Saturday, June 24, 2006 10:09 PM

D.S.I.P. - Western Q

PITBULLS:

When you have a minor fit in a competitive auction or otherwise , the idea is to get to 3NT somehow. The western Q bid was invented to assist us in that endeavour. If the opponents bid one suit & you Q bid that suit in competition, you are asking partner to bid 3NT with a stopper . If the opponents have bid 2 suits , your Western Q bid magically turns into a telling bid and asks partner to bid 3NT with a stopper in their 2^nd suit. What if the rank of their suit prevents you from Q bidding the stopper and keeping it under 3NT ? Enter the D.S.I.P. western Q double. You double to show a stopper & asks partner to bid 3NT with a stopper in the other suit. If they bid one suit in the sandwich position & you have a minor fit established ( inverted minor ) a double also shows one stopper. Perfect !

BJ Trelford held this hand recently ♠10xx ♥Axx ♦Ax ♣AJxxx and opened 1♣ & I bid 2♣ limit raise of better. They bid 2♦ in the sandwich position. 2NT should show 2 stoppers & 3♣ no stopper. A double shows one stopper. BJ doubles and I bid 3NT with ♠Kxx ♥QJ ♦Jxx ♣KQ1098 and the 3NT is right sided.

Take this hand to clarify the two suit situation. ♠Ax ♥QJx ♦x ♣AQJ109xx and you open 1♣ and they overcall 2♠ & partner bid 3♣ and around to you. You are at the 3 level anyway so you bid 3NT. Partner has the heart Ace and the club king so you chalk up +600. It is not relevant that the diamonds were wide open as you got a spade lead.

Same auction but this time RHO bids 3♦ . With two suits bid , western Q theory changes & your 3♠ bid becomes a telling bid asking partner to bid 3NT with a diamond stopper. Partner dutifully bids 3NT and with a diamond lead you get your +600. You are on a roll. Change your hand slightly ♠x ♥QJx ♦Kx ♣AQJ109xx and same auction with RHO bidding 3♦ . Now what ? Enter the D.S.I.P. double saying I have a diamond stopper so do something intelligent by bidding 3NT with a spade stopper. A Rubber Bridge players would play a double here as penalty. D.S.I.P. double is not penalty when you have a big minor fit , it is a Western Q bid !

With a minor fit established , the penalty double is not that good an idea as the fit detracts from your defensive capabilities anyway , so it should be D.S.I.P. . Why not make it a specific D.S.I.P. double i.e. a western Q bid. Doubling to show stoppers but not penalty makes sense to me. Doubling with huge fits , just throws away the 10 HCP’s in your suit for defensive purposes.

The rank of suits and whether you bypass 3NT or not determine whether your Q bid is a telling Q bid or an asking Q bid. They bid 2♥ and you overcall 2♠ with ♠AKQ109x ♥KQxx ♦xx ♣x and partner bids 3♣. You can follow the two suit principle here also. You have room to bid 3♦ so 3♥ is a telling bid and asking you to bid 3NT with diamonds under control.

In general , it is folly to double forcing bids for penalty. You can expose psyches later if that occurred. Therefore, if you do double a forcing bid , it has a systemic meaning ( Rosenkranz or snapdragon etc ) . With a minor fit implied , the double of a forcing bid should show a stopper and an interest in 3NT. Chris Buchanan vulnerable against nv held ♠QJx ♥Kxx ♦xxx ♣AQ10x and the auction went 2♦ and BJ Trelford overcalled 3♣ , RHO bid 3♠ which is a forcing bid. With this vulnerability and club fit, you want to get to 3NT. A D.S.I.P. Western Q double stands out. The double can never be for penalty as the bid is forcing one round. The double will bring 3NT from BJ and that makes for +630 by holding up on the 2^Nd round of diamonds. 5♣ goes two down vul on a spade ruff. Quite the swing.