnerability only.  I feel the vulnerability protects me like the forcing club protects the advocates of garbage openers otherwise.. Even by being a terrorist ¼ of the time , I must fight the urge to apologize to my partner J . My openers remain disciplined for the other 3 vulnerabilities but I do not think my game suffers competitively from it. I have not noticed it anyway. I played for the last 10 years against garbage openers and I am in total awe of the bad results I have seen against me . I am almost convinced there is an ethical issue in handling non opening bids by the fanatics of this doctrine. Why have I not bought into garbage openers ? Bridge is a partnership game so I want to trust & respect partner with partnership self discipline. I feel garbage openers erode discipline & trust needed to obtain optimum Bridge results . I feel garbage openers are flying solo so tend to take partner out of the picture . Partner quite often buries you when you open garbage openers ( or psyche ) which negates the partnership element of the game of Bridge.  Simple as that. Not rocket science. Players who open garbage are not Bridge criminals . They have just adopted a style in which  I see no Bridge advantage to emulate. Ray & Osama can open garbage as long as they feel it is the right tactic. Systemic forcing club players can do the same . However , spare me from adopting their style playing a standard system .  Makes no sense to me. Not even convinced that it is the right tactic playing a forcing club system but they all do it so I must respect that. The end justifies the means I guess especially when you are paid to get Bridge results. Seems like all the World class players are professional players in these times. If I were a Bridge pro , my attitude towards garbage openers would most likely match theirs. Partner will take a back seat to conning the opponents.  I feel sorry for pros that must do that . The partnership element of the game defines Bridge in my way of thinking & probably theirs also.

Quick tricks & discipline for opening bids were first so passed the test of time with the best minds devoted to bridge for 70 years. This pre-dates the fad of garbage openers of the 1990’s. I feel garbage openers are taking the game of Bridge in a backwards direction so is not something I would recommend to you people. Just my opinion,  but obviously I feel very strong about it. I am not in the minority ., far from  it . The garbage openers are in the minority and will remain that way as long as logic & partnership discipline rules the game of Bridge. Remember ( for you cynics ) the following article are Karen Walkers words ( a grand LM )  not mine . She is as modern as anybody recently winning two national events. We correspond with each other as we have a lot of similar ideas. She accesses my web site she tells me. Eric Kokish has distain for modern garbage openers he writes so the list goes on & on. The Bridge World writers just shake their head at the spectacle as do I. We marvel at it , but do not buy into it. Advocates of garbage openers are like religious fanatics in my mind. So nothing or no amount of logic will change their mind. They have the correct approach to the game of Bridge & everyone else is wrong or in the minority they say. They feel having the requirement of quick tricks for openers reduce their chances to open to cause mayhem like a “pre-balance for competing “  .  The only advantage of garbage openers is destructive . You hope the opponents guess wrong at the one level but  partner does not.  A truly dreadful way of playing a partnership game. Opening a hand for the opponents benefit ( destructive )  not partner’s ( constructive ) .

Who in the F… cares about quick tricks the exponents  of garbage openers  arrogantly say. This comment defines garbage openers & define their mindset for those of us who have not bought into their religion. A completely shocking , astounding & amazing statement by any Bridge player ! These openers are garbage because they lack controls required for defense & accurate game & slam bidding. They are a collection of HCP’s useless for both defense & offense based on probabilities ,  hence the term “garbage” . When you see a flat 12 HCP hit the dummy with 1 ½ quick tricks , garbage is a truly descriptive word for that opening ! It is as if they have not grasped the importance of controls in the game of Bridge & are slaves to HCP’s as I am fond of saying. They have not understood the notion or see the advantage of  tying controls to opening bids like it has been done for 70 years !  Note that partner fielding these non openers is not even an issue in their mind. “ I do not what to even listen to a different view “  they exclaim. They want to fly solo to make the opponents guess & partner is merely collateral damage. For the record . I care about quick tricks  , very strongly in fact. However , what do I know about the game of Bridge or Karen or Kokish for that matter L. We are obviously blind to the magnificent forward going benefits to the game of Bridge that ignoring quick tricks & opening garbage brings to the table. Sigh or Wow !! 

I played with Alex Fowlie a local Edmonton expert recently in the Saskatoon regional . The subject of opening bids came up as he played with a noted “garbage opener bidder “  the late Steve Willard . Quoting Alex “ I do not subscribe to garbage openers . I rely on quick tricks so my openers may be very aggressive and light in the HCP sense” . I just replied , you & I should get along just fine with that philosophy. I can play with partners who subscribe to garbage openers. I played with the late Steve Willard quite often but you have to field the situation which adds stress & another element to the game of Bridge. It is usually the partners of  these style of players that must do all “ the heavy lifting’ in the partnership. Alex Fowlie developed skills at fielding the situation & his ethics remained above reproach. It was an acquired skill though , probably with scars along the way .

 

Opening Bids

 

Quick Tricks:

 

The requirement for quick tricks for an opening bid have been around since the Culbertson times. The reason for quick tricks should be obvious to any Bridge player. Partners make penalty doubles , make competitive decisions , game and slam decisions based on partner’s opening bid. If the opening bids do not have quick defensive tricks , doubled contracts will make , games & slams will fail and competitive decisions will result in you taking a penalty. Controls are a widely known needed ingredient for slams and games . Failing to have those cards when you open  will throw partner off in judging Bridge hands so bad decisions will result. Garbage in equals garbage out is an old computer expression.

Quick tricks are based on probabilities. If there is a 50 % chance that a card like a King or an AQ combination will take a trick than it’s a ½ trick . Bridge was played for 25 years ( Culbertson )  where this was the only requirement for an opening bid. In the 1940’s , HCP’s were added as a requirement along with the basic quick trick criteria.

Evaluating your opening bid

Open  ALL hands with 14 or more high-card points. Open a hand with 11 or 12 , 13 pts. (or even 10 pts.) if our hand and the conditions meet at least two or three of the following requirements:

♠A1043   ♥1096   ♦AK92   ♣43 -- Open 1♦. This is "only" 11 pts., but it has three prime quick tricks.
♠Q106   ♥AQ1073   ♦KJ76   ♣4 -- Open 1♥. Just two quick tricks, but good playing strength.
♠QJ6   ♥K72   ♦Q43   ♣A753 -- Pass. This is a "soft" hand with only 1 1/2 quick tricks.

♠KQJ103   ♥86   ♦A1042   ♣32 -- Open 1♠.
♠J8643   ♥KQ   ♦A8   ♣Q632 -- Pass.

♠103   ♥KQJ85   ♦65   ♣AJ93 -- Open 1♥. You plan to rebid 2♣ if partner doesn't raise hearts.
♠1032   ♥3   ♦KQJ1065   ♣AJ9 -- Open 1♦. You plan to rebid 2♦ over any response from partner.

♠K1072   ♥AJ93   ♦4   ♣K954 -- Open 1♣. If partner responds 1♦, you can bid 1♥. If he instead bids 1♥ or 1♠, you'll raise to 2.
♠4   ♥K43   ♦AJ93   ♣K9543 -- Pass. You'll have an awkward rebid if partner responds 1♠.

♠7   ♥K98754   ♦A102   ♣KJ3 -- Open 1♥. You'd hate to have to overcall 2♥ if your opponent opens 1♠.
♠void   ♥KJ10543   ♦A102   ♣J843 -- Pass. This hand is too weak for a 1-bid and too strong for a 3-bid. You can describe it better by overcalling later. Do not like a weak two either with the void and a 6-4.

A RULE TO REMEMBER:


If you decide your hand is worth an opening bid, stay with the courage of your conviction. Don't "lie" later just to make up for your thin high-card points. Treat your hand as a "real" opener, especially if you find a trump fit.

If you're in third seat (partner has passed):

Be more anxious to open light. You should stretch to open even a 10-11 pt or less hand if:

♠KQ1093   ♥43   ♦A75   ♣987 -- Open 1♠.

♠K93   ♥1087   ♦J98   ♣AK32 -- Open 1♣ and pass partner's response.

- Karen Walker  2000