M J Bridge
♦
♠
♥
♣
Bidding
The four-
One of the advantages of playing a system which features four-
Now is the time to explain the advantage of such a fit, as it is a factor which will affect our bidding, and indeed our system agreements, in a number of situations.
First of all a little elementary arithmetic should be brought into play.
In any given suit, including the one which you are about to choose as trumps, there are thirteen cards.
As a general rule you wish to hold longer trumps in one of your two hands than do either of your opponents. If you hold a strong side-
One way of doing this is with length in one hand. Even a five-
More often, though, our trumps will be split more evenly between the two hands.
With a combined seven-
the possible splits are seven-
Seven-
Five-
Four-
Just occasionally such a fit is the best available. Clearly there will be a weak suit, otherwise a no trump contract would have been preferable. Frequently there will be a side-
There have been whole books written about the play of these hands. Ruffs in the short-
But, having said that, most of you will, like me, be looking for
an eight-
This leaves your opponents with only five trumps, which will divide three-
That leaves only 4% for a five-
As above, a partnership holding which is divided eight-
The important debate is whether a four-
Clearly a five-
Consider these two hands:-
With either spades or hearts agreed, West has a five-
Given that the split of your opponents’ cards is no worse than four-
It is true that two of your minor suit losers will disappear on your long spades, but by the time that this has happened you will have no trumps left, which will leave you with a fourth loser in the minor suits after you have taken your nine tricks.
But what if you are playing the contract in hearts?
You will still be in trouble if your opponents find a club lead. When they get in with ♠A they will have the opportunity to cash their other minor suit tricks.
But on any other lead the situation is totally different. Whenever hearts split three-
Quite simply, spades have made four tricks, just as they did when they were trumps, but hearts have now made five tricks.
Timing will be critical if the hearts fail to split three-
You might ask why this has made a difference -
And which hand is that shortage going to be in? More likely than not it will be in the same hand that holds length elsewhere -
The example given was manufactured for the purposes of illustrating this point but the principle is sound. There will be a significant number of occasions on which the four-
If you know that you have enough tricks and you are presented with this choice then by all means choose the five-
Surprisingly perhaps, the principle is still true if your choice lies between a four-
♠
♥
♦
♣
W
K Q J 5 3
A K Q 4
6 3
9 5
♠
♥
♦
♣
E
T 7 4
J T 7 3
T 8 4 2
A 6
♠
♥
♦
♣
W
K Q J 5 3
A K Q 4
6 3
9 5
♠
♥
♦
♣
E
T 7 6 4
J T 7 3
T 8 2
A 6
I have moved only one card in the East hand to produce a stronger spade fit, but the analysis above is virtually unchanged.
There is still a maximum of nine tricks if played in spades, but there are chances of an additional trick in the West hand if hearts are trumps. Surprising perhaps, but none-
Finally, on this theme, let me just point out a very different situation in which the four-
♠
♥
♦
♣
W
K Q 5 3
9 7 2
A K Q J 7 5
♠
♥
♦
♣
E
A J 6 4
K Q 5 4
8 6 2
9 6
If you play these hands in the delightful diamond fit you will make twelve tricks whenever North holds the ♥A.
The other fifty per cent of the time you will make exactly eleven tricks as you lose two hearts along the way.
But now try playing these hands in that four-
You will still lose the ♥A, only now you can count six diamonds, four spades, one heart, and a club ruff in the West hand. Note that ruffing with a diamond in the West hand would not have produced an extra trick but ruffing with a spade does. Almost a lay-
The principle expounded on this page is important and should affect the way in which we use certain bids.
I shall look at some of the possibilities at various points within this site.
Opener |
Overcaller |
Responder |
Advancer |
Opener's rebid |
Responder's rebid and beyond |
Overcaller's rebid and beyond |
The continuing auction |