Thursday, May 06, 2004 4:38 AM
Signaling - Known Length
PITBULLS:
Playing
a disciplined simple raise style with the majors has a distinct defensive advantage .
It brings in the concept
of “known length” which is very handy for signaling. All simple raises playing this style show 3 trump and all
jump or forcing raises show
4 or more. Same with minor jumps or inverted minors also showing
5 trump there are definite defensive advantages . When partners
suit length is known from the bidding then suit preference comes into play . Tom and I like the middle card encouraging style of signaling
when following suit in these known length
situations. . High & low cards are suit preference , high for higher ranking suit and
low for lower ranking suit. A
middle card is straight lets continue the
suit as a switch might be a disaster looking at my hand. This is the
beauty of the method of signaling. A middle card does not necessarily mean to
continue it just means I
do not have a suit preference and a switch might be a disaster from my hand. You know
my suit length from the bidding so switch to a trump or continue if
appropriate. Even with 3 cards after a simple
raise since with our
style we are known to hold 3 then suit preference applies.
What
are some other known count situations
? when partner opens a weak two
or pre-empts or overcalls there is a known count
situation. When a singleton appears on the board and partner is winning the
trick , this is an automatic known count situation.
Some examples:
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♠ AQ32 |
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♥ 965 |
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♦ J1094 |
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♣ QJ |
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♠ K7 |
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♠ 96 |
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♥ AK842 |
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♥ J1073 |
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♦ K862 |
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♦ A3 |
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♣ 106 |
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♣ 98543 |
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♠ J10854 |
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♥ Q |
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♦ Q75 |
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♣ AK72 |
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WEST |
NORTH |
EAST |
SOUTH |
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1♥ |
PASS |
3♥ |
PASS |
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PASS |
DBLE |
PASS |
3♠ |
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PASS |
4♠ |
ALL PASS |
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When you lead the ♥A, partner plays the ♥10. First of all, you know that
partner has four hearts and that a continuation is pointless. Secondly, since
East's heart length is known, she
can use her hearts for suit preference signals. The ♥10 ( high ) asks
for a shift to the higher suit (diamonds). Accordingly you shift to the ♦2, partner takes the ♦A, returns a diamond to your ♦K and you give her a ruff, which is
the only way to set the contract.
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♠ A4 |
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♥ Q9852 |
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♦ Q63 |
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♣ 984 |
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♠ 632 |
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♥ 74 |
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♦ AKJ5 |
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♣ KJ42 |
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WEST |
NORTH |
EAST |
SOUTH |
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1♦ |
PASS |
3♦ |
DBLE |
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4♦ |
4♥ |
5♦ |
5♥ |
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ALL PASS |
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After a Law Raise auction (3♦ guarantees five diamonds), you lead
the ♦A,
partner contributing the ♦2. How do you continue?
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♠ A4 |
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♥ Q9852 |
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♦ Q63 |
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♣ 984 |
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♠ 632 |
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♠ K1087 |
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♥ 74 |
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♥ 6 |
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♦ AKJ5 |
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♦ 109762 |
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♣ KJ42 |
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♣ QT7 |
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♠ QJ95 |
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♥ AKJ103 |
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♦ 3 |
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♣ A95 |
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Since partner is known to have five diamonds,
her ♦2 ( low ) asks for a shift to clubs. This is
the only shift that beats 5♥. A spade shift loses tempo. Declarer can cash the ♠A, draw trumps in two rounds and a low spade towards her ♠ QJ9 allows her to discard two clubs from dummy. Say we had nothing in clubs also . A middle card will
be played to say neither suit is worth switching to . You know I have 5
diamonds so a continuation is silly.
If you have overcalled , opened a 5
card major or pre-empted these are more known length situations . Middle cards
are encouraging attitude and high & lo cards are suit preference .
Roman discards follow the same suit
preference idea . An odd card means partner likes the suit and the even cards are suit preference
for higher and lower ranking suit . However there are times like in a 6 NT slam
or a doubled contract where from the bidding you can not possibly hold anything
you should discard to show count .
An effective way of showing count when discarding is play an high odd
spot card when you have an original
odd number of cards and
a low spot card if you have an original even number of cards. This prevents pseudo
squeezes and may allow partner to get a complete count of the hand.
You are defending 3♦ doubled and have this beautiful
collection 8654 6532 7 J543 with the board
being KQxx J10987 x xxx Partner
leads a trump and declarer wins it
in his hand and leads a spade . Partner plays low and you show 4 spades by
playing your 4 . Declarer leads a diamond so what do you discard ? Discard the
heart deuce to show an even number of
hearts giving partner a count. When partner gets in with the spade Ace
he knows the complete count of declarers hand thanks to your heart count. If you can not hold anything on the auction , it can not be suit
preference therefore use the Roman discards as count. He exits a heart to declarers stiff Ace ( partner had 3
hearts ) and the contract is
defeated. A disastrous club switch gives declarer the contract.
There are many methods to show count
by discarding . Discarding the card you would have led back if you had the
opportunity shows count. Some people play upside down count & discard a high card to show an original odd number of
cards and low card to show an original even number of cards. The
Roman style like the above works
also . Just keep it consistent so as not to
tax the memory.
In 6 NT the count is invaluable
by a weak hand to prevent a pseudo squeeze. A discard to show count instead of
attitude or suit preference could be vital to the defense. Top players play
signals in “layers”. This mean the signal is dependent on what round the suit
is played. First round the suit
discarded is attitude and the 2nd round count and the third round
attitude. If you may have some
values then attitude takes precedence over count and suit preference when
discarding . Signaling is a “depending on context” situation. Partner has to
“read” the situation correctly. Count shows original count not present count.
The order
of following suit can be suit preference if count is not important
when declarer runs a side suit. (Smith echo theory )