“Points,
Schmoints!” — Use the Rule of
20 1
The
Not-So-Short
Club
5
Bond Knows
All the
Tricks
6
Dear Marty:
What Suit Should I
Open? 8
Always Open
1NT — Even With a Five-Card
Major 9
The Spades
Have It — The Rule of
15
11
“Points, Schmoints!” — Use the Rule of 20
Players who count points and don't take note of distribution
are a menace.”
Terence Reese, legendary bridge player and writer
After teaching
bridge for over 20 years, I thought I had seen it all.
However, I had the following experience in the winter of
1994, and it made a lasting impression on me. My class
consisted of 28 experienced players, and I will never forget
that first hand. The dealer held:
“Points, Schmoints!” — Use the Rule of 20
Players who count points and don't take note of distribution
are a menace.”
Terence Reese, legendary bridge player and writer
After teaching
bridge for over 20 years, I thought I had seen it all.
However, I had the following experience in the winter of
1994, and it made a lasting impression on me. My class
consisted of 28 experienced players, and I will never forget
that first hand. The dealer held:
I was amazed as
player after player passed this hand. Only one person opened
1.
What was going on?
I immediately
stopped their nonbidding and asked: “Do you open with 13
points?” Everyone answered yes. (Whew!) I now asked the
$64,000 question. “How do you count your points when you
pick up your cards?”
Seventeen
students answered that they simply counted their high card
points (HCP) and added points for distribution only if
they found a fit!
Ten students
answered that they added points for length to their HCP:
one point for a five‑card suit, two points for a six-card
suit, etc. I am familiar with this technique, but I cannot
agree with any method of evaluation that calls for passing
hands like this one.
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© Marty Bergen
The one student
who opened said that she had added “short-suit points” to
her HCP. One point for a doubleton, two for a singleton, and
three for a void. With 12 HCP plus two points for the
singleton, she was happy to open. This was the technique I
learned when I took up bridge.
How did I resolve
the confusion? I taught them The Rule of 20.
In
first and second seat, add the length of your two
longest suits to your HCP. When the total is 20 or
more, open the bidding. With less, do not open at
the one level.
|
Here is how it
works. It is a matter of simple addition:
HCP
+ # cards in longest suit
+
# cards in second longest suit
_______________________________
Total
|
This is all you
must know to determine whether you should open the bidding
in first or second position (i.e., when partner has not had
a chance to pass). If there is a tie for longest or
second-longest, you can select either; I always use a major
suit for my computation. Try some examples. The first is the
hand that only one player opened in class.
1.
KQ54 12 HCP
A873
4 spades
6
4 hearts
K1064 _____________
20 — Open 1.
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© Marty Bergen
2.
AQJ865 10 HCP
— 6 spades
972 4 clubs
K754 ____________
20 — Open 1.
3.
KJ5 12 HCP
A875 4 hearts
Q75 3 spades
Q64 ____________
19 — Pass.
4.
87 11 HCP
Q54 7 diamonds
AKQ9764 3 hearts
9 ____________
21 — Open 1.
The purpose of
counting points is to evaluate your trick-taking potential
to bid to the correct contract. However, you cannot
accurately assess your values if you count only HCP.
The reality of
bridge life is that hands with long suits and short suits
have far more potential than their balanced counterparts.
Give The Rule of 20 a chance.
There is no
question that The Rule of 20 will increase your chances of
having an opening bid. Is this desirable? Here are my
thoughts.
1. You bid more
accurately after your side opens.
2. It is much
easier to open than to overcall.
3. It must be
right to get in the first punch. I hate to guess after
my opponents have bid, particularly if they have preempted.
4. It is more
fun to bid — absolutely, positively. If passing all
afternoon is your idea of a good time, I suggest you check
your pulse.
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© Marty Bergen
Not convinced? Try this problem:
|
LHO
Partner RHO Dealer
— — — P*
1
P 2
???
* A
point-counter. I hope you would know better. |
What now? To bid
or not to bid, that is the question. If you decide to act,
which suit do you bid? Wow, this is annoying.
What would I do?
I would have opened 1
— based on The Rule of 20. Either you open at the one level
or you guess later.
Perhaps the
following will help. Distributional hands have stories that
they would like to tell. For example:
Q9842 11 HCP
7 5 spades
AKQ8 4 diamonds
1094 ____________
20 — Open 1
You
Partner
1
(“5 spades 2
and enough to
open”)
2
(“4 diamonds”) 2
3
(“3 clubs”)
Now partner knows
it all. You are short in hearts. (5+4+3 leaves room for only
one heart.) Well done! Don't you feel like taking a bow?
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© Marty Bergen
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© Marty Bergen
Bond Knows All the Tricks
Counting HCP alone is accurate only when bidding
notrump with a balanced hand.
|
All beginners are
taught to count their points, and they quickly become
proficient at it. Unfortunately, they inevitably become
slaves to their HCP. However¼
The truth is that
much more is involved in evaluating a hand than simply
counting HCP.
Regrettably, old
habits die hard. Many players are already deeply infected
with “point countitis.” The following entertaining hand
cures some of them:
Here is the
incredible auction:
West
North East South
— — — 7!!
P P Dbl Rdbl
All Pass
I first
encountered this remarkable hand as a teenager while reading
Ian Fleming's Moonraker, a James Bond novel. Bond is
hot on the trail of the evil Hugo Drax who, along with more
serious vices, enjoys cheating at bridge. While the two are
spending a lively evening at the bridge table, needling and
jousting, Bond sets up this infamous hand. It is renowned in
bridge lore as “The Duke of Cumberland hand.”
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© Marty Bergen
Drax is given the
imposing East cards, a point counter's dream come true. At
this juncture in the evening, the betting between
adversaries has become fierce, “one hundred fifty pounds a
hundred, fifteen hundred pounds on the rubber, and a hundred
pounds a trick on the side.” Bond has pretended to be
intoxicated in order to justify his 7
opening! Note: If West had guessed to take out the double,
Bond might have become known as .007 — seven of either major
is makable.
As you can see,
dummy did not have much, but it was “exactly what the spy
ordered.” The J
lead was ruffed in dummy. However, no other lead would have
affected the outcome. At trick two, Bond led a trump from
dummy and covered East's nine with his ten. He ruffed
another diamond, removing East's last honor. Another trump
finesse followed, and all that remained was to pull East's
trump king. Bond then led the Q,
capturing West's 10. All of Drax's honors were totally
useless in the face of declarer's minor-suit winners!
The moral of the
story is: Point count is only one factor in hand
evaluation. Do not allow yourself to become dependent on
it. No matter how many points you hold, high cards can
always be neutralized by trumps and distribution. You can
either accept this now, or you can join the “Draxes” of the
world who learn the hard, expensive way.
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© Marty Bergen
Always Open 1NT — Even With a Five-Card Major
Whenever you have
a balanced hand and the appropriate point count, open 1NT.
Do not be distracted by a five-card major. There
are absolutely no exceptions. Life will be much easier
when you open 1NT with a five-card major and a balanced
hand. You will not have a rebid problem, and your partner
will immediately know about your strength and balanced
distribution. If you open your five-card major, partner will
not know about your strength now, and there will be no way
to tell him later! Bridge can be a very unforgiving game:
Either you open 1NT, or you forget about showing your 16–18
(or 15–17) HCP.
Although many
regard the above as heresy, please read on. What would you
open with this hand?
|
If you open
1,
your partner will often respond 1.
The opponents are silent. It is time for your rebid;
decide before continuing. |
Let’s round up
the usual suspects, oops, I mean rebids:
1. Can you
pass? Absolutely not! Partner's 1
response did not deny a good hand.
It promised 6–16 points and was 100% forcing.
2. Can you
rebid 1NT? No, this shows a balanced minimum; less than a
1NT opening. Obviously, a 1NT rebid misrepresents your
strength.
3. Can you
rebid 2?
No. A 2
bid would promise a four-card suit. You are asking for
trouble if you lie about your distribution.
4. Can you
raise to 2?
No. This shows a minimum hand with good spade
support. Partner's response promises only a four-card suit.
5. Can you
rebid 2NT? No. This shows more points than an opening 1NT
bid. You would need about 19 points to make this bid.
Give up? You
certainly do not need this aggravation — life is too short.
Ignore your major and open 1NT.
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© Marty Bergen
|
It is true that
partner will not know that you have a five-card major when
you open 1NT with hands like these. That is not, however,
the end of the world. [1]
It will be
beneficial for you to declare a notrump contract. You
would prefer to play last at trick one so that the lead
does not come through your honors. |
Here is a recap:
1. Should you
still open 1NT if the major is strong? yes, Yes, YES.
2. Is this
true regardless of which major is involved? yes, Yes, YES.
3. Should you
open 1NT with all balanced hands that include
a five-card major and have the appropriate strength? yes,
Yes, YES.
Do I practice
what I preach by always opening 1NT with five-card majors?
Absolutely, positively, YES.
I’ll conclude
with two related examples.
What would you do
as dealer with this hand?
KJ765
AJ10
AQ
KQJ Open 2NT.
Your right-hand
opponent (RHO) opens 1.
What do you bid?
KQ9
AJ765
AQ
875 Overcall 1NT.
Congratulations —
you are on your way to becoming a practical, nonstubborn
bridge player.
1.
A convention called Puppet Stayman alows responder to discover
if opener holds a five-card major after opening 1NT.
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© Marty Bergen
The
Spades Have It — The Rule of 15
After three
passes, you are looking at a borderline hand. Should you
open, or pass hoping that your next hand will be better?
The answer is to
use The Rule of 15:
Fourth
hand should open if your HCP plus number of spades
totals 15 or more.
|
Remember, this
applies only to borderline hands; you know what to do with
good ones.
Why are spades
crucial here? You have limited strength and no one opened
in front of you. You will therefore be waging a part-score
battle in which you will want to outbid the opponents
without getting too high. If you own spades, the opponents
cannot buy the hand at the two-level.
Without spades,
you might need to compete to the three level. The same is
true for the opponents. If they want to compete over your 2
bid, their two passed hands do not rate to make a nine-trick
contract. The more spades you have, the safer it is to open.
What suit should
you choose for your opening bid? No problem! Open the
bidding in the same suit you would have with a good hand.
Try the following
examples to see how easy this is. Remember, add your HCP to
the number of spades in your hand.
The auction has
begun with three passes and you hold:
|
Open 1.
11 HCP + 4 spades = 15.
|
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© Marty Bergen
|
Open 1.
Use the Rule of 15. You have 10 HCP and five spades — a
total of 15. You hope to make a low-level part score.
|
|
Pass. With 11
HCP and two spades you should not open, even though this
hand contains more HCP than the one above. You are
concerned that the opponents hold spades, the dominant
suit. Being able to make 2
is worthless if they can bid and make 2.
|
|
Pass. Your 12
HCP plus one spade total 13. Try your luck with some new
cards.
|
|
Open 1.
Only use The Rule of 15 when in doubt. With this lovely
hand, you have no doubts.
|
Whether you are
playing for masterpoints or simply for the satisfaction of
beating your friends, you prefer plus scores to minus scores.
The Rule of 15 is a simple yet reliable tool to decide whether
or not to open up what might prove to be a can of worms. You
need not feel squeamish when armed with spades.
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© Marty Bergen
CHAPTER 2 -
PARTNER OPENS 1NT -
NOW WHAT?
13