The Law of Total Tricks

Friday, February 13, 2004 6:01 AM

The Law of Total Tricks

PITBULLS:

The “law of total tricks” has some merit . Mike Lawrence says that partner has a right to know if your major raise is predicated on a 4 card suit or a 3 card suit. Bergen invented a system around it where a simple raise MUST show 3 trump . Bidding theorists know that a simple raise with 4 trump is way better than a simple raise with 3 trump but have had no way of showing it. The simple raise with 4 trump is a “throw back” to the days of opening 4 card majors. Playing 5 card majors , the 3 level should describe the 9 card fit as the “law of total tricks” comes into play with that many trump. Limit raises should be the bids to be sacrificed for this purpose. Either play Bergen or include limit raise hands in your Jacoby 2NT structure. This frees the jump raise to show simple raise values with 4 trump. i.e. you are finally bidding your 4^th trump !! . The law of total tricks was invented for competitive auctions. I feel it should apply in uncontested auctions also. When your side as so many trump , the opponents have shortness and will not let you play the contract at the two level most of the time.

Ok now for a matter of defintion. Jump raises are constructive raises with 4 trump but not high end limit raises. A simple raise is a constructive raise with 3 trump or else we would bid 1NT first and then raise the major. How do we describe a very weak hand with 4 trump ? You either jump to game or bid a simple raise. The 4^th trump will compensate for your lack of HCP’s for a simple raise. Rules are made to be broken !

With overcalls , even if you have not bought into the Bergen system for openers , you should never make a simple raise with 4 trump in my opinion. A raise to the 3 level is a simple raise ( HCP consistent with a raise to the two level ) with 4 trump. A raise to the 4 level is pre-emptive . A simple raise to an overcall has 3 trump. After the opponents have made a takeout double , get the auction to the 3 level with a simple raise with 4 trump. In all these auctions with so many trump , you are not going to buy the hand at the two level anyway ! By always having 3 trump for a simple raise , partner now knows when to double and when to make game tries. He will not just hope for a 4^th trump over there !

You minor structure and major structure should parallel each other. A strong inverted minor is “limit raise or better” . A strong major raise (2NT ) is limit raise or better. 1♦-P-3♦ should be a simple diamond raise with 5 trump. A 1♥-P-3♥ bid should be a simple raise with 4 trump !! The law of total tricks apply with both suits so get the auction up to the 3 level quickly.

Lorna held a hand tonight which shows the principle in action. Jxxx KJ10xxx xx x . Maurice opened a 1♦ and BJ overcalled 1♠ . You can not bid 2♠ with this hand in my opinion ( Lorna bid 2♠ and competed again with 3♠) as you have 4 trump and a 6-4 distribution. You have a choice between 3♠ & 4♠ . Most experts would leap to 4♠ given the distribution but say you bid 3♠ . Partner holds AKQxxx void Kxxx xxx and will bid 4♠. Say you had only 3 card spade support Jxx KJ10xxx xx Qx and bid 2♠ . Should partner leap to 4♠ with the hand he had ? No way , as the hand is not even close to being the same knowing there is only 3 trump over there.. With a trump lead on the 2^nd hand , 4♠ doubled could go 3 down –800 against nothing. With the 4^th trump 4♠ x is odds on to make !! These hands occur over and over again so bidding theorists have based a law of total tricks on the concept.

Law of Total Tricks

The Law of Total Tricks is a fairly complex set of principles that experienced bridge players use to decide how high to bid in competitive auctions. Two entire books are devoted to "The Law" (To Bid or Not to Bid and Following the Law by Larry Cohen), but there are some basic elements of the Law that beginners can adopt.

Described here is a simplified version of a guideline you can use to decide if you should pass and let the opponents play in their partscore, or if you should bid one level higher in your suit. It operates on the principle that "trumps are (almost) everything" and high-card strength is not critical. In its simplest form, the rule is:

On partscore deals (where each partnership has a combined total of about 17-23 high-card points):
the number of tricks you can take on offense is equal to the combined number of trumps you hold.

In practice, this means that if you and partner have only an 8-card fit, you should usually stop at the 2-level. If you have a 9-card fit, you can safely bid 3 of your suit if the opponents try to force you one level higher.

Using the Law

    Partner  RHO   You   LHO

(1)   1♥     1♠    2♥    2♠

(2)   1♣    Pass   1♠    2♦

      2♠     3♦     ?

In Auction (1), partner should take the "push" to 3♥ only if he has a sixth heart, even if he has a bare 11-12 pts. If partner passes, he's showing a minimum opener with only 5 hearts -- when this auction comes back to you, you will bid 3♥ only if you have an extra trump (4 hearts instead of the 3 you've promised). Again, points don't matter -- if you have 4-card heart support, bid 3♥, even with a weak hand (♠43 ♥10854 ♦AJ94 ♣Q86).

In Auction (2), partner should never be the one to bid 3♠ because he can't have an extra trump (the auction has told you he holds a minimum opener with exactly 4 spades). The decision is up to you. If you have the high-card strength to make a game, go ahead and bid 4♠. But if it's a partscore deal (one where you have a weaker hand of 6-10 pts. and wanted to stop in 2♠), you should bid 3S now only if you have a 5-card suit (one more than you showed with your 1♠ response). You would bid 3♠ here with ♠J10843 ♥K4 ♦654 ♣QJ2 . You should pass with ♠QJ43 ♥K64 ♦J54 ♣QJ2

Note: In competitive auctions like those above, the partner who bids at the 3-level is not inviting game nor showing extra points. He is merely competing, and the other partner should always pass. If you have extra values and want to invite game, you must make a game-try bid in a new suit.