Sunday, December 06, 2009

Hand evaluation – HCP’s ( Accuracy )

PITBULLS:

        A security blanket in Bridge is achieved by partner making a reasonably unambiguous bid like opening 1NT. In one fell swoop,  you have her distribution & HCP's handed to you on a platter. You now are captain of the auction for the most part as you are the person in the "know" . Every Bridge player is aware of the obvious importance of quick tricks in the game of Bridge. Are there any bids in Bridge that announce these valuable controls immediately ? The most obvious answer is the opening bid as it announces to partner that you have 2 1/2 of them . This information can be invaluable in so many ways. In contemplating a slam with a huge hand , you can almost fill in the blanks for a small or grand slam with partners known controls promised by her opening bid. Bridge is based on probabilities and playing disciplined opening bids , the odds are in favour of her holding 2 1/2 quick tricks. You can plan your Bridge life based on this quick trick  security blanket.

        When partner makes a penalty double , she is announcing quick tricks as slow cards like queens & jacks or overall HCP's can fall victim to distribution. So can quick tricks,  but the odds are heavily stacked for the quick tricks cashing. Soft cards are just that , soft for defense. The best bid in Bridge for announcing quick tricks is the competitive double. Since partner has the option to convert , making a competitive double based on distribution only is silly. Competitive doubles announce quick tricks . How many quick tricks is level dependent & whether the double was made by opener or a T/O doubler instead of responder. The competitive double must show enough quick tricks to come within 1/2 a trick of booking their contract. Armed with this information , partner can now do something intelligent. Eric Kokish plays his version of competitive doubles the same way except he calls these controls “ transferable values” rather than quick tricks. He says that these types of HCP’s are equally good on offense & defense therefore transferable ( lawyer speak ) . He also ties competitive doubles to the type of HCP’s contained therein not the total. Agreed J

          I was playing with Alex Fowlie who held this hand vul vrs nv opponents ♠KQJx ♥Jxxx ♦Qx ♣QJx   . The opponents opened 1♣ & I made a T/O double . How do you evaluate this hand ? Alex had only one quick trick with soft values adding up to 12 HCP including wastage in their suit. Alex felt that this bad collection was not even enough to invite so he bid 1♠. They bid 2♣ so around to Alex again who competed to 2♥. Note his modern garbage opener range of 12 HCP's has not improved on the auction. They bid 3♣ so I now competed to 3♠ and LHO got in on the act & bid 4♣. Note that Alex passed 4♣ as his 1 quick trick has not grown up either. His pass announces soft values to me. Around to me who held ♠xxxx ♥AKxx ♦Axxx ♣x so I announced my quick tricks with a competitive double. Since they are at the 4 level , I must announce 3 quick tricks to partner. This is a competitive auction with me announcing shortness initially with the opponents bidding like they own their suit. This is not forcing pass theory as we do not own the auction . I am making a competitive double asking Alex to do something intelligent. He does so by passing so we collect +300. If I bid 4♠ single handed without putting partner in the picture, we go for -800 for an 1100 swing ( 4-1 trump break ) .

           Change Alex's hand to ♠KQJxx ♥Jxxx ♦x ♣xxx so he does something intelligent by bidding 4♠ . He knows we have nothing wasted in clubs so my controls are all working for him. We get doubled in 4♠ which makes +990 when the ♥queen falls doubleton. Quick tricks are an important competitive element obviously. I wish more bids were invented to hone in on them rather than just opening bids & competitive doubles. Q bids & KCB are another attempt of identifying these specific type of HCP’s. Bidding accuracy is improved immensely armed with that type of HCP information. :)  Garbage opener fanatics disagree of course , quick tricks are unimportant to them as they have not grasped the significance of their Bridge value. The opponents have a higher priority in the scheme of things over constructive partnership discipline. Pity , as Gordon Campbell would say L .