Sunday, January 23, 2005 12:04 PM

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Default Mode )

PITBULLS:

Everyone has a default style of playing Bridge. What do I mean by that ? This is the “auto-matic pilot” way of playing Bridge depending on your Bridge background. This background usually defines your Bridge style. I learned Bridge from the rubber Bridge tables so my default style is rubber Bridge/IMP related. I do not like losing money so I do not set myself up for penalty doubles. I am not overly accurate so I jump to games a lot because games meant money to me .The flip side is matchpoint accuracy of playing exactly 3♠ vulnerable as close games are not rewarded as much in that game. In addition , bidding game down one is very bad Matchpoints. Accordingly if you play a lot of match points at the club level , your default style is match points. You will over compete in partials , try to exactly stop at 3 of a major vul & make bids that the risk exceeds the gain. This is natural because probably this is the way Matchpoints should be played !

Good matchpoint players adopt a destructive style making weak opponents guess works well . They do not handle intrusion or competitive bidding very well. Destructive pre-empts , overcalls & swing penalty doubles work in matchpoints. When you play IMPS , you switch to the constructive style or can you ? If you normally follow a destructive style , it is pretty difficult to turn on a switch over to constructive bidding. Unfortunately destructive bidders are a liability playing IMPS. You forget & make a modern opener vul in IMPS usually for a tragic result.

You must fight this natural tendency playing IMPS though. IMPS & Matchpoints are totally different games. In all the years I have played CNTC & GNT , the biggest shortcoming of the teams I have played against is they still play a destructive matchpoint game in team games This is very wrong & bad IMP strategy. It is better to “think like a rubber Bridge player” playing IMPS. It is no accident that good rubber Bridge players make good IMP players but may fall way short in the Matchpoint game. Matchpoint strategy does not work in IMPS & vice versa.

Playing Thurs night IMPs I see a lot of Matchpoint bids, which have no place in IMPS. A tormentee had this hand ♠x ♥A ♦Q1098xx ♣QJ10xx and partner opened 1♠ . She responded 1NT , partner raised to 2NT. Now what ? In matchpoints the decision is simple, you bid 3NT. Why ? because you have a lot of HCP’s so playing 5 of a minor in matchpoints could be a cold zero. In IMPS , you do not care of you play 5 of a minor so getting to the best game is proper strategy. In IMPS bid 3♦ over 2NT ( forcing with most partnerships ) and partner will probably bid 3NT. You now can bid 4♣ so partner will get you to the proper minor suit game. 6 of a minor has a shot on this hand but 3NT went 2 down when my partner led a heart.

You hold ♠Q10x ♥AK10x ♦x ♣QJ109x , the auction goes 1♦-2♥-3♦-? . This is another IMP vrs matchpoint decision . Everybody is vul & the “law of total tricks” says you have 10 trump so game should have a shot. You have a stiff in the opponents suit . You are not exactly sure that 4♥ can make but in IMPS you must bid it as the “law” dictates. In match points , maybe you can “stop on a dime” & bid 3♥ . Also bidding a vul game in IMPS has a great psychological effect on the opponents. Your bid may bring out a 5♦ bid which goes for +500 on this particular hand.

In matchpoints , partials are very important so competing is where it is at. Selling out does not get you many match points. In IMPS though , going for –500 is a 10 IMP loss. In a competitive auction , we competed up to 3♣ vul which got doubled. The opponents pulled it to 3♦. Do you take the chance now of competing to the 4 level vul after being doubled in 3 & go for –500 ? Not in IMPS , because the opponents playing a 3♦ partial will not kill you as it might in matchpoints.

Everyone vul against competent opponents you hold ♠Kx ♥Kx ♦J10xxxx ♣xxx . The auction goes 1NT (15-17) & Stayman to your right. Do you bid vul and why ? In matchpoint fields the more you bid & confuse the folks the better. Even though it is risky in a live auction, you crawl in 2♦ vul and you very seldom get hurt by the club players. You have made the bid in many club games & got good results because you interfered with their auction. Good matchpoint strategy. In IMPS it is a bad gamble. You get partner off to a bad lead ( he may lead from Ax or Kx of diamonds and hand declarer the contract ) or you give good opponents the option to extract a huge penalty in a live auction. The strong NT had AKQx of diamonds so you can go for a telephone # . For what reason ? Huge sets in IMPS are killers so what have you gained by bidding against reasonable opponents ? You hold ♠Qxxxxx ♥x ♦QJxxx ♣x and you are vul against not. The opponents open a club do you overcall 2♠ vul with that suit. In Matchpoints why not ?. You go for 1700 it’s only a bottom. In IMPS vul against not , it is a terrorist suicide bid. You just are giving the opponents an option to pick up a huge set while “setting up” partner for a wrong competitive decision.

It is tough switching modes back and forth from IMPs to matchpoint strategy but it is necessary. The games are scored differently , positively re-enforced differently so the two games are just apples and oranges. Avoid the trap of going into your “default” mode of Bridge so play IMPS when the game is IMPS !!