Wednesday, December 07, 2005 11:54 AM

Ambiguity

PITBULLS:

Ambiguity in a language causes confusion. Bridge bidding is a language. If you have a choice of an ambiguous bid and a natural bid , go for the natural bid. The system that we play is that natural bidding is always stronger than ambiguous bidding. If we use science like an ambiguous relay it means that we want to broadcast a weak hand , invitational hand or want to escape altogether. Relays , good–bad 2NT and Lebensohl fall into that category and are consistent.

The unassuming Q bid is an ambiguous bid. When you use a Q bid , you run the risk of confusing partner. Only use these Q bids when you are “backed into a corner” and do not have a natural bid available. KQ10xx Kxxx xx AQ and the auction goes 1♦-p-1♠-2♣ 2♦-P-?- BJ & I have an understanding that 2NT is a one round force but what if you do not have that understanding ? There are two natural bids available : a leap to 3NT which is an underbid and might miss your best spot of 6♥ or a simple 2♥ which is a one round force. After a 2♣ rebid , 2♥ is not forcing by virtue of a 2♦ bid being available . After a 2♦ rebid , a 2♥ bid is a one round force. The worst alternative is a 3♣ Q bid. 99% of the time partner will interpret the bid as a Western Q bid or a strong diamond fit. Ambiguity reigns supreme and a disaster could occur.

A negative double is an ambiguous bid designed for auctions that you do not have a natural bid available. 1♣-1♠-? xx AQxx AKxxx xx this is not a negative double as you have the strength and distribution to bid naturally. You bid 2♦ and then reverse into hearts. This describes your distribution and strength nicely. If you make an ambiguous negative double initially , you may have to make an ambiguous Q bid later to describe your strength . You have now confused the auction.

A negative double should not replace a natural bid. Partner opens a minor and you get a 1♥ overcall. The negative double to show 4♠ is a horrible invention in my opinion. The heart suit pre-empts the other minor not the boss suit spades. Bid 1♠ if you have 4 or more spades and the negative double should show the other minor with no natural bid available.

4^th suit forcing was a horrible invention in that it is not natural. It was invented so that jumps could be invitational rather than forcing like in Goren’s days. Fine but sometimes the fix causes more problems than the original problem. 4^th suit forcing is ambiguous. You do not know if it is a suit , stoppers , two small. A lot of ugly things happen after that. NT contracts are wrong sided , ambiguous Q bids come into play and natural bidding ( a strength of standard bidding) gets thrown out the window.

Two understandings that BJ and I play are designed to fix the 4^th suit forcing problem. A 2NT bid by responder is a “new suit” and a one round force. This means we do not need a 4^th suit forcing for many hands as 2NT does the job very nicely. An artificial 4^th suit backs partner into a corner and ugly things like rebidding 4 card suits or bidding NT without stoppers occur. Fits are not found as partner is not sure if the 4ths suit is “real”. Another understanding is that we do not need 4^th suit forcing if the auction remains at the one level for three rounds. We play the same 2-way NMF that we play after a 1NT rebid. This negates the need for some artificial jump to 2♠ as a 4^th suit forcing bid. What a horrible bid that is. 1♣-P-1♦-P 1♥-P-2♠-P 4^th suit forcing ?

In competitive auctions “show where you live” rather than making an ambiguous Q bid. You have xx Axx AKJ10x xxx and partner opens 1♥ . They overcall one spade so you have a Q bid available which shows a limit raise or better in hearts but is ambiguous as to the contents of your hand. You run the risk of confusion if LHO makes it hard on you by pre-empting to 3♠ or 4♠. Bid 2♦ and partner is now better placed if the auction takes off. They jump to 4♠ and with a singleton or void in diamonds your two hands do not fit very well so they play the contract doubled. On the flip side , if partner has a diamond fit she destroys your hand defensively. How would she know if you concealed your hand via an ambiguous Q bid when you had a natural bid available ?

The advantages of standard bidding over an artificial club system , is that it is natural. You show where you live , you “pattern out” to show your distribution and strength. If you can throw out as many artificial ambiguous bids as you can in order to keep your system “natural’ , you will be far more accurate bidders. Exploit the strength of your natural system by preserving bids to mean suits and strength.