Do You Both Have A Convention
Card? "In ACBL competition, both members of a partnership
must use the
same system. They must have two identical convention cards made out
for use of the opponents. Both
members of a partnership must employ the same methods.
Players must not refer to their own convention
card or use any other aids to their memory, calculations or
technique."
(Quoted from ACBL's DUPLICATE DECISIONS)
"Fat-Free" Convention
Cards: Rob has some of these. Everyone is required
to have a completed convention
card listing what conventions you play - Weak
Twos, Transfers, Stayman, Blackwood etc. And don't say you
don't play any conventions. Most play
at least Stayman and Gerber or Blackwood. But other things noted on
the card, even for a raw beginner, are points for
NT openings, 2 Club openings, number of
cards in your opening
suit, overcall points etc. This card
applies to everyone, even if you're just
starting. I can help you fill it out. The
"Fat-Free" card is designed for the novice
since it doesn't list all the more
complicated conventions played by
the more advanced players.
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The following article appeared in the "ASK
JERRY" column in the July/August, 2001 issue of BETTER
BRIDGE (a predecessor to the BRIDGE BULLETIN sent freely
to all ACBL members). "ASK JERRY" still
appears in the BRIDGE BULLETIN. Written by
well-known teacher and player Jerry
Helms
Ask
Jerry
Dear Jerry: My partner insists on playing a
raise of 1NT to 4NT as invitational, not Blackwood, and I never
know what to do if I have 16 points. Shouldn't we be more
concerned about aces and using Gerber and
cuebidding to find out if we belong in slam? S.
Plattner, Willmington, VA.
Dear S.P.: To get to good slams in notrump, combined
strength is as important, or more important, than
aces or kings.
Here's a
Jerryism: After a 1NT opening, raises to 2NT and 4NT are
both quantitative invitations.
Both auctions instruct opener to pass with minimum values: both request
opener to bid to the next bonus
level with maximum values. If you're unsure what to do with 16
points, using a range of 15-17, you can
decide ahead of time that it's minimum. Consider these two
hands:
OPENER
RESPONDER
♠ K Q
6 ♠ A 8 3
♥
K 9
4
♥A 6 5
♦
K 7 6
5 ♦ A Q 8
♣
A 6
2 ♣
K 9 4
3
Despite holding all the aces and
kings, slam on these cards hinges on both a 3-3 diamond break and
a 3-3 club break. The probability of both happening is less than
20%. Quantitative bidding handles these
hands nicely:
OPENER
RESPONDER
1NT
4NT
Pass
Let's make a slight change to
opener's hand by adding two points:
OPENER RESPONDER
♠
K Q
6
♠ A 8 3
♥
K 9
4 ♥ A 6 5
♦
K 7 6
5 ♦ A Q 8
♣
A Q
2 ♣ K 9 4 3
Now there are three sure spade
tricks, two hearts, three diamonds, and three clubs, for a total of
eleven. A twelfth trick will be made if either the clubs
or the diamonds divide 3-3. That's better than
a 50% chance. Quantitative bidding gets you there:
OPENER
RESPONDER
1NT
4NT
6NT Pass
Notice there was no change in
the number of aces and kings or the distribution. It was the two extra
points that increased the chance of slam. It didn't have to be a
queen. It could be two jacks:
OPENER
RESPONDER
♠
K Q
6 ♠ A 8 3
♥
K 9
4 ♥ A 6 5
♦ K J 6
5
♦ A Q 8
♣
A J
2 ♣ K 9 4 3
Again there are eleven top
tricks. Either a successful club finesse or a 3-3 club break will provide
a twelfth trick. That's nearly a 70% chance. With 17 points,
opener would accept responder's invitation.
Let's make one more change by taking
away a jack but replacing it with a five-card suit.
OPENER
RESPONDER
♠
K Q
6 ♠ A 8 3
♥
K 9
4 ♥ A 6 5
♦
K J 6 5
2 ♦ A Q 8
♣
A
2 ♣ K 9 4 3
Now slam is almost 100%. It
will go down only if the missing diamonds divide 5-0. If opener
considers the hand a maximum with 16 high-card points plus 1 length point
for the five-card suit, opener
will accept responder's invitation.
So, point count is incredibly
accurate for "guestimating" the number of tricks that two balanced
hands rate to
produce. -
JH
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See you all Tuesday night!
Rob Wiedenfeld and Tom Deddens