2007-12-21 01:58

Hand Evaluation – Suits ( Source of Tricks )

PITBULLS:

Garazzo says Bridge is a game of suits. One of his many reasons for making this statement is that good long suits are a source of tricks. Evaluating quality of suits is a hand evaluation skill. Standard Bridge bidding is ineffective in showing quality of suits as HCP totaling has priority. Bidding shows length of suits & HCP’s but says nothing of the quality of the suit as a source of tricks. In other words , partner is left in the dark with normal bidding as you may be hiding a source of tricks from her.

One way experts have got around this problem is to have an understanding that a leap in NT is based on playability. This term usually means we have a long running suit ready to go. Gambling 3NT , jump Q bids & jump rebids to 3NT tell partner we have a source of tricks with a long suit rather than HCP’s. There is another place you should not hide good long suits as a source of tricks & this is when the opponents have pre-empted. Pre-empts put pressure on partner so gambling that partner holds around 7 HCP’s is a good strategy.

You have ♠Qxxx ♥Ax ♦AKQJxx ♣x & they open 2♠. A mere 3♦ overcall does not describe your source of tricks. You have 7 tricks with a good possibility of 8 in a NT contract. Placing partner with 7 HCP’s due to the pre-empt rule , you should overcall 3NT as a practical bid. This bid is a gamble but a calculated one. Overcalling 3♦ is a gamble also as you are hiding your source of tricks from partner. Missing a game is the result of your 3♦ overcall “gamble”.

I was playing with a partner the other day who held ♠Ax ♥KJ10x ♦x ♣AKQJ10x , vul vrs not with a 1♦ opener to her left. Hand evaluation comes into play immediately as you have 18 HCP’s with a source of tricks. My partner chose a simple 2♣ overcall which was passed around to the opening bidder who re-opened with 2♦. She now bid 2♥ which bought the contract unfortunately making 5 !! . I held two queens & a jack for her but I could not visualize such a hand for a mere overcall.

Modern bidding has got away from the notion that you double showing a hand too strong to overcall . However , this hand must be an exception. Overcalling with this hand may show 18 HCP’s but it hides the source of tricks with the quality of the club suit. The overcall also hides your 4 card major. Partner should double going in. As luck will have it , I will bid 2♥ so the auction proceeds with a diamond Q bid fishing for a small slam rather than missing a vul game as we did with a 2♣ overcall..

Gordon Campbell & partner were in 6NT at the San Francisco nationals when one held ♠Qxxx ♥xx ♦AKQJ109 ♣x opposite a demand two bid in hearts & clubs across the table. Unfortunately this contract went down when partner held a ♦ void & the ♠ queen was not a hand entry. Again this accident was caused by the inadequacy of Bridge bidding which is HCP orientated rather than suit based. There is no place in Bridge bidding to show this kind of suit. You must evaluate your hand with its source of tricks & insist on diamonds as trump. This suit equals control of the auction. 7♦ makes on this hand so you can guess the IMPS lost for playing 6NT going down.