Saturday, May 08, 2004 6:34 PM


Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Playing the Vulnerability )

 

PITBULLS:

 

          Playing the vulnerability is an important strategy in Bridge . Your opening bids , overcalls, pre-empts , sacrifices ,  balancing ,  trapping , penalty double & conversions , defense against NT & negative doubles all tie into vulnerability. Suit requirements for an overcall are altered nv vrs vul. Partner needs to take that into consideration for her opening lead decisions. Maybe time to believe the opponents . I would go as far as saying I could have a different convention card vul vrs non vul as my bidding is based on vulnerability.  The vulnerability changes every board. Your overall bidding strategy in the game of Bridge should be based on vulnerability. If you decide to be reckless , do not do it vul vrs not or even equal vulnerability. Give opponents more rope to hang themselves if they are vul & you are not. Do not rescue vul opponents by bidding. Bridge players must be very vulnerability conscious at all times. This is the nature of the beast as far as Bridge is concerned.

 

          Say you had this hand ♠KQJxx ♥x ♦Qxx ♣Kxxx would you open this collection  ?  You only have 11 HCP with 1 ½ defensive tricks so in my opinion it is not an opening bid in 1st & 2nd . If they are vulnerable & we are not ( terrorist vul )   , it magically turns into an opener. Why , because the lead against their possible vul game is so important . Partner also gives you more leeway with this vulnerability.

 

          Modern bidders open terrible hands by just using an abacus & counting up their beads. You can do the same on the terrorist vulnerability ( nv vrs vul ). A Tormentee opened a non opener against me because she was nv vrs vul . ♠QJ9 ♥A10xx ♦Kx ♣Qxxx   1 1/2 quick  tricks , flat , no spots in her club suit so just an awful hand  with proper hand evaluation. Hand evaluation dictates this hand a non opener at the 3 other vulnerabilities. Opening this moth eaten collection nv vrs vul might disturb the vul opponents , so lets fire the first shot. The vul opponent bids 2♥ & partner makes a negative dbl so you have an easy 2NT bid as your defense is substandard with no real duplication for partner to convert for penalty. You can beat 2♥X one trick but it was due to partners hand which was as strong as your hand ( 11 HCP ) with controls ♦A , ♣K & ♠K .

 

            We all have toys over the opponents strong NT hands . How to use these toys is totally vulnerability dependent . You ♠AKxxx ♥KQJxx ♦Ax ♣x  , they open a strong NT to your right . Do you bid your toy to show the majors ? If they are vul & you are not , do not even think about it . You double in case they are in trouble vul against not . Go for the throat  first & your nv game second. Equal vul you should also double as it leaves the most options open . If you are vul & they are not  , this hand is best described by using your toy to describe a major suit hand . You getting to your vul game is more important than  looking for a non vul set. You raise partners major bid to 3 to show this hand.

 

            Avoid risks when you are vulnerable & they are not. Vul a Tormentee had ♠QJxxx ♥xx ♦Kxxxx ♣Q & the non vul opponent opened 1♣ & RHO bid 1♥ . Do you bid 1NT for the unbid suits ? Of course not , as you are forcing the auction to the two level vul vrs not & inviting disaster in a possible misfit auction. If you do bid 1NT , it goes double to your left & you are in –1100 territory against nv opponents. Playing the vulnerability means make your risks in line with the vulnerability. Save your specialty toys for the right vulnerability.

 

            Two hands that were disasters in Beijing came from not respecting or “playing the vulnerability”. The opponents opened 1NT & you have a nice hand but you are vul vrs not. The opponents “play the vulnerability “ also so they are looking for a set on this vulnerability. I would bid with this hand on every vulnerability scenario except this one. If partner can not balance , we do not have game so doubling 1NT is too risky on this one vulnerability.

 

Scotland Round    2♥X  -800

Board 3. Dealer South. E-W Vulnerable.

 

♠ K 6 5 2
♥ Q
♦ A Q 8 3
♣ K 7 6 5

♠ A T 9 4
♥ A J 4 2
♦ T 2
♣ A 9 8

Bridge deal

♠ J 7
♥ 9 8 6 3
♦ J 9 6 5
♣ T 3 2

 

♠ Q 8 3
♥ K T 7 5
♦ K 7 4
♣ Q J 4 

 

 

 

 

Venezuela  3♦x -500

 

Board 32. Dealer West. E-W Vulnerable.

 

♠ 6 3 2
♥ A 4 2
♦ J T 9 7
♣ A 8 4

♠ K 9 8 7 4
♥ Q 9
♦ 8
♣ K J 7 6 3

Bridge deal

♠ A
♥ K T 7 6
♦ Q 6 5 4 3 2
♣ T 5

 

♠ Q J T 5
♥ J 8 5 3
♦ A K
♣ Q 9 2

 

            Again vulnerability rules the scene. You open 2♦ vul vrs not on a shaky suit & it gets passed out to the balancing chair. You have a 6-4 but it is the wrong vulnerability to violate captaincy & bidding 2♥. The opponents play the vulnerability also so the risk does not justify the reward. Partner passed , so no game your way & RHO is doubling presumably to T/O to the majors. Bidding again shows distain for the vulnerability.

 

            Say you had this hand ♠AJxx ♥A1098 ♦x ♣AQ10x  , partner opens 1♦ & LHO bids 2♥ . Do you pass for penalties or make a negative double ? This answer is totally vulnerability dependent.  You would pass for penalties with all vulnerabilities except one. If you are vul & they are not you make a negative double so you can get to your +1370 in clubs. Partner has ♠xx ♥x ♦AKQxxx ♣KJxx and his re-opening double is vulnerability dependent also. I would re-open with a double in all vulnerabilities except one as I have my 2 ½ defensive tricks for my opener. If partner passes , he is short in diamonds so lets take our set. However vul against not ,  I reopen with 3♣ hoping to find a nice vul 3NT or minor slam . I do not give partner a chance to pass 2♥ x for penalties on this one vulnerability.

 

           You have  ♠x ♥xxx  ♦QJ109xx ♣AKx     & 1♠ gets passed around to you . What is your balance ?? Again it depends on the vulnerability. I would balance 2♦ with every vul except one. If they are vul & we are not,  I would double . When this hand was held  , partner held ♠KQJ109 ♥AQJ9x ♦A ♣xx  & trap passed. Do not forget trapping is vulnerability dependent also so adjust your balancing doubles accordingly. Partner would not risk passing with that hand in other vulnerabilities. Opener had ♠Axxxxx ♥Kxx ♦Kx ♣QJ and goes down 5 doubled & vul for 1400 !

 

With weak twos you make off shape doubles in he re-opening chair with the appropriate vulnerabilities in  order to catch them speeding .  ♠xx  ♥AQ10xx ♦AKxxx ♣x  The opponents open a weak 2♠ so around to you in the balancing . If they are vul & you are not , you should double as you have defense as well as having an offensive hand . With all other vulnerabilities , bid your heart suit to show the offensive nature of your hand. If partner does not convert &  pulls your double to 3♣ , 3♦ is equal level conversion so does not show a strong diamond one suiter. Bid the lower ranking of your two suits so partner will correct to hearts with no diamond fit.  ♠xx ♥Jxx ♦xx ♣Jxxxxx

 

            Of course my favourite subject of D.S.I.P. doubles definitely plays the vulnerability. If the opponents are vul , you bend over backwards to make a D.S.I.P.  pass or double as converting for penalty vul yields nice results .  Being able to get the opponents from either side of the table is one of the nice features of D.S.I.P. theory . Sacrificing our way is of course vulnerability dependent ,  so D.S.I.P. theory gets a work out with the appropriate vulnerability.

 

            The strategy of trapping is vulnerability dependent . I do not trap vul vrs non vul. I overcall 1NT with a stiff honour or double if I have to or somehow invent a bid to get in the auction. This is in part because you do not get rewarded at 50 a pop if the auction gets passed out but also to protect partner vul vrs not vul in the balancing. He does not have to protect my hand because there is no hand to protect on this one vulnerability ! I will trap at the one level as responder with 19 HCP expecting partner to re-open on the 3 other vulnerabilities , though. One level penalties can be quite devastating vulnerable.

 

            A tormentee had a simple decision tonight based on playing the vulnerability & basic hand evaluation. ♠Kxx ♥AK9x ♦Ax ♣Jxx  Both nv they opened 3♥ & partner doubled at the 3 level . This decision involves whether to make a slam try or convert for penalties . 3NT is out of the question. Your side has 30 + HCP’s & your hand is all quick tricks for defense. In addition , you probably have 3 trump tricks. You decide that a slam is too iffy  so you pass. This goes for +1100 or +800 with bad defense. 3NT is an atrocious bid as it does not even describe your hand while rescuing the opponents with equal vulnerability. Partner is supposed to read you for strong NT values with 3 heart stoppers for a forced 3NT bid ? What would you bid with 9 HCP & a couple of heart stoppers ?  Bidding 3NT on equal vul means that you feel they are only going 2 down when they have 3 trump losers & 30 HCP’s to overcome ? The only excuse I can see is “partner I did not notice the equal vulnerability “.

 

            The acts of terrorism of course are vulnerability dependent. Openers , pre-empts & overcalls cry out for leeway by partner on the terrorism vulnerability of nv vrs vul.  My partner held ♠Kxx ♥Jx ♦xxx ♣xxxxx & I opened 1NT with the opponents bidding 2♦ for the majors. NV vrs vul you can risk bidding 2NT & trying a club partial. Of course , you would never make the bid on any other vulnerability as the risk vrs the reward makes no sense. Shooting dice is for the terrorist vulnerability only. Going 3 down vul even undoubled is –300.

 

            No bidding question is complete without the vulnerability being included. If someone asks a bidding question but does not include the vulnerability you can not answer as vulnerability dictates the answer about 80 % of the time !!