2007-10-15 05:08

Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( Masterminding )

PITBULLS:

Bridge is a partnership game. One partner bids her own hand , the other partner bids her hand so a mutual decision can be made to arrive at the final contract. It is paramount that you bid your “own hand” & not place cards in partner’s hand to justify your own bid. Giving too much leeway for the possibility of partner not having her bid is also an example of not “bidding your own hand” & is also a very serious Bridge mistake. The Meckwell partnership has no criteria for an opening bid. They often miss games & slams because they are giving each other too much leeway. They justify it as a “cost of doing business” their way , which is to induce the opponents to go wrong. Many pros have this mentality.

A local pair Willard & Fowlie have this arrangement . I have seen Fowlie bid a 14 HCP like he had 6 to compensate for the possibility that his partner not having his bid. This of course is nonsense as how do you show the 6 HCP hand . Bid the same way ? Bridge bidding becomes a 3 ring circus & randomness takes over. A truly dreadful way to play a partnership game like Bridge.

A Tormentee & her partner had a silly auction in a team game recently. The Tormentee had ♠Axx ♥x ♦AJ9x ♣AQJ10x & RHO opened 1♦. She overcalled 2♣ & her vul partner bid 2♥. Basic Bridge now comes into play. Partners 2♥ bid is a one round force showing around 10 + HCP.s . The bid can be slightly shaded with a club fit. You have 16 HCP with two stoppers in the opponent’s suit so you do not need to hear anymore ( 16 +10 HCP = game ) so you bid your 3NT. You have bid your own hand ( 16 HCP ) as you would have bid 2NT with ♠Q10x ♥x ♦AJ9x ♣AQJ10x or even ♠J10x ♥x ♦AJ9x ♣AQJ10x . Say you make the underbid of 2NT which is not describing your hand & partner bids 3♣. This means partner is light for his bid possible ♠KQxx ♥J10987 ♦x ♣Kxx or the equivalent. You have underbid your hand by an Ace , so do you take the risk of missing a vul game in IMPS ? Of course not , so you bid 3NT.

Partner tables ♠Jxxx ♥xxxxx ♦x ♣Kxx which is an out & out psychic bid. He tried to justify his bid by saying what if you held good hearts ? This is not bidding your own hand but bidding partners hand . It is the “wishful thinking” aspect of singlehanded bidding. Even if partner does have hearts , you will probably get too high as you are 6 HCP short of your bid. This is nonsense bidding. Bid your own hand & let the partnership decide.

A few hands later the auction goes ♣1-1♦-P-1♠ ♠AKQxx ♥xx ♦xxxxx ♣Q & the opponents rebid 2♣ bringing the 30 HCP rule into effect as they are bidding your stiff. If partner has a dead minimum overcall of ♠xx ♥Ax ♦AQ10xx ♣xxxx you are odds on to make 6♦. If partner has a light 11 HCP overcall , ♠xx ♥Ax ♦AKxxx ♣xxxx you are cold for 6♦. In support of diamonds , your hand has grown into a slam try. Therefore , you compete to 2♦. Why are you not bidding your own hand rather than “masterminding” on the assumption that partner does not have his bid ? What if partner does have his bid ? Have you described this huge diamond hand ? Partner now bids 2♥ so now you have a 2^nd chance as he is taking a push. You now retreat to 3♦ & showing a hand like ♠KQxxx ♥QJx ♦xxx ♣xx . If you just bid your own hand & not worry about if partner has his bid , you will get to your simple games & slams.

Masterminding is an obnoxious singlehanded approach to the game of Bridge. You are not bidding your own hand , but bidding partners hand for her. The pro’s do it all the time when playing with a client. They either luck out or they do not. In my opinion , the game of Bridge is degraded that way. Good players become extremely insulted when partner bids single handedly or masterminds. The solution ? Play partnership Bridge.