Action X's appear in a variety of sequences. Mostly instigated by responders to opening bids, they can roughly be described as communicating the following: "Partner, this is our hand, I have invitational strength but no clear direction, please help"
Responder usually has some values and has marginally described the nature of his/her hand previously in the auction.
Witness this: you hold AJ,KT5,AJ43,T932 and open 1D. Lefty overcalls 1H, partner makes a neg X and rho bids 2H. You pass having no clear call and partner X's. Given your heart cards, this X is not made on a heart stack. Partner is saying "I have invitational strength and have no clear direction as to where this hand belongs".
The other day, partner held this hand. AJ3,AT,KQ875,943 and opened 1D. I bid 1N and it gets passed to the balancer who bid 2H. I X that contract. I surmise that my X was not based on a heart stack, I denied four of them with my 1N bid. Thereby my hand is limited to 6-10 hcp. Presumably if I want to continue this auction I have about 10 hcp. So this X also says "We have the majority of the points here, pard, we need to compete, but I have no clear direction for this hand, can you help?". Another auction might be (1H) 1N (P) P, (2H) P (P) X. In this case, advancer has clearly defined his/her hand somewhat --less than invitational strength, and certainly no appreciable spades. Certainly the 1N overcaller holds all the hearts. So this bid is saying "We have the majority of the points, but I have no clear direction, what are your thoughts, partner --we should be competing somewhere".
With all these X's it is easy for opener to convert to penalty if opener has a really good holding in opponent's suit. It's not so easy if opener has a marginal holding in opponent's suit. With the marginal holding, opener has to decide whether to go for the golden 200 at mp or whether to risk 2HX vul making (perhaps on less than optimum defense) at imps. In other words, watch the type of scoring and vulnerability when making these decisions.
With the hand up above AJ3,AT,KQ875,943 (1D 1N, P (2H) X) you may wish to competed to 2N at mp. (+120 is a great score) and you probably won't beat 2H more than one trick. (+100 nv). At imps, one might want to compete to 3D which has less risk of going down!
These auctions are important to practice within you partnerships and your low level defense needs to be solid. I made a "no direction X" once against vul at mp in a major event. I tracked a trump on the opening lead and walked away with +200 and almost all the matchpoints. My friend at the other table had the same auction, tracked her minor suit and opponents scored up 2SX making.
Look for opportunities to field these auctions! Fielded right and defended right, these auctions will get you lots of mp and imps. Trust me, I know.
Warning! The discussion above has nothing to do with what folks call "Do Something Intelligent Doubles". Please don't use that phrase with me. My doubles are clearly defined as to shape and strength. I may ask for "cooperation" dependent on what you hold but you won't have any guesses as to "what's intelligent" for the most part. I've seen huge errors made on this concept. Define your doubles, precisely in every sequence possible! Makes "so-called intelligent" decisions" a lot easier!
I hope this is helpful! And please ask if you have further questions.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Roman Keycard Blackwood-Beyond the Basics
Hi all,
One of the first conventions that usually gets embellished once we move from the novice level to the serious player is our ace asking convention Blackwood. Most of us quickly adopt an ace asking convention which includes the trump K and we call that convention Roman Key Card. We now consider the trump K the fifth ace and define our responses as if there were five key cards in the deck --four aces and the trump K.
There are two major types of response categories to 4N ace ask--0314 and 1430. The former shows zero or three key cards with the first step: 5C. The latter shows 1 or 4 key cards with the first step 5C. Since the partnership often signs off after "zero" responses, it makes sense that the key card positive responses remain the lower steps! Why? because further queries about the Q of trump can then be made at lower levels. The last two responses, 5H and 5S are the same in both methods: i.e. two key cards w/out the Q versus two key cards with the Q.
So with the trump K already located with the partnership or the opponents, advanced partnerships often play "specific K" responses to 5N, king ask. Responder bids K's up the line. Imagine how helpful it would be if I held AQJT(x)(x) of clubs and partner bids 6C! If instead my other length side suit is diamonds, I can continue asking for the dK by bidding 6D. "I heard about your CK, do you have the DK also?" The asker continues asking. Respond "yes" to the specific DK query by bidding 7. Respond "no" by signing off in six. Remember asking for K's promises all the key cards. If all the key cards are promised with the 5N query responder has a right to blast to the grand holding a solid side source of tricks -for example Qx,AQxx,AKQJT9,x in a heart contract. If my partner bid 5N, K ask with the hand above, I'd just bid the grand.
Over the 4N responses (5c,5d) there is often still room to determine whether the partnership holds the trump Q. For consistency sake and to pass along the most information possible, answers to the Q query are the same as answering to specific K's. Bid the next suit up to ask. If responder has the trump Q and the CK ,he/she bids 6C. If his/her cheapest K is the diamond K, he/she bids 6D. Pretty slick how that works. No Q? Sign off in the trump suit. For the Q ask, the partnership does not promise all the key cards, so be careful about blasting to the grand. The query could be made trying to figure out if the contract belongs in 5 or 6.
There are actually ways to show useful voids during key card queries. Most universal is a 5N answer to 4N query meaning even number of key cards and a useful void. With an odd number of key cards, bid the void suit at the six level.
Hope this is helpful,that you always get to the right level in your high level contracts and there is never a surprise when dummy hits the table. Please ask if you have further questions.
P.S. If you engage in an ace asking auction and out of the blue a bid comes up that you don't recognize, it probably means that partner couldn't bid 5N asking for Kings because he/she wants to play no trump. Here's an example in a confirmed hearts auction.
1H 2N! (Jacoby), 4H 4N (ace asking), 5C 5S --now in this auction spades is not K ask, it is not queen ask and no one starts queue bidding at this point. Perhaps partner is saying --bid 5N, that's where I think this contract belongs. Opener bids 5N and it should go all pass.
One of the first conventions that usually gets embellished once we move from the novice level to the serious player is our ace asking convention Blackwood. Most of us quickly adopt an ace asking convention which includes the trump K and we call that convention Roman Key Card. We now consider the trump K the fifth ace and define our responses as if there were five key cards in the deck --four aces and the trump K.
There are two major types of response categories to 4N ace ask--0314 and 1430. The former shows zero or three key cards with the first step: 5C. The latter shows 1 or 4 key cards with the first step 5C. Since the partnership often signs off after "zero" responses, it makes sense that the key card positive responses remain the lower steps! Why? because further queries about the Q of trump can then be made at lower levels. The last two responses, 5H and 5S are the same in both methods: i.e. two key cards w/out the Q versus two key cards with the Q.
So with the trump K already located with the partnership or the opponents, advanced partnerships often play "specific K" responses to 5N, king ask. Responder bids K's up the line. Imagine how helpful it would be if I held AQJT(x)(x) of clubs and partner bids 6C! If instead my other length side suit is diamonds, I can continue asking for the dK by bidding 6D. "I heard about your CK, do you have the DK also?" The asker continues asking. Respond "yes" to the specific DK query by bidding 7. Respond "no" by signing off in six. Remember asking for K's promises all the key cards. If all the key cards are promised with the 5N query responder has a right to blast to the grand holding a solid side source of tricks -for example Qx,AQxx,AKQJT9,x in a heart contract. If my partner bid 5N, K ask with the hand above, I'd just bid the grand.
Over the 4N responses (5c,5d) there is often still room to determine whether the partnership holds the trump Q. For consistency sake and to pass along the most information possible, answers to the Q query are the same as answering to specific K's. Bid the next suit up to ask. If responder has the trump Q and the CK ,he/she bids 6C. If his/her cheapest K is the diamond K, he/she bids 6D. Pretty slick how that works. No Q? Sign off in the trump suit. For the Q ask, the partnership does not promise all the key cards, so be careful about blasting to the grand. The query could be made trying to figure out if the contract belongs in 5 or 6.
There are actually ways to show useful voids during key card queries. Most universal is a 5N answer to 4N query meaning even number of key cards and a useful void. With an odd number of key cards, bid the void suit at the six level.
Hope this is helpful,that you always get to the right level in your high level contracts and there is never a surprise when dummy hits the table. Please ask if you have further questions.
P.S. If you engage in an ace asking auction and out of the blue a bid comes up that you don't recognize, it probably means that partner couldn't bid 5N asking for Kings because he/she wants to play no trump. Here's an example in a confirmed hearts auction.
1H 2N! (Jacoby), 4H 4N (ace asking), 5C 5S --now in this auction spades is not K ask, it is not queen ask and no one starts queue bidding at this point. Perhaps partner is saying --bid 5N, that's where I think this contract belongs. Opener bids 5N and it should go all pass.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
1S 1N!, 2C -Problematic in Standard and 2/1 Systems
Remember when you could open this hand 1S (AKxxx,Axx,xx,xxx)? Partner bids 1N promising 6-9 and denying three spades. Cool, there was nothing else to do but pass this hand. Not true once we’ve learned 2/1 auctions. Now the 1N forcing bid could include three card spade support and any hand not worth a game forcing call e.g. up to 11 points. This forces opener to keep the bidding open by rebidding the longest three-card minor, 2C in the example hand above. Yuck, do you really want to suggest xxx as a trump suit? –and on a horrible day have partner lead it against a diamond contract?
The plot thickens when we are also forced to rebid 2C on strong shapely hands that value less than strong jump shift actions: AKxxx, xx, K, AKxxx. Although you’re more than happy to offer up AKxxx as a trump suit, does partner know from your basic sequence that you have almost a strong jump shift hand forcing to game?
The sequence 1S 1N, 2C auctions is one of the least defined auctions in 2/1 systems. This makes decisions as responder very difficult. For example, holding x, Axx, xxx, Qxxxxx one could easily pass AKxxx,Axx,xx,xxx and be satisfied. However, should partner hold : AKxxx, xx, K, AKxxx, you’re now missing a pretty good club slam if you pass.
It takes a lot of partnership work to gauge opener and responder actions in these situations. Imagine an auction such as 1C 1S, 2N. Isn’t opener’s hand defined between a very narrow range? Responder can pretty much gauge the potential of the hand. Not so with 1S 1N, 2C auctions where opener can have an extreme range of high card values and black suit shape.
When I was discussing this confusing situation with my mentor, he mentioned that strong club systems alleviate some of these issues— the powerful hands start with an artificial 1C bid. However. strong club sequences have problems of their own.
So, I offer you some parameters on which 3C bids can be made as responder. Since one could bid 2S on most hands for 5/2 spade fits, the minimum 3C hand should have lots of clubs. Lots of 3C hands contain only one spade. One should also have an ace somewhere in a non-trump suit to cover losers. Here are some examples:
1) x, Axx, xxx, Qxxxxx
2) x, Axx, xxxx, Kxxxx
Unfortunately, since no other bid is available but 3C to show less than game forcing hands, the 3C bid could also contain all invitational hands opposite a minimum that is not appropriate for no trump e.g. x, KQx, Jxx, KQxxxx,
Bottom line, these sequences are difficult, caution should be taken that one doesn’t get too high on trash and not high enough on potential game/slam hands. Bidding is not an exact science –however if you work on these parameters within your partnerships you should get as good at them as some of the other expert players who routinely field these auctions.
1S 1N!, 2d auctions have the same problems as those mentioned above. However, similar auctions that start with 1H are less problematic. As responder one can delineate the “courtesy bump” from the invitational hands with the “impossible 2S” calls, the latter being the stronger.
1) 1H 1N!, 2D 2S! (invitational hand with diamonds)
2) 1H 1N!, 2D 3D (less than an invitational hand with diamonds)
If your partnership is ready, you might try reversing the 1C/1S bid with 5/5 hands or play Bart relays. These treatments truly need partnership discussion and work! In the meantime, I hope the above discussion piece provided the need/reason for such work!
The plot thickens when we are also forced to rebid 2C on strong shapely hands that value less than strong jump shift actions: AKxxx, xx, K, AKxxx. Although you’re more than happy to offer up AKxxx as a trump suit, does partner know from your basic sequence that you have almost a strong jump shift hand forcing to game?
The sequence 1S 1N, 2C auctions is one of the least defined auctions in 2/1 systems. This makes decisions as responder very difficult. For example, holding x, Axx, xxx, Qxxxxx one could easily pass AKxxx,Axx,xx,xxx and be satisfied. However, should partner hold : AKxxx, xx, K, AKxxx, you’re now missing a pretty good club slam if you pass.
It takes a lot of partnership work to gauge opener and responder actions in these situations. Imagine an auction such as 1C 1S, 2N. Isn’t opener’s hand defined between a very narrow range? Responder can pretty much gauge the potential of the hand. Not so with 1S 1N, 2C auctions where opener can have an extreme range of high card values and black suit shape.
When I was discussing this confusing situation with my mentor, he mentioned that strong club systems alleviate some of these issues— the powerful hands start with an artificial 1C bid. However. strong club sequences have problems of their own.
So, I offer you some parameters on which 3C bids can be made as responder. Since one could bid 2S on most hands for 5/2 spade fits, the minimum 3C hand should have lots of clubs. Lots of 3C hands contain only one spade. One should also have an ace somewhere in a non-trump suit to cover losers. Here are some examples:
1) x, Axx, xxx, Qxxxxx
2) x, Axx, xxxx, Kxxxx
Unfortunately, since no other bid is available but 3C to show less than game forcing hands, the 3C bid could also contain all invitational hands opposite a minimum that is not appropriate for no trump e.g. x, KQx, Jxx, KQxxxx,
Bottom line, these sequences are difficult, caution should be taken that one doesn’t get too high on trash and not high enough on potential game/slam hands. Bidding is not an exact science –however if you work on these parameters within your partnerships you should get as good at them as some of the other expert players who routinely field these auctions.
1S 1N!, 2d auctions have the same problems as those mentioned above. However, similar auctions that start with 1H are less problematic. As responder one can delineate the “courtesy bump” from the invitational hands with the “impossible 2S” calls, the latter being the stronger.
1) 1H 1N!, 2D 2S! (invitational hand with diamonds)
2) 1H 1N!, 2D 3D (less than an invitational hand with diamonds)
If your partnership is ready, you might try reversing the 1C/1S bid with 5/5 hands or play Bart relays. These treatments truly need partnership discussion and work! In the meantime, I hope the above discussion piece provided the need/reason for such work!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Convention Card Development --Think Like a Bridge Player
Everyone knows teaching and sharing is not about teaching facts (ok, sometimes it is, but most of the time it isn't) . When you've been around A players a long time, you get into their heads and figure out how they think. I hope I share some of how A players think, otherwise, my sharing is really lacking in substance --
So, I offer the development team an effort at providing a structure for convention development and documentation --it's just a start --
Every player over 2000 mp will have their own favorite conventions and versions of them. Because one treatment has helped them one time beat the Lusky team, it will forever be inscribed in their prayer books and you won't be able to talk them out of that particular treatment. Remember, part of partnership development is keeping partner happy and even inferior methods are better than methods that are not discussed.
Whenever a structured partnership contemplates adding a new treatment to their card/system notes, they review the following --always. You should do likewise.
Name of convention and which version
Purpose
In comp strategies/Seat position rules
How to handle the bids the convention replaces
Caveats/Warnings
Example Sequences
Defense when others use the convention
Above that, the partnership usually does a "frequency versus memory overhead" assessment.
If the convention comes up once in five years, and takes 15% of brain power to remember it, well then, one might not want to add the treatment to your methods. That ratio is just too overbearing. One might want to adopt treatments in your early career that are portable to multiple partnerships.
Attached is a very basic attempt to define a drury convention. Telling your partner you want to play "drury" is like telling them you wish to play "bridge". There are so many versions, discussion is truly necessary. Likewise with most other conventions.
Enjoy.
DRURY AGREEMENTS
March 29, 2011
NAME: Reverse One-Way Drury
PURPOSE: To protect against getting too high opposite light third and fourth seat openings. Invitational sequences are replaced by a low-level 2C bid. Bail-outs, game tries and slam tries are based on confirming invitational values by passed hand in support of the opened major.
The drury query is sort of like Stayman. Temporarily, responder is in charge of the auction and opener, like Stayman is required to answer responder’s question. Responder may have passed a hand that has game-going values once a major suit fit is found but it’s up to responder to take the partnership there.
Light major suit openings in third seat are made to protect a passed 11 point hand where the partnership may still have up to 21 to 23 points combined. Light major suit openings are often psyched. Fourth seat openings may be light due to “rule of 15” calculations. Drury protects all of these openings from getting to the three level.
BASIC SEQUENCES-all bids require an alert:
2C by passed hand asks opener about the quality of his/her opening bid. Says nothing about clubs.
Responses: 2M –subminimum, I would not have opened this hand in first/second seat. 2D says nothing about diamonds but promises an opener in first or second seat. 4M I have game values opposite your promised invitational values. 3S slam invite, start Q bidding.
2N by opener is an offer to play, invites 3N.
3N by opener is an offer to play.
Any bid by either side between 2M and 3M is shortness –game try, of course.
IN-COMP TREATMENTS:
Drury is off over direct interference of any type. If you wish to show your invitational values for partner’s opener, use your regular methods (e.g. Q bid, XX’s, etc).
If there is interference at the two level after the 2C drury bid, 2M by opener is the weakest action. Pass is stronger. Opener is allowed to pass a weak hand over three level interference.
TREATMENTS OF BIDS THE CONVENTION REPLACES:
Drury bids replace 2C natural bids by passed hand. Those hands should start with 1N. A jump in clubs by a passed hand is invitational and implies six good clubs.
DEFENSE: Any X of a drury bid is take out for the other suits. Suit bids are natural.
EXAMPLES:
P 1M, 2C! 2D! I have a full opener, a hand I would have opened in first or second chair.
P 1M, 2C! 3M! I have a great hand, slam invite. Unless you have complete dog, please start Q bidding.
P 1M, 2C! 3C! I have a good hand and shortness in clubs. Watcha think responder?
(P) (1M), (2C!) X I have a TO bid of their major, please consider competing partner.
P 1H (1S) 2C natural non forcing.
CAVEATS/WARNINGS: Two-way (2 diamonds) drury gives up a valuable natural bid and allows the opponent easier choices when balancing. The “reverse” in the name is due to the fact that the 2M and 2D bids used to have opposite meanings than what is now mainstream.
If your partner neglects to alert your bid, treat your partner’s response as if you had bid drury. You are not allowed to take an action based on the fact that you did not hear an alert. That is unauthorized information.
So, I offer the development team an effort at providing a structure for convention development and documentation --it's just a start --
Every player over 2000 mp will have their own favorite conventions and versions of them. Because one treatment has helped them one time beat the Lusky team, it will forever be inscribed in their prayer books and you won't be able to talk them out of that particular treatment. Remember, part of partnership development is keeping partner happy and even inferior methods are better than methods that are not discussed.
Whenever a structured partnership contemplates adding a new treatment to their card/system notes, they review the following --always. You should do likewise.
Name of convention and which version
Purpose
In comp strategies/Seat position rules
How to handle the bids the convention replaces
Caveats/Warnings
Example Sequences
Defense when others use the convention
Above that, the partnership usually does a "frequency versus memory overhead" assessment.
If the convention comes up once in five years, and takes 15% of brain power to remember it, well then, one might not want to add the treatment to your methods. That ratio is just too overbearing. One might want to adopt treatments in your early career that are portable to multiple partnerships.
Attached is a very basic attempt to define a drury convention. Telling your partner you want to play "drury" is like telling them you wish to play "bridge". There are so many versions, discussion is truly necessary. Likewise with most other conventions.
Enjoy.
DRURY AGREEMENTS
March 29, 2011
NAME: Reverse One-Way Drury
PURPOSE: To protect against getting too high opposite light third and fourth seat openings. Invitational sequences are replaced by a low-level 2C bid. Bail-outs, game tries and slam tries are based on confirming invitational values by passed hand in support of the opened major.
The drury query is sort of like Stayman. Temporarily, responder is in charge of the auction and opener, like Stayman is required to answer responder’s question. Responder may have passed a hand that has game-going values once a major suit fit is found but it’s up to responder to take the partnership there.
Light major suit openings in third seat are made to protect a passed 11 point hand where the partnership may still have up to 21 to 23 points combined. Light major suit openings are often psyched. Fourth seat openings may be light due to “rule of 15” calculations. Drury protects all of these openings from getting to the three level.
BASIC SEQUENCES-all bids require an alert:
2C by passed hand asks opener about the quality of his/her opening bid. Says nothing about clubs.
Responses: 2M –subminimum, I would not have opened this hand in first/second seat. 2D says nothing about diamonds but promises an opener in first or second seat. 4M I have game values opposite your promised invitational values. 3S slam invite, start Q bidding.
2N by opener is an offer to play, invites 3N.
3N by opener is an offer to play.
Any bid by either side between 2M and 3M is shortness –game try, of course.
IN-COMP TREATMENTS:
Drury is off over direct interference of any type. If you wish to show your invitational values for partner’s opener, use your regular methods (e.g. Q bid, XX’s, etc).
If there is interference at the two level after the 2C drury bid, 2M by opener is the weakest action. Pass is stronger. Opener is allowed to pass a weak hand over three level interference.
TREATMENTS OF BIDS THE CONVENTION REPLACES:
Drury bids replace 2C natural bids by passed hand. Those hands should start with 1N. A jump in clubs by a passed hand is invitational and implies six good clubs.
DEFENSE: Any X of a drury bid is take out for the other suits. Suit bids are natural.
EXAMPLES:
P 1M, 2C! 2D! I have a full opener, a hand I would have opened in first or second chair.
P 1M, 2C! 3M! I have a great hand, slam invite. Unless you have complete dog, please start Q bidding.
P 1M, 2C! 3C! I have a good hand and shortness in clubs. Watcha think responder?
(P) (1M), (2C!) X I have a TO bid of their major, please consider competing partner.
P 1H (1S) 2C natural non forcing.
CAVEATS/WARNINGS: Two-way (2 diamonds) drury gives up a valuable natural bid and allows the opponent easier choices when balancing. The “reverse” in the name is due to the fact that the 2M and 2D bids used to have opposite meanings than what is now mainstream.
If your partner neglects to alert your bid, treat your partner’s response as if you had bid drury. You are not allowed to take an action based on the fact that you did not hear an alert. That is unauthorized information.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Hand Evaluation --Let me introduce you to the K & R
So someone tells you bridge is fun and you decide you want to learn to play. After all, you like playing cards in general. Your instructor sits down patiently and tells you that Aces are worth four points, Kings are worth three, etc. What he/she usually forgets to tell you, but what you find out later, is that this point count system is supposed to tell you the relative strength of the hand and help you in the bidding. So you learn to "open" hands with more than an average number of points in the deck per deal, usually 13 points.
As you evoke this rather simplistic hand evaluation technique, it becomes clear to you that this method is hopelessly inadequate. First off, barring a ruff, an A will take a trick, always. A king will only take a trick when the A is onside, i.e. half the time and risks getting ruffed. A "Q" is even more likely to become a nothing trick and if it's in rho's suit and lho hasn't raised, it's going to get ruffed out for sure. The proportions 4/3/2/1 just don't seem to be quite right. Thereby a hand such as this: AK,8732,A84,8742 and this: A874,7,87,AK8765 are given the same raw point count but the latter definitely has more trick-taking power. The raw point count technique definitely does not tell the whole story.
So if you're like most developing players, you're introduced to another evaluation strategy: the losing trick count. For most, losing trick count asks you to count one loser in each suit that is missing and A/K/Q. (Most experts make .5 loser adjustments for A vs Q but most "instructors" don't tell us that). Be that as it may, now hands like AK,8732,A84,8742 become eight loser hands and hands like A874,7,87,AK8765 become six loser hands and bidding decisions are made on these evaluations. This evaluation technique accounts for shape, but flattens out the honor cards A/K/Q and ignores J's completely to wit: A654,A65,A65,A65 and Q654,Q65,Q65,Q65 register the same 8 loser count (before the adjustments). Which hand would you rather have?
Thereby neither of the techniques above account for any card less than a J. Which hand would you rather have: AKT9,AT5,T93,K98 or this hand AK32,A32,432,K32? Would you rather have this six loser: A432,2,32,AK5432 or this six loser: AT98,T,T9,AKT9876? Or better yet this one: AJT9,J,JT,AKJ987.
Another example
This is "six" points (raw) but you can get four trick from it: KQJT9
This is "nine" points but only guarantees three tricks AKQ53
Luckily, we have very accomplished bridge players such as Kaplan/Rubens/Goldsmith who help us out of this dilemma. A very helpful tool for hand evaluation is the K & R hand evaluator applet:
http://www.jeff-goldsmith.org/cgi-bin/knr.cgi
I've used it tons as I learned the ins and outs of the trick-taking potential of my hands.
This hand evaluation tool adjusts the raw point count to something more realistic. The evaluator consistently correctly evaluates A/K's versus Q/J's. It accounts for shape as well. (incorporating losing trick count techniques). It adds the dimension of spot cards and adjusts if spot cards are present in long suits as opposed to short suits.
What is also remarkable about this tool is that it evaluates hands that might fit well opposite a possible hand partner may have. For example this hand: AKJT65,A65,A5,98 (K&R (AKJT76 A65 A5 98) = 20.00) is equal in strength to this hand AKQJT,A65,A54,98? (K&R (AKQJT A65 A54 98) = 20.00) Aren't both spade suits worth five tricks in general. Well "No!". Opposite Q, Q4,Q32,432,7432 hand number one will give you six tricks in the spade suit.
Here are some hands to help you test out the above theories. Figure out a raw point count, losing trick count and evaluator count. See what you get and see if the above phenom isn't presented in your outcome data. I can assure you it is!
Have fun.
A654,A65,A65,A65
Q654,Q65,Q65,Q65
AKT9,AT5,T93,K98
K432,QJ5,Q54,KJ5
AK43,T9,7,A78543
J432,Q9,K,KQ543
As you evoke this rather simplistic hand evaluation technique, it becomes clear to you that this method is hopelessly inadequate. First off, barring a ruff, an A will take a trick, always. A king will only take a trick when the A is onside, i.e. half the time and risks getting ruffed. A "Q" is even more likely to become a nothing trick and if it's in rho's suit and lho hasn't raised, it's going to get ruffed out for sure. The proportions 4/3/2/1 just don't seem to be quite right. Thereby a hand such as this: AK,8732,A84,8742 and this: A874,7,87,AK8765 are given the same raw point count but the latter definitely has more trick-taking power. The raw point count technique definitely does not tell the whole story.
So if you're like most developing players, you're introduced to another evaluation strategy: the losing trick count. For most, losing trick count asks you to count one loser in each suit that is missing and A/K/Q. (Most experts make .5 loser adjustments for A vs Q but most "instructors" don't tell us that). Be that as it may, now hands like AK,8732,A84,8742 become eight loser hands and hands like A874,7,87,AK8765 become six loser hands and bidding decisions are made on these evaluations. This evaluation technique accounts for shape, but flattens out the honor cards A/K/Q and ignores J's completely to wit: A654,A65,A65,A65 and Q654,Q65,Q65,Q65 register the same 8 loser count (before the adjustments). Which hand would you rather have?
Thereby neither of the techniques above account for any card less than a J. Which hand would you rather have: AKT9,AT5,T93,K98 or this hand AK32,A32,432,K32? Would you rather have this six loser: A432,2,32,AK5432 or this six loser: AT98,T,T9,AKT9876? Or better yet this one: AJT9,J,JT,AKJ987.
Another example
This is "six" points (raw) but you can get four trick from it: KQJT9
This is "nine" points but only guarantees three tricks AKQ53
Luckily, we have very accomplished bridge players such as Kaplan/Rubens/Goldsmith who help us out of this dilemma. A very helpful tool for hand evaluation is the K & R hand evaluator applet:
http://www.jeff-goldsmith.org/cgi-bin/knr.cgi
I've used it tons as I learned the ins and outs of the trick-taking potential of my hands.
This hand evaluation tool adjusts the raw point count to something more realistic. The evaluator consistently correctly evaluates A/K's versus Q/J's. It accounts for shape as well. (incorporating losing trick count techniques). It adds the dimension of spot cards and adjusts if spot cards are present in long suits as opposed to short suits.
What is also remarkable about this tool is that it evaluates hands that might fit well opposite a possible hand partner may have. For example this hand: AKJT65,A65,A5,98 (K&R (AKJT76 A65 A5 98) = 20.00) is equal in strength to this hand AKQJT,A65,A54,98? (K&R (AKQJT A65 A54 98) = 20.00) Aren't both spade suits worth five tricks in general. Well "No!". Opposite Q, Q4,Q32,432,7432 hand number one will give you six tricks in the spade suit.
Here are some hands to help you test out the above theories. Figure out a raw point count, losing trick count and evaluator count. See what you get and see if the above phenom isn't presented in your outcome data. I can assure you it is!
Have fun.
A654,A65,A65,A65
Q654,Q65,Q65,Q65
AKT9,AT5,T93,K98
K432,QJ5,Q54,KJ5
AK43,T9,7,A78543
J432,Q9,K,KQ543
Thursday, January 13, 2011
A from AK. Ins and Outs explained
Hi Folks,
The above treatment has caused an appreciable amount of problems in my bridge experiences so I thought I’d write a definitive explanation of the subject. Hope you enjoy the discussion.
First, last I checked, K from AK is still standard. So, if you’ve decided to juxtapose this lead agreement, please don’t explain your treatment as “standard”. This almost caused a committee hearing once, so remember, K from AK is standard. If you lead A from AK your treatment is not “standard”.
So why do lots of pairs reverse the standard K from AK treatment? We reverse this lead so we can distinguish the AK from KQ leads. This is extremely helpful when playing standard carding and you hold something like J7. If partner leads the A, you signal high low for the third round ruff (hopefully you have trump). If partner leads the K promising the Q you might not want to blow all your honors on the first trick. At any rate, if partner leads the A promising the K you usually give attitude for the Q or a ruff. If partner leads the K from KQ you give attitude for ruffs or the J but know that you have to wait for one control card to disappear –namely the A. It’s probably with opponents.
In some very specific situations, one often leads the A w/out the K. Now what? Leading A from AK precludes the partnership from knowing whether that A is backed by the K or not. It isn’t often that we lead an unsupported ace except in the following situations:
1) At the five level or above
2) When you’ve bid and raised your suit
3) In the middle of the hand and
4) Against preempts at any level.
Example: Your partner and you have raised hearts. The opponents have violently competed in spades. Wouldn’t you lead the A without the K. Often you would. If you insist on using your A from AK agreement, your partnership will not be able to give attitude towards the K. This has happened several times in my partnerships. Partner led the A, I presumed he didn’t have the K and carded accordingly. Confusion ensued.
In these situations it’s more important to know that your partner has led a blank ace then it is to distinguish K from KQ. Why? As noted above, reversing standard treatments helps you negotiate J7(3) –like holdings. Now tell me, how often is that an issue at the five level or above, when you’ve bid and raised your suit, in the middle of the hand or against preempts. Jacks usually don’t cash in these situations.
Hope this is helpful. There is one other time one leads K form AK. That is when you have AK dry. Partnerships just have to figure that one out from the bidding and from the trump holding.
Have fun.
The above treatment has caused an appreciable amount of problems in my bridge experiences so I thought I’d write a definitive explanation of the subject. Hope you enjoy the discussion.
First, last I checked, K from AK is still standard. So, if you’ve decided to juxtapose this lead agreement, please don’t explain your treatment as “standard”. This almost caused a committee hearing once, so remember, K from AK is standard. If you lead A from AK your treatment is not “standard”.
So why do lots of pairs reverse the standard K from AK treatment? We reverse this lead so we can distinguish the AK from KQ leads. This is extremely helpful when playing standard carding and you hold something like J7. If partner leads the A, you signal high low for the third round ruff (hopefully you have trump). If partner leads the K promising the Q you might not want to blow all your honors on the first trick. At any rate, if partner leads the A promising the K you usually give attitude for the Q or a ruff. If partner leads the K from KQ you give attitude for ruffs or the J but know that you have to wait for one control card to disappear –namely the A. It’s probably with opponents.
In some very specific situations, one often leads the A w/out the K. Now what? Leading A from AK precludes the partnership from knowing whether that A is backed by the K or not. It isn’t often that we lead an unsupported ace except in the following situations:
1) At the five level or above
2) When you’ve bid and raised your suit
3) In the middle of the hand and
4) Against preempts at any level.
Example: Your partner and you have raised hearts. The opponents have violently competed in spades. Wouldn’t you lead the A without the K. Often you would. If you insist on using your A from AK agreement, your partnership will not be able to give attitude towards the K. This has happened several times in my partnerships. Partner led the A, I presumed he didn’t have the K and carded accordingly. Confusion ensued.
In these situations it’s more important to know that your partner has led a blank ace then it is to distinguish K from KQ. Why? As noted above, reversing standard treatments helps you negotiate J7(3) –like holdings. Now tell me, how often is that an issue at the five level or above, when you’ve bid and raised your suit, in the middle of the hand or against preempts. Jacks usually don’t cash in these situations.
Hope this is helpful. There is one other time one leads K form AK. That is when you have AK dry. Partnerships just have to figure that one out from the bidding and from the trump holding.
Have fun.
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