Tuesday, December 05, 2006 5:18 AM

Match Point Friendly II

PITBULLS:

BJ Trelford has got me thinking on how matchpoint unfriendly our system has become. In addition to the points raised in the previous article on this subject , here are some more understandings with our system which are not conducive to match points. The way we play Stayman is very IMPS orientated i.e. games and slams & not the best part score for matchpoints. Our Stayman bids imply we have at least a game invitational hand except for some particular hand patterns where we can drop a particular auction. We can not use “garbage or scrambling” Stayman to get to the best matchpoint spot of 2 of a major . With all our extended Stayman understandings , we must pass 1NT with the majors unless we have a possible game on our mind. 1NT for +90 quite often results when we could have made +110 in a major.

With big 5-4-3-1 hands we hate opening at the one level. If the stiff is an honour , we prefer to open 2NT as an attempt to describe our hand in one bid and get the auction off to the best start possible. Ditto for 4-4-4-1 with a stiff honour and points in the 2NT range. If partner is strong , this style makes game & slam exploration a breeze. If partner is weak , we are passed the correct partial because the auction may be passed out in 1♦/♣ at the other table. Our system , starting at 2NT with these hands is not “partial friendly” which is needed at matchpoints.

We trap a lot in our system except when we are vulnerable and they are not. Matchpoint players just bid , whether they have the opponents suit or not & bid NT whether they have the opponents suit stopped or not. Getting into the bidding quickly almost at all costs is matchpoint bidding. We prefer to pass with their suit ( unless we are vul & they are not) & wait to see if they can get into trouble . Same with off shape hands without the unbid major(s), we prefer to pass initially. Our doubles later on in these auctions are penalty as there has been no element of competition. Matchpoint players overcall to enter the auction early. They have HCP’s , they bid.

The way we describe 6-4’s is matchpoint unfriendly. We open a major and partner bids 1NT . If our 4 card suit is biddable we bid it. In matchpoints , it is best to ignore the 4 card minor and rebid the 6 card major so we are in the best matchpoint partial if partner passes. With single suited major hands ( weak 6 card major) in the 16 HCP range , we prefer to rebid a 3 card minor just to keep the auction alive. This is a poor matchpoint alternative as there is a danger that the minor may be passed out and we are in the wrong matchpoint partial. Even though we have 16 HCP’s , we prefer the jump rebid to show a decent suit. However , we do not like rebidding 2 of a major as that sometimes pre-empts partner and we miss a game with our 16 HCP’s.

Having a strong 2♦ opener is match point unfriendly. We do not have a weak 2♦ which is more common and always you to get in there for matchpoint purposes. The strong 2♦ opener helps you to get to the correct game & slams with the big pay out for IMPS.

Is there anything in our system more suitable for Match Points than IMPS ? Do not think so or else I would change it immediately. I never could play matchpoints J

In summary , our system seems to sacrifice partial accuracy for any attempt to reach a game. Not a good strategy in matchpoints but it pays off in IMPS with all the games we bid. IMPS & matchpoints are like apples or oranges . They are not even close to being the same game.