Monday,
October 31, 2005 12:53 PM
Hand
Evaluation – Tactics ( Inferential Stoppers )
PITBULLS:
Sometimes
you are dealt unbidable hands in Bridge. One
re-occurring theme is holding huge hands without
a stopper in the opponents suit. The
auction goes 3♥-P-P-? , you have ♠A ♥Jxx ♦KQ ♣AQJ10xxx
. What do you bid ? This is a “bidding the table”
action bid. What did not happen at
the table ? RHO did not bid 4♥ or make any move
pre-emptive or otherwise. This increases the odds that partner may have a heart card
so you bid her stopper for her by
balancing 3NT. One of the purposes of them pre-empting is to get you out of
your rightful 3NT so let’s try for that 9 trick game anyway.
Quite
often at the one level , you have a balanced hand
but no full stopper in the opponents suit. You have length
though. Sometimes you bid an “inferential stopper” .
They did not compete
so you bid partners assumed
stopper for her !
1♦-1♠-P-P
? ♠10xx ♥Ax ♦AKxx ♣AKxx bid 1NT anyway . This is better than a double as
it shows your balanced hand & HCP range in one bid. 2 out of 3 criteria for
your bid is not bad as the 3rd was supposed
to be a spade stopper.
Susan
bid a hand nicely in the CNTC zone finals . ♠Ax ♥AKQ9 ♦AKQx ♣xxx , 1♣ opener to your right . You start with a double
, partner bids 1♦ . They tried to be
scientific at my table & bid 2♣. Partner replied the “death response”
of 2♦. They now leapt to 5♦ & went down two
vulnerable. Susan made a better & more practical
bid. She leapt to 3NT with no stopper in their suit
! This is a better bid for a number of reasons. The
opponents did not compete in clubs or rebid clubs . 4
clubs could be all the tricks they are taking in 3NT & an 11 trick game
does not seem possible. Partner may have Jxxx in
clubs for you , which is not very helpful in a 5♦ contract. 3NT makes
as the opener held only 4 clubs & had 4 hearts to the jack. You preserve
your one & only board entry in diamonds to take your heart finesse after
dropping the doubleton 10 from LHO. 800 swing is 13
IMPS.
Modern pre-empting style
must be taken into consideration. The Gartaganis team
have the awful habit ( in my opinion anyway ) of opening weak two’s on any suit
quality regardless of vulnerability.
You hold ♠Ax ♥xxx ♦AQxx ♣AJ10x
, a member of that team opens a weak 2♥ so it gets passed
around to you in the balancing position.
A double does not describe this hand very well as you are short in
spades. My partner and I have the understanding that if they are vul &
we are not , a double just shows “cards” so partner can convert their filthy
pre-empts easily for penalty. On all other vulnerabilities ,
I would balance 2NT with this hand. I have the HCP strength with the balanced distribution that the bid shows. The heart stopper is
inferred from bidding the table. Their
style of weak two’s with the fact that RHO took no
pre-emptive action makes 2NT the most practical bid. If RHO does double , partner knows that running to a minor is the best
bet as spades would be shown by doubling.
Sometimes
your stopper is based on the opponents finding the right lead. My partner had the
classic hand for this ploy. ♠AJxxx
♥Axxxx ♦x ♣KJ
& I opened 3♣ vul
so what do you bid ? Finding a major fit is nearly impossible & an 11 trick
game in clubs is very anti-percentage . You can count
9 tricks in 3NT though if they do not lead a diamond. Opponents always seem to lead a major in these auctions. Time to
strike with a 3NT bid. The opponents lead a heart & you claim your 9
tricks. Yes , a diamond lead would have beat the hand.
There
are no guarantees in the game of Bridge so intelligent risk tasking is necessary. As
Chris Buchanan points out “ we are crazy but not
stupid” . Bidding NT without
a stopper may be crazy but not stupid if bidding the table
decreases the risk. The psychological aspect of bidding 3NT without a stopper
cannot be overlooked. Everyone knows that you must have a stopper in their suit
to bid NT so you bid a “psychological stopper”. This thought often deters an
opening lead in that suit so that partner can come through the stopper. When
partner opens a minor , the suit is quite not even led
anyway in these auctions. A major suit is
quite often a better choice . Not this time J