Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Hand Evaluation –HCP’s ( Mentoring Satisfaction )

PITBULLS:

        The satisfying part of my mentoring in Bridge is seeing the results of my labours. I try to send a hand evaluation message with each & every article I write. The most common & repetitive theme I emphasize is to evaluate HCP's not just total them. HCP evaluation 101 is to notice what type of HCP's you hold rather than just the mere total. HCP's in quick trick combinations lead to more trick taking potential both defensively & offensively. Thinking in "quick tricks" will elevate your game a notch . I have repeated that message  over & over again for years with my articles. Thinking HCP's rather than just totaling them is how you make your Bridge decision's. All HCP's are not created equal.

        Playing with a tormentee yesterday ,  I saw some of these concepts in action. Chris Buchannan opened 1♠ nv & a vulnerable tormentee bid 2NT with ♠x ♥10x ♦A109xx ♣AKJxx . We play "toys " weak or strong so the tormentee could have overcalled. However , she is vul vrs not so she chose 2NT. I bid 3♣ & Chris bid 3♥ which I doubled when passed around to me. The tormentee passed because she holds quick tricks & probably the maximum defensive hand she could hold on the auction. Chris found a nice dummy but since he was a 5-4-2-2 minimum he went for -300 & a top for us. Leaving in doubles is simply evaluating your HCP's & translating them into tricks like the early greats of Bridge did for decades before totaling HCP's came into vogue. When the tormentee holds an offensive hand type with respect to HCP's & distribution like ♠x ♥x ♦KQxxx ♣KQJxxx or the like she pulls the double to 4♣. My double is a question in a competitive auction . What type of hand do you hold with respect to the nature of your HCP's ? Chris found out that the Tormentee held quick defensive tricks for his zero.

        Light opening bids I have mentioned in my articles is the art of evaluating your HCP's rather than the rote practice of totaling your queens & jacks. Light opening bids are not garbage like in weak club games. The same tormentee held ♠xxxx ♥AQ10x ♦AJx ♣xx so is this an opening bid ? Club players would not think so as by totaling their beads they only come to 11 HCP & it is a balanced hand. However , my articles say to evaluate your HCP's for light opening bids. Your HCP's are in quick trick combinations & you have 2 /1/2 quick tricks with 4-4 in the majors. This is an automatic opener in any game for me. We caught the opponents speeding for +500 on this board at the one level mainly due to the tormentees’ quick tricks.

        Probably the most repetitive theme of any of my articles over the years is not leading blind especially in doubled contracts. Leading blind is like giving the house ( declarer )  an edge like in the game of Blackjack. By guessing , you can break on lead before declarer has even played a card. A Tormentee held ♠xx ♥KQxx ♦xxxx ♣AKQ & heard her RHO vul in 2nd seat open 1NT. I as a passed hand doubled with ♠KJxx ♥AJxx ♦xxx ♣Jx . The tormentee knew that a blind opening lead was not a good idea so she led the ♣A . The board hit with ♠109x ♥xxx ♦AJ ♣1098xx so because of the "non blind lead" the defense is easy. You were planning to switch to a ♥ anyway but you brought partner into the picture. Partner plays a low ♣ as a suit preference for the lower ranking major. However,  your lead is more than just bringing partner in the picture for signals. Partner counts HCP's. Since you have advertised HCP's in ♣'s & switched to a low heart, partner gets a "lie of the land". You cash 4♥'s & 3♣'s  so +200 is a top for your side.

        A steady theme of my articles is my stance against "single handed Bridge" . With doubles you get partner's opinion on the nature of HCP's they hold. Hand evaluation comes into play rather than random guesses or blindly passing. Blind opening leads is single handed Bridge. You are single handedly making the decision for the partnership rather than inviting partner to the party. By leading the ♣A in 1NTx , the tormentee told me that she had 7 or 9 HCP's in clubs & gave me the opportunity for a suit preference signal. Partner contributed to the defense rather than just a blind guess on her part. As I said at the beginning of this article , it is very satisfying that many of my articles are starting to "sink in" & I get rewarded both in satisfaction & Bridge results when I play with tormentees. My articles are organized by theme so the theme concept can be learned to improve your Bridge . However, one theme overrides all others . Find ways to bring partner into the picture for better Bridge results. Random bidding & single handed shots are for Casinos.