Sunday, July 16, 2006 6:28 PM

Signaling - Known vrs Unknown

PITBULLS:

Signaling is very “depending on context” where the rules of the signaling game change. If you are leading into the great unknown where there has been no bidding by you & partner to assist you , signaling is standard. In these instances , there is no change from the Whist days. If you play upside down attitude , a small card says please continue and a large spot means find an obvious switch.

Say there has been no bidding by your side and they are in a 4♦ contract . You have ♠Qxx ♥KQx ♦Q10x ♣J10xx and lead the heart king. The board comes down with ♠Axxx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣Q98x and partner plays the heart deuce . You continue with the heart queen and partner plays the 10 . What does that mean ? Declarer does not have heart length based on their bidding , so partner is telling you to what suit to switch . You lead a spade and you beat the contract as you get a spade trick and a club switch would have been a disaster.

All well and good but lets back up and say partner opened 1♥ and they got to 4♦. You play 5 card majors so “known count” changes your method of signaling. If you or your partner has shown length by bidding , the middle card says continue or I do not want a switch. A high or low card is suit preference. “Known Count” allows suit preference to be built in with the 1^st card. You can cash the 2^nd heart but partner has already told you what to switch to by her first card. In other words, bidding has changed your signaling system.

This concept is why we like simple raises in the majors to show 3 cards. This is also “known count” that changes your signaling scheme. Partner raises your spade opener and they get to 4♥. There are 4 small spades on the board and you have 5 to the AKJxx so you are aware of 12 spades. Partners first spade is suit preference !! If she has no suit preference, she plays her middle spade. Same with “law raises” in the minors or majors. If you jump, showing 4 or 5 cards respectively this signaling scheme is now in effect. Partner already knows your count so suit preference gets promoted.

If a singleton or a high card appears on the board where continuing would be ill advised in the majority of cases , we revert to the “known count system”. Middle means continue , and high & low cards suit preference. In signaling, always ask yourself , is the count already nearly known from the bidding ? If so , the signaling scheme reverts to middle encourages. I lead an Ace from the unbid suit and Kxx comes down on the board. BJ now plays a middle card in that suit saying continue or no suit preference , otherwise , his 1^st card is suit preference.

Even a simple auction where you made a T/O double and partner responded hearts to your T/O double. This is enough to bring “known count” signaling into play. They reach 3♠X and you lead the heart king and a doubleton appears on the board. Partner plays middle for no suit preference and high or low otherwise. You cash the 2^nd heart and obey partners first card as to which suit to switch. Easy !!