Friday, April 23, 2010

Hand Evaluation - Visualization ( U.N. )

PITBULLS:

        The skills of the translators at the U.N. and Bridge players are very similar.  The process of bidding in Bridge is translating/interpreting  the language of bidding into elements called HCP's & hand patterns ( distribution) . Think about it. Partner opens 1♠ , you respond 1NT & partner bids 2♥. You interpret the bidding as follows : as an average for openers hand 5-4-2-2 or 5-4-3-1 hand pattern & 13 HCP's. This is of course is only a sample of hands she could hold but it is the starting point from which you base your bidding decision. Another example , responder bids 1♠ & rebids 2♠. Opener interprets that bid to mean a 6-3-2-2 or 6-3-3-1 distribution & about 8 HCP's. You develop this interpretive/translation skill as a Bridge player to become an effective bidder.

Do not stop there !    To become expert at this game you must transfer this translation skill to all facets of the game of Bridge. Other than bidding itself, you must relate to the bidding in declarer play , defense & opening leads. In declarer play , you overcall 2♦ to their 1♠ opening bid. It gets passed back to opener who bids 2♥. Partner eventually bids 3♦ so you are the declarer. The fact that opener has announced around 13 HCP & a 5-4-2-2 or 5-4-3-1 distribution , guides your declarer play. You must interpret their bidding to play the hand effectively. You know declarers’ HCP's & distribution as a starting point for the success of your contract.

Defense is all about interpreting their bidding & your bidding. Their auction and the opening lead gives you the blueprint to follow for defending. You ask questions so you have a clear idea of their bidding so you can translate it into hand patterns & HCP's. The opening lead hits the table. You notice the spot card partner lead which signals her length in that suit. You plug that into a hand pattern so you immediately know by looking at the dummy & your hand how many cards in that suit declarer has ! You have done your U.N. translators job with the opening lead & translating their bidding. You know the expected HCP's in the opponents hand from looking at the dummy & relating back to the bidding. This is the HCP translating job required on defense.

        Books on opening leads give you standard leads depending on the card combinations in your hand. Throw the book out of the window when there has been bidding.  Their bidding & your bidding takes precedence over everything for opening leads. You translate the bidding into hand patterns first then you determine your opening lead . There is no more intensive hand pattern translating job in Bridge than opening leads. Alex Fowlie held this hand ♠xxx ♥A10xx ♦10xxx ♣Kx . The auction went 1♥ to his right & 1NT to his left which partner doubled. Opener rebid 2♥ which went around to partner who doubled again. Alex made the correct call of converting for penalty . Now what is your opening lead ?

        The bidding is your blueprint . LHO bid 1NT which denies 4 spades in their system. You now enumerate the spade possibilities. The dummy will hold no spades , 1 , 2 or 3 spades. From this simple realization , you can deduce that declarer has 4 or 3 spades. In other words , out of declarers 13 cards 9 or 10 of them are in the majors. Throw out no spades as partner would have to hold 6 which is not consistent with the bidding. Partner could hold 5 spades though & the dummy one with declarer holding 4 spades. The board could hold 2 spades so the spade pattern is 4-4-3-2 with partner & declarer holding 4♠ each. Regardless of partners spade holding AJxx or KQxx , a spade lead will assist declarer as she is behind the suit. By leading a spade,  you are just creating an entry for declarer & giving declarer timing to establish her suit. What about the best case for you that the board holds 3 spades ? This is negated by the possibility of partner only holding 3♠ which means the pattern is 4-3-3-3 with declarer holding 4♠ ! On this auction , you know that declarer has either 4 ( most probable ) or 3 spades . A spade lead cannot be right. With a spade doubleton or singleton on the board , you want to lead another suit so partner can switch to a trump for you before spades are lead by declarer.

What about HCP’s ? Partner should average around 18 HCP for the 2^nd double with defense measured in quick tricks. You have 7 HCP so you outgun them 25 to 15 on average. This means that declarer has a 10 HCP opener so must be quite shapely maybe 6-4 in the majors. The board is coming down with a minimum 5 or 6 with partner’s HCP’s lying over the meager assets. It is important for you not to make a lead which in effect gives a needless entry to the board. Declarer is going to be very short in entries being outgunned like this. Translating the bidding into HCP’s is another reason why a spade lead is dangerous.

        OK a spade & a trump lead are obviously out, so you choose between a diamond or the ♣K . The ♣K beats the contract for +500 & a diamond only +200 . On the club lead you hit partner with ♣AQ109x with four small on the board. Three rounds of clubs with declarer ruffing the 3rd while you discard a spade. Declarer decides to establish her spade suit so she plays ♠A & small won by partners ♠K. Partner gives you a spade ruff so you return a diamond which partner wins & returns the 4th club for the uppercut. 1♠ , 3 trump , 2♣ , & 1♦ for +500  and partner had a minimum 2nd double of only 17 HCP ! Partner had 3 ½ quick tricks though which is why he made a 2^nd double on his minimum.

The Bridge World magazine is primarily about Bridge bidding. They have a Master Solvers club which is all about interpreting bidding. Opening leads are including in their bidding quiz. Why ? Opening leads are a bidding skill. Translating the opponents bidding into a hand pattern determines your opening lead. This is an opening lead basic before you make your opening lead.