Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Hand Evaluation – Signaling ( Baby Sitting Partner )

PITBULLS:

             If I were to define signaling in Bridge I would describe it as "baby sitting partner".  You assume the responsibility for preventing partner to go wrong. When you show out of the opponents suit you use your table presence & awareness of what going on to guide partner on the right path. Most of the time , make a negative signal warning partner that this particular suit is not the way to go. A positive signal by way of contrast is usually a "wake up " signal demanding that suit. A negative signal does not shout for the other suit as possibly the next signal may clarify the situation.

Signalng is a “partnership game” . You must acknowledge you have a partner & you care enough to make sure she does not go wrong. The opponents are in 5♥ doubled after you virtually psyched a splinter. You have ♠87xxx & the declarer leads a trump so what,s your discard ? You of course discard the ♠8 telling partner that you do not have a high spade honour. Do you do not so partner gets in a switches to his stiff ♦ . Partner gets in again with the trump Ace & underleads his spade Ace to declarers stiff king. Oops you forgot which side you are on.

Going into the last round leading the 2 session IMP pairs , the opponents are in 4♥ doubled after declarer opened 4♥’s. Partner led his stiff diamond & the board is ♠AKxxx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣xxx . I played the ♦AK & partner showed out with declarer holding 3♦. I was ready to give partner his ruff but the ♣2 hit the table . What does that mean ? It cannot mean that partner holds clubs as that is obvious from the bidding & the board. Partner did not lead the club AK which he would have when he has such a holding. Therefore he must hold the ♣AQ & declarer either ♣Kx or ♣Kxx . I had a doubleton club with a stiff ♥9 . When partner has the ♥J10x , I can uppercut a heart trick for him. So obeying his strong signal I switch to a club. Disaster as declarer wins the ♣A & +790 . partner was on declarers side so we went from 1^st to 3^rd overcall when babysitting partner never entered his mind. A middle club discard & I give him a ruff for +200 & the event. Oops you forgot what side you are on.

Top of sequence signals are very informative as are Roman discards with built in suit preference. Known suit length discards are suit preference. When count & attitude are not important , discards revert to suit preference.  Discards like other forms of signaling have a pecking order of importance. Attitude , count & suit preference in that order. An annoying habit for weak Bridge players is signaling count when they should be showing attitude first. Weak Bridge players do not know when suit preference kicks in as you need table presence & know when you & partner are on the same wavelength.

            Unless you play Smith echoes in NT , your first signal is did you like my lead partner ( attitude ) ? I led a suit against a 3NT contract with the stiff king winning in dummy. My partner who has been playing the game for 20 years showed me count ! $%%^^##  He does not know the standard pecking order for signaling ! When the opponents are playing a suit they own that suit , so attitude no longer enters the picture . The first card is count unless you want to be deceptive for declarers benefit. The order in which you play the opponents suit can have suit preference built in. When you ignore count in their suit ( your primary responsibility ) & play count backwards to your normal methods , a bell should ring. You have showed suit preference. When you play upside down count & you play 2 , 4 & 9 of their suit you have shown suit preference for the higher ranking remaining suit. Their suit could be trump by the way.

            Baby sitting partner means nice & loud signals. I was playing matchpoints with a partner who plays standard signals. The board had a solid side suit in hearts in a 4♠ contract. I led the ♣A & ♣Jxx appeared in dummy with partner showing a discouraging signal & declarer dropping the queen . I immediately switched to my ♦A with frozen ♦QJ on the dummy . Partner played the ♦6 & the ♦1098 were missing & I held the ♦7 . I switched back to clubs in case declarer was false carding . Declarer ruffed and claimed 5 for a well earned zero our way. Partner held the ♦10 & said he did not want to waste it ! I told him I was phoning welfare & having his partner baby sitting license revoked.

            Suits have a pecking order also . Granovetter wrote an entire book on the subject of the "obvious switch" . For those who do not play the "obvious switch" principle there are still suits which are deemed to be the obvious switch. My partner & I were competing in diamonds & the opponents out bid us with the spade suit & landed in a 3♠ partial. The board was 3-3-3-4 with no redeeming features. Declarer drew trump & partner showed out on the 3rd round & I was in with my trump. We competed in diamonds so the obvious switch looking at the board was diamonds . Therefore baby sitting duties is to warn partner of the obvious switch. My partner who has been playing for 40 years discarded a high club ( upside down ) . Therefore,  I switched to a diamond right into her ♦AQ !  Partner held ♦1098x so has an easy ♦ discard to get me off the "obvious switch". The obvious switch is a way of partner & you to be on the same wavelength. Grannovetor goes through the trouble of carefully defining the "obvious switch" conditions in his book but Bridge common sense reaches the same conclusion.

            In Calgary recently , reading the table & board to determine the obvious switch again reared its head. The opponents arrived at 3NT after a 1♠ opening bid by partner. The dummy was ♠Qxx ♥K ♦AKJ109x ♣Qxx . Declarer won the spade lead with the king & led a diamond. Partner showed out & so will have only one discard before declarer was ducking a diamond to the queen ( to prevent further signaling ) . You look at the board from partner's perspective & the "obvious switch" should be the heart suit. Declarer has the black suit Aces with nothing in hearts. Her first discard should be a warning with the obvious switch in mind. A discouraging ♥ was played so partner got it right & switched to a ♣ from her ♣KJxx & 3NT went for +200. At many tables , a spade was discarded & partner went wrong & made the obvious ♥ switch for -600. Baby sitting partner & the obvious switch go hand in hand . Know the conditions for the "obvious switch" without going whole hog & playing Granovettors entire obvious switch signaling structure. You just put yourself in partner's place & say to yourself - what is the obvious switch ?

            My partner & I were defending 4♥ & I had bid spades during the auction. The board was ♠xxx ♥AKx ♦J9x ♣KJxx so on the 3rd trump originally holding ♠J10x ♥xx ♦A7632 ♣xxx , he decided to encourage in the diamond suit. From my hand , the ♦7 was not clear cut to be a "wake up" signal so I reasoned why did he not make a discard in the "obvious switch suit". Accordingly I switched to a spade right into declarers ♠AQ & giving him the contract. Partner said he wanted to signal in diamonds so he could come through the spade suit for me. All well & good but there is a better way. Use the obvious suit itself & discard the ♠spade jack . This is a top of sequence discard which gives me an accurate picture of the spade suit around the table. This "top of sequence" signal  has the same effect as signaling in diamonds as I am forced to switch to diamonds or return passively. Baby sitting partner means using the clearest signal possible. Guessing the size of spots is a hazardous defensive occupation especially with declarer false carding to mess up your signals.