Monday, December 11, 2006 11:12 AM

Hand Evaluation – Suit Bad Breaks

PITBULLS:

Anticipating is a huge plus in any sport. If you have the ability to anticipate where the puck is going to go or if your linemate is going to pass , it will pay dividends. In the game of Bridge , anticipating what the opponents are going to do next , is a huge part of Bridge. This is the Chess aspect of Bridge.

There is another form of anticipation in the game of Bridge. By applying patterns during the auction, you will know whether their side or our side is getting bad breaks in their suits. The opponents have made a systemic bid showing the majors , so there is a likelihood that your minor suits will not break very well. Apply a pattern during the auction as a check back.

When the opponents open a major , respond a forcing 1NT & you are short in their major , this quite often means that partner is loaded in their suit. Listening to the bidding gives you an accurate picture of the “lie of the land” as long as you translate the bidding into patterns during the auction. If they have found a 4-4 fit , you are looking at a singleton in their suit, apply the “tapping defense” as you “know” partner has 4 trump. Your leads will depend on how you anticipate their trump suit breaks.

You are NV against vul (terrorist ) , they open 1♥ . You have ♠void ♥xxx ♦xxxx ♣AKQ10xx so with your partnership agreement you are allowed to overcall 2♣ with this vulnerability ( other vulnerabilities 3♣ is preferable) . Anyway as per your system , you overcall 2♣ . You hear the auction go negative double , pass by partner . They jump to 3♠ & their partner carries on to 4♠. Applying patterns , there is an excellent chance they are getting a 5 nothing break. If you had another Ace , this would be an excellent opportunity for a double asking permission to bid 5♣. However , no such luck , so do you consider a sacrifice ? No , not a good idea as you may just be rescuing them from a 5-0 trump break that you “know” they are getting. Partner’s whole hand could be ♠QJ98x of spades so does not want to “wake the baby” with a trump stack double. Partner just wants to take her plus so you should also.

I watched Nick Gartaganis bid a hand very well in Penticton as I was sitting out of our match. He had a huge hand in the majors & partner supported his major , on a normal day he would have bid 6 of his major. However , in this particular auction his LHO leapt to 4NT showing a huge minor hand. When the smoke cleared, he only bid 5 of his major as he was anticipating bad breaks. The trumps were 4 nothing so he made 5♥ & 12 IMPS. The opponents were in 6 at the other table. Use the information that the opponents are giving you during the auction. Applying patterns also work very well.

Applying patterns during the auction , is defined as knowing what is going on at the table . This knowledge prevents bad bidding decisions & bad opening lead decisions. You cannot play Bridge without “thinking in patterns” .Bridge is not played in a vacuum . Analyze their bidding during the auction as well as your own. Otherwise , Bridge is just relegated to a series of lucky or unlucky guesses.