Carls Lessons |
I: FOUR CARD MAJORS. Opening with a SOUND 4-card major is superior to a 5-card major system, or an artificial system. Opening a 4-card major allows hands to be bid without distortion, and can prepare for defense if you are outbid. Do you want a heart or a diamond lead if you are defending 2S with Kxx KQ108 Q732 Ax ? Open the HIGHER of touching suits consistent with III below. II: SAFETY. Essential in ALL forms of Bridge except Board-a- match. Better to be consistently +90 or +110 than to strive for an ideal partial and go minus because of poor trump quality, a bad split, or a partner overly encouraged by a "fit". You do NOT lose team or pair games by being +90 when you could have been +140. You lose them because you score -200, -500, or -620 (on an opening lead or shift to a poor quality suit bid by your side.) III:SUIT QUALITY. An essential factor when opening or respond- ing in a 4-card suit. With Axxx,KQ9x,Axx,xx open 1H. Respond 1NT to 1D holding xxx,Jxxx,xx,AQ9x. Open 1D with AQ9x,xx,AQ9x,Jxx. Opponents will NOT double you when your side holds the high trumps and trump intermediates, even if your combined trump length is only 7 cards. IV: TRUMP QUALITY. A 4-3 fit in a GOOD quality trump suit or playing notrump is superior to a 4-4 fit in a poor quality trump suit. Axxx Jxxx 1C-1H Kxxx xxxx K10x AQJ9 2S-3S 1D-2N Ax KQx Ax Kxx 3N-4C 3N-Pass AJxxx KQx AKJX Qx 4D-4H Kx QJx 6H-Pass V: PRUDENCE. A known fit is safer than exploring. On a hand worth one call, make the PRUDENT call. Partner opens 1D, raise to 2D holding xx,Qxxx,KJ10x,xxx. Nothing worthwhile is lost if you bypass the heart suit. Remember - your side opens GOOD 4-card majors!. Because of the first principle, minor openings tend to show a reasonable suit. This results in more accurate leading, defending, counting and competitive bidding. Five-card majorites open Axxx AK109 Qxx xx with one D. Your side opens one HEART. By playing four-card majors, a minor opening is far more likely to be based on a GOOD 4-card minor suit! VI: TWO OVER ONE 10 PTS.+ (Not GF). Common hands such as xx,Kxx,AQJxxx,xx can be bid naturally and descriptively: 1S-2D-2H-3D. Playing 2/1 GF is flawed because it causes both responder and opener to misdescribe their hands. Responder calls and ill-defined forcing 1NT on xx KJx AQJ9x xxx. Opener must rebid a hideous 2C on AKJ9x,KQx,xx,Jxx over a forcing NT. A good four-card majorite rebids 2S, which shows five plus good spades, or six-plus weak spades. Another flaw in 2/1 GF is the misdescription that occurs. AKQJxx Kxx x KJx is rebid 2S over 2C, the same as Jxxxxx,AKx,Kxx,x. The former hand has EIGHT tricks and the latter about THREE tricks over a 2C response! Also, the question of CAPTAINCY is always in doubt. On the first hand, OPENER wants to assume captaincy but on other hands, RESPONDER would consider that HIS role. VII: 1NT RESPONSE NATURAL 6-10 NF. A 1NT contract often repre- sents the last chance for a plus. FORCING 1NT response is a fallacy because it induces opener to misdescribe his hand by bidding a three card minor. Thus, xxx,AKJ9x,Kxx,Qx would be rebid 2D, the same call made with xx,Qxxxx,AKJ9x,A. What should poor responder do with cards such as AKx,x,xxxx,9xxxx after opener opens 1H and rebids 2D after a Forcing 1NT? Does x AKx Qxx Or does he Opener Qxxxx x AK109x hold THIS? hold AKxxx xxxx Kxx < this?> Ax 9xxxx xx VIII: QUALITY SUIT IN STAYMAN AUCTIONS. Stayman and Transfers should be based on reasonable quality suits in most cases. An EXCEPTION may be made in desperate situations. This is an extension of III. xxxx Jxxx Jxxxx xxxx Ax xxx xxx xxxx AKxx Ax Ax Jxxxx AJx KQ10x KQ10 - Respond 2D Don't use Use Stayman. Stayman OK. to Stayman. Stayman. Don't Transfer. (Desperation) IX: BALANCE RARELY. Balancing is of little importance, except perhaps in weak Pair games. Balancing is a losing proposition, because it violates Principle V (SAFETY) and frequently turns a potential PLUS (if you defend) into a MINUS if your side buys the hand. X: SELDOM SACRIFICE. If you do, you should expect to MAKE your contract 1/3 of the time, and expect to go down ONLY ONE the rest of the time. If you DO sacrifice, you should expect that the opponents will have NO PROBLEM making their contract. The list of event LOSERS is rife with sacrificers, especially Phantom Savers. XI: NEVER DOUBLE FOR A ONE-TRICK SET. You should expect to beat them at least TWO. A rare exception is to silence partner: Partner You - 1S 2H P P QJ108 Dbl 3H ? Double here MAY xxxxx work out. xxxx XII: DEFINED OVERCALLS. Overcalls should have both an UPPER and LOWER limit. The upper limit is 16-17, the lower limit is 11-12. An overcall should be good enough to be a non-vul opening bid. XIII: FREE BIDS SHOW VALUES AND A SUIT. Don't bid on garbage. If you are introducing a new suit, have at least five. You should be perfectly satisfied to find xx as support in your dummy. Paying your Entry Fee does not give you the right to make your partner miserable as you rack up another -300 against nothing. XIV: IF PARTNER'S OPENING BID IS DOUBLED, DO NOT BID A NEW SUIT IF YOU HAVE THREE- CARD SUPPORT. The exceptions are a GOOD 5-card Major biddable at the one-level; or a six-card suit. Be ready to PLAY your suit opposite xx or even x. Partner should NOT rerescue without a good reason. Qxxx QJ9xx xx K9xx PASS! Kxx Bid 1S Jxx Bid 2C Jxx (1D-X) Jxx (1D-X) xx (1H-X) xx xx KQ109xx XV: A STRONGER 1NT (16-18) opening is preferable to 15-17. With 16-18 N, you avoid the losing tactic of opening a flat 12 and rebidding 1NT - which can be a -200 or -300 disaster when pard has 6. Also, you are safer in 1NT passed out, or during exploration for game, since with 16 your side's combined HCP expectation is 24. With a 15-point 1NT your side's HCP expectation is only 23.33 and the opponents is 16.67, or about a half-trick less margin. Additionally, a 16-18 1NT makes the jump-rebid to 2NT safer, since it has 19-20 HCP. By further extension a 2NT opening is safer, since that range becomes 21-22 rather than 20-21. XVI: BID SOUNDLY! Do not compete on marginal values, or overcall on trash. Your partner SELDOM will be unhappy if you have what you showed PLUS a queen, but if he is hung out to dry after you stretch, he will be unhappy. Bridge is NOT Poker!. Carl Hudecek |