Wednesday,
November 29, 2006 4:20 AM
Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Solo Artists )
PITBULLS :
One of the most aggravating partners for me in Bridge is
the “solo artist” . They believe that the game of
Bridge was designed for them to “fly solo” . Partner
is only needed to lay down a nice dummy. Solo artists like their name implies , make the
decisions for the partnership. Quite often its
them jumping to game or to slam or overcalling when they have a takeout
double. They take single handed
sacrifices ( pseudo of course ) when they
have 8 card suits rather than let partner in on the secret at a lower level. They make single handed
decisions at high levels
( play hero ) instead of taking
their plus .They take dangerous risks like playing or defending XX
redoubled contracts without the balance of power.
They make high risk penalty
doubles or balances without
input from partner.
They do not recognize misfit auctions
& just bid so go for a number. They avoid lead directing doubles like the plague, preferring just
bidding at the game level instead. They make dangerous
penalty doubles that result in partials turning into vulnerable
games. They miss the point that Bridge is a partnership game or worse they do not care.
One of their habits that I have noticed , they conceal the true nature of their hand from partner
& the opponents almost at all
costs. When they have a pre-empt that most people would make a jump overcall , they overcall at the one level. This is to
mislead the opponents , of course. Partner now makes wrong decisions in competitive auctions so
doubles the opponents. Disaster , because partner
mislead her in the first instance. I watched a player vulnerable vrs not with this hand ♠xxx ♥x ♦xx
♣AKJ1098x bid 2♣
rather than 3 when the auction went 1♥-P-1♠-2♣ !!!!! . If thus hand does not qualify for a vul vrs not pre-empt , I do not know what does.
Solo artists have no regard for opening bids as it is
of no consequence
whether partner knows if you have
what you advertised. Susan gave an example of a hand recently by a known “solo
artist” . ♠x ♥A10xxxx ♦KJxxx ♣x Vul vrs not in 1st seat ( Thursday nite IMPS)
he opened 1♥. The opponents competed in the auction up to the 3 level ( passing partner )
before it got around to him again so he freely bids 3♦ . This vul vrs
not bidding obviously announces to his partner
that he has 8 HCP’s , short of a quick trick for an
opening bid & poor suit quality
in both his suits . Correct ?
Same solo artist who holds this hand . ♠KQ109xx ♥KQ109x ♦void ♣xx . Everybody vul so LHO opens 1♣ , RHO bids 1♦ so what do you
bid ? There are a multitude of hands that describe a two suited hand in the majors. You can bid a jump Michaels of 4♦ & describe
your hand in one shot . You can bid 2♣ which can
show a Michaels Q bid by partnership understanding . 2♦ is natural with
most established partnerships. You could even bid a sandwich 1NT or 2NT if
that’s your style. You could double
to announce the unbid suits.
Our solo artist decided to conceal his two suited hand from partner by
overcalling 1♠. I think maybe he wanted to get both suits in to play the hand ?
I bid 1NT ,
my partner bid 3NT. True to your nature you decide to fly solo & back in 4♥ to now describe
your hand at the 4 level when you could have at the 2 level..
This gets doubled & goes one down since partner tables a truly nice dummy ♠x ♥Jxxx ♦KQ109x
♣xxx . The problem though is the
opponents only have 7 tricks in NT so are destined for –500 or –200 themselves.
Taking partner out of the picture by
flying solo got what it deserved , a cold bottom in matchpoints or –10 in IMPS.
If you bid your hand properly , you may buy this hand in 3♥ making as your partner has input. What if
partner came down with 2-1 in the majors with wasted cards in the minors ? 3NT goes down & 4♥ goes for a
telephone number. Solo
artists are playing some game but it does not resemble the game
of Bridge. Playing with a poor partner , you may
resort to this style but it is insulting. Maybe it’s my advanced years
, but I cannot tolerate
this style of Bridge . They say this style is justified as it “creates action” to win matchpoints/IMPS . This so called “modern garbage bidding” . bridge is a bidders game so
single handed tactics are magically allowed . Single handed bidding was
considered wrong bidding for all the years that I have played the game. I feel
this is just an excuse/rationalization
for Solo artists. I want no part of it.
Some solo
artists come by their trade naturally. They usually are decent
players who are used to playing with weaker
partners for a long period of
time. They are so used to their partner “dropping the ball” , they have developed their own single
handed style. They do not even realize
that their bidding style has just become taking random shots & hoping
that partner has the right cards. They do not look for clues given by partner from the other side of
the table. They do not even try to solicit input
from partner. ♠Ax ♥Qx ♦KQJxx ♣QJxx & partner opens 1♥ so you bid 2♦ which gets doubled. Partner passes RHO bids 2♠ which you pass
around to partner who bids 3♦. You now decide to bid 3♠ Western Q but partner bids 4♠.
Partner is an expert who would Q bid in rank order , you know you are
off the ♣AK. So you bid 6♦ anyway & they cash the ♣AK ! You
have not trained yourself to trust & listen
to partner.
You hold ♠AKQ1098 ♥J109 ♦10x ♣Kx & partner opens 1♦. You bid 1♠ & partner bids 2♣. You now have two ways
to go. You can describe your hand to partner or hide
your hand by making an ambiguous Q bid or forcing
call. You play “recovering the strong jump shift” so a 3♠ bid stands out
to show your good hand & good suit. Instead you muddle the auction with a 2♥ bid &
partner bids 3♦ showing a 6-4 . You now bid 3♠ &
partner carries on to 4♠. You now start guessing
partner’s hand as you make all decisions from your side of the table
so with your 13 HCP , you drive the hand to 6 when
partner had no input into this auction.
This goes 2 down & another 12 IMPs flies away. You never showed your intentions earlier by bidding 3♠
originally to bring partner into
the picture.
Solo
artists drag their partner & team mates through the mud because they are
getting the game confused with single handed
pastimes like poker. The skill in
partnership Bridge is making correct decisions after you have solicited input from your partner. Solo artists are a strange group. Like thrill seekers, they must control the action
& everybody else is irrelevant. Narcissism in a partnership game like
Bridge does not mix very well. They will take one more bid thereby “bidding
your hand for you” so they foster a lack of trust.
The people with whom they play are not
partners in the true sense of the word but just dummys ( pun intended )
.