Saturday, January 31, 2004 4:58 AM

The Art of Signaling

PITBULLS:

Researching the convention cards of 12 world class partnerships , I have drawn an obvious conclusion : there is no standard way of signaling among the top partnerships. Signals are categorized into partners led suit , declarers led suit(s) and discards with different rules applying to these scenarios. Many of the partnerships go a step further and define signal rules for the 2^Nd round of each of these situations . Some partnerships even go a step further and define signal rules for the 3^rd round of the above cases.

Signals can be of three types : attitude , count and suit preference. None of the above is not an option for Bridge at this level. Some partnerships use these three criteria and define one set of rules for each round and further whether its partners lead suit, declarers suit or discards. All these permute over 3 rounds of following suit and in the 3 categories. On their convention card they need a 3 dimensional array to convey this information.

There is no reason that the way of signaling has to be consistent from round to round. If you play upside down count and attitude for the 1^st round then you can have an odd/even signaling system for the 2^nd round and a suit preference scheme for the 3rd round. Its whatever the partnership decides to do.

Here is Pavliceks suggestion for second round count:

Second-round count:

If your first play in a suit did not indicate count (generally because you led or played an honor), original count should be given on the second round when leading, following or discarding. Using upside down criteria , play the highest card you can spare from an original odd number; lowest from an original even number of cards. Present count rules of 4 th best etc do not apply .Your first play is indicated:

K 9 7 4 2	Next play the 9 (or the 7 if you cannot spare the 9)
A 9 8 7 4 2	Next play the 2
A J 10 9	Next play the 9

Here is Meckwells system of signaling . They use upside down count , attitude and suit preference (S/P) and upside down Smith echos. They have defined meaning to 3 rounds of playing suits with attitude , count and suit preference..

Rnd	Partners Suit	Declarers suit	Discards
1	Attitude lo = likes	Count lo=even	Attitude lo = likes
2	Count lo = even	S/P lo = high suit	Count lo = even
3	S/P low = high suit	Attitude lo = likes	S/P Low = high suit

The Europeans play a similar signaling system except they use odd/even cards for discarding. Many only define two rounds of signaling. Signaling is very much “depending on context’ Bridge . You may not want to give declarer count or you may have no suit preference situations. However, the World Class Pairs seem to pay attention to three rounds of the suit played and define meanings for each round.

I personally like the Meckwell method of 1^st round of the suit played being mostly attitude , 2^Nd round mostly original count and the 3^rd round being mostly suit preference.

Tom & I play odd/even discards. Odd card encourages & even card discourages in that suit but has built in suit preference for the other two suits. When partner has shown known length by playing Bergen raises , overcalled or pre-empt , we revert to Gartaganis signals . Middle encourages and hi & lo are suit preferences.

I blew a hand today that would have been solved with odd even discards. I led the Ace of trump against 4♥X after having opened 1♦. Perry showed out and on the 2^nd round of trump he must discard to give me some information. Unfortunately he was dealt ♦643 of diamonds and tried his best to discourage me my playing the diamond 6. Unfortunately I could not read it & I gave declarer his contract by thinking Perry liked diamonds. Odd/ even discards work better as the ♦4 is very unambiguous.  You do not waste spots & the odd/even scheme is more practical.