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The common way for Dummy to evaluate shortness once a fit is found is to count 5 pts for a void, 3 for a stiff and 2 for a/each? doubleton(s).
Bergen (among others) says that Declarer(aka the long trump hand) can also count for shortness once a fit is found, but the scale is different.
But what if you are playing in a 4-4 fit? Can BOTH hands count 5/3/1 for shortness (assuming the shortness is in two different suits of course)
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Four Four Fit Support Points Can both players count 5/3/1 shortness in a 4-4 fit?
#2
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Posted 2022-November-28, 03:38
I don't know a short yes/no answer, so let me try a long one.
Side suit shortness in a 4-4 fit is valuable, and I think the 5/3/1 scale makes more sense than the 3/2/1 scale. After all, you have the opportunity to take valuable ruffs in both hands.
That being said, the point scale, and especially adjustments to the point scale, are only one among many ways of evaluating the strength of a hand, and not a particularly good one at that. There are many other tools or counts or formulae to help you judge how strong a hand is. However, the only one that comes reasonably close to being accurate is "try to imagine what sort of hands partner might have on the auction, then judge how many tricks you will likely make opposite each of them, then based on that stay low/bid some more, as appropriate.". A shortcut for this is "we have seen similar hands before so we take similar action".
In general I shy away from metrics to evaluate hand strength. Ones without adjustment are generally poor, and ones with adjustment tend to be only slightly more accurate but more effort to use. There are some tools that I do think are useful at times, but only if the decision is a close one. And even then I tend to check three or four of them, using each metric as a data point to help me make my decision. With that in mind, I'm not sure there is an objectively correct answer to your question. You are extending a tool to aid you with learning hand evaluation or making close decisions, but it does not do to think the tool has a "right" answer, or mistake its point count for hand evaluation.
Side suit shortness in a 4-4 fit is valuable, and I think the 5/3/1 scale makes more sense than the 3/2/1 scale. After all, you have the opportunity to take valuable ruffs in both hands.
That being said, the point scale, and especially adjustments to the point scale, are only one among many ways of evaluating the strength of a hand, and not a particularly good one at that. There are many other tools or counts or formulae to help you judge how strong a hand is. However, the only one that comes reasonably close to being accurate is "try to imagine what sort of hands partner might have on the auction, then judge how many tricks you will likely make opposite each of them, then based on that stay low/bid some more, as appropriate.". A shortcut for this is "we have seen similar hands before so we take similar action".
In general I shy away from metrics to evaluate hand strength. Ones without adjustment are generally poor, and ones with adjustment tend to be only slightly more accurate but more effort to use. There are some tools that I do think are useful at times, but only if the decision is a close one. And even then I tend to check three or four of them, using each metric as a data point to help me make my decision. With that in mind, I'm not sure there is an objectively correct answer to your question. You are extending a tool to aid you with learning hand evaluation or making close decisions, but it does not do to think the tool has a "right" answer, or mistake its point count for hand evaluation.
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