Sunday, March 13, 2011

Hand Evaluation - HCP's ( Timing )

PITBULLS:

        The glaring & obvious reason that quick tricks ( controls ) are important in bidding & opening bids is their importance in declarer play & defense. Quick tricks allow you to control the timing of the defense or playing the hand. The simple finesse , endplay , squeezes ,  suit establishment all stem from the fact that your side holds these quick trick card combinations. This is one main reason we say a hand has trick taking potential when holding quick tricks & why is it good Bridge to associate quick tricks with the opening bid. When you open garbage , remember you or partner may be playing the hand or just as bad for your side , defending.

        Here is a hand played by Perry Khakar which shows the importance of controls ( in this case Aces ) in determine the timing of the hand. Perry was in 4♥ with our side doing all the bidding. I managed the 4 Ace dummy below.

♥A       ♠ A     ♦A        ♣A

Q          10      J

x           9        x

x           x        x

♥x        ♠K       ♦x        ♣J

x           J         x        x

  x           x                    x

x           x

    Lee Barton lead a club & Perry won the club Ace. When you have so many Aces,  you control the timing of the hand & making this hand is just a matter of sequencing your plays in the right order. Beginners usually have a blind spot with these type of hands. This hand is not a true dummy reversal but close. If the beginner were playing the big hand opposite 4 small trump & a doubleton diamond , they would duck a ♦ immediately. Ruffing diamonds are a source of tricks which go away when you draw trump. However , a relatively experienced declarer would see this line of play from his side of the table. Perry immediately ducks a diamond won by Lee. Lee returns a ♣ forcing the board to ruff. Now here is another blind spot that beginners miss quite often . The queen of trump is a mirage. When you hold Axxx opposite xxxx , the hand is now cold with a 3-2 break  ! As long as you use your trump Ace for control & timing of the ♥ suit ,.you just need to duck a heart. Win the next round of hearts with your Ace & claim your contract. The opponents can not get in to draw the last round of trump ( 2 for 1 ) so they must helplessly ruff with the boss trump giving you two diamond ruffs & your contract.

        Here is how a beginner would play the hand . Putting his eggs all in one basket by banking on the unnecessary heart finesse. He would lead a spade to his hand & finesse the heart queen . The defense returns a trump. Now the beginner ( too late ) loses the diamond & the defense cashes the boss trump ( 2 for 1 ) as the diamond is their entry card !! The beginner now loses 2♦’s & 2 trump when he could have trumped the two diamonds by not  mistiming the hand. Actually Perry can try for making 5 as the ♠Q is stiff. Perry ducks a diamond & now can afford to finesse the heart queen for the overtrick. If it wins , cash the Ace & claim 5 saying to the opponents you can have your one trump trick later.

        This hand shows the importance of controls in timing of declarer play. There are only millions of hands where controls dictate the defense of a hand. No wonder the early greats emphasized controls to determine an opening bid. They knew how important these controls really are in all aspects of Bridge. This thinking is far too subtle for advocates of the garbage opening bids however as they have a different Bridge agenda. I think it is called torturing partner☺