Sunday, July 16, 2006 6:28 PM

Hand Evaluation - Signaling ( Depending on Context )

PITBULLS:

Signaling is very “depending on context” where the rules of the signaling game change. If you are leading into the great unknown where there has been no bidding by you & partner to assist you , signaling is standard in accordance with your chosen methods. In these instances , there is no change from the Whist days. If you play upside down attitude , a small card says please continue but a large spot means find an obvious switch as I do not like your lead.

You are in a NT contract & you play Reverse Smith echos. You make your lead which is won by declarer & he leads towards the long suit which has no outside entry & is Aceless. Do you or your partner signal a reverse Smith echo ? Of course not , as count has precedence in this particular situation. Common sense overrides systemic understandings including signals. Both partners must be at the table to interpret signals. Rote systemic rules or signals do not apply. When count is not important in the scheme of things , a card may be interpreted as a reverse Smith Echo . The context of the board & declarer play determine the signal. Signals can be ambiguous so must be defined by the context of the situation. Some words in the English language are ambiguous so must be defined depending the context in which the word was used. Bridge borrows heavily on general language concepts. In the game of Bridge , thinking has priority over all conventions , treatments & systems.

Say there has been no bidding by your side , they are in a 4♦ contract . You have ♠Qxx ♥KQx ♦Q10x ♣J10xx , lead the heart king. The board comes down with ♠Axxx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣Q98x , partner plays the heart deuce . You continue with the heart queen but partner plays the 10 . What does that mean ? Declarer does not have heart length based on their bidding , so partner is telling you to what suit to switch . You lead a spade so you beat the contract as you get a spade trick and a club switch would have been a disaster. Suit preference came into play via “depending on context”.

All well and good ,but let’s back up with partner opening 1♥ and they reached 4♦. You play 5 card majors so “known count” changes your method of signaling. If you or your partner has shown length by bidding , the middle card says continue or I do not want a switch. A high or low card is suit preference. “Known Count” allows suit preference to be built in with the 1^st card when partner does not play an even card. You can cash the 2^nd heart but partner has already told you what to switch to by her first card. In other words, bidding has changed your signaling system.

This concept is why we like simple raises in the majors to show 3 cards. This is also “known count” that changes your signaling scheme. Partner raises your spade opener so they get to 4♥. There are 4 small spades on the board , you have 5 to the AKJxx so you are aware of 12 spades. Partners first spade is suit preference !! If she has no suit preference, she plays her middle spade. Same with “law raises” in the minors or majors. If you jump, showing 4 or 5 cards respectively this signaling scheme is now in effect. Partner already knows your count so suit preference gets promoted above both attitude & count.

If a singleton or a high card appears on the board where continuing would be ill advised in the majority of cases , we revert to the “known count system”. Middle means continue , and high & low cards suit preference. In signaling, always ask yourself , is the count already nearly known from the bidding ? If so , the signaling scheme reverts to middle encourages. I lead an Ace from the unbid suit but Kxx comes down on the board. Partner now plays a middle card in that suit saying continue or no suit preference , otherwise , his 1^st card is suit preference.

Even a simple auction where you made a T/O double , partner responded hearts to your T/O double. This is enough to bring “known count” signaling into play. They reach 3♠X so you lead the heart king with a doubleton appearing on the board. Partner plays middle for no suit preference , high or low otherwise. You cash the 2^nd heart followed by obeying partners first card as to which suit to switch. Easy !!

Known count has precedence over the obvious switch principle. The obvious switch has the advantage when no bidding has taken place so you have no idea of known counts around the table. Count has priority over Smith echos when demanded by the situation. Ah ambiguity , such is the life of a Bridge expert J !