Tuesday, January 24, 2006 11:16 PM
Thinking in Bridge
PITBULLS:
A
Bridge expert thinks in patterns . Patterns are the basis for visualization for
opening leads , defense , declarer play and even bidding. This is how an expert
“thinks” Bridge. Decisions are made after translating
bidding into patterns , leads in patterns , showing out of a suit
or signals & discards into
patterns. The translating into
patterns always comes first & Bridge decisions next. This is how to think
in Bridge !! I did a Google search on my site and 61 articles have been written
on patterns trying to drive this
point home.
There
is another important aspect of thinking in Bridge. This is thinking in “steps”
. The system builder uses this technique extensively in designing systems. The
rank order of suits is an elementary fact that Bridge players have ingrained in their memory. System builders
take advantage of this. The 1st step is clubs , 2nd step
diamonds , 3rd step is hearts , 4th step is spades and last step is
NT and like an odometer it flips over at the next level. System designers use
levels as a basis to build their system. The first level for KCB is ace asking
, after that comes a queen ask or king
ask and the last level is a specific suit ask.
Lets
look at KCB and specific suit asks
as a way of Bridge thinking. You
have a major suit agreed ( hearts) so you bid 4NT. Partner bids 5♥ so you have the option or bidding 5NT as a king ask.
You also have another alternative
. If you skip the king ask & just bid a new suit , you are making an asking
bid in that specific suit ! Here
is where step responses and the rank order of suits come in. The “death
response” is always returning to the trump
suit. Say in our example I bid 6♣ so I am asking for your holding in
the club suit. The next step is diamonds and it is the only step we have before
we bump into the trump suit. Therefore partner is asking a simple question. Do
you have the king of clubs or not ? 6♥ says you do not have it and 6♦ says yes I do & 7♥ says I have the KQ.
What
if you have more steps before you bump into the trump suit ? Your suit asking
bids can be more sophisticated. You bid 4NT with spades agreed and partner bids
5♣ . You skip the queen ask or king ask and bid 5♥. Therefore I am asking in hearts . 5♠ is the death response ( trump suit) so 5NT is the 1st
step , 6♣ is the next , 6♦ is the
next and 6♥ is available before bumping into the trump suit.
Here we can have a field day. 5NT shows the queen (3rd round
control) , 6♣ can be Kxx , 6♦ can be Kx
and 6♥ can be KQ.
Each
rank order of suits has a different meaning assigned to it. “Thinking in steps” assists the frail human
memory. Logic can take over instead of straight memorization. What is partner
looking for with her suit ask and how many steps do I have before we bump into
the trump suit at the 6 level ? Suit asking bids are always a grand slam try so we have all the other key
cards.
If
you go a different route say King ask and you know whether or not partner has a
king in the suit, the suit asks can be refined to looking for queens and jacks
in the suit. A fun time for system designers !
Kantar has designed KCB along these lines of thinking in steps which is
the Bridge “industry standard” .