Wednesday,
November 19, 2003 10:04 AM
Hand
Evaluation – Tactics ( Distribution )
PITBULLS:
A
hand evaluation concept in Bridge is that jumping many levels or opening at the 4 level and above shows distribution but not strength.
The game of Ghoulie starts bidding at the 5 level with a method of dealing the
cards that induces wild distribution. Bridge players can learn from that game . If you have distribution , jump many
levels of bidding to describe your hand. Very long suits are
described so pre-empting partner as well as the opponents is permitted. Bridge
bidding is not sophisticated enough to describe 8 or 9 card suits via opening
at the one level. The following hand was bid
by Canada in the Bermuda Bowl.
♠QJ10x ♥void ♦x ♣AQJ1098xx You are in 1st seat with equal
vulnerability so what do you open ? This is a time to
learn from the Ghoulie players & open 5♣ . You are not qoing
to ever scientifically describe
this hand. The Canadian player opened this hand 1♣ so they got to 6♣
down one in a competitive auction . You can buy the
auction at 5♣ , if that’s the way the bidding
starts and ends.
You hold ♠KJ109xx ♥void ♦x ♣AKQxxx & open 1♠ with partner
responding 1NT . Now what ? A jump shift to 3♣
is a distortion so you invent a bid of 4♣ ( unless
you play auto-splinters ).
Alternatively you could make a “prepared bid” of 1♣ & rebid 4♠ . Partner should figure out you have 12 black cards
.The fact that you went even higher than a jump shift brings the “ghoulie” principles into play . You
must have a distributional freak . Partner held ♠Ax ♥Jxxxx ♦Axxxx
♣x so should realize the Aces are golden with these types of hands &
bid 4♦. This brings
6♣ which gets returned to 6♠ so you chalk up a
well bid slam that makes.
A good player held ♠K10xxxx ♥void ♦x ♣AQxxxx
and broke
every rule of handling distributional
hands. Instead of opening 1♣
( which is an ideal prepared bid
) she open one spade & rebid a simple 2♣ which resulted in missing a
50 % grand slam in clubs . Distribution or hand patterns are far more important to
describe than HCP’s. I guess in her mind she felt that her HCP’s warranted a 2
level rebid !! This hand is unbiddable so extraordinary
measures of “Ghoule principles” are needed. Not to be
undone , her partner also violated Ghoulie Principles in the
same match. ♠void ♥Axx ♦KQJ109xxx ♣xx
. There is no bid at the one level
that describes this hand. You can never play “catch up” & describe this
hand accurately by opening 1♦ . You also let the
vultures in cheaply by opening at the one
level. Who cares if you may miss a magical 3NT !
Open this hand 4♦ or 5♦ so put pressure on
the opponents & give some semblance of describing your hand to partner. If you open 5♦ , the opponents do
come in & they are at the +500 level . You cannot make anything but a
diamond partial. Make the best bid possible ,
not the best possible bid !
You
hold ♠void ♥x ♦Axxxx ♣AKJ10xxx , somehow this reaches you in 4th chair vul against non vul. Opening 1♣
is ludicrous as the non vul vultures are just waiting
to pounce in the majors. One
player chose 2♣ in an effort to buy the hand but it did not work as they
came anyway . The winning bid was a 5♣ opening bid . 6♦ is cold but the
opponents will never let you play it as they go for 300 in the majors at the 6
level. 5♣ bought the contract so the +620 was worth a lot of IMPS.
Opponents are less likely to come in initially at the 5 level. Anyway with
distributional freaks up the ante & level when you bid !!
These
distributional hands are impossible to
describe with traditional
methods anyway. You are in 3rd seat with ♠AKxxxxx ♥xx ♦void ♣Kxxx . If you open 1♠ , partner bids 1NT or some other bid what is your rebid
? A two spade bid certainly does not
show 11 black cards , a 7 card suit with a
void. Open the hand 4 spades as it is semi-descriptive & puts maximum
pressure on the opponents. Sure it might not work out but you only need QJx of clubs
to make game if the spade suit comes in. I watched a veteran player bid a 7-5 like he had a 5-4
. ♠AQ109xxx ♥A10xxx ♦void ♣x He opened one spade
& partner bid 1NT . Following the lead of the Ghoulie
players , I would get this auction high very fast. I would rebid 4♥ knowing that it’s
not the perfect bid but I do have 12 cards in the majors. He bid a quiet 2♥ & they ended up
in 4♦ down one when 620 in
either major works.
Here are two hands that
violated the Ghoulie principle by a well known
Calgary player. He held ♠K1098xx ♥AKxxxx ♦ ♣x & opened 1♠.
LHO overcalled 2♣ which I doubled & they bid 3♣. You have a 6-6
which does not fall into any particular slot in a bidding manual. You have a known 6-4 fit so
leaping seems to be your best bet.
Leaping to 5♥ should ask for a club control so go for the gusto
& bid 6♥. The player only bid 4♥ , so a baby 6♥ was missed. A local
player was playing with him next so let’s see if he learned from the first 6-6 adventure. The local player
opened 2♣ & they overcalled 2♦ so again you hold a
6-6 in the majors ♠Qxxxxx ♥KQ1098x ♦void ♣x with a void in the
opponents suit no less. What are some possible bids ? 6♦ which shows your void & asks
partner to bid a major at the 6 or 7 level. A 4♦ bid which says bid a
major & then you will correct to 6 of the major. Well ,
our player passed & partner bid 3♣ which was converted to 3♠ . Partner
bid 3NT so the player corrected to 4♥. This was passed
& 19 top tricks in 7♥ were available. At
what point in this auction did you describe a 6-6 with a void in the opponents suit ? You never invited partner to the party by making any attempt to
describe your hand. We can only guess that he is a slave to the
HCP system & in his own mind he held only 7 HCP
! Do not let HCP’s interfere with hand evaluation !!
Bid your distribution at the expense of your HCP’s ,
not the other way around.
Moral of the story , if you have a
distributional hand that you cannot describe
anyway with normal Bridge methods “ leap before you look
“ !