Saturday, April 09,
2005 12:32 AM
Hand Evaluation - Suits ( Jump
Bids )
PITBULLS:
In the early days of Bridge , a jump bid was solely based on strength ( HCP’s ) . This way of bidding quite often pre-empted
partner & used up valuable
bidding space , but Bridge bidding was not that
sophisticated in those days. In today’s game , there
are so many other ways to show strength , that I think the jump bid in many cases should
just show suits or
playability rather than HCP
strength.
In a
2/1 or 4th suit forcing auctions , a jump
is redundant as we are forced to game anyway. A jump in these
situations means I have a semi-solid or
solid suit not necessarily a huge hand. In overcall situations , you have so many other ways to describe a good hand . Q
bidding or doubling gets the job done nicely. Jumps after overcalling should have a
different meaning than HCP strength. If you jump in your suit it shows a good
long suit but not the worlds fair in HCP’s. If you
jump in another suit ,
you have a distributional 6-5 but not necessarily great HCP strength. Maurice
had a hand in the CNTC zone finals where the vulnerability dictated a jump to
describe his hand and made it easy for his partner to bid a non vul sacrifice. Maurice held ♠AKQ107 ♥x ♦J ♣Q109xxx with the opponents opened 1♦ vul . Maurice overcalled
2♣ which was passed to the opener who bid 2♥
. This is a time for a jump bid so partner can get an
idea of the playing strength of
your hand. You bid 3♠ so when they get to
4♥ partner has an easy
sacrifice to 4♠ which happens to make . Partner had ♠xxx ♥Ax ♦xxxxx ♣Jxx
and with
partner only bidding 2♠ thought there might
be enough defense over there to have a chance at beating 4♥
. Partner could have
held a strong 5-4 in the blacks and 4♥ would have no chance . Wrong ! double game swing
for a loss of 17 IMPS !
There are many situations
where you can jump because
partner had a negative
inference on what you did not do. If you did not redouble or double
the opponents NT contract for penalty , a jump can not be a
strong hand . You hold ♠x ♥AJxxx ♦KQ10x ♣J10x , partner opens a
diamond & RHO doubles. You bid 1♥ , partner bids 2♦ who RHO doubles again. You have an easy
redouble which describes your strength. What if you now jumped to 4♦ instead
? This has to be weak & pre-emptive as you did not redouble. You are taking
advantage of the situation.
Two very common situations
with jump bidding take place around the takeout
double. The auction goes 1 of a suit , partner
doubles & they bid 1NT. A jump bid is now
pre-emptive as you would have doubled 1NT with your good hand. 1♠-x-1NT-3♦
is weak and
distributional. Another common occurrence around takeout doubles is when the
opponents redouble your partners takeout double. There are not enough HCP’s
around for your jump to mean strength. If you have the distribution
, you can make a nuisance of yourself.
Rump raises to 4 of a minor
is never done on strength as you
have passed 3NT and you have much
better bids to describe HCP strength. Even the old standby’s of opening a major
and then jumping in a major , I am playing suit orientated rather than strength
orientated. 1♠-P-1NT-P 3♠ . I could hold ♠AKQ109x ♥Axx ♦xx ♦xx
for that
bid. If I were stronger , I would bid 3♣ and
partner must relay to 3♦ and the 3♠ bid now shows a
stronger hand in HCP’s.
Overcalls & competitive
situations along with D.S.I.P. doubles , spell the end
of the notion that jumps show HCP strength. You have other
bids to show strength so define jump bids for something more useful. Tom
Gandolfo uses jumps in competition to show two suiters
& distribution rather than HCP”s. Maurice uses jumps after an overcall to
show good long suits rather than HCP’s. Adjust your thinking away from the standard notion that jumps
show HCP’s. It is a waste of a good bid which can be put to good use..
Anyway
, the moral of the story is jumps for
suits and distribution when there are other means
available to show strength.