|
Walsh-Style
After Partner opens 1♣, "up-the-line" bidders, with 4 Diamonds and a 4-card major will tend to bid the Diamonds first. That approach is fast going out of style, in favor of "Walsh-style" bidding, which is the practice of by-passing the Diamond suit after Partner's 1♣ opening bid, in favor of bidding a major suit. The Walsh method has the advantages of getting to the major suit quickly, and, in most cases, revealing less to the opponents. Here are some examples from past Wednesday Games.
2nd September, 2009 E-W Vul
Do you bid 1♦ or 1♥ here? There are three schools of thought in this situation: - Bid up-the-line regardless: So here, with 5 Diamonds and 4 Hearts it would be automatic to bid 1♦. This approach is not uncommon, but we don’t recommend it, getting the major into the auction is usually a better idea, all the more so with a weak hand. - By-Pass Diamonds with a Weak Hand: The general idea here is that, if the hand is worth one bid then the Diamonds are by-passed. The definition of “worth one bid” is a bit vague, let’s say “less than game-invitational values”. By that definition, East would bid 1♥ here. - Walsh-style: In this method East by-passes Diamonds (in favor of 1♥ or 1♠) unless his hand is game-going. This method is quite popular in tournament play.
21st March, 2007 Boards 1, 3, 4, 8, 16, 19 This week, we had six Boards where the auction would vary depending upon whether Walsh-style bidding was in effect. We have collected these Boards together in one comparative study, as follows.
First of all, what is Walsh-style bidding? It occurs after Partner has opened 1♣ and refers to the practice of Responder by-passing the Diamond suit in favor of showing a major suit, unless Responder has a good hand. Just how good is another matter, here we’ll be describing the version of Walsh where Responder needs opening values in order bid Diamonds when he has a 4-card major. To see the method in action, let’s look at the North-South hands from Board 19: Up-the-line Walsh-style North South North South North South ♠ AJ72 ♠ T964 1♣ 1♦ 1♣ 1♠ ♥ AK97 ♥ Q52 1♥ 1♠ 2♠ Pass ♦ T6 ♦ AQ52 2♠ Pass ♣ T87 ♣ 32
In standard “up-the-line” bidding, South responds 1♦, and eventually the Spade fit is found and 2♠ is reached. In Walsh-style, South cannot bid 1♦ holding a 4-card major unless she also has game-going values, so she by-passes the good 4-card Diamond suit and goes straight to the far from good Spades. The same contract is reached as before but with less information for the defenders. Think about it … you are West, on lead against 2♠ … would you rather figure out your opening lead against the informative first auction or the less revealing second auction. That’s the recurring theme in all 6 of this week’s Walsh auctions … the same contract is reached on each occasion, but the Walsh auction is also less revealing in each case, making it harder for the opening leader, and harder for the subsequent defense.
There is a corollary to the by-passing of the Diamond suit, here’s Board 1: Up-the-line Walsh-style West East West East West East ♠ AK43 ♠ J976 1♣ 1♣ ♥ 2 ♥ KQ74 1♦ 1♥ 1♦ 1NT ♦ AJ9653 ♦ 72 1♠ 2♠ 2♠ 4♠ ♣ Q8 ♣ AKT 4♠ Pass Pass
In the Walsh auction, West had a 4-card major, but was good enough to show the Diamonds first. Now, East was free to bypass both of those 4-card majors on the grounds that Partner could not hold a 4-card major unless he also had game values, in which case any 4-4 major fit would come to light later. And that’s what happened, West bid 2♠ and the Spade game was reached, though once again in a less revealing fashion than the up-the-line auction.
Nothing much changes when Responder is a passed hand, as per Board 16: Up-the-line Walsh-style North South North South North South ♠ T72 ♠ K65 Pass 1♣ Pass 1♣ ♥ QT9 ♥ K654 1♦ 1♥ 1♦ 1NT ♦ AT432 ♦ QJ 2NT 3NT 2NT 3NT ♣ A2 ♣ KQ85 Pass
In this Walsh auction, North responds 1♦, and as she is a passed hand this bid denies a 4-card major (she cannot be game-forcing). As before, Opener is free to conceal her major suit holdings with a 1NT rebid, and once again the final contract is reached with less information being revealed to the opponents.
We’ll leave it to the reader to figure out the other three Walsh auction in this week’s set (Boards 3, 4 and 8). What are the benefits of Walsh-style bidding? There are two obvious ones: - As already mentioned, a Walsh auction is less revealing, making it harder for the opening leader and for the subsequent defense. When the opponents have less information to work with, they are more likely to go wrong. - An auction which starts 1♣ 1♠ is more preemptive than one which starts 1♣ 1♦, it takes away those skinny lead-directing one-level overcalls, for example. Imagine yourself holding KQJ96 of either major and not much else … if the bidding starts 1♣ on your left, 1♦ on your right, then you’ll no doubt be comfortable throwing in a 1♥ or 1♠ bid for the lead … but, if the bidding starts 1♣ 1♠, they have either bid your suit in front of you, or else you must venture to the two-level to make your lead-director.
And the downside of Walsh? The obvious one is the potential loss of the Diamond suit. If we by-pass the Diamond suit then it's only fair to say that we may miss the occasional Diamond fit, all the more so as Walsh players will by-pass not only 4-card Diamond suits, but also those with 5 or even 6. In our experience, this is not such a big disadvantage (who plays minor suit contracts these days?!), but it is a consideration. One useful method that allows the bypassed Diamonds to be discovered is "Two-Way Checkback", a superior alternative (at least in our view) to New Minor Forcing. We'll get to Two-Way Checkback on a later Wednesday.
24th May, 2007 Board 21 N-S Vul
You may wish to skip this write-up until you have been fortified by a strengthening cocktail, because we are about to stumble through some of the complex issues of Walsh-style and Fourth Suit Forcing. Consider yourself warned.
First of all, what is Walsh-style bidding? Your Partner opens 1♣, and you hold 4 (or maybe more) Diamonds, and a 4-card major. Which one do you bid? Up-the-liners bid 1♦, of course … but a Walshite bids 1♦ only when he has a decent hand, and with lesser values he bids the major directly. The Walsh style has become so common that it is no longer even alertable.
Secondly, that 1♠ bid is not Fourth Suit Forcing for most partnerships … 2♠ would be the artificial Fourth Suit Forcing bid … 1♠ is natural (and, also forcing, by virtue of being a new suit by Responder).
Even with that brief and inadequate grounding in Walsh-style and Fourth Suit Forcing, one can see how the above auction can have two completely different meanings: Up-the-Line Bidding: If this is the style being employed, then that 1♠ shows about 5+ HCPs, and has no upper limit … alas, up-the-line bidding has dug a deep hole for Opener on this hand, he has no satisfactory call at this point, being too good for 1NT, not good enough for 2NT. What’s the solution? Open 1NT or play Walsh! If neither appeals, then make your best guess between 1NT or 2♠ or 2NT, all of them flawed, of course. Walsh-Style Bidding: With this approach, where Responder must have some values to bid 1♦ when holding 4 Spades, the auction is simpler … at his third turn, Opener jumps to 2NT, showing extras (and therefore forcing to game), and the partnership can explore the best game or slam at their leisure.
© BES, Inc All Rights Reserved | ||||||||||||||||||||||
