Monday, October 19, 2009

Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( range ambiguity )

PITBULLS:

        In the English language , we try to avoid ambiguity or the communication is useless . In English , we resolve ambiguity from the context in which the word was used . We make sense of the word from how the person is using the word in her sentences . Language basics.

    In Bridge bidding , it is no different from a natural language . You avoid ambiguity at all costs . The most common ambiguous auction is what I call "range ambiguity" . You bid an 11 HCP hand the same way you would  an 18 HCP or  vice versa . An experienced play introduced "range ambiguity" by bidding this hand ♠KJ1098x ♥x ♦Ax ♣AKxx . She opened 1♠ & partner bid a forcing 1NT . She chose a 2♣ rebid & partner made a BART 2♦ bid. Before making your bid , ask yourself how you would describe a good 11 HCP hand that you decided to open. Check this 11 HCP hand against the range of the hand that you have & bid 3♠ to resolve the ambiguity for partner. You have a hand within the Goren 16-18 HCP with a good 6 card suit.

    In Bridge bidding , the person "in the know" must resolve Bridge ambiguity . Partner opens 1♥ & you have ♠A109x ♥AQxx ♦AKx ♣xx so you bid a Jacoby 2NT . Partner bids 3♠ so you know the 30 HCP rules is in effect . You bid a serious 3NT & partner complies with a 4♣ Q bid . This is all you need to know. Do not make an ambiguous Q bid as you should take control of the hand. You know that if partner has a minimum 13 HCP hand , you have 26 HCP of the 30 HCP deck & you have a spade ace as a bonus. The most minimum opener should produce slam unless you muddy the water & insist that partner control the auction via a Q bid . Do not leave up to partner what you can do yourself when you have the information to do the job yourself.

        Partner opens 1♦ & you hold a mere 23 HCP with a 5 card club suit . Using the 40 HCP benchmark , you have 36 HCP indentified immediately. Partner rebids 4NT so how do you resolve the ambiguity ? The best way is to partner in the picture & transfer the decision to her side. In standard bidding , there are a number of quantitative bids to describe huge hands in the HCP sense. If partner has a minimum ( 12 HCP ) , you have 35 HCP so a grand slam in NT is against the odds unless an unexpected source of sticks. You should tell partner what hand you hold by leaping to 5NT. Standard usage of the bid is a grand slam try . Bid 7 NT with a maximum or a source of tricks otherwise sign off in 4NT . Beginners with big hands try to resolve the ambiguity of the situation through Blackwood. The number of king & Aces does not do the job in quantitative auctions. Partner can have A, A , & K an 11 count so you have all the Aces & King but no source of tricks & only a combined total of 35 HCP when you need around 37 to claim a grand slam in NT. An experienced person asked for Aces & hearing that a king was missing  gave up on a possible 37 HCP grand when opener could have had a 5 card diamond suit & fitted the 5 card suit as a source of tricks. 4 NT Blackwood is an ambiguous bid & leaves partner out of the decision making process until 5 NT part of KCB  is bid. The person who opened , had 14 HCP with texture  so could have just bid 7NT upon hearing the 5NT as she could not have more on the bidding.

     Communication in Bridge is avoiding ambiguity . Three ambiguous situations were created with the above hands for huge IMP losses on all of them. The first hand  with 16-18 was bid like an 11 HCP hand , the 2nd hand a needless 4♠ Q bid just added ambiguity when the player had enough information to make the decision herself & the last hand an inappropriate tool was used ( Blackwood ) when a 5NT bid initially would have invited 7 quantitatively & invite partner to the party.