Monday,
June 12, 2006 1:22 AM
Hand
Evaluation – Terrorism & Vulnerability
PITBULLS:
Discipline in Bridge
is defined as sound opening bids ,
quick tricks for opening bids ,
sound pre-empts with no cards on the outside , 2 level overcalls showing a good
suit with an opening bid range , lead directing overcalls at the one level. T/O
doubles are shape with values in the opening bid or higher range. This
discipline imparts partnership trust
& confidence which results in accurate bidding & penalty doubles of the opponents. D.S.I.P. double theory is based on discipline.
Terrorists
who do not subscribe to any of the above ignore partner as their objective is to “get the opponents” . They play “single
handed” Bridge with the result justifing
the means. Their partner is the 3rd
opponent who gets in the way of their grand plan to con
the opponents all the time. We all
are aware of this type of Bridge & realize that these tactics only work sometimes. The reason of course is the laws of probability. The opponents may get
you & if they do not, partner will trip you up in the long run.
However
, nobody can argue that these tactics do work
sometimes. Getting the first shot in with a non opening bid quite often
throws a monkey wrench in the works. A bad pre-empt sometimes works as does a bad 2 level overcall or overcall at the one
level. You take bidding room away from the opponents or “luck out” if you find partner with a huge fit for your meager suit. You need luck on your side, so Bridge is relegated to slot machine status.
I
feel the mathematics of Bridge
justifies terrorism in one vulnerability
scenario only. If you are nv
vrs vul, keeping
the opponents out of their vul game or slam
at the expense of nv undertricks
undoubled or not is a winning tactic. Jerry Marshall &
Hendrick Sharples do not have it
quite right with their two convention card system. They have one convention
card for being vulnerable & one when they are not. I feel you should have
one style & convention card for all
vulnerabilities except the one mentioned above.
You
hold ♠x ♥Kxx ♦KJxxxxx
♣xx in 1st seat nv vrs vul
. This is a 3♦
bid. Yes ,your suit is very bad & you have an outside king but the vulnerability makes it the correct bid. On
all other vulnerabilities , this is a clear cut pass. You have ♠xxx ♥x ♦xxx
♣AKJ10xx , they open vul & you are nv. This all
of a sudden becomes a 2♣ overcall. You are short of a 2♣ overcall at any other
vulnerability but partner must give you
leeway at this one vulnerability. You hold ♠AKQ10xx ♥xx ♦Jx ♣Jxx
in 1st with this vulnerability, this is a 1♠
opening despite your lack of defense.
♠KQx ♥A10xxx ♦Jx ♣Qxx is a 1♥ opener with this vulnerability & a pass
at any other vulnerability.
I
feel that Bridge discipline should take a
beating at this terrorist vulnerability. It already does when the
opponents own the hand or when
partner is a passed hand but this
is the 3rd case. Fielding
partners bids should be the order of the day. Since partner may not have the quick tricks
normally required for an opening bid or be very light , D.S.I.P. theory for
penalty doubles is required. However , you should need the opponents booked in
your own hand
for a D.S.I.P. double on the terrorist vulnerability. Rodwell & Meckstroth play this terrorist
style on all vulnerabilities due
to their forcing club system. They
feel that they do not need a real opening bid as their 1♣ bid somehow protects
them. I feel their style might have some merit in this one vulnerability.
Fielding bids & sniffing the air adds to your
worries on this one vulnerability , but it may be worth the aggravation. I would like to
give it a try.
BJ
Trelford is well known for his disciplined openers & pre-empts. However ,
on the terrorist vulnerability he bids just like anybody else. Just last Thurday nite he held ♠AJxx ♥K1098 ♦xxx ♣Ax
nv vrs vul. On some vulnerabilities , he would just pass this hand becomes
opening 1♦
on 3 small is not his style. However,
on the terrorist vulnerability, he opens 1♥ as he has 2 ½ quick tricks with both majors.
Nv vrs vul , BJ held ♠xx ♥Axxxxxx ♦xx ♣xx so any vulnerability other than the
terrorist vulnerability, this is
not a 3♥
pre-empt. However, on this
vulnerability he opens 3♥ ,
we get to a fairly decent 6♥
slam. They need to find the correct opening lead & if they do , 6♥ needs a 2-2 break. Not a bad slam. On
another board, he held the dreaded
7-2-2-2 again with ♠xx ♥xx ♦QJ109xxx
♣xx . This is not a pre-empt in accordance with
BJ’s standards , however he is nv vrs vul so he opens 3♦. Against one of the Tormentees at another
table , this pre-empt worked to
keep them out of their cold vul grand slam
as they raised to 4♦
before the auction started. The end justifies the means on the terrorist
vulnerability.