Monday, May 21, 2007 5:08 PM

Hand Evaluation – HCPs ( Bridge Judgment )

PITBULLS:

Bridge teachers say that Bridge judgment cannot be taught. Judgment comes from the “school of hard knocks” . Experience with its cruel ways , teaches you Bridge judgment. OK , I buy into this somewhat but I feel “hand evaluation skills “ can be taught. Bridge judgment is assisted by learned hand evaluation skills. In other words , you cannot have good Bridge judgment without these hand evaluation skills ingrained first . Know HCP’s inside & out rather than just totaling them is a good start. Learn the importance of quick trick combinations & your bidding judgment will improve immensely. Appreciate a Bridge hands trick taking potential both on offense & defense via quick tricks . Tie opening bids into quick tricks as the greats of Bridge have advised us to do for ½ a century. An opening bid is the foundation of an established Bridge partnership’s subsequent judgment. Avoid garbage openers like the plague so you do not take partner’s judgment out of the bidding equation. Do not force partner to guess.

Here are some examples from a GNT recently to support this assertion. You hold ♠xx ♥xx ♦xx ♣AKQJ10xx , nv partner vrs vul opponents opens 1♠. Your bid ? This is a 2♣ bid in any system. Bidding a forcing NT is ludicrous for many reasons. You are wrong siding the NT , you cannot recover from a forcing NT & describe your 7 tricks adequately to partner . The hand evaluation concept of a “source of tricks” via a good suit overpowers HCP’s. The last reason is that the hand evaluates to 13 HCP Goren count with two quick tricks & 3 doubletons. Say partner has ♠AJxxx ♥Axxx ♦Kx ♣xx so a normal auction would be

1♠-P-2♣-P

2♥-P-3♣-P

3NT

Anyway I will force you to bid 1NT so they overcall 2♥ . Partner astounds you by bidding 3♣. Partner must have 5 clubs & most likely 6 spades for coming in at the 3 level with such a poor suit. The opponents now bid hearts , reach 4♥ so you bid 5♣. They take the push to 5♥ so now what ? Visualizing partners hand with 11 good HCP , you are cold for a grand slam in clubs. ♠AKxxxx ♥void ♦Ax ♣109876 . That is the ideal hand so 6♣ could make or go for –100. You cannot pass 5♥ as that is absurd. If they now bid 6♥ , you have two options . In matchpoints , I would try an undouble so if partner has two defensive tricks we pick up +200 . In IMPS , I do not even make the bid , I just bid 7♣ re the IMPS policy of “taking out insurance” . The 7♣ bid is probably beating their heart partial. Might even make with the wrong opening lead ! 5♥ was incredulously passed for a 12 IMP loss on the above auction !.

You are vul , you have ♠xxxx ♥Jxx ♦AKx ♣xxx , they open 1♣ to your right. It goes pass around to partner who doubles in the balancing chair so you bid a spade. Partner now bids 2♥ so now what ? You have already limited your hand with a 1♠ response, so you now Q bid to show your heart support & force this hand to game somewhere. Hand evaluation via patterns indicate you have a 4-3-3-3 which is a horrible hand for a 10 trick contract. Why unilaterally take partner out of the decision by leaping to 4♥ ? Partner bids 3NT with his flat 17 HCP after your Q bid & 9 tricks make exactly . 4♥ goes one down for a 12 IMP loss.

Judgment along with hand evaluation skills is the decision making process of Bridge. Knowing when you own the hand for a forcing pass. Knowing that your hand is defensive orientated rather than offensive orientated for a penalty conversion. Knowing when to make a lead directing double & when not to is simple Bridge judgment. . Judgment is based on Bridge experience but is greatly assisted by hand evaluations skills.  Get away from the HCP mentality as your sole source of hand evaluation techniques. HCP’s are only the tip of the iceberg for hand evaluation. Do not be a slave to the HCP system or your own system for that matter. Rely on hand evaluation indicators such as quick tricks , hand patterns , soft values , duplication of value , HCP location , trump length , fit & suit quality. Follow this determination with totaling your HCP’s as a checkback to confirm your own judgment.

All decision making is assisted by “fact finding” . You make a decision on all the available information including the quality of your HCP’s not just some of it. Detectives , doctors , lawyers build a case before they make a diagnosis or argue a case or make an arrest. A Bridge player does not make a decision until he considers all the clues available. Hand evaluation skills result in those clues being available. Expert players know that HCP’s are just the “training wheels” of Bridge bidding until hand evaluation skills are developed & take over. Beginners think HCP’s are the “be all & end all” of Bridge bidding. Garbage openers based on “bad” HCP’s fit with that beginner HCP mentality . Grow out of it !. Your choice ….