Thursday, October 30, 2003 3:36 AM

D.S.I.P. Part III

PITBULLS:

A pass is a bid that speaks volumes . If a partner , in a competitive situation , bids rather then passes , she is doing so on distribution and re-evaluating her hand based on new circumstances ( shortness in their suit etc ) . A pass by her shows nothing extra or defensive values with a preference to defend with her minimum .

In D.S.I.P. theory , we throw out trump stack doubles as we do not compete with excessive values in their suit . We wait until they hang themselves & if partner re-opens with a double we convert. This is similar to negative double theory but partner is not required to re-open with a double. The auction can be passed out so lets just defend. So take this very common auction I had in the Red Deer tournament and see how the D.S.I.P. principles apply.

I held AJ109x AQx xx K10x and with the control oriented hand I decided to open a spade instead of a light 1NT . LHO overcalls 2♦ and Vish bid 2♠ and RHO doubles showing a 3♦ raise with values. I thought I needed more to redouble so I passed. LHO bid 3♦ and around to me again . Partners pass says he prefers to defend for one of two reasons . One he is minimum or two his hand is defensive orientated but not a maximum. If he were maximum with defense he would have doubled himself.

Anyway around to me . If I had a minimum with defense I would pass quietly and hopefully try to beat 3♦ as partners pass suggests that action. If my hand was more distributional , I would take the push to 3♠ . With this hand I decided to make a D.S.I.P. double . This allows partner to pull with a minimum and leave it in with some defense. Vish passes and we collect +300 . Three spades goes down one !

Opponents hands Qx xxx AKQ10x 10xx opposite Kxx KJ10x J10x Jxx

Change my hand to AJ109x Axx KQ10 xx and I would also pass and this auction. Say Vish wanted to compete to 3♠ but he also has defense . He makes a D.S.I.P. double and you know what to do when it comes around to you. If Vish passed, I would just pass as I have too many points in diamonds to make a D.S.I.P. double . Isn’t it better to have a partner who gives you an option to bid 3 spades instead of single handedly bidding it himself ? D.S.I.P. doubles are a very effective weapon against bad two level overcalls by the opponents because you get them from both sides of the table. Bergen raises with inferences that partner most likely has only 3 trump is great for judging a hand for defensive purposes and D.S.I.P. doubles. With 4 trump and a minimum 2 spade bid , I usually bid 3 to get the auction up there.