Tuesday, May 23, 2006 4:15 AM

Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( Bidding Artistry )

PITBULLS:

Good writers “paint a picture” with their choice of words. Good bidders paint a picture of their hand with their choice of bids. Bridge is a partnership game so not inviting partner to the party by concealing your hand results in wrong decisions time after time. A tormentee decided to open this hand nv vrs vul . ♠K10987x ♥x ♦void ♣A109876 . This is a freak hand so getting in the first shot may have a tactical advantage. The Tormentee opened 1♠ so I bid 2♦ as expected with this distribution . The opponents interfered with 2NT for hearts & clubs. The opponents bid 3♥ so I bid 3NT. Now the Tormentee was trapped by her choice of opening bids. Pulling 3NT is a slam try , clubs is their suit so from her partners side ,she described a 5-3-3-2 13 HCP. Now let’s back up & anticipate that the opponents are going to enter the fray before you open. Open 1♣ , I bid 1♦ so they interfere with 1♥ after which you bid 1 or more spades. I bid 3NT so you bid 4♠. Now I know that you have a minimum of 11 black cards possibly 12. You have painted a picture of your hand !!

The tormentee had this hand ♠K10x ♥KQJ10 ♦x ♣QJxxx , her RHO opened 1♥ so she passed . They responded a spade , I bid 1NT which in our system showed the minors. The opening bidder was Osama who loves to bid, so he doubled. You have a choice of bids to paint a picture of your hand . A pass , a redouble or some number of clubs. Which bid describes the defensive nature of your hand the best ? 9 of your HCP are in the majors so are very defensive in nature so a XX is probably the best description of your misfit hand with partner. You now can compete in clubs with impunity as partner being aware of your defensive strength will not take any pseudo sacrifices. The Tormentee chose a bid of 3♣ which is ambiguous as to the offensive or defensive nature of your hand & RHO bid 4♥. This hit my heart void so knowing that my partner did not have a defensive hand with a heart stack , I sacrificed to 5♣. Of course , they go for a # their way so a horrible result our way. Hand evaluation is noting the difference between a defensive hand & an offensive hand immediately from the bidding. The 2^nd step is to inform partner of your evaluation.

You hold ♠K ♥Qx ♦Q10xxxxx ♣A10x & with everybody vul , partner opens 1♣ . The opponents make a Michaels bid, so how do you paint a picture of your hand to partner ? 9 of your 11 HCP’s are outside the diamond suit , so jumping in diamonds will give partner an inaccurate picture of your hand. You have a partial club fit , so bidding 2♦ will do nicely as with 11 HCP this is your auction . You do not need to pre-empt partner who opened the bidding. The Tormentee bypassed the 3NT level immediately & leapt to 4♦ . Nancy Cook held AKJ9x of diamonds so put the red card on the table. The optimum result was 3NT their way for +600. As an aside , when you play against trustworthy opponents 4♦X will be in trouble. Pull to 5♣ , you hit partner with ♠AJ10x ♥Axxx ♦void ♣QJ987 so 5♣ has a decent play . When have you told partner that you have a side club fit & 11 HCP mostly outside of diamonds , so he has some idea of your hand ?

Bad bidding always has a common thread. You bid single handedly taking partner out of the decision making process or you misdescribe your hand so badly again taking partner out of the decision making process. Either way leads to disaster. Only cure is to go to Art School so you paint better pictures of your hand. Hand evaluation & judgment are the water colours of the Bridge bidding artist.