Friday, April 13, 2007 10:49 AM

Hand Evaluation - Partnership ( Invites )

PITBULLS:

Bridge bidding works best when the partnership element of the game is preserved. When one partner fails to make an invitational bid when her hand calls for it , she is essentially playing single handed & master minding. She is in effect saying "I am making the decision for the partnership"  so I do not need your input. A good rule to remember for minor suit slam invites is can we make 4NT ? If 4NT is a nice safe resting spot , pulling 3NT as a slam try is an excellent way to go.

What about other invitational auctions ? You hold ♠x ♥Axxx ♦1098x ♣AQ10x , partner opens 1♠ so you bid 1NT. Partner bids 2♣ so now what ? A simple 2♣ rebid can hold values up to a hand just under a strong jump shift so which is it ? One way you will never find out is the single handed bid of passing. There are some  11 HCP hands that opener could hold where a grand slam could be cold. ♠Axxxxx ♥x ♦A ♣Kxxxx. You play 2♦ as a systemic one round force so you try this to test the waters. You are rich in controls ( 2 ½ quick tricks ) so you are very suit orientated. If you had softer values suitable for NT you would keep the bidding open with 2NT.

Respecting the vulnerability is another reason for keeping the bidding open. This is a bidding safety play or taking out insurance against missing a vulnerable game. You hold ♠Jxx ♥KQxx ♦Ax ♣KQ109 vul , partner passes 1^st seat. They open 1♠  so since partner is a passed hand you judge that staying out of the auction is a prudent approach. They bid 2♠ but partner surprises you by bidding 3♦ vulnerable vrs not. Making a single handed decision for the partnership by passing is silly. Surely with partner bidding 3♦ vul , you can make 4♦ with your unannounced 15 HCP. So you bid 3♠ to keep the bidding open & investigate. The opponents have announced maybe 9 cards & 10 HCP’s in spades so you are playing with a 30 HCP deck with you holding 14 of them ! Partner bids 5♦  with ♠x ♥Jx ♦KJ1098xx ♣Axx . It is not beyond the realm of possibility that partner holds ♠x ♥Ax ♦Q1098xxx ♣Axx so a vul slam makes ! Actually the hand I actually held was ♠A10x ♥xx ♦QJ1098xx ♣x so the 3♠ bid elicits 3NT which is cold. Your RHO had psyched the bidding ! He held ♠KQxx ♥Jxxx ♦K ♣xxxx , playing Precision they open anything on the terrorist vulnerability.

Taking out insurance by inviting vulnerable games , crops up in many situations. You are vul vrs not with ♠KJxx ♥Axx ♦Axx ♣Kxx , RHO bids 1♦. You decide a 1NT overcall is best so RHO bids 2♦ & partner freely bids 2♠ vul. Lee Barton said it best with these hands. I am not good enough to know that a vulnerable partial is the exact spot to play this hand. Taking out insurance by inviting can not lose. Even when you play partners range as 0-8 by freely bidding vul , you take out insurance by inviting. You are either sacrificing for the hands that partner does not have his bid & getting to game if partner is in the 5-8 HCP hard to invite range of hands. Simple hand evaluation skills determines the strength of this hand in support of spades. Passing is arrogant saying that 2♠ is the right contract as I have determined from my side only you have nothing for your bid.

Single handed bidding can rear its ugly head in other ways. This is when you decide to invite , partner hears you but you bid your hand again anyway. Against a decent team you hold ♠KJxxx ♥AKxx ♦Ax ♣AQ . Despite your 5-4 , you have 10 HCP in the minors with a reasonably balanced hand. Vul vrs not it might be a good idea to get the bidding off to the best start with a 2NT opener. Now if the nv opponents crawl into your auction partner has a reasonable idea of your hand. Your hand is not single suit orientated anyway so rebidding 2♠ after a 2♦ response does not really describe your hand very well.

Single handed bidding by not inviting ends all auctions. By inviting you even have the satisfaction of “blame transfer” . One of the worst auctions I have seen in a long time was one partner singlehanded decided not to invite. ♠AK ♥Axx ♦Axxx ♣QJxx & partner opens 1♠. You bid 2♣ & partner bids 2♦ which you raise to 3♦. Partner bids 3NT . After long thought , you decide to make the decision for the partnership & pass. With this hand is 4NT ever going to go down ? Partner misbid with the 3NT but now you have given her a 2^nd chance. A pass is so unilaterally final.

Inviting & the notion of giving partner “leeway” are very similar concepts. The auctions goes 1♥ by your partner & you respond 1♠. They bid a NT in the sandwich position & partner bids 2♥ , you have 12 HCP so now what ? Yes , partner is showing a weak distributional hand by bidding in front of you & she failed to double 1NT. Should you give partner lots of leeway & decide 2♥ is the limit of the two hands ? Partner still needs to “bid her hand” so you do not get jammed by the opponents bidding their minor fit. A decision to pass 2♥ with 12 HCP is singlehanded bidding. What does it hurt to throw the ball back into partners court with a 3♥ bid ? Bridge is still a partnership game. You pass & partner makes 5 as partner was not as weak as you thought she was.

Trusting partner’s judgment with invitational auctions is the very essence of partnership Bridge. Established partnerships are on usually on the same wavelength with understandings & systems. However , you must be able to trust partner with invitational auctions. Playing with weak partners , you must do the bidding for both sides of the table. This relegates Bridge bidding to a series of lucky or unlucky guesses.