Kokish Game Tries
Greg Morse
1. Can anyone recommend material on how to play these?
2. After 1S-2S;then 2NT is the KGT, so what should 1S-2S; 3x mean?
3. If playing KGT does it also apply in these situations:
1m-1M;2M-? Is 2NT here a KGT or just a 10-12 Invitational hand?
(In which case 3x would be a HSGT or SSGT whicever you are playing).
4. Also I am having some trouble in evaluating whether to accept
partners Game Try or not. I feel we accept too often and go down too
often. Any guidelines?
G. <nospam> Morse.
Kel Raywood
On Tue, 14 Apr 1998, Greg Morse wrote:
> 1. Can anyone recommend material on how to play these?
I'm not sure of the original source but lots has been written about game
tries. Romex game-tries are similar and are described in
"Bid to Win, Play for Pleasure - Rosenkranz & Alder".
I read something by Fred Gitleman saying that he's almost given up making
game-tries. He just passes or bids game.
However, I prefer the methods described in
"Major Suit Raises the Scanian Way - by Anders Wirgren & Mats Nilsland".
After 1S-2S the opener is going to declare the hand so it is advantageous
to not divulge opener's hand. So the next step (2NT after 1S-2S or 2S
after 1H-2H) is the general game-try. With hands that would accept any
try, responder jumps to 4M. With hands that decline all tries, responder
bids 3M. Otherwise responder bids a suit or fragment with _slow_ values.
i.e. KJx(x), KQx(x), QJTx etc. These are holdings that would be wasted
opposite a singleton. These sort of tries were also mentioned in a 1997
Bridge World article called "Anti-Splinters". Essentially, responder bids
a suit in which he would decline a short-suit try. Opener can continue
with a 2nd natural-try if there is still not enough info.
I find that these tries help opener judge the degree of fit since a single
raise hand usually has only one or two outside features depending on the
qualilty of the trump suit. It is not worth getting too scientific in
game bidding. Save that for slam bidding. With this method, new suits
between 2M and 3M are _slam tries_; usually 5-5 or 6-4 in the suits.
They occasionally allow you to play slam in your 4-4 minor-suit fit rather
than your 6-3 major-suit fit. (1H-2H; 2NT is a slam try with spades).
We also play them after Drury and have had this auction a couple of times:
P
1H - 2C* * Drury
2D& - 2H# & real opener, # three card support
2S@ - 2NT! @ general try, ! values in spades
3S% - 4S % 4-card suit
playing in our 4-4 fit rather than our 5-3.
There are examples in the book. BTW, Greg, this book is in the Vancouver
Public Library, or ask me if you have trouble getting hold of it.
> 2. After 1S-2S;then 2NT is the KGT, so what should 1S-2S; 3x mean?
Playing Kokish tries, I think that 2NT asks responder to bid the lowest
suit in which he would NOT accept a long-suit try. The direct 3-level
bids are then short-suit tries.
> 3. If playing KGT does it also apply in these situations:
> 1m-1M;2M-? Is 2NT here a KGT or just a 10-12 Invitational hand?
> (In which case 3x would be a HSGT or SSGT whicever you are playing).
I play natural tries by responder, but there are other schemes.
See for example: Partnership Bidding _ Robson & Segal (also in the VPL).
> 4. Also I am having some trouble in evaluating whether to accept
> partners Game Try or not. I feel we accept too often and go down too
> often. Any guidelines?
> G. <nospam> Morse.
>
Don't accept so often ... or don't invite so often. Your partnership
should have a policy on inviting and accepting. I discuss this in
my "Swiss Team Strategy" talk at the future-stars sectional at the
Vancouver Bridge Centre.
Kel Raywood
Jeff Goldsmith
Greg Morse wrote:
>
> 1. Can anyone recommend material on how to play these?
http://muggy.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff/system/nagy.html
> 2. After 1S-2S;then 2NT is the KGT, so what should 1S-2S; 3x mean?
Shortness. See above. But 4x should be length.
> 3. If playing KGT does it also apply in these situations:
> 1m-1M;2M-? Is 2NT here a KGT or just a 10-12 Invitational hand?
> (In which case 3x would be a HSGT or SSGT whicever you are playing).
Up to the partnership, but I think 2NT natural is
too valuable to give up there.
> 4. Also I am having some trouble in evaluating whether to accept
> partners Game Try or not. I feel we accept too often and go down too
> often. Any guidelines?
Play 'em better? :)
--Jeff
--
# Calvin: It says here that "religion is the opiate of
# the masses." ...what do you suppose that means?
# Television: ...it means Karl Marx hadn't seen anything yet.
# --Watterson
# ---
# http://muggy.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff
Hank Youngerman
Here is how I play them:
1M - 2M or after an overcall, raised to the 2-level:
Cheapest step asks partner to bid the cheapest suit in which he would
accept a long-suit game try - suit in which he has length and/or
strength.
Anything above the cheapest suit is shortness. 1H - 2H - 2N shows
spade shortness.
3 of the major is preemptive. This can also be played as asking for
trump quality. Some people play 3H as preemptive and 3S as asking for
trump quality.
Another option is to play this way:
After 1M - 2M, the cheapest short-suit try asks two questions. For
example:
1S - 2S - 3C -
3D: Responder would accept a short-suit try in clubs but NOT a general
high-card game try.
3H: Responder would accept a general high-card game try but NOT a
short-suit try in clubs.
3S: Responder would not accept either of the above tries.
Anything higher: Concentration of values and responder would acccept
EITHER try.
You can also play that the cheapest suit asks for a short suit, or
shows an unspecified short suit. You can also play that responder,
rather than showing the cheapest suit he would accept a try in, bids
the cheapest suit he would NOT accept a try in. This may conceal the
suit that opener was interested in.
As for 1x - 1M - 2M, you can play Kokish, but the danger is that this
gives up 2N as a way to check on whether the raise was made on 3
cards. I don't play Kokish in that sequence.
Kieran Dyke
> > 4. Also I am having some trouble in evaluating whether to accept
> > partners Game Try or not. I feel we accept too often and go down too
> > often. Any guidelines?
> >
>
> Don't accept so often ... or don't invite so often. Your partnership
> should have a policy on inviting and accepting. I discuss this in
> my "Swiss Team Strategy" talk at the future-stars sectional at the
> Vancouver Bridge Centre.
As a matter of mathematics the partnership's best strategy is to invite
seldom and accept readily. Invitations aren't safe - sometimes you overbid
to game and sometimes you go down in the invitation (and sometimes the
invitation is declined but you make four anyway). As a result it often pays
to get conservative with game tries, particularly with marginal (4/4, 5/3,
or worse) fits. Additional trumps provide a degree of security (whether you
invite or just bid game) in that (a) 9 card fits play a lot more easily and
(b) sometimes the opponents make something. With good game tries, it's
often best just to blast game, knowing that you're slightly more likely to
make it having not helped the defense on the way.
Tiggrr.
>
> Kel Raywood
>
>