Friday, January 20, 2006 12:15 AM

Hand Evaluation – Toys & Doubling

PITBULLS:

Doubling a suit in a forcing auction can not be penalty except when partner has pre-empted or bid a pre-emptive toy ( captaincy considerations ) . One of the rules of D.S.I.P. theory is whenever one of the partners has pre-empted , old fashioned trump stack doubles apply. When partner makes an unusual 2NT bid or a Michaels bid even though its an either/or bid it is assumed to be a pre-empt in the initial instance. The double must be reserved by the “pre-empter” to show the strong hand ( either / or) . The double by responder is deemed to be penalty.

BJ Trelford held this hand . ♠Jx ♥Kxx ♦AKJxx ♣xxx nv vrs vulnerable opponents with the auction proceeding 1♦-2NT-3♠-? . The 2NT is a two suiter which is either very strong or weak but never intermediate. BJ can not double 3♠ ( penalty ) saying he would like to compete either in clubs or hearts so he must compete by bidding 4♥. This gets passed around to the 3♠ bidder who doubles but RHO pulls to 4♠. I have ♠KQ ♥10987xx ♦void ♣KJ109x so what are my options ? I have the weak hand as I passed 4♥ already & the vul opponents must be believed that they own the hand.

This is 3^rd case D.S.I.P. theory . The vul opponents own the auction so we are the intruders. The pre-empter is allowed an “action double” with an extraordinary hand in light of her bidding ( violating captaincy ) . With my hand , I would love to sacrifice to 5♥ after partner has bid hearts but I should not do it single handedly. As I am the pre-empter , I should make an “action” double saying I want to bid 5♥ but I have defense that I normally would not have. BJ happily converts so we get +500 instead of –500 .

In any of the other 3 vulnerability situations , the pre-empter is only allowed to double ( violate captaincy ) if she has the strong hand. This one vulnerability ( the sacrificing vul ) gives an opportunity for an action double as the auction has shown the pre-empter can not have the strong hand.

What if BJ had ♠xx ♥xx ♦AKJxx ♣AQxx ? He would bid always under the assumption that we have the weak hand for bidding our toy. If he has strength , he should Q bid instead of leaping to game .This describes the nature of his game bid , puts me in the picture so I do not do something stupid if they bid again. In rare cases , I may hold the strong hand for the toy so leaping to game with a good hand should be avoided.

Say I had the strong hand ♠KQ ♥AQ10xx ♦void ♣KQJ10xx , they open 1♦ so I bid 2NT strong & they bid 3♠ non forcing. BJ has ♠Jx ♥KJxx ♦J10xxx ♣Ax so he should not just bid 4♥ as that may be bid on nothing. He has an obligation to Q bid first in case I have the “or” hand . I jump to 6♣ which gets converted to 6♥ so we get to our slam. In auctions where the systemic toy is either / or, a Q bid by responder should describe the defensive hands. This is catering to the trump stack penalty double. Jumping through hoops I believe it is called J

The reason why responder must make the Q bid in these systemic auctions is because the ambiguity of the toy as being either/or . ♠AKQxx ♥AKJxx ♦x ♣xx the auction goes 1♦-2♦-3♦-? ♠Jx ♥Qxxx ♦Axx ♣Axxx . What is a 4♥ bid ? Should partner move because he has the stronger hand ? Maybe partner assumed you had the weaker hand so are bidding pre-emptively with nothing ♠xx ♥Qxxxxx ♦x ♣xxxx. Responder should always make a Q bid going in, then bid 4♥ with a good hand. You may get to grand slam in hearts despite their interference.