Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:48 PM

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Taking Control )

 

PITBULLS:

 

            Another hand evaluation skill in Bridge is knowing when to take control of an auction & assume captaincy. This hand is from Calgary which involves one of the Pitbulls . She held  ♠AKQJxx  ♥Axx ♦x ♣KJx , opened 1♠ vul & heard LHO overcall 2♦ with partner ( Tom Gandolfo ) bidding 3♣ . This Pitbull decided to splinter to 4♦ which describes her hand to partner which allows him/her to take control of the hand . He dutiful did , by  leaping to 6♣ . You hesitate a while with your monster hand , but you do not want to bid 7 off an ace so you pass . Partners hand is ♠xxx ♥void ♦Axx ♣AQ10xxxx so you have 15 top tricks in 7NT !  The problem here is the wrong person took control of the hand ! You do not need to tell partner you have a singleton diamond , as you know you have the solid spade suit , the Ace of hearts , the club fit & the singleton in their suit. Therefore ,  taking control with Blackwood is in order . You find out partner has 2 Aces with the Q of trump & 5, 6, or 7 clubs . You can count 13 tricks in NT , you claim before the opponents lead . Some people put an upper limit on a splinter because of this type of bidding.

 

In 4th suit forcing auctions sometimes the only way to get to the desired contract is taking control after being a “good listener”  first . Do not take control too early but try to glean as much information as you can . Sometimes your hand is just plain unbidable so do not even try . Just lie low , then take control when partner has forced to game.  Take this hand

 

♠xx ♥Axx ♦KJx ♣AKQJ10            1♣ by you, partner bids a diamond so you temporize by bidding a heart . Partner bids 2♠ which you play as 4th suit forcing . Resist the urge to do something spectacular with this hand as partner has forced to game ! You bid a quiet 3♣ & partner bids 3♦ . Partner has a game forcing hand with at least 5♦ , so do you need more to take control of the hand ? You bid 4♦ KCB & the Q ask which  partner shows along with the K of spades . 5♦ + 5♣ +2♠ +1♥  leads to 7NT .

 

           

            Sometimes you have a decision to make whether to take control or show a feature of your hand. Susan Culham held this hand ♠ void ♥AKQJ10xx ♦K10xx ♣xx   , she opened 1♥ . Her partner Chris Buchanan bid 2♣ so you are at the crossroads. Do you show the solid heart suit by jumping to 3♥ or do you take control with 4♠ Exclusion Blackwood ??  You know what the trump suit is going to be so you bid exclusion with clubs implied & partner shows 2 Aces or the AK of clubs. This is all you need to hear so you leap to 6♥. Bidding 3♥ might allow the wrong person to take control. “Do not leave up to partner what you can do yourself” .

 

            Another hand , where an inference is needed in order to take control of the auction.

 

1♠-P-2♥-P

3♣-P-3♦-P

3♥-P-?               We have an understanding that bidding at the 3 level in a 2/1 auction shows extra. This information is useful so that one partner can assume captaincy & take control of an auction. The 2♥ bidder held ♠x ♥AQ1098x ♦AJ10x ♣Qx so bid 4NT knowing that partner had extra. They reached 7♥ with opener holding ♠AQxxx ♥KJ ♦x ♣AKJ10x . The 3♣ bid showed at least one Ace above an opener with their ( most ) methods.

 

            I was playing with a Tormentee tonight who “trapped herself” by not taking control when she had the information to do so. Maurice psyched a 1NT bid in 3rd seat which I doubled for penalty showing 16 + HCP or equivalent. His partner ran to 2♣ & the Tormentee had ♠xxxx ♥Jxx ♦AKQxx ♣x with a stiff in their run out suit. If the opponents have the bulk of their values in clubs , with 16 HCP outside of clubs over there in partner’s hand,  6♦ might have a play. Therefore the Tormentee passed , expecting that I would not let the auction drop in 2♣ ! Of course , I did pass as partner could hold ♠xxx ♥xxx ♦xxx ♣xxxx so where am I going ? 6♦ was cold on this hand but we did beat 2♣. Partner is going to act on your pass & not take control when he was not invited to the party. You are captain of this auction.

 

            When one hand describes her hand within a nice tight  range , the other hand is captain of the ship. You know more of her hand than she does of your hand  which resolves captaincy. A tormentee held ♠Qxxxxx ♥K109x ♦AJ ♣x so when 1♦ was opened to her left & was passed around to her in the balancing seat she doubled. Partner bid 2NT which can show up to a nice 14 HCP . ♠AKJ ♥Qx ♦10xxxx ♣Axx . The Tormentee is now in control of the auction as she is the unknown hand. She has enough information to leap to 4♠ but she passed 2NT with her 6-4 !! 

 

            Be aware of the bids in Bridge that take control & the bids that seek input from partner or pass the decision to partner. KCB is of course the master control bid in Bridge as you just make partner a “puppet” until you place the contract. Leaping to your contract ( fast arrival )  is taking control of the auction as you are shutting partner out of further action. Jacoby 2NT is taking control of the auction as you are asking partner to describe a singleton or a maximum or minimum. The serious 3NT is taking control as you are showing slam interest & demanding that partner Q bids. Captaincy when your partner has described her hand to you is “given control”. Partner pre-empts , splinters ,  opens 1NT or rebids any number of NT are obvious examples of establishing captaincy for partner. Q bidding is an example of passing information to make either partner captain of the auction. Some people like a splinter to be defined with an upper HCP limit. Why , because you are making partner captain of the auction by describing your hand to her.

 

             Old fashioned trump stack penalty doubles are a way of taking control of the auction. We feel that trump stack penalty doubles should only control an auction when some captaincy rules apply. Partner has been given captaincy by you pre-empting or forcing pass theory or  the simple fact that you have passed throughout their auction. All other penalty doubles are co-operative or competitive. There is no element of control with the rest of the penalty double situations. On the contrary , in competition partner is seeking permission to  bid again unless you veto the request by converting for penalty. Old fashioned penalty doubles are an example of a master-slave relationship. Never pull my penalty doubles !! In other words , do not think as I am in control. Partnership Bridge demands a different approach.

 

             Solo artists do not believe in captaincy or  partnership Bridge. They take control due to their own personality as they are used to taking control in non Bridge situations. On the flip side , there are partners who are too meek to take control in Bridge  when they should. Both of these Bridge personalities detract from partnership Bridge. Allow Bridge logic & hand evaluation skills  determine who is in control of the auction. Better results will follow.