Introduction: An Electronic Bird's Eye View 7 Using New Age Technology to Analyze Bridge Developments 1. New Age Bridge 11 Formulas, Codes and Frozen Suits Clarity Vs. Complexity Age of Active Ethics Partnership Problems of 1959 The Jump Shift to 2S by Opener followed by support for hearts testing First Support Doubles Suit-Preference at Trick One Switch Plus The 10-12 Notrump Escaping the Axe 2. Button Bids and Lauching Pads 35 4D Help Call 4C Slam Try Push-Button Bidding Universal Launching Pad A Brief History of Relays Zoom First Bid Button Pad 3. Keeping it Simple is Not Stupid 50 The Easiest System Over Strong 2C Simplest Transfer System Over Notrump Robot Opening Leads Consistency = Success Concrete Vs. Circumstantial Evidence Opening Lead Chart General Principles of Robot Leads Against Suit Contracts Against Notrump Opening Lead Pad 4. Old-fashioned Advice on the Popular Conventions 58 Pass in Competition Should be Your Weakest Action Stayman Which suit do we show first over Stayman, hearts or spades? Does Stayman promise a four-card major? Do you bid Stayman on 4-3-3-3 hands? Keycard Blackwood Negative Doubles Responsive Doubles The double of a new suit after partner makes a takeout double Redouble Trouble What to Open with 4-4 in the Minors What to Open with 5-5 in Spades and Clubs Drury What to Open with 4-4-3-2 Shape Limit Jump Raises Forcing Jump Raises Blackwood Cuebids The Four-Level "Cuebid" in Partner's Major Suit When is a cuebid Michaels and when is it natural? 10 Ways to Leave Your Partner 5. Being Prepared 73 Best Defense to 1NT Best Defense to Artificial Openings Best Defense to Multi Best Plum Torte Slam Spade Doubles Cut-Throat 6. Utilities and Applications 89 The Lead-Directing Pass The Law of Total Tricks The LAW Utility New Suit 2NT Aggressive Game Tries, Conservative Acceptance Bid Games - Invite Slams Possible/Probable Utility The Missing-Ace Finesse 10 Ways to Irritate Your Opponents 7. New Age Opening Leads 104 The Interior 9 Opening Lead Conventions Versus Notrump Ace asks Attitude, King asks Count Drop the Touching Honor Come-on = Cash 10 or 9 shows 0 or 2 10 Promises, Jack Denies 10 Promises, Jack Does Not Deny 8. New Age Carding 115 Suit-Preference in the Trump Suit Defense Utility #5678 When dummy has a singleton or void and you've led the ace against a suit contract. 9. Bucking the Trends 124 Sound Opening Bids Being There - How to be a Popular Player Pass is Weakest in Competition Use Blackwood 10. Keeping Cool in a Sea of Chaos 134 Watching Them and Taking Advantage The Two-Disaster Coffee Break The Nothing System 11 Ways to Keep Your Partner Happy Epilogue: Exploring the Universe - Shadows of Things to Come 140
"Why don't we try this today, Matt?" he would say. And my silent answer was, because I am having trouble remembering what you handed me yesterday. My good friend, the late Victor Mitchell, once told a story on his partner, Sam Stayman. As a birthday present, Sam gave Victor a complete new structure over one-notrump openings. So for the next three months Victor never opened one notrump. "Didn't like my small doubleton, Sam." "Didn't like my flat shape, Sam." "You've been playing 'em so well, Sam, that I thought I'd let you play this one, too."
When there are too many codes to remember in the bidding or too much meaning to the smallest spot cards on defense, your brain will start to wither away. Perhaps a melt-down is a better description. Nevertheless, we are here in the New Age of inventions and we have to somehow live with it.
How can we survive?
We could divide the problem into three sections. For bidding, play and defense all have their special New Age complexities. In the bidding, we must deal with an overload of sequences, our sequences, their sequences, our alerts, their alerts, our inferences, their inferences. In the defense, we have similar problems, though, thank goodness, less complex. Still, we must be alert to partner's signals, our signals, and on declarer play, their signals. If we don't pay strict attention in the card play, we may quickly lose an opportunity. How often we hear ourselves say, "What did he play at trick three?" "What happened to the nine?" "Did he high-low or play low-high? Can I see the last trick?"
"Too late!" yells the opponent.
In the New Age of Bridge, we are more than ever trying to become declarer or dummy, simply to escape these formulas and codes for a brief reprieve. (Some of our best players have escaped completely, becoming readers of bridge books and magazines, rather than torture themselves with the slings and arrows that abound at the table today.) And with all the talk of this bid or that signal, little progress has been made in the area of declarer play, which once was a shining area of inventiveness and beauty.
The most recent fresh idea in declarer play has been the chess-like position known as "frozen suits." These situations are fun when they come up. Unfortunately, they are all too rare. Let's look in on one of these, if for no other reason but to postpone the inevitable crisis of New Age bidding inventions. (I am being pessimistic here, but fear not, reader, I will tackle these ideas head on and we will come up with a few touchdowns by the end of this book.)
A frozen suit may consist of as little as Q-10 doubleton opposite A-x:
North
Q 10
West East
South
A x
If West holds the jack and East holds the king (a 25% chance), this suit is
frozen - neither defender can attack it without losing a trick.
A frozen suit may also be the A-Q in dummy with a void in your hand. If the king is onside, the suit is frozen. Even if it is offside, one opponent can't play the suit, so you have a 50% frozen suit in this case. If the king could be in either hand, you actually have a 75% frozen suit.
You can even have a 100% frozen suit. Dummy holds the top card in the suit and you are void - no one can play the suit. It's frozen.
Sounds like fun, no? But what do you do with frozen suits? my eight-year old asked me the other day while perusing this manuscript. Can you eat them, daddy?
Perhaps that is all you can do with them, unless you find a way to make your position work for you. Here is one example from this year's European Team Championship in Vilamoura, Portugal:
North
S T 6 5 2
H A K Q 8 4
D K T 3
C 5
West East
S 9 3 S K 8 4
H J 6 H T 9 7
D J 7 5 2 D A 9 8 4
C A J T 8 7 C K Q 6
South
S A Q J 7
H 5 3 2
D Q 6
C 9 4 3 2
First of all, can you spot the frozen suit?
It's not easy. You have to work to freeze this one. The contract was four spades by South, but the object of the hand for our purposes is to make six. A low diamond was led. Declarer called low from dummy and won East's 8 with the queen. Still no frozen suit, but wait. A heart is led to dummy, three rounds of trumps and the run of the hearts comes next. On the fourth heart, the D6 is thrown from the South hand - and now the diamond suit is frozen!
After the fifth heart, everyone held four cards:
North
S 6
H -
D K T
C 5
West East
S - S -
H - H -
D J 7 D A 9
C A J C K Q
South
S Q
H -
D -
C 9 4 3
Notice anything funny? West had to keep two diamonds, otherwise declarer
can lead the DK from dummy. East had to keep two diamonds as well. This
reduced the defenders to two clubs each. Now a club was led from dummy.
Because the diamond suit was frozen, the defense had to continue clubs,
setting up South's last club as a winner. What a beautiful game bridge is,
eh?
Clarity Vs. Complexity
Having had that little appetizer, let's take a deep breath and step back
into the muddy waters of bidding and defense, where a battle is being raged
between complexity and clarity. If we can somehow shed some clarity on the
complexity, we will do more than survive in the 21st Century of bridge, we
will win. And this is our goal.
Therefore, with every invention we add on to our ever-growing system, we must examine not only the strengths and weaknesses theoretically, but the practical sides as well. Will we remember the invention when it comes up at the table? If it only comes up every seven years, perhaps we should consider scrapping it. If we have a bidding disaster by forgetting a special bid, we have to subtract the points we've lost from the overall value. And there is a new New Age problem to throw into the equation as well:
Age of Active Ethics Everybody by now knows what "Active Ethics" means. But do you realize the tremendous backlash effect Active Ethics has on inventions?
There are now more ways to lose because of an alertable bid than there are by misbidding. Let's count 'em:
So you see, you can't just put add-ons, gadgets, and other whatnots on to your system unless you are prepared to deal with the Active Ethics of alerting, explaining and making these new inventions in proper tempo and with complete honesty. In view of all this, you might want to chuck the whole idea of partnership understandings in favor of an all-natural, nothing-is-ever-discussed approach, where you:
"Hey, that's bridge, mister."
But let's not give up before we start. We can overcome these problems, but we will have to temper our New Age thinking with a dash of prudence and commonsense.
Partnership Problems of 1959
We will turn the clock back for a moment to 1959, when bridge was a bowl of
cherries, the Italians were causing waves by opening 2D to show a
three-suiter and B. J. Becker decided to add-on splinter bids to his
all-natural system, though it went against his grain to be too complex in
the bidding. B.J.'s credo was: Simplicity in the bidding allows for more
brain power in the play. And he was not so wrong.
Despite the Roth-Stones, Kaplan-Sheinwolds and Schenkens, most partnerships in those days worked on sequences, not inventions. One popular problem sequence that all practiced partnerships thought about was this one:
The Jump Shift to 2S by Opener followed by support for hearts
West North East South 1 C pass 1 H pass 2 S pass 3 S pass 4 HThe problem: Is West showing four spades and three hearts? Or does he have three spades and four hearts? Don't peek at the answer now. Do you know what it shows in your 1996 partnership?
East is looking at 4-4 in the majors and doesn't know what to do. Should he correct to 4S or pass?
The solution in 1959: West holds four hearts; maybe he holds four spades as well, but he must hold four hearts. Otherwise, he bids the hand some other way.
The solution in 1996 is not as clear, because we have other ways of showing a singleton diamond. Today we play splinter bids to show four trumps and a singleton. We don't have to jump shift into a three-card suit first. But then there are hands that are too good for a splinter, such as: S AKx H AQxx D x C AQJxx. If we rebid 4D, will partner bid past 4H with a hand as weak as S xxx H KJxx D xxx C Kxx? Or will he hesitate slightly and bid 4H, destroying our plan to bid again.
Two lessons are learned from this problem:
The first point is simple on the surface, but if you are not full-time bridge professionals or a married couple that can discuss hundreds of sequences over the dinner table, how are you going to agree and remember them all? The answer to this is you have to stop discussing sequences and start making rules that apply to many sequences, thus keeping the memory problem to a fraction of what it was before. For instance, here is a rule for showing support:
Jump shifts followed by game bids show four-card support.
Maybe you don't like that rule, maybe you prefer:
You never jump shift in a three-card suit.
Fine, but make a rule and have a page of rules for you and your partner. Then hang them in the bathroom. (Don't hang them in the car, or you'll miss too many exits on the highway.) This is an easy way to start coping in the New Age of bridge.
As to the second point, you must be aware that after a hesitation, you cannot bid again. For example:
Opener Responder 1 C 1 H 4 D slow 4H Opener Responder 1 H 4 D slow 4HThe common theme to both of these sequences is the slow sign-off in game, where the last bid made before game was the suit right under game. Again:
Opener Responder 1 H 4 C 4 DHere opener can rebid 4D to make a slam move without going past 4H, but now responder is in the hot seat. If he bids 4H out of tempo, opener must pass. Thus, you must be careful. If opener holds a hand like this: S Ax H KQxxx D AKxx C xx, he cannot bid 4D without risk. If his partner bids a slow 4H, he's going to have to pass and miss the slam. In New Age bridge, you take over when you see a slam, you don't fiddle around.
testing First
A serious problem in New Age bridge is the proliferation of inventions. How
does the New Age player know which are good ones and which are not? One
thing has never changed over the years: Just because everybody is using it
does not make it necessarily a wise thing to do. (Often the minority is
right, you know.)
Let's look at a test case by examining a modern and very popular invention. You open the bidding, partner responds and fourth hand overcalls. Almost everybody today plays that the double of this bid shows three-card support for partner and a raise shows four. This is called the Support Double. It is used to help responder decide what to do should there be competitive bidding. On the surface, this seems like a good idea:
West North East South 1 D pass 1 S 2 C doubleWest's double shows three spades. If he bids 2S, it shows four spades. New Age thinkers have concluded that this double is more helpful than using the double to show a penalty of 2C. But have they studied the situation thoroughly?
Here is an interesting layout:
North
S x x
H K Q x x x
D x x x x
C Q x
West East
S A J x S K Q x x x
H x x H J x x
D A K x x x D Q J x
C J x x C x x
South
S x x x
H A x x
D x
C A K x x x x
West North East South
1 D pass 1 S 2 C
2 S
I doubt North will bid over 2S and East may steal the contract, making 140
points. Now consider what would happen if West made a double of 2C to show
three-card spade support. North would say thank you and slip in a 2H bid.
Now you can't stop South from bidding game in hearts and East-West will
have a difficult time evaluating the one-trick sacrifice in 4S.
Then, of course, there are times when you hold a penalty double of 2C and must pass (in tempo), and pray that your partner reopens with a balancing double. For instance:
North
S Q x x
H J x x x x
D Q T x x x
C -
West East
S A S K J T 9 x x
H K x H Q T x
D A K x x x D J x
C Q J T 9 x C x x
South
S x x x
H A x x
D x
C A K x x x x
West North East South
1 D pass 1 S 2 C
double
In Old-Age bridge, West doubles 2C and that ends the auction. East-West
collect nine tricks, down four. In New Age bridge, West must pass 2C if he
is willing to risk it (and pass in tempo) and await a reopening double by
East. Perhaps East will reopen with a double, and perhaps Martians will
land on earth this year, but it is not likely.
So am I saying that you should not use the Support Double? Maybe not. I'm willing to hold judgment for another few years or so, but I think you should at least realize that New Age inventions are not cost-free. You should examine them with a skeptical eye before taking the plunge. Perhaps you have a New Age microscope known as the computer to run tests on these inventions. It's a good idea. Here's how it works. You get a program such as the Mike Lawrence Bridge Dealer and ask it to deal hands where you open the bidding, partner responds and the next hand overcalls. Then print out 100 and study them. Write down what you think the results would be if you were using Support Doubles and if you were not using Support Doubles. Make an test imp chart and estimate your imps won or lost on each hand based on the par contract at the other table. Then run the test a few more times. If you can do all this, you may be able to survive in the New Age bridge world better than the next guy. Or maybe you can find a computer bridge service to do this for you. (Here's an opportunity for an unemployed bridge fanatic with a computer: Become an invention tester.)
It appears that there are two main reasons for adopting a new invention. We must ask ourselves the following:
Perhaps we should add:
This point depends on style and emotion. If, for example, you are a playing with someone who loves to raise your weak two-bids on doubletons, you'd better not play five-card weak two-bids. If you are playing with your wife and she gets upset and stays upset for days after you go for 1400, you are better off not adopting a bid that brings in a lot of points but occasionally loses a lot.
Let's look at three very interesting New Age ideas and examine them from the point of view of these questions.
First, let's turn to defense. There is a new invention out there played by only a handful of pairs known as Suit-Preference at Trick One. Two famous pairs who use it are Steve Weinstein-Fred Stewart and Dave Berkowitz-Larry Cohen. Since I have not used it, I asked Larry to explain it to us.
"All yours, Larry."
"Thanks, Matt. I'll put you in my book one day.
"Suit-preference at trick one is standard defensive practice in certain situations. For example, singletons in dummy. You're defending against a club contract and your partner leads the DA and dummy hits with S Kxxx H Kxxxx D x C Axx. Low asks for hearts, high asks for spades, and middle would imply a diamond continuation to tap dummy.
"Invented by Marty Bergen, Suit-Preference at Trick-One groups the spot cards into three categories:
10-9-8 suit-preference for the higher suit
7-6-5 asks for a continuation
4-3-2 suit-preference for the lower suit
"Our philosophy is that suit-preference is the most important message to send at trick one. Your book, Matt, was great* but involves much more work.
We're lazier and simpler."*
The obvious question to ask Larry is: What does a person do who wants to signal one way but doesn't have the right spot card?
"When we don't have the right card to play, we try to play the one that will be least harmful. For example, the deuce could be played when dummy's side suit of clubs is AKQ and partner will know we don't want clubs. As I'm sure you can imagine, we are often "stuck," but we do the best we can - and always in the same tempo."
Now let's apply the three test questions.
(1) Will it improve your score?
Maybe. But it depends on your ability to learn the system and apply it
with an even tempo. Of course, this is the case with any invention, but
because this one is so radical, you will need a testing ground (your local
bridge club?) to try it out before taking it to the tournament world. Then
once you have played it for a while, you will see if it helps you. This is
a big commitment.
(2) Will it be easy to remember?
For sure. I'd give it a 10 in this area because it's only at trick one and
you can easily remember the three groups. Another plus is that the cards
always mean the same thing, which is very good when you consider clarity.
How often we've heard partner say, "But you played the eight! How was I
supposed to know it was your lowest card?" On the other hand, since you are
forced to follow suit, you may often be in a position where you must make a
clear call for a suit you don't want. This brings us back to question one:
Will it help us or hinder us on defense? Again, only a detailed study and
experimentation will tell.
(3) Will it be fun to play?
The few who play it now say yes.
So the one main drawback seems to be (1), where time will be a big factor in getting used to the invention and finding out if it improves your score. Of course, you could first put it through your computer test, if you have that available. (If not, try it out in a bridge magazine or a world-championship book and see what happens.)
If you have the time to experiment with it at the table, try it. But if you are playing in an important event next week, you can't possibly think of playing it now. You've got to use some commonsense in making your decision.
Switch Plus
Marty Bergen is at the forefront of New Age inventions and this next item
also comes from his laboratory. When Marty published "Switch" in Bridge
Today Magazine last year, I thought it would take the tournament world by
storm, but it was overlooked by lots of people. What is Switch?
When your opponent overcalls your minor-suit opening with 1S, you switch the responses of the other two suits at the two-level.
Opener Overcaller Responder 1 D 1 S ? 2H by responder shows clubs 2C by responder shows heartsThe advantage of switching is that you keep the guy who overcalled on lead when you find a fit. (He may have made a lead-directing bid with say A-Q of his suit behind opener's king.)
Let's look at an example:
North
S x x x
H A Q x x x
D x x
C A Q x
West East
S A Q J x x S x x
H x x H x x x
D A x x D x x
C K x x C J x x x x x
South
S K x x
H K J x
D K Q J x x x
C x
South West North East
1 D 1 S 2 C pass
3 H pass 4 H (all pass)
Four hearts is a better contract from the South position. In fact, it is
unbeatable, but played by North, the game will fail after the spade lead
from East.
The concept behind Switch is a good one: Keep the hand with the strength on opening lead. Bergen introduced another idea a few years ago with the same thought in mind. He suggested that a jump cuebid after an opponent overcalls is a demand for the opener to bid three notrump. So:
South West North East 1 D 1 S 3 S pass 3 NTNorth's 3S said to South: You declare. North obviously owns a spade stopper but puts South on play in case South owns a partial spade stopper. For example if South holds the SQ-x and North the SA-x-x or SK-x-x, the contract is much better from the South side of the table.
Meckstroth and Rodwell play a similar idea over an ordinary takeout double. Once when playing against them, I was surprised to learn that this auction showed spades, not hearts:
Rodwell Granovetter Meckstroth South West North East 1 D double 1 HNorth was showing spades with his 1H response. Why? Obviously because they want to put the takeout doubler on lead.*
All right, enough with the theory, let's take Bergen's Switch idea and run with the ball. . . .
Extension...................
Switch is a great idea. But why stop there? You can play Switch all the
time! Well, at least through the three-level (in your suit). Here is what I
mean:
Whenever the bidding starts one-of-a suit by you and they overcall or make a single-jump overcall, switch the meanings of the other two suits. Let's take a look at some of the auctions:
Opener Overcaller Responder 1 S 2 D 3 C = hearts 1 D 2 H 3 C = spades 1 C 1 H 2 D = a one-spade responseIn the last auction, opener would have to bid 2H as a "I don't know what to bid at this point" call. (Perhaps you could call this a "choice of partscores cuebid" for now.)
West North East 1 C 1 D 1 H = spadesThese are very sexy bids, and will blow the minds of your opponents as well. As long as they don't blow your partner's mind, I think you should try them. They certainly pass our test:
(1) Will Switch Plus improve your score?
Absolutely.
(2) Is it easy to remember?
I think so, if you play the Plus variety and not the simple variety. If you
play "standard" Switch, you must know exactly what suits the invention
applies to. But if you play Switch Plus, you have a simple formula for
remembering:
any suit - overcall - Switch the other suits
(3) Is it fun to play?
You bet.
I'd like to conclude this chapter with a very dangerous New Age "toy," which has become a leader in the devastating arsenal of attacking inventions.
The 10-12 Notrump
Welcome aboard the express train to Thrills Land. If you are a gambler -
and who isn't? - you may get some kicks out of this convention, which was
invented no less than 20 years ago as part of the EHAA system. (EHAA stands
for Every Hand An Adventure.)
Strangely enough, however, many top-flight pairs are using this thing, and they seem to get good results from it. I tried it once and after the first time out, when I went for 1100 in 1NT doubled down five, I quickly put it on the shelf. Yet even to this day, I eye it up there and wonder when I'll be brave enough to try it again.
There is no question that the 10-12 is easy to remember and lots of fun. Basically, we are dealing with whether it will improve your score. And this is not easy to estimate.
One of its drawbacks is that it destroys your notrump rebidding system. If you use 1NT to show 10-12, how do you show both 13-15 and 16-17 ranges while staying at the one-level? I asked Paul Soloway to tell me how some of the top pairs deal with this.
He said, "We play a forcing club when we use 10-12, so the ranges work out nicely, with 1D followed by 1NT rebid showing 13-15.
"Mike Passell uses a minor followed by a 1NT rebid as 13-16 with lots of stuff over a two-way checkback. This works O.K. but needs a lot of work on responses. Others have used artificial 1C and 1D openings with 1C followed by 1NT as 13-14 and 1D followed by 1NT as 15-17. This works but requires work on competitive auctions with minors. I prefer the wider range notrump rebid. With the wider range 1NT rebid, 2NT becomes 17-to-a-bad 19 and a 2NT opening starts with good 19s."
The 10-12 is not played at all vulnerabilities, except by lunatics and wild beasts. They also don't use it in every position.
Paul Soloway and Bobby Goldman use it only first two seats nonvulnerable. Mike Passell and Mark Lair also use it in third seat favorable. Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell use it only at favorable.
For those of you who want to try it, here is the complete system most of the top players use with 10-12.
Opener Responder
1NT ?
2 C = nonforcing Stayman
2 D = forcing Stayman
2 H = to play
2 S = to play
2 NT = forces 3C, many hand types
3 C = slightly invitational
3 D = slightly invitational
3 H = preemptive
3 S = preemptive
1NT 2 NT = transfer to 3C
3 C ?
pass = clubs
3 D = signoff in diamonds
3 H = 5-5 majors, inv.
3 S = short spades
3NT = short hearts
1NT 2 D = forcing Stayman
? (Mike Passell's system)
2 H = spades
2 S = hearts
(2NT asks for second suit; 3C = dia-
monds, 3D = clubs)
2 NT = five-card minor
(3C asks; 3D = diamonds, 3H = clubs)
3 C = both majors
3 D = both minors
3 H = 2-2-4-5
3 S = 2-2-5-4
3 NT = 3-3-3(4)-4(3)
(4C asks; 4D = diamonds, 4H = clubs)
Escaping the AxeOpener Opponent Responder 1 NT double ?redouble = two suits (4-4 at least) touching.
With all this escaping and transferring and running around like a bridge player without a head in order to get back to even, a sane person must ask what are the benefits of this New Age weapon. I will simply illustrate one hand for you in which two American women in the 1994 Venice Cup showed what the 10-12 can do:East dealer None vul North S Q 7 6 3 H 9 8 6 5 4 D J 6 C K 4 West East S A K T 8 5 S J 2 H K J H A T 7 3 D 9 5 4 3 D A Q 8 C 8 7 C J 9 6 3 South S 9 4 H Q 2 D K T 7 2 C A Q T 5 2 Meyers Schulle West North East South - - 1 NT pass 2 S pass pass 2 NT double pass pass 3 C pass pass double (all pass)The result was six tricks for South, down three, minus 500. No doubt it made Meyers and Shulle's day. In fact they did go on to win the Venice Cup.Postscript
This was simply an introduction to the world of New Age bridge. We saw that there are many new and exciting ideas in the way of inventions for us to add-on to our present system. The question is how much are we willing to sacrifice to play them. For most of us who treat bridge as a hobby, albeit a compelling hobby, the answer is not so much that I have to memorize a dozen bids for every new contraption I add.In that case, we have to find a way to simplify the learning of New Age add-ons. We also need more tools that are universal, that apply to all situations, not just one particular sequence. We also have the Active Ethics campaign to deal with, so we have to be sure we know what we are doing at all times. In the New Age of bridge we have to make clarity our first concern. Which leads us to chapter two.