Wednesday, February 01, 2006 4:24 AM

Balancing & Equal level conversion

PITBULLS:

Balancing is an “art form” . You have shortness in their suit so you read the situation that partner has not bid because she has their suit & no suitable take out bid. Balancing is not bidding your hand but bidding partner’s hand. There is no difference between a re-opening double in the balancing spot and a re-opening double in negative double theory. You should use the same principles. In negative double theory , you bend over backwards to double as partner has a penalty double of their suit. No difference when you balance in the pass out seat !!

Remember that when you balance with a suit & defensive values , you may have immediately rescued the opponents from disaster. A 2♣ or 2♦ or 2♥ balance is one of the most useless balances ever devised when partner is trapping with their suit. As per negative double theory , you do not need shape to balance with a double , you need defense. Equal level conversion gets a work out to scramble to your best spot if partner does not have a penalty conversion. If you have anything near 10 HCP with defense and shortness in tier suit , you double. This is especially so if a weak 2 or 3 is passed around to you in the balancing seat.

Equal level conversion and balancing go hand in hand. You have a Q bid after a double to show a good hand with suit(s) . If the penalty double conversion does not take place , you are in scramble mode. It does not mean you had a hand too strong to bid a suit immediately. You have intermediate jumps and Q bids to describe those hands. Equal level conversion is the order of the day.

If you are a passed hand yourself , you can really take liberties. AJ9xx Q10 K1098 xx . I was playing with a tormentee who held this hand and the auction went 1♣-P-P-? She bid a spade and I bid 1NT and I made overtricks in my partial. Good result ? No it was a terrible result in that we let a huge opportunity go by. I held x KJxx Qx AQJ10xx and they have no where to go in their doubled contract(s) . In fact , if you double , they scramble vulnerable to their best spot – spades ! +800 vrs our NT partial L

The odds are the only reason that 1♣ is passed around to you is that partner has an opening bid with clubs. If she does not and bids 1♥ you make an equal level conversion to 1♠ and you have shown your hand ( spades & diamonds with 10 HCP ) .Equal level conversion is a scrambling tool used after off shape T/O doubles , re-opening doubles in negative double theory and balancing doubles. The first priority in balancing is to protect the reason why partner passed in the first place. Partner has trapped with their suit.

Lee Barton had AQJ109 AKQxx xx x and I opened 1♠ vul and Lee passed as did my partner. Lucille had x xx AJxx AQ10xxx so she balanced 2♣ and I got rescued from a horrible set. This is a clear cut balancing double ! Say you opened 1♣ with this hand ( add a queen to make it legit ) and they overcalled a spade vul . What would you do if it got passed around to you ?. Partner has a penalty double of a spade over there so you double as you would have left an old fashioned penalty double in with your hand . Would you not ? The same re-opening double thinking should apply in the balancing spot. Go for the throat first and describe your distribution 2^nd. You do not need the unbid major for a re-opening double. You are not bidding your hand but partners. Do not rescue opponents when they may be in trouble.

I am positive that the reason why “modern bidders” open non openers so often is they escape disaster time after time by the opponents rescuing them. Good opponents make them pay for their bad risk taking with proper trapping & balancing techniques. Bad opening bids and a passing partner should almost always equate to an instant disaster for their side. Go for it !!