2008-04-19 15:05

Hand Evaluation - Meckwell Openers

PITBULLS:

You are non vul vrs vul & hold ♠Kx ♥J10x ♦KQx ♣QJxxx do you open the bidding ? Yes , I do for all the reasons the followers of the Meckwell religion propose. Defending is more difficult than declaring. Let them figure things out. Getting in the first shot has a tactical advantage as you are in effect disturbing their auctions. All well & good as the mathematics of the vulnerability push the odds in your favour. If they miss a vul game , you are rewarded & if they double you for penalty your nv status comes in very handy. Partner gives you leeway on the terrorist vulnerability as she is “collateral damage” for these openers only 1 time out of 4.

What if you are equal vulnerability or unfavourable , is this an opening bid ? Not even close as the vulnerability does not protect you anymore. You have an Aceless , 1 ½ quick trick hand with bad distribution. A well known local Polish players says he opens this hand vulnerable . He says people that do not open this hand are afraid of going down. “Let them figure it out” , he says. Let’s examine that last statement. Unfortunately “them” includes partner. By opening this hand, you are introducing ambiguity & distrust to your partnership. Partner is now forced to give you leeway & cannot double the opponents for penalty ( well short of defense i.e. quick tricks for an opening bid ) , cannot bid close games or slams ( lack of controls ) so partners judgment is thrown off. The partnership has the additional task later in the auction of determining whether partner has a real opener or not. I am not afraid of going down , I am afraid of misleading partner. You have the Bergen distain for vulnerability to open this hand vul vrs nv.. “Colour is for kids” he says.

This local expert player asks would you open this hand a weak NT ? Yes , I would on one vulnerability only. Edgar Kaplan ( who introduced weak NT to America ) says a weak NT is first & foremost an opening bid. Opening non opening bids a weak NT, gives weak NT’s a bad name he goes on to say. By opening this hand without the protection of vulnerability , gives the opponents an extra option they do not deserve. A chance to hit a home run by extracting a huge set or inaccurate bidding on your part. Again , if partner is not important to you , you deem it a cost of doing business. Damn , I caught partner this time rather than the opponents I was trying to con. My partner is too valuable to me in order to treat in this manner.

Ely Culberson & the whist players before him knew that controls ( quick tricks ) were an integral part of the game of Bridge. So important that they made a requirement that controls be the basis for an opening bid. Partner honed her judgment on this very simple requirement which allowed her to compete , make a penalty double , bid a game or slam. The opener was clear & unambiguous as to quick tricks . The pros during the 90’s , earning their pay in weak fields decided to change the meaning of an opening bid as they “were not afraid to go down” , “Bridge is a bidders game , “let them figure it out “ . Unfortunately this comes at a price. You introduce ambiguity for partner with your “openers” & partnership trust is eroded as openers hold no defense. Meckwell give each other unbelievable leeway & quite often they languish in the wrong spot because opener did have his bid this time. This is the bad side effect of psyching as these bids were classified as such for the first 50 years of the game.

Opening this hand got you to game this time, that made . Analyzing this particular game contract deeper , the game made exactly 3NT because 3 finesses were on side ♥AQ & ♠A which is ½ x ½ X ½ or 7 times out of 8 the contract would fail. Bridge is a partnership game so if your partner is not all that important to you , make her figure it out as well as the opponents. The well known local player said that Culbertson came up with these ideas a long time ago. This is true but these openers have stood the test of time for decades after that. Experts for decades never questioned the wisdom of defining opening bids via quick tricks. It is only in the 90’s that the pros felt conning the opponents along with partner is more lucrative. The Bridge World magazine reports that the pendulum is starting to swing the other way in the 2000’s. Zia & Rosenberg on their convention card says “sound openers” . Your opening bids are an indicator whether you have bought into the “Meckwell philosophy” . People who play a forcing club ( Polish or otherwise ) tend to buy into this philosophy more often as they feel the club range protects them ( which it does to an extent ) . Meckstroth , the Poles & Nick & Judy all play a forcing club as does Klimo. This is only a partial protection as partner can still bury them as she expects an opening bid. The rules of Bridge dictate that you must have a partner. I prefer to respect & trust mine. I feel opening these hands label you as a “solo artist” where the importance of partnership Bridge is diminished. The dreaded semi-psyche is the most destructive psyche to a partnership of them all. Why , because opener cannot pass responder’s forcing bids as she can with a real psyche.

Ok , partner opens the above hand vul vrs not. The adventuresome opponents like to come in nv to spoil our vul auction. They make a light overcall in diamonds & a competitive auction ensues. They compete to 3♦ so as responder I double holding ♦AKQx so they wrap up +470 as the opener that had 1 ½ quick tricks vul vrs not only contributed 1 trick. Another example , the opening bid caught me with a nice 20 HCP so I leap to 6NT which as no play due to lack of playing potential of the opening bid. Am I supposed to invite with 20 HCP opposite a vul opener ? I want partner to be in slam with a normal opening bid. When we practice to deceive , we get ourselves the majority of the time. Is it worth it ???? I think opening these hands are 3 to 1 against. LHO , partner & RHO can all catch you speeding. You are on your own in a partnership game. You open this hand & the opponents reach their 14 HCP opposite 14 HCP 3NT . As you must hold all 12 outstanding HCP’s , they play the hand double dummy. You are not “making them guess” by opening a balanced 12 HCP with little quick tricks . What you are really doing is trying to confuse the LOL with blue hair. For shame. The pro’s must do that as their living depends on it.

This hand above was discussed at a Thursday nite game. Kiz Fung who held this hand vul , did not open the bidding & added she would open the hand in matchpoints. My partner would not even respond with this hand let along open it J I would not open this hand on 3 of the 4 vulnerabilities. Osama opened this hand vul against Maurice & I , as did Ray Grace when he held the hand in keeping with their style & personality. Susan says she is Switzerland & remains neutral . If partner does not open fine or if she does open fine she says. I am not neutral . I would be wondering where partner’s real hand was hiding that she opened. I do not want the stress of having partner con me along with the opponents. I want no part of it !!!