Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:34 AM
 
Hand Evaluation – HCPS ( Jumping )

 

PITBULLS:

 

            One of the worst hand evaluation habits coming out of the Goren era is jumping to show a HCP total. This way of showing strength is just plain wrong in my opinion , as it violates the principle of “fast arrival”. You should not “eat up” bidding space to show HCP strength especially in competition . You double , bid a new suit or Q bid. In today’s game , jumping indicates a different message. When you jump the bid in a competitive auction, you are either showing  a good suit when it is a jump rebid or a distributional hand when the jump is into a new suit. Do not let the lack of HCP’s deter you from showing your two suiter or your good suit. You have other ways of showing HCP strength , do not waste the jump bid for that purpose. Do not be a slave to the Goren HCP totaling system. Jumps should equate to distribution not HCP total’s.

 

             Tricks are more important than HCP’s in the Bridge scheme of things. Sometimes with the HCP fixation disease , you forget to realize how much trick taking potential you really have. Most pairs reached 6♥ making 7 in a local Thurs nite game holding this hand ♠xx ♥KJxxxx ♦KJ10xx ♣void. Partner opens 1♣ you respond 1♥ , partner now leaps to 4♦. You do not need to count HCP’s on this hand holding a 6-5, count tricks instead. Partner shows 4 card support & a slam try with a ♦ void so you have a 6-4 trump fit. Barring a trump lead , you may have 11 tricks without counting any of partners resources outside the trump suit ! 6 trump tricks + 4 ♦ ruffs and if the diamonds are 5-4-4-0 , you establish your 5th diamond. Partner could easily hold AK & A outside so a grand slam is a distinct possibility. Change your hand to ♠xx ♥1098xxx ♦xxxxx ♣void & there are hands that 6♥ would make on this auction ! ♠AKxx ♥AKQx ♦void ♣QJ10xx. Anyway , at my table a Tormentee gave the “death response” of 4♥ thereby missing the grand slam & uttering the now famous words I only had 8 HCP’s partner L . What is your 6-5 worth in the Culbertson days when partner shows a 4 card fit to your 6 card suit before HCP’s were invented ? Say partner had not bid yet & you opened a weak two . If I told you partner had 19 HCP’s  , a diamond void & a 4 card trump fit , what do you think you could make ? Would you ever sign off in game ?

 

            A Tormentee held this hand ♠A ♥QJ1098x ♦A ♣Kxxxx , opened 1♥. The opponents overcalled 1♠ , partner made a negative double with RHO Q bidding 2♥. How do you paint a picture of your hand to partner ? By bidding 3♣ you are not telling partner very much about your hand. You are competing in clubs but you could be doing that with a flat minimum. You have a 6-5 with a 5th club in one of the suits partner is announcing with her double. Come alive with your 6-5  by jumping the bidding to 4♣. This bid helps partner make an informed decision in a competitive auction.

 

I have gone so far with overcalls to define a new meaning for a jump bid in an overcall situation. I got this idea from Maurice de la Salle who makes these kind of bids quite often. When you overcall at the one level , subsequently jump in your suit , the bid shows a good suit only  but not overall HCP strength. Why ? because you have competitive doubles & Q bids to show HCP strength. You do not need a jump to indicate HCP’s via Goren style bidding. Jumps now have a different meaning in modern Bridge .  Fast arrival to show weakness, jumps to show good suits and jumps to show distribution but not HCP strength.

 

My partner opened 1♣ , my RHO doubled with me holding ♠AKQJ9 ♥void ♦Q1098xx ♣10x so I responded 1♦. My LHO bid 2♥ so around to me again. Allow a jump to describe your two suiter to your partner so she can make an informed decision. You bid 3♠ so partner will catch on you have 6♦ . Partner raises you with ♦AK so you make an overtrick in your 5♦ contract. 4♠ & 5♣ both fail but 12 tricks are available in a ♦ contract.

 

            We do not buy into the concept of “auto splinters”. This idea does have some merit for the splinter fanatics but I feel that jumps should be consistent throughout your system. When you leap to the 4 level , you are showing a 2nd suit with lots of distribution. 6-6’s , 6-5’s need all the help they can get to describe to partner. Some play

 

1♠-P-1NT-P

4♥                   as a singleton heart with a self sufficient spade suit. This auto-splinter” as it is called means you cannot describe the 6-6’s or 6-5’s with one bid. Bridge is still a game of suits in my opinion. Use your system to describe suits & distribution not totaling HCP’s or showing singletons.

 

 1♥-P-1NT-P

 4♦                             is an almost a totally red hand with not enough HCP’s for a 3♦ bid..

 

            Another traditional place for an “auto splinter” is by responder.     1♣-P-1♠-P

                                                                                                                                 1NT-P-4♦                   again an auto-splinter has its use but we still prefer this sequence to show a weakish 6-6 or 6-5.   Discuss with partner so that jumps are consistent throughout your system ( easy on the memory ).

 

            When you are going to bid like a kangaroo, do it with a purpose other than pre-empting partner with HCP strength. Not all of Gorens’ notions stood the test of time so this is definitely one of his failures , in my opinion. Totaling HCP’s should take a back seat to showing a source of tricks via distribution or a good suit. Elevating the level of bidding to show HCP strength is slowly & surely becoming extinct in modern bidding.