Blum on Bridge Be Your Own Psychic
	I'm a tennis and golf couch potato. I don't consider myself lazy but when Pete, Andre, Steffi and the Williams sisters are on the court I'm in my comfy chair. When Tiger tees off I'm glued. Did you know that Pete Sampras is a psychic? I happen to know that Tiger can predict the future. So can Steffi Graf and all the others I just mentioned. Bet you didn't know that most of the time baseball pitcher Roger Clemens knows in advance what's going to occur. Now I must admit that they only can do this when participating in their sport. I guess I also have to say that occasionally they can be off the mark, but so are the professionals. When Steffi volleys, consistently smacking the ball to her opponent at the base line, she knows in advance that she will later drop a shot just over the net to win the point. Roger Clemens throws two inside fast balls, almost hitting the batter with the advance knowledge that the third pitch will be a curve ball on the outside corner striking out the batter. Tiger, one of the longest hitters in the game, uses a two-iron on a long hole because he knows he won't go into that bunker 275 yards down the fairway. Tiger is a psychic because he knows 10 minutes later he will pull an eight-iron from his bag and put that white pellet on the green. I believe I can teach you to predict your future, at least at the bridge table. Let me try. You are dealer with the following hand: A32-5-QJ109-KQ532. You open 1 club and lho passes. What will your partner bid? If you answered 1 heart, you are well on your way to becoming a psychic. Twelve of the 13 hearts have to be in the other three hands. We'll try again. Holding the same hand everyone passes and it's your bid. Approximately how many points does partner have? If you answered 10, you are psychic. The dealer didn't open nor did partner so both must have less than 12 points. Third hand also passed so he can't have many more than 8-9 points. You have 12 so we know they can't be at the next table. Thus, they must be almost divided equally. Now that you are suddenly sci-fi, how do you use this newly found knowledge? Look again at our example hand where you are dealer. If you know that partner is going to respond one heart, you can plan ahead just like Steffi, Roger and the rest. If partner is going to respond a heart, maybe it isn't a good idea to open one-club, as your only choice would be to rebid clubs and not show that solid diamond suit because it is a reverse and gives the impression you hold a powerhouse. However if you open 1-diamond and bid clubs over the anticipated 1 heart response you will have given partner a better description of your holding. Is a whole New World opening up? Can you see blue sky through the dark clouds? Have you ever-wondered why after three passes fourth hand's 1NT opener is 10-14 hcps instead of the normal 15-17? It is because the rest of the points are evenly divided amongst the other hands. Knowing this ahead of time you can predict that a 1NT contract is a good bet to secure. Incidentally, if you have 15-17 hcps, double then bid no-trump over whatever partner responds. A classic example where even the advanced novice almost automatically thinks ahead is as responder he holds one or two four card majors after opener's 1NT. He not only is prepared to bid Stayman, but also is ready to make any one of a number of calls before opener's second bid. The hands where one must be careful are those where non-limit point count openers or responses occur. Finally I want to tell a story on myself where I wrongly predicted the future and paid the price. My partner overcalled 1 spade over a 1 club opening on her right. After her lho responded 1 heart I raised to 2 spades holding KJ73-A32-432-754. Mary, my partner would never overcall without a high honor so when our opponents reached an impossible to make 3NT, I knew in advance that we would set it for a top. Foolish me doubled trying for a "super top," whereupon they ran to 4 clubs. They made an extra trick. My point is that when you know the future and it is bright, don't screw it up! I hope you've learned to think ahead before making a call. Anticipate partner's most probable response so you can better tell him later what you want him to know. The result, I promise, will be a smooth auction.