Lead Trump, Conversation Continues..

 In my previous blog we analyzed how effective trump leads are against auction that promise a two suited hand where the hand that is short in trump is poised to ruff losers and has reluctantly agreed to the trump suit. Ex 1S 1N, 2C 2S.


There are some other situations where a trump lead is either automatic or highly likely.

1. Opponents have landed into an artificial suit due to bidding misunderstanding.
2. The auction has been passed for penalty after a TOX. Partner of the TOXer has strong trump, he/she expects to pull trump as defender.
3. Against a grand slam. This is considered a safe lead.
4. When opponents have bid two suits and landed in a third.

Aside from these basic occasions to effectively lead trump,  trump leads are very common against part scores when opponents have overcalled.  The defense should have lots of opportunities to get in with side suits and breaking your own suits often reveals lots and gives declarer significant timing to  set up ruffs in dummy. If the advancer has given a four-card raise, you may not have enough trumps to do any damage to the offense.  You may want to think of something else.

When a part score has been X'd for penalty either outright or converted to penalty by a TO action, trumps are usually led at the first convenient opportunity.  Failing to do so by opening leader usually means one of two things.

1. Opening leader risks losing a trump position from his/her holding, or 
2. The opening leader prefers a tapping defense.

Figure it out and go for the huge set. Leading trumps will get you lots of mp and imps if it's done after carefully assessing the bidding, and analyzing the source of tricks for the defense.

Trump Leads --Against Two Suiters, They Are Practically Automatic!

Trump leads against two suited hands rank to be very effective. They are the most effective when the hand that is short in trump has agreed to the trump suit under duress, the partnership has languished in a part score, you have meaty cards in the second suit promised in the bidding and the tapping defense is out of the question.

So let's go through an example.  You open 1S (AQ432, K5,87, KT97) and lefty overcalls 2N for the minors.   Your rho bids 3d and the auction stops there.  You expect the dummy cards to be some type of two suiter in clubs and diamonds.  Those clubs of yours are going to score if they can't be ruffed in the declarer's hand and due to the nature of your partner's pass, a tapping defense is unlikely.  Lead trump.

Here's another example.  Rho opens 2D Flannery showing hearts and spades.  You pass holding KJ95,A43,Q543,J6.  Lefty bids 3H and the auction stops there. The last thing you want to happen is for your spades to be ruffed out in declarer's hand.  Lead trump.

There are lots of auctions like this where you will find

1.  Two suiter promised either in dummy or declarer's hand
2.  The non length trump hand has not aggressively supported the trump suit 
3.   Part score contract meaning the defense has values 
4.   Tap suit is not indicated or works as well as trump leads.  
5.   You have meaty cards in the promised second suit

Here are some "automatic trump" leads for me considering the above qualifications are met.

1. 1N 2C, 2H all pass.  Dummy has three suits and shortness in clubs.  Lead trump
2. 2D flannery .
3. 2D showing a 4441 hand
4. 1N 3H showing invitational in majors
5. 2 level preempt, new suit by responder and raise by opener. You know opener is 6/3 at least and short in other suits.  Lead trump
6. Auctions that start with a TOX. Most of the time dummy has shortness in the opener's suit so why not start pulling dummy's trump? 
7.  1n in the hot seat usually denote week two-suiters.
8. Two level overcalls followed by 2 NT show 6/4 two suiters although not necessarily weak hands.

Don't forget auctions where two suits are bid outright as opener (1S 1N!, 2C 3C) or where two suits are bid naturally as overcalls.   Envision the ruffs in the non-length-trump-suit hand and go for the trump leads to prevent that offense.

I once led trump against a strong jump shift auction against a vul game score at imps. We happened to beat it at our table! WIN!

Lebesohl -3N and Stayman Responses

Hi all,

My last post explained how lebesohl can differentiate invitational versus game forcing hands in a major in response to partner's no-trump opening when the opponents have interfered.  Just a quick reminder that X's remain penalty unless you deem that X of artifical 2C is Stayman. One does not usually play "stolen bid X's" with this treatment. One now has the option of using a direct X  as penalty.


i Lebesohl also has the possibility of differentiating semi balanced hands with a stop in the opponent's suit from those semi-balanced hands that don't have a stop.  Remember, the 2N bid is now used as a relay, not to play.

If partner opens 1 NT and you hold:  A43,A65,K543,J43 you have an easy response: 3 NT.  If the opponents should overcall 2H one might also bid 3N however, what would one do with this hand?  A43,T65,K543,A43?  This hand does not have a stop in the opponent's suit but does have game going values. Counter-intuitive though it may seem, going through the 2N relay shows a stop in the opponent's suit and bidding 3N directly denies  a stop. Using "slow show stop:" lebesohl (not everyone's choice but the one I discuss here) I would relay through 2N with the first hand and bid 3N directly with the second hand.  If neither one of you have a stop in the opponent's suit it's hairy to start scrambling at the four level, but it's better than playing a hopeless NT contract.

Folks pretty commonly use a queue bid of the opponent's suit as Stayman in these sequences even if not playing lebesohl.   One can direct Stayman or "slow show stop" Stayman using lebesohl. Here's an example.

If you hold A876,A643,76 K76 and partner opens 1N, you know what to do.  2C Stayman and place the contract according to what partner bids.  If opponents overcall  2D you can bid 3D. This would deny a stop in opponent's suit.  Bidding 2N! with a relay to 3C! and then bidding 3D! Stayman shows this hand:  A876,A643,K76,76. 

If opponent's use artificial bids such as transfers, one used lebensohl to show stops in the known (shown) suit, e.g. 1N (2D! transfer) one would show a heart stop with this hand?  A76,K54,AK54,J54 by going through 2N! 3C! then Q bid hearts.

Review points:

1)  Lebensohl uses a 2N relay to 3C,. Opener has no other option but to bid 3C
2)  You have a choice,  but I've discussed "slow show stop" -so if you're using lebsohl to show/deny stops,  going through the relay shows a stop.
3)  Texas transfers are on over opponent's interference call up to 3C. One needs 4d over 3D interference to show majors.
4)  All three level bids are game forcing
5)  If you use lebesohl to differentiate between invitation and game forcing major suit hands --the "stop" idea is lost
6) If you use lebensohl, use it when lho opens and partner overcalls and rho raises!


One last thought. Don't use a convention when one isn't necessary.  If partner opens 1 NT and rho overcalls 2H and I hold Q54,8,Q87,AKQJ65, I would bid 3C (game forcing with a club suit). Partner can clearly bid 3 NT if he/she thinks it's right. In the meantime I've bid my beautiful club suit!

 Please comment or ask questions if the spirit moves.

Lebensohl Over NT Inteference, Single Major Suit Hands

Hi all, Every developing player should develop a working knowledge of a treatment called lebesohl. The origin of the name is lost in bridge lore, but its use and effects are embraced by many advanced players.

Lebensohl can be used in many bridge auctions and situations, but the basic concepts entails giving up the natural 2 no-trump bid to differentiate responder hands-most notably over no-trump interference. A 2 no-trump bid as responder becomes an automatic relay to 3C to opener. This relay is called the "slow" relay, so when one says "slow shows stop" one means that the relay through 2N! 3C! has been used.

We all have our basic sequences over no-trump openers down by now, the Stayman bid, transfers, Texas and quantitative bids. Pesky opponents don't always give you free reign to execute your machinery, however, and you need to be prepared to use lebensohl to differentiate between different types of responder hands.

Let's look at a basic hand you might hold over partner's 1 no-trump call: AK654,A76,K6,986. The bidding might go: 1N 2H!, 2S 3N --partner is asked to place the contract in spades or no-trump. Now suppose an opponent has overcalled hearts naturally. 1 n-trump (2H). With this hand using lebenshol, one can comfortable bid 3S game forcing in spades. Opener can then place the contract in 3 no-trump or four spades. Note, all three level calls using lebensohl are game forcing.

Now, let's look at an invitational hand in spades over partner's no-trump opening: AK654,Q74,87,987. Without interference the auction might go: 1N 2H!, 2S 2N inviting partner to play 2N, 3N, 3S or 4S. If you get two hearts interference, however, one cannot jump to 3S --that would be game forcing. The opponents have taken away the transfer call so one option is to bid 2N, relay to 3C and now bid 3S. This shows an invitational hand with spades.

Holding majors as responder, lebensohl relays are used to differentiate between game forcing and invitational values.

Please note that Texas transfers still apply. Should you have a hand like this: AQJT54,Q8,J34,J54, feel free to Texas transfer (4H!) over any interference bid.

If you're going to preempt, choose the level and preempt!

In third seat partner bids 4S all nv at imps. (4N) and you hold Axxxx,xxx,Qxx,KJ and pass. lho bids 5C and you forge on to 5S. Opps X and you're down two.
Teammates are down one in five diamonds.

You hold Qx,xxx,KJxxx.Axx and partner preempts 2D same all nv at imps. (X) 5D (6S) down two. Teammates are defending 4S making.

Holding AJ98x,KQ,xxx,Axx partner preempts 3H (P). Not knowing if it would make you bump the preempt to 4H. Perhaps you can goad them into bidding 4S! Passed to the balancer who X's. Cute, after passing over 3H. Lefty tanks forever and finally emerges with 4S. Partner bids 5H. Anyone XX ing over the balancer? If so, what does that mean?

sooooo your analysis is???

************
************

ok, so here are some of my thoughts. I fielded these hands with a top flight A player so perhaps my thoughts are not mainstream.

so on the first hand it's kind of curious why one would compete to 5S after the opps bid 5C. Surely, one doesn't think this contract can be bought for 4N? 4N in this position is a TO bid. Lefty is forced to bid the longer minor, for pass, or correct to perhaps hearts.

So why not jam the auction to 5S in the first place? Is one going to sell out to 5D or 5H? That way the opps have to guess at the six level whether to bid on or whether to stop and saw off 5S.

Note that is precisely what happened on the following hand. My partner started the jam with 2D. I was willing to take the save at the five level but didn't mess around with 3d, then 4d then 5d. I blasted right away and forced my lho to guess. The guess was totally wrong and we won big time on this board.

as for the last hand, once again, opener didn't make a decision at the first opportunity to determine how high he/she wanted to preeempt -but bothered to get there on the second round. (holding 8 hearts).

It's just confusing to me and gives opponents multiple opportunities to get it right --whether to bid to their game, their slam or to saw you off.

any comments?

Action Doubles --what do they look like?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

Attitude on Opening Lead --the Plot Thickens

So you've agreed to play "attitude on opening lead". It's a pretty standard treament and most experts can field it even though it may not be their preferred method. I play nothing else, but know that even this standard treatment takes a lot of work.


The comments that follow refer to standard carding against suit contracts. Upside down carding is relatively the same with some minor twists.

So, positive attitude means you want the suit continued, and you "echo" with your suit. Holding 87 and wanting a ruff, or not wanting a shift, you play 8 followed by the 7. If you do not want a ruff, there is no reason to "echo" in the suit. Ask for a switch by playing the 7. If you wish the suit continued and you hold 973. Play the 7 (continue) then play the 9 --now switch.

As per usual in bridge when it concerns carding, the plot thickens fast.

Suppose you hold Ax, Kx, Qx, KQ, or QJ. Now what.

With Ax, you should only be concerned about overtakingthe K --should you overtake and ask for a ruff by returning your small card? Usually that is a good idea. However if you're staring at Jxxx in the dummy and you have a natural trump trick, why would you overtake and ask for a ruff. That might be crashing your tricks in order to set up dummy's suit.

The general principle with Kx and Qx is that one generally should not signal with an honor if there is a reasonable chance that it is needed for tricktaking purposes, i.e., if playing the honor is likely to reduce the number of tricks that you and partner can take.


So, if you hold Kx and partner leads the A, play K only when the K ranks to block the cashing tricks. You don't want to be stuck with Kx in your hand and let declarer run the rest of the tricks. Consider a hand where partner shows 5 good spades and is unlikely to have a quick side entry (for example, dummy has 1st round control of the other suits) and dummy has xxx in spades and top cards in another suit that are likely to provide quick pitches. Or perhaps you are defending 5m at IMPs and can tell that the only tricks for the defense are likely to be in spades. Now it might well be right to play K from Kx so hopefully the defense can cash 3 quick tricks, which would be impossible if one held onto the K.

If you don't see that happening, play low and let partner figure it out. If you pound the K in situations where blocking and cashing are not issues, partner is going to think you have a singleton and underlead. Oooops.

Playing the Q on an opening lead of A or K usually promises a singleton or the J.
So unless you're dire for something to happen, play low from Qx. Partner will underlead if he/she wants you in for a timely return through declarer's values. He/she thinks you hold the J with your Q, or that your Q is singleton.

Most folks echo with Jx if they wish to show partner a doubleton or want a ruff for some reason. Jx's usually don't compress tricks if the J is blown on another top honor. Playing the J from Jx would be appropriate if one wants the suit continued for a ruff, or in a count situation, if playing standard carding. But if one does not want to ruff (from one's natural trump trick, perhaps) or if partner leads the K showing the Q and not the A, and dummy has 10xx, then generally one should not play the J from Jx, because it will cost a trick.

Hope this is helpful. Ask if you have questions.

Two Level Overcalls--Discipline

Hi Folks,

One of our own is frustrated without having partnership discussions about two level overcalls. If you don't set parameters around those bids, it's hard to engage in constructive bidding, and advances may be much of a "potuck" affair. A ZERO in the making, I say.

I would be happy to give you some parameters my experts partners and I use. It might help if you adhere to some of these guidelines.

First, repeat after me, "If you make a two level overcall you have a good suit." (goes for one level overcalls, too actually). Then repeat after me again. "I will not make a two level overcall w/out a good suit".

Ok, so let's define the qualities of a "good suit". I would much rather make a two level overcall on QJT987 than AK543. Why is this? If the layout is foul, one would much rather defend with QJT93 in the suit than AKxx(x). Why is this? Prime cards help bring in no trump contracts and stop quick losers in opponent's suits playing your contracts. However, QJT93 are purely defensive cards. The T for example will be a cool defensive trick but it will do precious little in an opponent's offensive contract. It's like a "gift" from the bridge gods on D; as good as an ace. Value solid intermediate cards and honors when you overcall and be cautious about suits like AJ8532. Yuck.


Remember, when you're making a two level overcall in direct seat you are launching in an "non-fitting" auction where no one has, as of yet, claimed a majority of the points. It may just be that your "fit" is with your lho and he/she may have the remainder of the deck. This is why you need to be relatively solid. I say have this:

1) 10 points non vul
2) Opening hand with six card suit vul.
3) And all together now: "A good suit".

If you have less than that and your partnership and/or teammship gets in trouble, you have no one to blame but yourself. And if partner makes a reasonable raise and you still get in trouble, once again, the blame rests with the dubious overcall.

Sometimes you hear "one needs to stretch bidding 2C over 1D to make it hard for opponents to find their 4/4 major fits". What are you going to do with A54,QJT9,JT98,Q3 when the auction goes 1D (2c)?

"Stretching" is being at the bottom end of the overcall ranges.

Sometimes folks forget this fact. This might not be the last time you get in the auction. Perhaps if you lay quiet now, you know you'll belong in the auction after the opponents have settled in a low level fit aution. Now you can balance and tell partner volumes about your hand due to the delayed entry

Hope this helps.

Maximal Doubles-A Discussion

Hi all,

Doubles, man their multi-facited purposes never quit, do they? We have doubles
that in some sequences actually mean "penalty" you're not making this --or at least not with overtricks :). Some doubles are "take out" meaning "opponents are attempting to land in a suit, or have landed in a suit fit, perhaps we can find our fit this way". There are those doubles that are lead direct and control showing.

However, there is one double that my advanced partnerships use routinely having a meaning different from all of the above--this double (maximal) means "game try, are you at the max or min of your limited bid?"

These maximal double sequences are mostly used over major suit raises when the opponents have taken away a level of bidding under your suit so that natural suit-asking game tries are not possible.

For example. You bid 1S on AKxxx,A,QJTxx,xx. Lefty bids 2H and partner raises, 2S. Rho bids 3H and now what. Wouldn't you like to make a 3D game try? Well, if you try that you're going to get a director call. 3D is below 3H so instead of using the double for penalty in this sequence, we use the double as an "all purpose game try".

I play these sequences with most of my established partnerships but usually I have brief discussion about whether maximal doubles are on if the opponents have not bid and raised their suit. For example, has the auction gone 1S 2S (3H)? or 1S (2H) 2S (3H)? Some of my partnerships play maximal doubles in the latter situation and not the first. Be on the same page, discuss. If not, get ready for -730 at imps. Don't ask me how I know :-).

If you agree to play maximal doubles, remember they are usually "on" in overcall situations also i.e. 1D (1H) 2D (2H), 3D. Now X is not penalty of diamonds but an all purpose game try in hearts. Make sense?

Hope this is helpful, please ask if you have further questions.

A Ruse is Sometimes Very Effective

Have you ever heard the phrase. "Let the opponents make the last guess". It is usually uttered when one side has a contract option with power, and the other side has a save option. You are to continue preempting to the level where you don't know if their contract is making or not. Hey, if you don't know, perhaps they don't know either.

I fielded an interesting hand at the Eastside bridge club the other day where I wanted to invoke this practice. NV vs Vul (MP) my left hand opponent started the bidding with 1D. My partner jumped right in there with 3S (preemptive) and right hand opponent bid 4C freely. Holding xxx,Jxxxxx,QJ,xx it didn't take a trip to A land to figure out that the opponents were on for slam. If I were to make the opponents truly have the last guess, I would bid 6S, knowing full well that 6m is makable but not being sure whether 7m is. The "last guess" theory is.........if I don't know, maybe the opponents don't know either.

When I approached my mentors with this hand, they, as usual had a lot of other thoughts to share as well.

In this kind of situation, "last guess theory" is not nearly as important as your attempt to take away their machinery. You may know 6m is on, but if you take away their opportunity to find even that and they land in 5m -- look how happy you will be. Remember, offensively your spade tricks are limited and even a 5S save may go for more than 5m.

Here are their options! pick your favorite.

1) Bid 4S -- hides the degree of your fit and lack of defensive potential. Somebody will bid 5m and they can languash there. Also takes a way a 4S Q bid often use as a power raise.

2) X. Who knows, they may play 4CX when they're on for six. (Look at the score cards, you just got a top). If they XX -- "correct" to 4S and see what happens.

3) Bid 4N. This takes away the opponent's aces asking bid. You can always land safely in 5S no matter what the response of your partner is to this seemingly blackwood auction, and the opponents are now thinking you're stopping short of slam based on some values.

4) Bid 5S. You might buy it there X'd when they're on for six or seven.

It is very important to know who your opponents are when you try to guage the liklihood of success of each of these options. The more sophisticated the partnership, the more a Q bid will mean, the more a 4N bid will mean, the more forcing passes will have meaning. And trust me, the real pros won't get fooled by your X at all! That's the way they are!!

Hope this has been helpful!

Quantitative Bids...the ins and outs

Cool, one of the first things one learns in beginning bridge days is that there is this neat convention where 4N “asks for aces”. Pretty nifty!! That way you can figure out whether you can take 12/13 tricks or less than that.

However, the plot thickens quickly when someone informs you that over nt, this bid is meant as “quantitative”. Quantitative means it's an inquiry about how much you have in overall values, as opposed to an inquiry about something specific, like number of key cards. So, confusion often arises as to when a 4N bid is “quantitative" or “ace asking”.

Here’s my slant on the subject.

When opener denotes a balanced hand that has a range, we use 4N as an asking bid for slam, thus quantitative. There are lots of auctions where opener denotes a balanced NT hand of some sort with specific ranges:

Examples:

1N (15-17) usually
1C 1D, 1N (12-14) usually
2N (20-21) usually
2C 2D, 2N (22-24) usually

4N over these types of auctions asks opener to accept a slam invite with a max or pass the invite for a 4N contract.

The auction after a quantitative bid are not relegatedto NT contracts, however. Often folks will play them “Baron” style which means one will accept the slam invitation by bidding a four card minor at the five level. The hand may fit better in a 4/4 minor fit for 12 tricks rather than NT. Thus: 1N 4N, 5C.

One can also accept the slam invitation by bidding six of a minor. This denotes a five card suit or better and request responder to agree to the minor suit slam, or correct back to NT. Thus 1N 4N, 6C.

In order to ask for aces, we use 4C Gerber replacing the traditional 4N bid. This serves the purpose of keeping many nt auctions lower and the ability to bail at 4N when that seems right.


Quantitative bids are also often used in minor suit auctions once the contract has settled in 3N. Now 4N is a “slam ask” for strength.

Example:

1S 2C, 3C 3N, 4N.

Since it’s usually wrong to take 3N out to 4m, 4m in this auction now says “I’m interested in slam, but not NT yet. Please start Q bidding if you accept, bid 4N sign off if you don’t. In these type auctions, 4N is showing as much as asking--i.e., it says "I have substantially more than I have shown from my prior actions, but not enough to drive to slam, so act accordingly

In order to divine whether 4N is ace asking or quantitative one might ask what a 4m bid would mean at the same point of the auction. If this bid is ace asking or a suggestion to start Q bidding, then 4N is probably quantitative. That is a round about way of going at it, but it might help to think that way when you’re dead tired in the finals of the Spingold and about 100 different notions are taxing your brain –mostly how to win the thing!

Competing over weak NT..Clarify your methods!

Ahhh yes it wasn't too many masterpoints ago when I and my then-regular partner would sit at the table against opponents with weak nt methods and were almost guaranteed a zero. The solution to that was to practice those methods on our own. 12-14 nt promptly put on our card. We got our undeserved tops in limited fields but wo! be the partnership, got a significant amount of zeros when smacked with flight A competition.

The moral of this story is: Get your defense ready over weak NT.

1) What artificial methods you use over weak nt is immaterial. I highly recommend you preserve the X for penalty, however with whatever methods you use. If, by opening a weak nt in front of you, opps take away your 1S bid on AKJT,Kxx,Qxxx,xx then at least allow them the chance to go for a telephone number if it's right. In most of my partnerships, all X's force to our 2S level or X them off for penalty.

A fairly popular method is to play all X's after a direct X of a weak nt are take out until one pass has been passed for penalty, i.e. (1N) X starts forcing sequences. When a X has been passed for penalty all subsequent X's are penalty should the opponents try further runouts to other suits.

Example: (1N) X (2H) X the second X is TO of hearts
Example: (1N) X (2H) P (the pass is forcing here and denies a TOX of hearts)
Example: (1N) X (2D) X, (P) P (2H) X pass is penalty since partner already wanted to X diamonds by passing your TOX.

This allows safe passes when it's right and forces auctions at the appropriate times. It takes a little bit of work (and some zeros) before this is adequately executed, but I find the work worth it.

2) Weak nt are considered "preemptive" which means you don't preempt over a preempt. Jumps (at least at the three level) are strong. (1N) 3D is a hand akin to a 1D 1M, 3D auction.

3) The idea of interference over strong NT is to confuse the issue and land in a safe part score. Constructive bidding methods are still needed over weak nt to find your own games. Compete with a slightly better than opening hand. If your hand is highly distributional but weak, you may have a chance to come in later.

4) Constructive sequences are still needed by unpassed hands over their artificial advances. Therefor 1N 2C (X) should be "like hand or strong hand" not lead direct for clubs. In case their advance is game forcing i.e. 1N 2D (gf Stayman) revert back to lead directing X's.

This will give you a healthy start as to getting those tops the experts get against weak nt. Bridge is hard work, and sharpening up your defense against weak nt is no exception to that process. Results-wise the work is worth-it in my book.

Ask if you have further questions

6/5 Open Them Right!

Hi all,

One of my protegees asked me some time ago to put together some guidelines for opening 6/5 hands when the major is the five bagger and a minor is the longer six bagger--and the hand does not have reverse values.

One thing I need to share up front is that my mentor taught me a valuable lesson in my early years: any 6/5 hand opposite the right opening bid makes slam. Repeat that 100 times before you go to sleep at night.

Reverse values start with meaty 16 counts. One can give some 6/5 hands reverse values even with lower high card point values. Trouble is, those hands have to have playing strength.

For example, AJ654,4,KQ6543,6 is not a reverse strength hand, but something like this might be: AJT98,JT,KQT987,v. So, if you think you have enough playing strength for a reverse, then go ahead and bid out your pattern, minor followed by the major.

If you have a 65 hand without reverse values, then there are to main points to consider: 1) How many suits are in between the two that you have. 2) How strong is one suit relative to the other.

So, for example, if your suits are six clubs and five spades, you have two suits between the blacks, namely diamonds and hearts. So you can handle a bid from your partner at the one level and rebid spades without reversing at the two level. However if your suits are diamonds and hearts, then you're in trouble immediately if it goes 1D 1S--and you don't have the values/playing strength for a reverse. Now you need to evaluate whether switching the order in which you bid the suits may be right.

Another strong indicator of the order in which you should open the suits is the strength of the relative suits. Suppose your hand were: A5432,4,AKJ543,5. Now, one would likely open 1D because you want that to be trump. However, should your hand be: AKJ43, 5,A97543,6 one would likely open 1S.

These bids are hard for us all. Once, vul at imps I held 65,98743,AKQJ54,v. Well, the bridge Gods don't give me solid tricks in my hand very often so I opened 1D. I was most surprised when all the experts chose to pass the hand and "show" the hand later somehow. I don't know how to let on to partner that you passed a six trick hand initially, but apparentl;y the experts do.

So to sum up. There are three things to consider: playing strength, how many suits are between the 6/5 suits, and relative strength of the suits.

And here's the real rub. If you get them all right, you'll be playing much better than the experts.

Hope this is somewhat helpful, please ask if you have further questions.

What bridge players can learn from football

Hi all,

Well another football season is over and it's time to write another blog spot on one of my favorite topics: gleaning winning strategies from other competitive endeavors.

Who can relate to 2009/2010 season when Bret Favre in the instrumental moments of a quarterfinal game took a high risk call to blow a chance in the playoffs? Conservative run was needed instead of a high risk pass--interception. Who's done similar things at the bridge table?

Who can relate to the final superbowl game (Colts vs Saints) where onside kicks, two point conversions and blitzes were made at the appropriate times and executed appropriately for a Saints win. Who's done similar things at the bridge table?

It has always amazed me that in team events, most players in lower level competitions concentrate on individual execution, solo or within the partnerships, to promote a win without fully analyzing or paying attention to what is needed to win the event.

I speak from experience. Once in a relatively tough flight A event we had "won" the event before the final two matches were played. Phone calls were placed to "home folks" that the Knaap team was clearly leading and would easily slide into the first place position. What happened? One of the partnerships ended up playing 3DXX in opponents' suit. The result: a 1 VP overall loss. Was somebody paying attention to what needed to be done, or were players just executing as per the first two rounds of the event? Who wouldn't sell out a low level contract before confusing the issue for an "at most" lose five imps?

I had another example last Salem tourney. As promoted by team captain Knaap, if there is anything on the line at all before the last match, it pays to execute a team "huddle" to assess the placement of the team at that point in the competition.

The situation was clear, on a 20 VP scale we were leading second and third by 7/9 vp's respectively. We took a look, the opposing team seemed OK! but we knew we had a chance to nail this thing here. I told the team that we didn't need to win by a huge margin but that a small margin win would make us unquestioned victors of the Sunday team event. My advice to the players? "Slow down, think and stay steady. Take advantage of any mistakes."

So what happened? The team had to score up a grand off a cashing ace vul. Lose 17. Yep, it was admitted that listening to the captain(ess) might have been appropriate at this important juncture of the competition. We did end up winning the event, however, since no one blitzed to put us second/third and teammates managed to cover a -17.

So here's the deal. In almost every other serious competitive endeavor, someone keeps an eye on what needs to be done while the individual competitors concentrate on execution. The football teams have a myriad of coaches at all levels. Baseball has their first and third base coaches. The gymnasts have spotters and coaches who say when the high risk moves are needed to win the competition, or when they are to be avoided to possibly turn a win into a loss.

So as you are entering the final rounds of a team competition, at least take a moment to get the team together and recognize what needs to be done and plant a firm reminder in everyone's consciousness. It seems only normal as this is done in most other competitions --sport or otherwise.

I'm not sure this is universal thinking, but you might try it and see if it works.

I would be glad to answer any further questions.

(1N) X --handle this treatment for optimum results

Hi all,

It is always with great pleasure that I, through this forum, get to review the teachings of my mentor. This subject presents another occasion. I too well remember discussing different methods of competing over opponent's NT. The retort was this "I loathe to give up the penalty X over NT". There was no qualifier there --i.e. baby, weak or strong NT. Penalty X's over all NT can reap huge rewards.

I can share with you that through my own experience I have reaped a wealth of mp and imps from this treatment. Unfortunately I have not reaped the optimum results because of an inability of the partnership to field the penalty X over NT properly.

First, let me say that a penalty X over NT could be a balanced hand at the top of the opponent's NT range. However, it's important that one has prime cards and/or a source of tricks. Using a penalty X over a strong nt with this hand: QJ4,KJ,QJ543,KQ is ill advised. Please have at least a prme seventeen count or a solid suit somewhere. Also, be aware that penalty X's can be made with one or two suited hands also. Here are some examples: AKQ10xxx, xx, x, Axx; AKQJxx, xx, xx, Axx; AKQxx, xx, xx, AKJ10.

The idea here is that you suspect the opponents will never sit for 1NX with these hands. They'll run out to their own suit. Now when you compete over that with your own suit, your partner will know that you have an extraordinary strong hand. Remember jumps over strong NT are preemptive. This is the way to show strength (although one can jump with strength over weak nt)

The down side about maintaining this treatment in your partnership is that one needs to discuss with what types of hands one pulls the penalty X's. My teaching says that with a balanced hand you sit, period. If you're 4333, 4432, 5332 you sit. Get it, you sit, I don't care what your strength is. The idea is that even with a zero count there is no guarantee that your side is in a fit and might get X'd off for a number. And if by chance you happen to be -180 (1NX making one) then that is the risk you take. That -180 is probably a lot less than what you would get being X'd off in your two level contract on a 4/2 fit.

Just three days ago all vul at imps I held this hand: 8542,876,53,8532 . Pard opened 1N and rho X'd. Poker face I sat quietly and watched lho squirm. 2D PHEW PHEW PHEW. The opponents were plus 130 when they could have had a telephone number. PHEW PHEW PHEW. Lho had forgotten an important rule about penatly X's over nt. Pass with a balanced hand.

Some time ago I picked up this beaut over 1N. AKxx,Kxx,KQJx,Ax. It didn't take me long to find the red card. My partner bid 2S. Thinking he would have Jxxxxx,x,xxx,xxx or the like I blasted to four spades thinking we could probably make five. Down two. There went the masterpoint race for the tournament to my opponent. Heavy price to pay! My partner had pulled my penaty X with four spades and had to play the entire hand from the dummy.

If you're going to maintain the X as penatly over 1N --I can guarantee you'll get some stellar results. I certainly have. But field it properly! or else you'll be fighting each other instead of your opponents!

If you have any questions, I'd be willing to answer them.