In the past 5 years I have posted to my Bridge Blog about 115 times. It started out as sort of a joke among my bridge friends and just grew from there. The blog was a personal outlet for my life passions; research, writing, learning and teaching. It was a shock to me that I was accumulating readers not only from North America, but other parts of the World as well. I would like to say that some of them were experts, but alas, only a few, and most readers were struggling to make headway just like me. When my counter was working, I was getting about 100 hits a week, not what you would call a commercial success. My archived blogs have always been a workout to find. I never did anything about it since some of my early posts are best forgotten and having them conveniently buried in a difficult process seemed a blessing. What they can't find they can't criticize!
One of my early readers was Jim Logsden from Texas. Even though I have never met Jim, he has read every one of my blog posts and actually created a table of contents or index for his own reference. Jim recently surprised me by sending me his table of contents. It is an impressive job and it occurred to me that it might be useful to to other readers, so I am posting his table of contents. Now about assembling these into a book ---- not a chance! You can stop worrying about any further proliferation of my little musings and meanderings.Think about it as my major contribution to better bridge.
Table of Contents
Following are titles and the date of publication for the articles from Tommy’s Bridge Blog. Old posts are found in the Archive in the right hand column of the blog page. Locate the year and month that you want to search and then the title. If you want to print all or a part of a blog post, drag and highlight the material you want to print, and then when you get to your print page indicate you want to print the “Selection”. This table is more or less chronological, and where you see multiple dates that means that more than one blog was written on the same general subject Questions to tsolberg@tampabay.rr.com
Scrambling 2 No Trump 10-08-10
Sandwich No Trump 9-29-10
This Dummy is No Dummy (Bergen’s Dummy Points) 9-14-10
Revisiting 2 Club Opening Bids (Bergen Analysis) 9-11-10
Pat Peterson Takes Over the Bank 9-6-10
Slammin with Marty Bergen: 8-22-10
Redefining “Two Hearts Trash” – A Systemic Update: 6-15-10
Four Person Team wins Pairs Event: 5-30-10
Defending 1 No Trump: 4-3-10
Storming Norman and 4 Suit Transfers: 3-23-10
Opener Rebid Choices After 1NT Forcing 3-6-10
Tommy Passes 5th Grade Math, but Flunks Matchpoint Duplicate: 3-7-10
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?: 2-28-10
Give Respect, if Respect is Due: 2-24-10
A Tribute to Ina Mills: 2-21-10
Majoring in Majors on Bridge Base Online: 12-6-09
Reopening Doubles: 7-28-09
Super Duper Acceptance 8-11-09
Bergen, Jacoby, Hardy and Joe Sargent and Concealed Splinters
Bidding Quiz and Response: 6-22-09; 6-29-09
Rosencranz Doubles and Redoubles and Expanded Advances: 4-29-09; 5-5-09
The Road to Match Point Success: 4-12-09
Matchpoints and Major Suit Fits: 4-5-09
Where’s Tommy?: 4-4-09
Defending Against 2-Suited Overcalls: 12-3-08
Support and Maximal Doubles: 11-19-08
The Law of Total Tricks and Other WMD’s: 11-10-08
The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Conventions: 11-7-08
The Principles of Logical Bidding: 10-28-08
More on Overcalls (because we need it): 9-18-08
Western Cue Bids: 8-25-08
New Minor Forcing (NMF): 8-3-08
Advice from Larry Cohen: 5-3-08
Forcing 1NT: 5-5-08; 3-16-10
Opening 1NT with 5 card Majors: 5-31-08
Major Suit Fits: 5-29-08
Michaels Cue Bids Revisited: 6-17-08
Opening Leads: 6-29-06; 7-3-08; 7-10-08; 7-21-08
Balancing in the Pass Out Seat: 4-21-08
Searching for Major Suit Fits 5-29-08
Opening 1NT With 5 Card Majors 5-21-08
OBAR the Pre-balancer – Not the Tentmaker 5-12-08
1NT Forcing to Hell and Back 5-5-08
Free Advice From Larry Cohen 5-03-08
Bridge by the Numbers: 4-15-08
Take Your Finesses in the Right Order to Maximize 3-29-08
Bidding NT hands with Interference: 1-13-08; 2-24-08; 3-2-08
Interfering Over 1NT Opening Bids: 2-1-08
Negative Doubles: 11-21-07; 11-24-07; 12-2-07; 12-29-07
Combined Bergen Raises: 2-18-08; 3-12-08: 6-6-10
Frank Stewart—Do You Sometimes Wonder? 2-8-08
Mel Colchamiro’s Rules of 23: (need 23 hcps for 2NT) 11-17-07
Getting Life and Bridge in Balance 11-11-07
Cue Bids and Control Bids: 11-6-07; 11-11-07
Weak Jump Shifts: 10-21-07; 10-26-07
The “X” Factor – Do You Have It? 7-03-07
Pre-Emptive Bidding (parts 1-4) 5-23-07, 5-29-07, 6-14-07, 6-19-07
Best Bridge Book of 2007: 9-30-07
Probabilities in Bridge: 8-28-07; 9-6-07; 9-7-07; 9-12-07; 9-23-07
Finding Opportunities to Make a Hand: 9-18-07
Awareness at the Bridge Table: 8-15-07
Responding to Weak 2 Bids: 7-8-07; 7-18-07
Preemptive Bidding: 5-23-07; 5-29-07; 6-14-07; 6-19-07
Responding to Partner’s Overcall: 2-14-07; 2-16-07; 2-24-07; 3-3-07; 5-5-07
The Murder on Sanchez Avenue (A bad day for Tommy) 5-12-07
Bridge Ruling: 4-29-07
Rate Yourself as a Partner: 4-13-07
Jacoby 2NT: 4-10-07; 8-11-09
Smolen for 2NT Opening: 4-5-07
Culbertson’s Valuation by Visualization 3-28-07
Discussion of Inverted Minors: 3-26-07
Losing Trick Count: 2 Posts (both Dated 3-18-07)
Smolen Over 1NT: 3-11-07
Middle Cards Make a Difference: 2-27-07
Garbage Stayman: 2-20-07
3 words on Overcalls- “Cheap is Expensive” 2-14-07
Interpreting Opponent’s Opening Leads: 2-8-07
Major Suit Jump Raises to Game: 2-4-07
Common Traits of an Effective Bridge Player: 1-26-07
Splinter Bids: 1-15-07; 6-30-09
Comments by Jeff Meckstroth (of Meckwell fame): 1-8-07; 1-10-07
Balancing –Avoiding the Death Zone: 12-25-06
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Scrambling Two No Trump
Scrambling 2NT is a tool for taking risk out of balancing and pre-balancing (making a double in the direct seat). The bid is conventional and has nothing to do with playing any level of no trump. One of the fears of balancing is that when you double as a balance or pre-balance, partner will bid one of his 4 card suits and it will turn out to be one of your 3 card suits. Now, I would rather play a 7 card trump suit than let opponents play 2 of a major with a fit, but not if it is not necessary.
Let’s set the stage in the “classic” balancing auction: The bidding goes 1s/p/2s/p/p/X/p/? The good news is that “trusty partner” has balanced and they are not playing 2 spades. The bad news is that it is your turn to bid. Suppose you hold xx, Axxx, Kxxx, Qxx. Since hearts is the major, many players are just going to bid 3 hearts and hope. The minute you do that partner will hold xxx, Kxx, QJxx, Axxx. Some may decide to bid their 4 card suits up the line and hope for a fit in diamonds. The minute you do that partner will have a hand like xxx, KJxx, QJx, Axx. Yes, you could fall into an 8 card trump suit if doubler’s hands were reversed, but bridge is, by and large, a perverse game and justice is rarely served. There must be a better way!
Enter Scrambling 2NT. The Scrambling 2NT bid is used after partner makes a double in the direct or balancing seat and you hold two 4 card suits. The bid of 2NT is designed to find an 8 card fit. It asks doubler to bid his 4 card suit or if more than one to bid them up the line. In my first example, after 1s/p/2s/p/p/X/p/2NT, doubler will bid his 4 card diamond suit and we will play 3 diamonds. In the second example, doubler will bid his 4 card heart suit and we will play 3 hearts. Yes, if doubler has four hearts and four diamonds, we will be playing our diamond fit rather than our heart fit. Forget about it! Our objective is to jolt opponents out of their 2 level spade fit and find an 8 card fit of our own at the 3 level. Put greed behind you and take the guarantee. Your master point profile will appreciate it.
Let’s spin it around and look at it in a pre-balance format. This time the bidding goes 1s/p/2s/X/p/?. You hold Kxx, xxx, Kxxx, Kxx. Note again the 2 four card suits, with a random chance of making the correct choice. Here again bid Scrambling 2NT to search for a 4-4 fit. If doubler in the direct seat has xx, Axx, AQxx, Qxxx, he will bid his 4 card club suit up the line to start the scramble. Since you do not have 4 clubs, you bid 3 diamonds showing your four card diamond suit, and hopefully we play it there in our 8 card fit. We may go down one, but in balancing that is pure gold. For sure we aren’t going -110 or worse.
Note that in each of these examples doubler’s partner does not have a 5 card suit. In fact, if he has have a 5 card suit he must bid it and not use Scrambling 2NT. Scrambling 2NT has a good negative inference. When we scramble we are either 4333, 4432 or on very rare occasions 4441. Helpful information in either the bidding or the defense. Since partner's square hand will not play as well as a distributional hand, you may want to think twice before competing further.
I can’t believe that I have gotten this far and nobody has pointed out to me that we have given away the natural bid of 2NT. Why would b we ever want to play no trump when they have found an 8+ card fit and will be on lead. Hopefully, this idea makes no sense to you as well. Nirvana, we have found a vacant bid and put it to good use.
The Scrambling 2NT bid is alertable. Just say that partner is asking me to further define my hand looking for a fit. This is not overly complicated. Think of the Scrambling 2NT as being like a responsive double. You are passing the bid back to partner to make a choice since your choice is not clear. One of the major benefits of the bid is that it will enable your partnership to make more aggressive doubles knowing that you can find your 4-4 fits safely. Yikes, if I balance any quicker I will be out of tempo.
Talk this over with partner in advance, not while the director is passing out the boards. It takes a moment to digest, but with minimum thought it pretty much sells itself.
This is my last post from Rochester, New York. On October 13 Axel, Virgil, Alla and I fly to Florida for the winter. Axel and Virgil are my two cats who do my proof reading. Looks like it doesn’t it. Rochester is a wonderful bridge town and I will miss my many friends who have made me feel so much at home. I look forward to seeing all my old bridge buddies in Citrus County, Florida. I can only hope that majority of them feel the same way.
Let’s set the stage in the “classic” balancing auction: The bidding goes 1s/p/2s/p/p/X/p/? The good news is that “trusty partner” has balanced and they are not playing 2 spades. The bad news is that it is your turn to bid. Suppose you hold xx, Axxx, Kxxx, Qxx. Since hearts is the major, many players are just going to bid 3 hearts and hope. The minute you do that partner will hold xxx, Kxx, QJxx, Axxx. Some may decide to bid their 4 card suits up the line and hope for a fit in diamonds. The minute you do that partner will have a hand like xxx, KJxx, QJx, Axx. Yes, you could fall into an 8 card trump suit if doubler’s hands were reversed, but bridge is, by and large, a perverse game and justice is rarely served. There must be a better way!
Enter Scrambling 2NT. The Scrambling 2NT bid is used after partner makes a double in the direct or balancing seat and you hold two 4 card suits. The bid of 2NT is designed to find an 8 card fit. It asks doubler to bid his 4 card suit or if more than one to bid them up the line. In my first example, after 1s/p/2s/p/p/X/p/2NT, doubler will bid his 4 card diamond suit and we will play 3 diamonds. In the second example, doubler will bid his 4 card heart suit and we will play 3 hearts. Yes, if doubler has four hearts and four diamonds, we will be playing our diamond fit rather than our heart fit. Forget about it! Our objective is to jolt opponents out of their 2 level spade fit and find an 8 card fit of our own at the 3 level. Put greed behind you and take the guarantee. Your master point profile will appreciate it.
Let’s spin it around and look at it in a pre-balance format. This time the bidding goes 1s/p/2s/X/p/?. You hold Kxx, xxx, Kxxx, Kxx. Note again the 2 four card suits, with a random chance of making the correct choice. Here again bid Scrambling 2NT to search for a 4-4 fit. If doubler in the direct seat has xx, Axx, AQxx, Qxxx, he will bid his 4 card club suit up the line to start the scramble. Since you do not have 4 clubs, you bid 3 diamonds showing your four card diamond suit, and hopefully we play it there in our 8 card fit. We may go down one, but in balancing that is pure gold. For sure we aren’t going -110 or worse.
Note that in each of these examples doubler’s partner does not have a 5 card suit. In fact, if he has have a 5 card suit he must bid it and not use Scrambling 2NT. Scrambling 2NT has a good negative inference. When we scramble we are either 4333, 4432 or on very rare occasions 4441. Helpful information in either the bidding or the defense. Since partner's square hand will not play as well as a distributional hand, you may want to think twice before competing further.
I can’t believe that I have gotten this far and nobody has pointed out to me that we have given away the natural bid of 2NT. Why would b we ever want to play no trump when they have found an 8+ card fit and will be on lead. Hopefully, this idea makes no sense to you as well. Nirvana, we have found a vacant bid and put it to good use.
The Scrambling 2NT bid is alertable. Just say that partner is asking me to further define my hand looking for a fit. This is not overly complicated. Think of the Scrambling 2NT as being like a responsive double. You are passing the bid back to partner to make a choice since your choice is not clear. One of the major benefits of the bid is that it will enable your partnership to make more aggressive doubles knowing that you can find your 4-4 fits safely. Yikes, if I balance any quicker I will be out of tempo.
Talk this over with partner in advance, not while the director is passing out the boards. It takes a moment to digest, but with minimum thought it pretty much sells itself.
This is my last post from Rochester, New York. On October 13 Axel, Virgil, Alla and I fly to Florida for the winter. Axel and Virgil are my two cats who do my proof reading. Looks like it doesn’t it. Rochester is a wonderful bridge town and I will miss my many friends who have made me feel so much at home. I look forward to seeing all my old bridge buddies in Citrus County, Florida. I can only hope that majority of them feel the same way.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sandwich No Trump
Experts tell us that 80% of duplicate bridge is effective bidding. I would agree with that and go one step further – 80% of effective bidding is competitive bidding in part score auctions. If it were not for competitive bidding, we would all be sleeping at the bridge table. What challenges are there in the 1s/3s/4s auction or 1NT/3NT auctions. Sure you can spice them up with Bergen Raises and Stayman and Transfer, but this is not exactly this sort of stuff that gets the blood rolling down your opponents personal score card. We need some real battle, a chance to be a hero or alternatively be carried out on our shield in utter disgrace. Enter Competitive Bidding.
Early this Spring I had the chance to teach a few classes to novices and intermediates. I had my choice of material and I chose competitive bidding. I saw my audience week after week at club games letting me and others play part score contracts resulting in +90 or worse +110. As I have said before, that is the “death zone” so you need to do whatever you need to do to get opponents out of that comfort zone.
Oscar Wilde said “Nothing Worth Learning Can be Taught.” I actually discovered that effective competitive bidding is teachable, and that it is not that hard to do. Mostly, you need faith and to quit sitting on your fingers. Some got all the nuances, but others just discovered that never letting opponents play a hand is an effective strategy onto itself. In these competitive auctions we learned to move opponents out of their comfort zone and to fall in love with -100, the great equalizer.
After just 3 weeks, life in the old game was not the same. I had created a bunch of “Bridge Terrorists” who routinely aggravated the better players. When I heard comments like “How can she make that bid” or “He didn’t have the cards he was supposed to have” or “It was a colossal fix”, I knew my terrorists were at it again. What a joy!
I have already covered most of the important competitive bidding tactics in other blog posts. Among them are preemptive bidding, balancing in the pass out seat, balancing in the direct set (OBAR BIDS), Unusual No Trump, Michaels, D.O.N.T. over opponents 1NT opening and following the Law of Total Tricks.
In this post we will discuss the Sandwich No Trump bid. This conventional bid is much like Unusual 2NT and in fact Marty Bergen and Larry Cohen called it the “Unusual 1NT.” The bid is made in the 4th seat when opponents have opened, partner has passed and they have made bids in different suits at the one level. The music sounds something like this: 1c/p/1h/1NT. No, the 1NT bidder doesn’t have a standard 1NT overcall (we are giving that up), the bid shows the other two suits (diamonds and spades), less than an opening hand and lack of defensive values. The bid has traditionally shown 5-5 in the other 2 suits, but if the vulnerability is equal or favorable, I would not hesitate to do it with 5-4-3-1 or even 5-4-2-2 if I am sufficiently aggravated. How about 4-4? I love the question, you’ve got the right attitude!
The objective here is to turn what appears to be the start of a constructive auction (letting opponents bid unmolested) into a competitive auction (an Irish bar fight). It is also preemptive. Opener probably wants to rebid 1NT to show a balanced minimum, but you just stole his bid. By bidding 1NT you have screwed opener up to the 2 level, but often will pass in frustration.
I am hoping that I find partner with 3, and preferably 4 card support for one of my suits, that he can add 5+4=9, hoist us to 3 level immediately and potentially suggest a save if opponents recover and drive to game. On a good day my sandwich no trump hand may look like KJxxx, x, QJxxx, xx. Suppose I catch partner with Axxx, xx, Kxxx, xxx. Partner and I have 14 points combined, so opponents with 26 are favorites to make 4 hearts. Neither of my suits are suitable for an overcall and the hand is not strong enough for a traditional take out double, so without the Sandwich 1NT overcall, opponents will surely rack up rack up a game if we let them alone. In this case if they bid 4 hearts over 3 spades by partner, I am going to take a save at 4 spades as my 5-5 hand may not take any tricks at 4 hearts. In this case, we catch moonbeams in a jar, as our 4 spade contract only goes down 1 or 2 at most.
Many very good players will suggest that giving up the natural 4th seat overcall of 1NT is not a good trade. I ask you, when is the last time you had a 4th seat bid with a balanced 15-17 hcps and where are you really going with it if both opponents are bidding and you tell them that your hand is balanced and that you have all the missing points right in front of opener. If Sandwich No Trump is heresy, then let it be so. Little is gained from arguing with so called “World Class” players. They not only want to bid their cards, but your cards as well. If you happen to catch a real big balanced hand (16-19), just double first and then bid 2NT at your next bid. Not a complete answer, but a compromise for that “once in a lifetime” hand.
Assume you hold KQxxx, Ax, KQxx. xx. This hand has 14 hcps and is way too good for a Sandwich No Trump. With this hand you make a take out double to show the values and also mildly suggesting the unbid suits and shortness in one or both of opponents 2 suits. If you are 5-5 and huge, you can always bid 2NT. What can that mean other than the unbids with muscle?
When partner makes a Sandwich no trump bid, if opener passes it is your duty to bid one of his two suits unless you lack 3 card support in either suit. Be guided by the Law of Total Tricks and bid to the max. If you don’t have 3 card support for either suit, just pass. Don’t worry, partner is not going to play 1NT doubled. Opponents will bail you out.
If you are losing trick count person (see my posts on LTC) a minimum Sandwich hand should have about 8 LTC non-vulnerable and 7 LTC vulnerable. (a) Vul. Qxxxx, xx, QJxxx, x. 7 LTC, bid 1NT after 1c/p/1h/.
(b) Non-Vul. xx, xxxxx, QJxxx, x. 8 LTC bid 1NT. I can’t say that I have always followed that advice, having last Monday bid 1NT with T83, Jxxxx, JTxxx, void, after 1c/p/1s. Opponents got to their 3NT makeable game, but went down one when they miss guessed the distribution of spade suit. Confusion itself has some value!
Review of Requirements: (a) less than an opening hand (b) no defensive strength, (c) good shape in the unbids and (d) opponents have bid 2 suits at the one level with partner passing in between. Note, that since the bid of 1NT shows lack of strength, it can be used even though you are a passed hand originally. How can it be clearer than that?
Post Graduate Stuff: What do you do to show partner you are 6-5 or 6-6. My Florida partner, Howard Christ, moved to Florida from the Albany-Schenectady area. He brought with him a bidding structure for these hands which we call BHQ Bids, named after Central New York area experts Carl Berger and Paul Harrington. With 6-5, we cue bid the lower ranking of opponent’s suits to show that our lower ranking suit is 6 long and cue bid the higher ranking to show that our higher ranking suit is 6 long. What do we do with 6-6? 2NT, what else? My advice, just grab the basics of the bid and doll it up after you have a few successes. Even if you overcall 1NT, partner will not be disappointed to see 6-5-1-1.
Alerts: You need an understanding with partner that the 1NT bid is Sandwich. He must also alert the call. Monday, my partner, Mike Spitulnik, alerted it even though we had not specifically discussed it. He actually had 9 hcps, opener had minimally 13, responder had a minimum of 6. so what as left for me? Mike was hoping it was more than 2 hcps, but that is life in the fast lane.
Early this Spring I had the chance to teach a few classes to novices and intermediates. I had my choice of material and I chose competitive bidding. I saw my audience week after week at club games letting me and others play part score contracts resulting in +90 or worse +110. As I have said before, that is the “death zone” so you need to do whatever you need to do to get opponents out of that comfort zone.
Oscar Wilde said “Nothing Worth Learning Can be Taught.” I actually discovered that effective competitive bidding is teachable, and that it is not that hard to do. Mostly, you need faith and to quit sitting on your fingers. Some got all the nuances, but others just discovered that never letting opponents play a hand is an effective strategy onto itself. In these competitive auctions we learned to move opponents out of their comfort zone and to fall in love with -100, the great equalizer.
After just 3 weeks, life in the old game was not the same. I had created a bunch of “Bridge Terrorists” who routinely aggravated the better players. When I heard comments like “How can she make that bid” or “He didn’t have the cards he was supposed to have” or “It was a colossal fix”, I knew my terrorists were at it again. What a joy!
I have already covered most of the important competitive bidding tactics in other blog posts. Among them are preemptive bidding, balancing in the pass out seat, balancing in the direct set (OBAR BIDS), Unusual No Trump, Michaels, D.O.N.T. over opponents 1NT opening and following the Law of Total Tricks.
In this post we will discuss the Sandwich No Trump bid. This conventional bid is much like Unusual 2NT and in fact Marty Bergen and Larry Cohen called it the “Unusual 1NT.” The bid is made in the 4th seat when opponents have opened, partner has passed and they have made bids in different suits at the one level. The music sounds something like this: 1c/p/1h/1NT. No, the 1NT bidder doesn’t have a standard 1NT overcall (we are giving that up), the bid shows the other two suits (diamonds and spades), less than an opening hand and lack of defensive values. The bid has traditionally shown 5-5 in the other 2 suits, but if the vulnerability is equal or favorable, I would not hesitate to do it with 5-4-3-1 or even 5-4-2-2 if I am sufficiently aggravated. How about 4-4? I love the question, you’ve got the right attitude!
The objective here is to turn what appears to be the start of a constructive auction (letting opponents bid unmolested) into a competitive auction (an Irish bar fight). It is also preemptive. Opener probably wants to rebid 1NT to show a balanced minimum, but you just stole his bid. By bidding 1NT you have screwed opener up to the 2 level, but often will pass in frustration.
I am hoping that I find partner with 3, and preferably 4 card support for one of my suits, that he can add 5+4=9, hoist us to 3 level immediately and potentially suggest a save if opponents recover and drive to game. On a good day my sandwich no trump hand may look like KJxxx, x, QJxxx, xx. Suppose I catch partner with Axxx, xx, Kxxx, xxx. Partner and I have 14 points combined, so opponents with 26 are favorites to make 4 hearts. Neither of my suits are suitable for an overcall and the hand is not strong enough for a traditional take out double, so without the Sandwich 1NT overcall, opponents will surely rack up rack up a game if we let them alone. In this case if they bid 4 hearts over 3 spades by partner, I am going to take a save at 4 spades as my 5-5 hand may not take any tricks at 4 hearts. In this case, we catch moonbeams in a jar, as our 4 spade contract only goes down 1 or 2 at most.
Many very good players will suggest that giving up the natural 4th seat overcall of 1NT is not a good trade. I ask you, when is the last time you had a 4th seat bid with a balanced 15-17 hcps and where are you really going with it if both opponents are bidding and you tell them that your hand is balanced and that you have all the missing points right in front of opener. If Sandwich No Trump is heresy, then let it be so. Little is gained from arguing with so called “World Class” players. They not only want to bid their cards, but your cards as well. If you happen to catch a real big balanced hand (16-19), just double first and then bid 2NT at your next bid. Not a complete answer, but a compromise for that “once in a lifetime” hand.
Assume you hold KQxxx, Ax, KQxx. xx. This hand has 14 hcps and is way too good for a Sandwich No Trump. With this hand you make a take out double to show the values and also mildly suggesting the unbid suits and shortness in one or both of opponents 2 suits. If you are 5-5 and huge, you can always bid 2NT. What can that mean other than the unbids with muscle?
When partner makes a Sandwich no trump bid, if opener passes it is your duty to bid one of his two suits unless you lack 3 card support in either suit. Be guided by the Law of Total Tricks and bid to the max. If you don’t have 3 card support for either suit, just pass. Don’t worry, partner is not going to play 1NT doubled. Opponents will bail you out.
If you are losing trick count person (see my posts on LTC) a minimum Sandwich hand should have about 8 LTC non-vulnerable and 7 LTC vulnerable. (a) Vul. Qxxxx, xx, QJxxx, x. 7 LTC, bid 1NT after 1c/p/1h/.
(b) Non-Vul. xx, xxxxx, QJxxx, x. 8 LTC bid 1NT. I can’t say that I have always followed that advice, having last Monday bid 1NT with T83, Jxxxx, JTxxx, void, after 1c/p/1s. Opponents got to their 3NT makeable game, but went down one when they miss guessed the distribution of spade suit. Confusion itself has some value!
Review of Requirements: (a) less than an opening hand (b) no defensive strength, (c) good shape in the unbids and (d) opponents have bid 2 suits at the one level with partner passing in between. Note, that since the bid of 1NT shows lack of strength, it can be used even though you are a passed hand originally. How can it be clearer than that?
Post Graduate Stuff: What do you do to show partner you are 6-5 or 6-6. My Florida partner, Howard Christ, moved to Florida from the Albany-Schenectady area. He brought with him a bidding structure for these hands which we call BHQ Bids, named after Central New York area experts Carl Berger and Paul Harrington. With 6-5, we cue bid the lower ranking of opponent’s suits to show that our lower ranking suit is 6 long and cue bid the higher ranking to show that our higher ranking suit is 6 long. What do we do with 6-6? 2NT, what else? My advice, just grab the basics of the bid and doll it up after you have a few successes. Even if you overcall 1NT, partner will not be disappointed to see 6-5-1-1.
Alerts: You need an understanding with partner that the 1NT bid is Sandwich. He must also alert the call. Monday, my partner, Mike Spitulnik, alerted it even though we had not specifically discussed it. He actually had 9 hcps, opener had minimally 13, responder had a minimum of 6. so what as left for me? Mike was hoping it was more than 2 hcps, but that is life in the fast lane.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
This Dummy is No Dummy
Well, I stole a line from the great one, Marty Bergen, who asserts that when his dummy hand comes down it is clear that he has been no dummy. The correlative of that is that some dummies are actually --- dare I say it? True “Dummies!” How do you jump out of the latter category and get on that lofty perch with Marty. Well its not that hard, just recognize the need to revalue your hand when the partnership has found a trump suit fit. Various terminology is used to describe the revaluation process and authors alternatively talk about support points, distributional points or dummy points. In this post I will use the term “dummy points.” You can revalue your hand with dummy points at any point in the auction where it is clear that a fit exists and that your hand will be dummy. How’s that for simple! Most of us get a general notion when we are destined to become the dummy.
Most often this will occur when partner opens 1 of a major and you look down and have 3+ cards in his major suit. On other occasions opener will open 1 of a minor, you will bid 1 of a major and opener, with support for your major suit, raises your major to the appropriate level based open’s hand strength. In these auctions responder is going to play the hand and opener will be the dummy. So, just to warm up to dummy recognition, when you see you are about to become the dummy just mutter “I am a Dummy.”
Now that we have achieved dummy recognition, how do we use that to get to our goal – getting more masterpoints faster. The answer: When you have a fit with partner and are destined for the dummy role, adjust your starting points (what you think you had before the bidding) by converting your starting points to dummy points. If bridge is just a social event, stop reading, you don’t need to know about dummies to meet a lot of nice people, even though some of them may also be dummy-dummies.
This seems so basic that I am almost embarrassed to write it. Surely all of you have been told to revalue fitting hands as dummy. The standard of yesteryear was to value a doubleton as 1 point, singletons as 3 points and voids as 5 points. Well, that is better than nothing, but with suit shortness (singletons and voids) it is often too generous and will overvalue the dummy. This is where your well intended partner asks “where is the hand that you bid?”
The value of suit shortness is directly linked to the number of supporting trump cards in the dmmy hand. Surely it must have occurred to you that a singleton with 3 supporting trump is worth less than a singleton with 4 supporting trump. If you agree, then how can they both be valued as 3 dummy points? It is very possible that with only 3 card trump support that partner may not even be able to ruff even one loser from his hand. Yes, that is a bad day and with non-cooperating opponents, but at least it makes a point. What happened to those 3 dummy points?
Conversely. with 4 trump you are virtually guaranteed to be able to ruff at least one loser, and very often two or more. Think about this: If you have an card 8 trump fit, one opponent will hold 4+ trump an astounding 33% of t he time. Hardly a rarity, more like a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, if your trump fit is 9 cards, one opponent will hold 4 trump only 10% of the time. As a general rule, bid aggressively when you have a 9 card fit and more conservatively when the fit is only 8 cards.
The same is true with voids. If you have a void, it is likely that partner has at least 4+ cards in your void suit. If they are not AKQJ, he needs some trump to ruff his losers in that suit. By the same logical reasoning, the more trump held by dummy, the more valuable the void.
Marty Bergen has refined dummy valuation by changing the dummy point valuation formula to better account for the true value of the dummy. Here is the rule:
When a fit is established and you have said to yourself, “I am the dummy, but not a dummy” revalue your starting points by adding (a) one dummy point for each doubleton (b) two dummy points for each singleton except if you have 4+ supporting trump add 3 points for each single and (c) for any void add dummy points equal to the number of supporting trump that you hold. This is not a moon shot, but still “one small step for man.”
For example, if you ordinarily start with hcps and then add points for suits with more than 4 cards, that’s your starting value. You keep that value and simply add your dummy points to it.
Now you know what dummy points are and how to correctly value them, the next task is to know when to use them. Here’s my advice, use them in every auction where it is apparent that you and partner have a fit and you are the DD (designated dummy). I’ll bet my wrist watch that 95% of my reader’s fail that test. Let’s look at some auctions.
1. 1s/2s. This is a “fluff ball”, DD has 6-9 Dummy Points (DP). Did you notice that I said nothing about hcps? If you know what constructive raises are, try to forget them.
2. 1s/3s. If it shows a limit raise DD has 10-12 DP. If a weak jump raise, DD has 4-5 DP.
3. 1s/3c. If Reverse Bergen DD has 10-12 DP. If Regular Bergen DD has 6-9 DP.
4. 1s/2NT. Jacoby naturally, DD needs 13+ DP. The bid is of unlimited strength.
5. 1s/4c. Splinter (4 card support) with club shortness. DD has 13-16 DP. If you have 17+ use Jacoby 2NT rather than the space eating Splinter.
6. 1s/4s. For most good players this shows 5+ trump and total lack of defense. It is preemptive. Worry about having too much rather than too little. 6 or fewer DP and no outside Ace. This is not your mother’s 4s bid!
7. 1s/x/2NT. Jordan. A conventional bid showing 3 card support and 10-12 DP. Using Jordan a redouble (10+ hcps) would imply no fit for partner.
8. 1s/2c/3c/. Cue Bid showing 3+ card support and 10+ DP. There should be no upper limit to this bid since 2NT would be natural and not Jacoby.
9. 1d/p/1h/p/2h. For most, 4 card support and 13-16 DP. If opener rebids 3h rather than 2h, it shows 17-19 DP and if 4h, then 20+DP. Note that opener is the Dummy.
10. p/p/1s/p/2c. Drury. 3 card support and 10-12 DP. If 2-way Drury then 2d would show 4 card support but still 10-12 DP.
11. 1d/1s/2d/3d. Cue bid supporting partner’s spade overcall. 10+ DP. Here the advancer to the overcall values his hand based on DP.
Notice that we got rid of all this confusion about whether Bergen Raises, Jacoby, Drury etc. etc. are measured by hpcs or dummy points. If you are (or expect to be) a dummy on fitting hands, just adjust your starting count (however you arrived at it) by adding on your dummy points.
If you don’t like this idea, you can always pay a few thousand dollars for a 2 day seminar with Marty Bergen in Las Vegas. A low cost option would be to buy his book Slam Bidding Made Easier. If you are the 10 minute manager type, just read this blog post again. If you think I am full of crap, HONK!!!
Most often this will occur when partner opens 1 of a major and you look down and have 3+ cards in his major suit. On other occasions opener will open 1 of a minor, you will bid 1 of a major and opener, with support for your major suit, raises your major to the appropriate level based open’s hand strength. In these auctions responder is going to play the hand and opener will be the dummy. So, just to warm up to dummy recognition, when you see you are about to become the dummy just mutter “I am a Dummy.”
Now that we have achieved dummy recognition, how do we use that to get to our goal – getting more masterpoints faster. The answer: When you have a fit with partner and are destined for the dummy role, adjust your starting points (what you think you had before the bidding) by converting your starting points to dummy points. If bridge is just a social event, stop reading, you don’t need to know about dummies to meet a lot of nice people, even though some of them may also be dummy-dummies.
This seems so basic that I am almost embarrassed to write it. Surely all of you have been told to revalue fitting hands as dummy. The standard of yesteryear was to value a doubleton as 1 point, singletons as 3 points and voids as 5 points. Well, that is better than nothing, but with suit shortness (singletons and voids) it is often too generous and will overvalue the dummy. This is where your well intended partner asks “where is the hand that you bid?”
The value of suit shortness is directly linked to the number of supporting trump cards in the dmmy hand. Surely it must have occurred to you that a singleton with 3 supporting trump is worth less than a singleton with 4 supporting trump. If you agree, then how can they both be valued as 3 dummy points? It is very possible that with only 3 card trump support that partner may not even be able to ruff even one loser from his hand. Yes, that is a bad day and with non-cooperating opponents, but at least it makes a point. What happened to those 3 dummy points?
Conversely. with 4 trump you are virtually guaranteed to be able to ruff at least one loser, and very often two or more. Think about this: If you have an card 8 trump fit, one opponent will hold 4+ trump an astounding 33% of t he time. Hardly a rarity, more like a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, if your trump fit is 9 cards, one opponent will hold 4 trump only 10% of the time. As a general rule, bid aggressively when you have a 9 card fit and more conservatively when the fit is only 8 cards.
The same is true with voids. If you have a void, it is likely that partner has at least 4+ cards in your void suit. If they are not AKQJ, he needs some trump to ruff his losers in that suit. By the same logical reasoning, the more trump held by dummy, the more valuable the void.
Marty Bergen has refined dummy valuation by changing the dummy point valuation formula to better account for the true value of the dummy. Here is the rule:
When a fit is established and you have said to yourself, “I am the dummy, but not a dummy” revalue your starting points by adding (a) one dummy point for each doubleton (b) two dummy points for each singleton except if you have 4+ supporting trump add 3 points for each single and (c) for any void add dummy points equal to the number of supporting trump that you hold. This is not a moon shot, but still “one small step for man.”
For example, if you ordinarily start with hcps and then add points for suits with more than 4 cards, that’s your starting value. You keep that value and simply add your dummy points to it.
Now you know what dummy points are and how to correctly value them, the next task is to know when to use them. Here’s my advice, use them in every auction where it is apparent that you and partner have a fit and you are the DD (designated dummy). I’ll bet my wrist watch that 95% of my reader’s fail that test. Let’s look at some auctions.
1. 1s/2s. This is a “fluff ball”, DD has 6-9 Dummy Points (DP). Did you notice that I said nothing about hcps? If you know what constructive raises are, try to forget them.
2. 1s/3s. If it shows a limit raise DD has 10-12 DP. If a weak jump raise, DD has 4-5 DP.
3. 1s/3c. If Reverse Bergen DD has 10-12 DP. If Regular Bergen DD has 6-9 DP.
4. 1s/2NT. Jacoby naturally, DD needs 13+ DP. The bid is of unlimited strength.
5. 1s/4c. Splinter (4 card support) with club shortness. DD has 13-16 DP. If you have 17+ use Jacoby 2NT rather than the space eating Splinter.
6. 1s/4s. For most good players this shows 5+ trump and total lack of defense. It is preemptive. Worry about having too much rather than too little. 6 or fewer DP and no outside Ace. This is not your mother’s 4s bid!
7. 1s/x/2NT. Jordan. A conventional bid showing 3 card support and 10-12 DP. Using Jordan a redouble (10+ hcps) would imply no fit for partner.
8. 1s/2c/3c/. Cue Bid showing 3+ card support and 10+ DP. There should be no upper limit to this bid since 2NT would be natural and not Jacoby.
9. 1d/p/1h/p/2h. For most, 4 card support and 13-16 DP. If opener rebids 3h rather than 2h, it shows 17-19 DP and if 4h, then 20+DP. Note that opener is the Dummy.
10. p/p/1s/p/2c. Drury. 3 card support and 10-12 DP. If 2-way Drury then 2d would show 4 card support but still 10-12 DP.
11. 1d/1s/2d/3d. Cue bid supporting partner’s spade overcall. 10+ DP. Here the advancer to the overcall values his hand based on DP.
Notice that we got rid of all this confusion about whether Bergen Raises, Jacoby, Drury etc. etc. are measured by hpcs or dummy points. If you are (or expect to be) a dummy on fitting hands, just adjust your starting count (however you arrived at it) by adding on your dummy points.
If you don’t like this idea, you can always pay a few thousand dollars for a 2 day seminar with Marty Bergen in Las Vegas. A low cost option would be to buy his book Slam Bidding Made Easier. If you are the 10 minute manager type, just read this blog post again. If you think I am full of crap, HONK!!!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Revisiting Two Club Opening Bids
In June of 2009 I led (more or less) a discussion about when to open 2 clubs. The discussion centered around 2 hands sent to me by a reader. Rather than simply respond, I asked my readers to select the appropriate opening bid. The hands were:
Hand One:
KQ432
Q
AQ32
AKT
Hand Two:
AQxxx
AKT2
AQJ
2
I got a lot of varied responses. The only things the responses had in common were that none of them were equivocal and all lacked any discussion of standards that would be useful to my blog readers in the heat of battle. Almost everyone vilified hand one as a perfect example of abuse and overuse of the 2 club opening bid. Hand 2 gained more support and there was almost an even balance between 1 spade and 2 clubs.
Always practical and useful, enter Marty Bergen who has it all figured out and reveals his answer in depth in Chapter 4 of Slam Bidding Made Easier (2008), my summer beach book. His standard for opening 2 clubs is based on a combination of Quick Tricks and Losers (tricks you would expect to lose if partner shows up with no help at all).
Note that there is a distinct difference between the concept of “losing tricks” in opener’s hand and “Losing Trick Count.” Losing Trick Count (see my earlier blogs) is a valuable valuation tool when a fit has been established with partner, but of dubious value when there has been no bidding.
Most of you know the definition of Quick Tricks since it has been around from the early days of Bridge. A=1, AK= 2, Kx= ½, AQ= 1 ½ KQ=1. That’s it, and there can only be a maximum of 2 Quick Tricks in each suit.
Now you are ready for the Bergen Gold Standard:
(a) If the hand is balanced (4333 or 4432) open 2 clubs only if you have 22 high card points. Opener intends to rebid 2NT.
(b) If the hand is semi-balanced (5332) or unbalanced only open if the hand has 4 or fewer losers and the hand also has 4 or more quick tricks. Thus in Marty speak, “4+4.” Astute observers and mathematicians may point out that if you have only 4 losers, the hand also has 9 winners. Does that standard sound familiar?
Marty is not going to open either Hand 1 or 2 with 2 clubs. They both meet the 4 quick trick requirement but also have too many losing tricks. Let’s look at some example hands from Chapter 4 of Marty’s book.
(a) AJ, KQJT762, AK4, 8. (4 losers and 4 quick tricks). Open 2 clubs.
(b) AKQJ9874, 72, 65, A. Open 1 spade, only 4 losers, but just 3 quick tricks.
(c) AKQT2, AKQJ2, 42. 8. Open 2 clubs, 3 losers and 4 quick tricks.
(d)A, AQ643, K763, AKJ. Open 1 heart. 5 quick tricks, but at least 5 losers. The hand should also be downgraded for the singleton A of spades. Aces that are not supported with other honors in the suit or iare in short suits have diminished value. If you don’t have firm control of the trump suit, you also run the risk of a “pumping defense” in spades.
(e) AKT54, AK5, AKT3, 8. Open 2 clubs. Marty sez any hand with 6+ quick tricks is too strong to open with 1 spade or 1 heart.
What is the downside of the “2 club overuse syndrome?” In three words, “loss of communication.” You are starting the auction on the 2 level and by the time you get through with responses and rebids, it is no trick at all to be on the 3 level and not know much more than you did when you first sorted the cards. If your hand is one that deserves to play in game no matter what partner has, then opening 2 clubs is an effective way to tell him that. You don’t need a lot of bidding room. If your hand is not that strong, then give yourself the optimum opportunity to gain helpful information from partner by a one level opening.
What? Worried about getting passed out? Trust me, in this day and age good partners are looking for reasons to bid, not reasons to pass. Even if partner does not have a minimum bid, the chances are very good that the opponents will either overcall or balance. This sucker is not going to die, and on the rare occasion when it does, you are probably in the right spot.
So what do we have? Marty Bergen who said “Bridge is a Bidder Game” rejects the current fad to reduce standards for forcing 2 club opening bids and goes traditional on us. When you have one of the World’s most aggressive bidders saying “Pull in your horns”, maybe it is time to listen.
So consider making 4+4 your partnership standard.
Hand One:
KQ432
Q
AQ32
AKT
Hand Two:
AQxxx
AKT2
AQJ
2
I got a lot of varied responses. The only things the responses had in common were that none of them were equivocal and all lacked any discussion of standards that would be useful to my blog readers in the heat of battle. Almost everyone vilified hand one as a perfect example of abuse and overuse of the 2 club opening bid. Hand 2 gained more support and there was almost an even balance between 1 spade and 2 clubs.
Always practical and useful, enter Marty Bergen who has it all figured out and reveals his answer in depth in Chapter 4 of Slam Bidding Made Easier (2008), my summer beach book. His standard for opening 2 clubs is based on a combination of Quick Tricks and Losers (tricks you would expect to lose if partner shows up with no help at all).
Note that there is a distinct difference between the concept of “losing tricks” in opener’s hand and “Losing Trick Count.” Losing Trick Count (see my earlier blogs) is a valuable valuation tool when a fit has been established with partner, but of dubious value when there has been no bidding.
Most of you know the definition of Quick Tricks since it has been around from the early days of Bridge. A=1, AK= 2, Kx= ½, AQ= 1 ½ KQ=1. That’s it, and there can only be a maximum of 2 Quick Tricks in each suit.
Now you are ready for the Bergen Gold Standard:
(a) If the hand is balanced (4333 or 4432) open 2 clubs only if you have 22 high card points. Opener intends to rebid 2NT.
(b) If the hand is semi-balanced (5332) or unbalanced only open if the hand has 4 or fewer losers and the hand also has 4 or more quick tricks. Thus in Marty speak, “4+4.” Astute observers and mathematicians may point out that if you have only 4 losers, the hand also has 9 winners. Does that standard sound familiar?
Marty is not going to open either Hand 1 or 2 with 2 clubs. They both meet the 4 quick trick requirement but also have too many losing tricks. Let’s look at some example hands from Chapter 4 of Marty’s book.
(a) AJ, KQJT762, AK4, 8. (4 losers and 4 quick tricks). Open 2 clubs.
(b) AKQJ9874, 72, 65, A. Open 1 spade, only 4 losers, but just 3 quick tricks.
(c) AKQT2, AKQJ2, 42. 8. Open 2 clubs, 3 losers and 4 quick tricks.
(d)A, AQ643, K763, AKJ. Open 1 heart. 5 quick tricks, but at least 5 losers. The hand should also be downgraded for the singleton A of spades. Aces that are not supported with other honors in the suit or iare in short suits have diminished value. If you don’t have firm control of the trump suit, you also run the risk of a “pumping defense” in spades.
(e) AKT54, AK5, AKT3, 8. Open 2 clubs. Marty sez any hand with 6+ quick tricks is too strong to open with 1 spade or 1 heart.
What is the downside of the “2 club overuse syndrome?” In three words, “loss of communication.” You are starting the auction on the 2 level and by the time you get through with responses and rebids, it is no trick at all to be on the 3 level and not know much more than you did when you first sorted the cards. If your hand is one that deserves to play in game no matter what partner has, then opening 2 clubs is an effective way to tell him that. You don’t need a lot of bidding room. If your hand is not that strong, then give yourself the optimum opportunity to gain helpful information from partner by a one level opening.
What? Worried about getting passed out? Trust me, in this day and age good partners are looking for reasons to bid, not reasons to pass. Even if partner does not have a minimum bid, the chances are very good that the opponents will either overcall or balance. This sucker is not going to die, and on the rare occasion when it does, you are probably in the right spot.
So what do we have? Marty Bergen who said “Bridge is a Bidder Game” rejects the current fad to reduce standards for forcing 2 club opening bids and goes traditional on us. When you have one of the World’s most aggressive bidders saying “Pull in your horns”, maybe it is time to listen.
So consider making 4+4 your partnership standard.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Pat Peterson Takes Over the Bank
Well, not exactly, but sort of – Pat is moving her Florida Citrus County Bridge Games to new digs. She will be occupying part of the Nature Coast Bank Building (formerly the Ted Williams Museum) on Route 486 and Citrus Hills Boulevard. The first game in the new location will be Monday, September 20. It is a step forward for Pat and I am sure that I speak for all of her players in wishing her the very best.
Pat, who moved to Citrus County following retirement, has been widely recognized for her many contributions to bridge, not the least of which is her notable success in introducing new players to the duplicate bridge and bringing back some of us retreads. Her accomplishments were recently recognized on the ACBL web site and at last count her Florida pupils who had reached the Life Master milestone were at 35 and climbing. She is truly inspirational.
In furtherance of building bridge in Citrus County, Pat is offering FREE "Easybridge" lessons to beginners and novices or social players who wish to update their skills. This is not read 10 chapters and weep, Pat guarantees that students will be playing bridge by the end of the first day. The lessons start on Tuesday, October 19 and run from 2:00 to 4:30. We all have a big stake in the success of duplicate bridge in Citrus County, so make an effort to sign up any friends who may be candidates. Call Pat at 352-746-7835.
Pat’s success at managing and building bridge is equaled by her skills as a player. She can do it with such quietude and grace that you almost miss it. Recently I was watching Pat (Patpete2)and Sharron Rosenberg (Sharronr) dueling a couple of BBO World Class opponents. I had just finished reading a Chapter in Slam Bidding Made Easier by Marty Bergen on the importance of correctly bidding controls with distributional hands. Marty, no shrinking violet, just flat out said that notwithstanding other well intended expert opinion, the only way to successfully bid controls is to bid 1st and 2nd round controls up the line with equal priority.
I was rousted from my Internet daze by my cat Axel leaping to his perch on my desk and looked up and saw Pat and Sharron dealt these hands:
Sharron; KQJT542, void, A98, AJ8
Pat: A87, AJ732, KT7, 98
Sharron dealt and opened one spade, Pat 2 bid hearts (game forcing), Sharon 2 spades, Pat now bid 4 spades (spade fit and minimum hand). Now if all you count is hcps you might pass in Sharron’s seat. No matter what system you use for revaluing shapely hands, once the fit is established, this one is begging for further exploration. You can bid 4NT asking for key cards, but when partner shows you 2 key cards, you are still left with no complete solution to your minor suit losers. Sharron did not disappoint, she bid 5 clubs showing a control in clubs. Pat and Sharron obviously agree with Marty, since Pat bid 5 diamonds showing her control in diamonds, even though it was a 2nd round control. Now having a workable plan for diamonds, Sharron bid 6 spades. The slam makes against any lead and garnered a big bunch of IMPs. Axel wagged has tail and I sent an “attaboy” text.
The key to their success was both good hand valuation and also the critical control showing bid that Pat made of 5 diamonds. This is apparently how experts show controls (Marty said that) and the worthiness of the concept is proven by the result. So, if you and your partner don’t have an agreement on how to show controls, it might be a good idea to discuss it. Don’t be too surprised if Partner says ”Oh, I always bid 1st round controls first and then 2nd round controls.” If partner says “Oh, I just use Blackwood,” consider ripping up his ACBL card and if he is a life master borrow some tin snips.
Just a comment on hand valuation. I asked Pat what planted the seed in Sharron’s mind that more was there for the taking. An advocate of Losing Trick Count, she noted that Sharon had 4 ½ LTC hand and that her 2/1 game force bid showed about 7 LTC, so taking 12 tricks seemed quite reasonable.
Since my most recent blog post ("Slammin' with Marty Bergen") was about Marty Bergen’s system of valuing fitting major suit hands, I e-mailed the hand to Bergen for comment. Marty said Sharron’s hand is revalued at about 24 Bergen Points, but the void in hearts cannot be fully revalued since it is in partner’s bid suit. Anyway you put it together, as long as you don’t get sidetracked with hcps, you fully justify the bidding continuations and hit the jackpot..
That’s how it is done son!!!
Pat, who moved to Citrus County following retirement, has been widely recognized for her many contributions to bridge, not the least of which is her notable success in introducing new players to the duplicate bridge and bringing back some of us retreads. Her accomplishments were recently recognized on the ACBL web site and at last count her Florida pupils who had reached the Life Master milestone were at 35 and climbing. She is truly inspirational.
In furtherance of building bridge in Citrus County, Pat is offering FREE "Easybridge" lessons to beginners and novices or social players who wish to update their skills. This is not read 10 chapters and weep, Pat guarantees that students will be playing bridge by the end of the first day. The lessons start on Tuesday, October 19 and run from 2:00 to 4:30. We all have a big stake in the success of duplicate bridge in Citrus County, so make an effort to sign up any friends who may be candidates. Call Pat at 352-746-7835.
Pat’s success at managing and building bridge is equaled by her skills as a player. She can do it with such quietude and grace that you almost miss it. Recently I was watching Pat (Patpete2)and Sharron Rosenberg (Sharronr) dueling a couple of BBO World Class opponents. I had just finished reading a Chapter in Slam Bidding Made Easier by Marty Bergen on the importance of correctly bidding controls with distributional hands. Marty, no shrinking violet, just flat out said that notwithstanding other well intended expert opinion, the only way to successfully bid controls is to bid 1st and 2nd round controls up the line with equal priority.
I was rousted from my Internet daze by my cat Axel leaping to his perch on my desk and looked up and saw Pat and Sharron dealt these hands:
Sharron; KQJT542, void, A98, AJ8
Pat: A87, AJ732, KT7, 98
Sharron dealt and opened one spade, Pat 2 bid hearts (game forcing), Sharon 2 spades, Pat now bid 4 spades (spade fit and minimum hand). Now if all you count is hcps you might pass in Sharron’s seat. No matter what system you use for revaluing shapely hands, once the fit is established, this one is begging for further exploration. You can bid 4NT asking for key cards, but when partner shows you 2 key cards, you are still left with no complete solution to your minor suit losers. Sharron did not disappoint, she bid 5 clubs showing a control in clubs. Pat and Sharron obviously agree with Marty, since Pat bid 5 diamonds showing her control in diamonds, even though it was a 2nd round control. Now having a workable plan for diamonds, Sharron bid 6 spades. The slam makes against any lead and garnered a big bunch of IMPs. Axel wagged has tail and I sent an “attaboy” text.
The key to their success was both good hand valuation and also the critical control showing bid that Pat made of 5 diamonds. This is apparently how experts show controls (Marty said that) and the worthiness of the concept is proven by the result. So, if you and your partner don’t have an agreement on how to show controls, it might be a good idea to discuss it. Don’t be too surprised if Partner says ”Oh, I always bid 1st round controls first and then 2nd round controls.” If partner says “Oh, I just use Blackwood,” consider ripping up his ACBL card and if he is a life master borrow some tin snips.
Just a comment on hand valuation. I asked Pat what planted the seed in Sharron’s mind that more was there for the taking. An advocate of Losing Trick Count, she noted that Sharon had 4 ½ LTC hand and that her 2/1 game force bid showed about 7 LTC, so taking 12 tricks seemed quite reasonable.
Since my most recent blog post ("Slammin' with Marty Bergen") was about Marty Bergen’s system of valuing fitting major suit hands, I e-mailed the hand to Bergen for comment. Marty said Sharron’s hand is revalued at about 24 Bergen Points, but the void in hearts cannot be fully revalued since it is in partner’s bid suit. Anyway you put it together, as long as you don’t get sidetracked with hcps, you fully justify the bidding continuations and hit the jackpot..
That’s how it is done son!!!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Slammin' with Marty Bergen
I think success in duplicate bridge is in large measure based on good hand evaluation. It is easy to get stuck in “intermediatesville” and never lose the crutch of the 4-3-2-1 count. Knowing when and how to get beyond that is bridge’s great aperitif.
No analysis of hand valuation would be complete without hearing from Marty Bergen. He wrote a book in 2008 entitled “Slam Bidding Made Easy.” In large measure it is about hand evaluation. I had some e-mail correspondence with Danny Kleinman this summer and asked him about some of Bergen’s ideas. Danny is one of the great bridge theorists, and a world champion in backgammon as well. He said that Bergen is at his best when discussing hand evaluation. Bergen divides hand evaluation into three stages: (i) The Initial Valuation (these adjustments apply to both hands in before any bidding commences), (ii) Revaluing Dummy after a fit is determined by responder and (iii) Revaluing Declarer’s Hand after responder shows a fit. Marty’s approach requires a modest amount of study, but then if all good hand valuation only entailed counting to ten, we would all be experts.
Step 1, The Initial Hand Evaluation. Marty calls this “Adjust 3”, but you will notice that I have managed to divide the adjustments into 4 steps so we will call this first step “Adjust 4.” Adjust 4 applies to both partners and is applied before the auction. Start with your high card count and then:
1. Add your Aces and tens (positive undervalued honors), and Subtract the number of Queens and Jacks (negative overvalued honors). You ignore Kings since they are properly valued at 3 hcps. If the result is at least 3 or more positive add a point and if at least 3 or more negative subtract a point. If the difference is 0-2 no adjustment is necessary. (This is the “honor quality” adjustment).
2. Subtract 1 hcp for any dubious doubleton and/or singleton honor combinations like KQ, KJ, QJ, Qx, Jx, K, Q, and J. (the “wasted honor” adjustment).
3. Add a point if you have a 4+ card suit with 3 of the top 5 honors. (The “suit quality” adjustment).
4. Add another point for every 5 card suit and one additional point for each extra card beyond (The “suit length” adjustment).
All of these are cumulative, so if you have a 6 card suit with 3 of the top 5 honors, you count it as a 3 point adjustment. Two points for the suit length and one point for suit quality. Try these for practice.
(a) AQx, AQTx, KTxx, Ax: Hcp count 19. Add 1 point for honor quality (+3) (5 positve honors and 2 negative), one point for the quality of the 4 card heart suit and it adjusts to 21. Open the hand 2NT.
(b) KQJ, KQxx, AJxx, KJ. Hcp count 20. Adjust down one point for poor honor quality (-3), (one positive card and 4 negative cards) and down one more point for the KJ as a wasted honor, so it adjusts to 18. Open 1 diamond and rebid 2NT.
(c) QJxx, K, Jxxx, AJxx. Hcp count 12. Reduce one point for poor honor quality (-3) and one additional point for the wasted honor. Adjusted count 10. Pass.
(d) AJTxx, 3, ATxx, Axx. Hcp 13. Add one point for honor quality (+4), one point for a 5 card spade length and one more point for the honor quality of the spade suit. Adjusted count 16. Open 1 spade.
(e) xx, AKTx, AKTxxx, x. Hcp Count 14. Add one point for the honor quality (+4) , add 2 points for the 6 card diamond suit, another point for the quality of the diamond suit and finally a point for the quality of the 4 card heart suit. Adjusted count 19. Open this 1 diamond and feel free to reverse with the heart suit.
Well, you may think these Initial Adjustments are a bit overwhelming, but I have tried it for a while and they can be quite easily mastered. I am not smart enough to evaluate the correctness of Bergen’s methodology, but I feel quite comfortable in my belief that it is a better Initial Hand Valuation than you would get by simply ignoring these features.
Step 2. Revaluing Dummy. Once a fit is established responder further adjusts the Initial Hand Valuation to reflect the value of the fit. You can add to your Initial Hand Valuation (i) One point for a doubleton (ii) Two points for a single if you have only 3 card support but add 3 points if you have 4 card support and (iii) for a void, add additional points equal to the number of trumps in your hand. So if you have 5 card support, count 5 for your void. Not too different that the usual dummy point revaluation.
Step 3. Revaluing Declarer’s Hand After a Fit (Bergen Points). If partner supports opener’s suit (e.g.1 spade/2 spades), then opener makes a further adjustment to his Initial Count as follows: (a) add 2 points for a singleton and 4 for a void (b) add 1 point for 2 doubletons (c) add 1 point for each trump suit card over 5 and (d) add one additional point for a 4 or 5 card side suit.
If your combined adjustments now equal 33 points (as adjusted on both sides) you have enough to bid a small slam.
At last Friday’s Open Pairs game in Rochester, N.Y as East I held :
A72, KT762, J9, QJ4.
West held: KQ9653, void, AQ8, AT93. None vulnerable. Dealer North passed, I passed with the East hand, West opened 1 spade, South overcalled 2 hearts and I cue bid three hearts showing 10-12 hpcs and spade support. Join Marty in valuing the East-West hands.
East has 11 hpcs. The Initial Valuation (Adjust 4) would be one added point for the 5 card heart suit and one point subtracted for the worthless doubleton Jack of diamonds. No other adjustments, so an Initial Valuation of 11 hcps. A pass feels right in any system.
West has 15 hcps and gets a 2 point add-on for the 6 card suit and no other adjustments, so West’s Initial Valuation is 17 hcps. The one spade bid seems right.
East has a spade fit, so he needs to revalue his Initial Valuation for Dummy Points. That Jx that initially cost him a point, he now gets to add it back, so 12 Dummy points. Since North made a 2 heart overcall, I cue bid 3 hearts showing support and 10-12 Dummy Points.
West now knows there is a spade fit and must revalue the hand to reflect that fit. Don’t be impatient, this is the final adjustment. Initially he had 17 adjusted points, but he now adds back 4 points for the void, 1 point for the 6 card spade suit and 1 point for the 4 card side suit in clubs. So 17+6=23 adjusted points for opener. Our pair total should be 33-35 adjusted points depending on the size of my limit raise. What Would Marty Do? Probably bid 7 spades which makes, but if you bid 6 spades you get a top board. Sadly, we failed. Joe and June DeSantis were the only pair that got to the slam and a cold top. Congratulations!
Marty has 10 commandments for good slam bidding. No. 1 is “Never forget the magic of Voids.” No 2. is “Hcps are Not the key.” Have you ever looked at the Rodwell-Meckstroth convention card? In bold across the top is “ Frequent upgrades and some downgrades.” Do you suppose they are just lucky or are they doing something we are not?
I hope you find this valuation concept interesting. A more interesting question: Is it an improvement over what I am presently doing? If you are relying on “Kentucky Windage”, consider that with a room full of World Class players (BBO standards) , only one pair found this 26 hcp slam.
No analysis of hand valuation would be complete without hearing from Marty Bergen. He wrote a book in 2008 entitled “Slam Bidding Made Easy.” In large measure it is about hand evaluation. I had some e-mail correspondence with Danny Kleinman this summer and asked him about some of Bergen’s ideas. Danny is one of the great bridge theorists, and a world champion in backgammon as well. He said that Bergen is at his best when discussing hand evaluation. Bergen divides hand evaluation into three stages: (i) The Initial Valuation (these adjustments apply to both hands in before any bidding commences), (ii) Revaluing Dummy after a fit is determined by responder and (iii) Revaluing Declarer’s Hand after responder shows a fit. Marty’s approach requires a modest amount of study, but then if all good hand valuation only entailed counting to ten, we would all be experts.
Step 1, The Initial Hand Evaluation. Marty calls this “Adjust 3”, but you will notice that I have managed to divide the adjustments into 4 steps so we will call this first step “Adjust 4.” Adjust 4 applies to both partners and is applied before the auction. Start with your high card count and then:
1. Add your Aces and tens (positive undervalued honors), and Subtract the number of Queens and Jacks (negative overvalued honors). You ignore Kings since they are properly valued at 3 hcps. If the result is at least 3 or more positive add a point and if at least 3 or more negative subtract a point. If the difference is 0-2 no adjustment is necessary. (This is the “honor quality” adjustment).
2. Subtract 1 hcp for any dubious doubleton and/or singleton honor combinations like KQ, KJ, QJ, Qx, Jx, K, Q, and J. (the “wasted honor” adjustment).
3. Add a point if you have a 4+ card suit with 3 of the top 5 honors. (The “suit quality” adjustment).
4. Add another point for every 5 card suit and one additional point for each extra card beyond (The “suit length” adjustment).
All of these are cumulative, so if you have a 6 card suit with 3 of the top 5 honors, you count it as a 3 point adjustment. Two points for the suit length and one point for suit quality. Try these for practice.
(a) AQx, AQTx, KTxx, Ax: Hcp count 19. Add 1 point for honor quality (+3) (5 positve honors and 2 negative), one point for the quality of the 4 card heart suit and it adjusts to 21. Open the hand 2NT.
(b) KQJ, KQxx, AJxx, KJ. Hcp count 20. Adjust down one point for poor honor quality (-3), (one positive card and 4 negative cards) and down one more point for the KJ as a wasted honor, so it adjusts to 18. Open 1 diamond and rebid 2NT.
(c) QJxx, K, Jxxx, AJxx. Hcp count 12. Reduce one point for poor honor quality (-3) and one additional point for the wasted honor. Adjusted count 10. Pass.
(d) AJTxx, 3, ATxx, Axx. Hcp 13. Add one point for honor quality (+4), one point for a 5 card spade length and one more point for the honor quality of the spade suit. Adjusted count 16. Open 1 spade.
(e) xx, AKTx, AKTxxx, x. Hcp Count 14. Add one point for the honor quality (+4) , add 2 points for the 6 card diamond suit, another point for the quality of the diamond suit and finally a point for the quality of the 4 card heart suit. Adjusted count 19. Open this 1 diamond and feel free to reverse with the heart suit.
Well, you may think these Initial Adjustments are a bit overwhelming, but I have tried it for a while and they can be quite easily mastered. I am not smart enough to evaluate the correctness of Bergen’s methodology, but I feel quite comfortable in my belief that it is a better Initial Hand Valuation than you would get by simply ignoring these features.
Step 2. Revaluing Dummy. Once a fit is established responder further adjusts the Initial Hand Valuation to reflect the value of the fit. You can add to your Initial Hand Valuation (i) One point for a doubleton (ii) Two points for a single if you have only 3 card support but add 3 points if you have 4 card support and (iii) for a void, add additional points equal to the number of trumps in your hand. So if you have 5 card support, count 5 for your void. Not too different that the usual dummy point revaluation.
Step 3. Revaluing Declarer’s Hand After a Fit (Bergen Points). If partner supports opener’s suit (e.g.1 spade/2 spades), then opener makes a further adjustment to his Initial Count as follows: (a) add 2 points for a singleton and 4 for a void (b) add 1 point for 2 doubletons (c) add 1 point for each trump suit card over 5 and (d) add one additional point for a 4 or 5 card side suit.
If your combined adjustments now equal 33 points (as adjusted on both sides) you have enough to bid a small slam.
At last Friday’s Open Pairs game in Rochester, N.Y as East I held :
A72, KT762, J9, QJ4.
West held: KQ9653, void, AQ8, AT93. None vulnerable. Dealer North passed, I passed with the East hand, West opened 1 spade, South overcalled 2 hearts and I cue bid three hearts showing 10-12 hpcs and spade support. Join Marty in valuing the East-West hands.
East has 11 hpcs. The Initial Valuation (Adjust 4) would be one added point for the 5 card heart suit and one point subtracted for the worthless doubleton Jack of diamonds. No other adjustments, so an Initial Valuation of 11 hcps. A pass feels right in any system.
West has 15 hcps and gets a 2 point add-on for the 6 card suit and no other adjustments, so West’s Initial Valuation is 17 hcps. The one spade bid seems right.
East has a spade fit, so he needs to revalue his Initial Valuation for Dummy Points. That Jx that initially cost him a point, he now gets to add it back, so 12 Dummy points. Since North made a 2 heart overcall, I cue bid 3 hearts showing support and 10-12 Dummy Points.
West now knows there is a spade fit and must revalue the hand to reflect that fit. Don’t be impatient, this is the final adjustment. Initially he had 17 adjusted points, but he now adds back 4 points for the void, 1 point for the 6 card spade suit and 1 point for the 4 card side suit in clubs. So 17+6=23 adjusted points for opener. Our pair total should be 33-35 adjusted points depending on the size of my limit raise. What Would Marty Do? Probably bid 7 spades which makes, but if you bid 6 spades you get a top board. Sadly, we failed. Joe and June DeSantis were the only pair that got to the slam and a cold top. Congratulations!
Marty has 10 commandments for good slam bidding. No. 1 is “Never forget the magic of Voids.” No 2. is “Hcps are Not the key.” Have you ever looked at the Rodwell-Meckstroth convention card? In bold across the top is “ Frequent upgrades and some downgrades.” Do you suppose they are just lucky or are they doing something we are not?
I hope you find this valuation concept interesting. A more interesting question: Is it an improvement over what I am presently doing? If you are relying on “Kentucky Windage”, consider that with a room full of World Class players (BBO standards) , only one pair found this 26 hcp slam.
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