|
WELCOME TO THE LAW OF TOTAL TRICKS Otherwise know simply as "THE LAW", the Law of Total Tricks is one of the most valuable aids to competitive bidding ever devised. How often are you faced with the problem of whether to let the opponents play the hand or bid one more yourself? It comes up far too often for comfort, doesn't it? An understanding of The LAW will help you get these familiar situations correct most of the time. What more could you ask? By the time you complete this course, your judgment in competitive auctions will have improved significantly.
INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW OF TOTAL TRICKS THE BRIDGE FORUM INTERNATIONAL LESSON 1 WHAT EXACTLY IS "THE LAW"?
Have you noticed how your opponents seem to interfere in almost every auction? Annoying, isn’t it. On some hands, of course, they have just as much right to bid as you do. We are referring to those hands on which both sides have between 18-22 HCP and a nice fit.
How do you rate your judgment on those crucial competitive decisions? You know the kind: "Do I defend two spades or bid on to three hearts?" or "Do I double four hearts or bid four spades?"
In the next eight weeks, you will learn how significantly improve your accuracy in these and other competitive situations by using the Law of Total Tricks, generally known these days simply as "The Law".
The concepts behind The Law were discovered by the Frenchman Jean Rene Vernes in the 1960s. It has only become widely known in the past ten years thanks to the work of Marty Bergen and Larry Cohen. What Vernes found was that bridge deals are predictable. Believe it or not, you can estimate fairly accurately how many tricks can be won just by knowing how many trumps each side has. If that sounds easy, it's because it is. Being aware of this simple principle and knowing how to apply it to everyday competitive bidding decisions cannot fail to improve your game and your scores.
In this first lesson we examine the underlying principle behind the Law of Total Tricks.
DEFINITION of The Law: The Total Number of Tricks available to both sides will be approximately equal to the Total Number of Trumps.
Take your time. Go back and read that sentence as many times as you need. Once you think you have the hang of it, we'll go and look at some example hands.
Ready? Ok, let's go.
How many tricks can North-South make in a heart contract? As you can see, the defenders' cards lie very favorably. Finesses work and suits break. Indeed, North-South will lose just one trick in each black suit and make 11 tricks.
How many tricks can East-West make in a spade contract? Not many -- with the opponents' cards lying so badly they have to lose one spade, two hearts, three diamonds and two clubs. They take just five tricks.
Let's add the total number of tricks available on the hand. North-South can make 11 tricks in their best suit (hearts) and E/W 5 tricks with their best suit (spades) as trumps. Add those together and you get 16.
Now add the total number of trumps. N-S have 8 hearts, and E-W have 8 spades. Add those together also and the total is also 16.
Now let's turn the tables, literally, so that the cards lie well for East-West. To illustrate we'll just switch the North and South hands.
Now all of the finesses are wrong for North-South. Playing in a heart contract, North-South must lose two spades, one heart, one diamond and two clubs. They make only 7 tricks now.
Obviously, East-West fare much better in a spade contract though. Now they lose one heart, two diamonds and one club and make nine tricks.
Add the total number of tricks again. N-S can make 7 in hearts and E-W 9 in spades. The total still comes to 16 and, of course, the total number of trumps is still also 16.
If you still don’t believe it, keep the East-West cards as they are and interchange the North-South cards in any way you like. You will find that every time the number of tricks North-South can take playing in hearts increases, so the number available to East-West in a spade contract decreases.
The total is always sixteen -- the same as the total number of trumps.
If you are still not convinced, get out a pack of cards and deal out four hands. You will find that no matter how you move the cards around so that finesses work or fail, the total number of tricks will equal the total number of trumps (or be very close) with surprising regularity. This is particularly true when the points are evenly split and when no side has more than a 9-card fit. HAPPY BRIDGINGJ Copyright © 2003 The Bridge Forum International |
