Tuesday,
February 11, 2003 9:39 AM
Hand Evaluation – Overcalls ( Michaels Q Bids )
PITBULLS:
Michaels Q bids are a
nice descriptive bid to assist your overcalls.
They are an annoyance to the opponents & allow you to compete fast . They should be either weak ( pre-emptive ) or very
strong . We define very strong as not needing much help from partner
to make game. If you need help from partner , the hand
drops to intermediate status. Intermediate Michaels
hands should be handled by just overcalling or doubling when you hold quick tricks. This helps partner judge in competitive auctions as
she will bid on the assumption that you are pre-emptive when you start with a Michaels bid. You , of course , Q bid again or double the opponents if you have the rock. Toys are
essentially overcalls so the range you choose
affects your entire T/O double & overcall
structure. Keeping intermediate hands out of the “toy” structure creates
problems of its own.
Reading
an article by Kantar , I was surprised to find out
that he plays toys weak or intermediate
& saves the double for the really strong
two suited hands. This way , Kantar reasons is just based on frequency . When you double with a two suiter ,
you must have nearly a demand two which of course means this is a very rare bid. Playing toys weak or strong means the
intermediate hands come up more often so must be described by overcalls or
doubles with these two suited hands . Kantar obviously
negates the use of the overcall or T/O double
for the intermediate range two suited hands as he keeps that range within the
toy. Kantar may have something there. The down side is that partner cannot
initially assume the toy is a pre-empt as intermediate
hands are quite frequent which adds ambiguity to these auctions. Playing an
equal level conversion style allows you to double with two suiters
in the intermediate range ( good defense ) as long as
you are willing to jump to invite.
If you are squeamish about equal level or
jump conversion with two suiters, you should play Kantars range . Doubles with two suiters are very rare playing
Kantars style. Kantars style allows your T/O doubles to be generally 3 suited
hands which cannot be bad also. Comments ?
♠AKxxx ♥AKxxx ♦xx ♣x
with RHO opening 1♦ . Kantar Michaels
with this hand ( intermediate ) followed by inviting
to the 3 level & some playing the mini-maxi range
will overcall or double. I double with this hand & convert the 2♣ bid
by partner by jumping to 3♥ to show the distribution. Myself & Kantar both end up at the 3 level but done differently. Overcalling with 4 quick
tricks & two suits leaves partner out of
the picture & may rescue the opponents. With opponents jamming
, you may never get your 2nd suit into the fray. Add an ace
to this hand, Kantar will double initially & jump or Q bid later. Add a
queen ♠AKQxx ♥AKxxx ♦xx ♣x , I will double &
bid hearts at a higher level ( game ) not
an equal or one level higher. Playing
the equal level conversion style , this auction shows
a hand right under a strong two type Michaels. Since I virtually never double with a one suited hand , this auction must show two suits. Kantar , I assume will
still Michaels with this hand & invite or take a shot at game. Equal level conversion was invented
to show weak off shape T/O doubles not nice two
suiters. ♠AQxx
♥AKxx ♦xxxx ♣x I would double 1♦ & equal level
convert 2♣ to 2♥’s. Jumping shows distribution &
invites.
Ilya Kuzkin introduced me to
“Polish Michaels”
which includes all two suiters with spades as the anchor suit. This
understanding includes more two suiters in the “toy” category which cannot be
bad. Doubling or overcalling with two suits
should be avoided if you can help it. Overcalling with two suits at higher
levels is fine as long as your hand is very offensive to the point of almost
being pre-emptive. Overcalling with strong two suiters
with quick tricks is ambiguous bad bidding , in my opinion. Keeping overcalls as generally one suited hands when you have such
a variable range reduces ambiguity.
Over using the Michaels Q bid convention is
bad Bridge . Over weak 2’s & 3’s Michaels hands
should be handled by straight overcalling or doubling with defense . Equal level or jump conversion
will sort things out. It is much
better to have a different meaning for a Q bid in pre-emptive auctions .
My partners & I play the Q bid of a weak 2 as a Western Q bid . This gets us to some good 3NT’s from the correct side
with otherwise unbidable hands. If we do have a 2 suiter over a weak 2
with the other major , we jump in our minor .
For example , if we have hearts & diamonds , we
bid 4♦
over a 2♠ weak two .
Over
the opponents 3 bids, it is silly
to waste the Q bid as Michaels . You are essentially pre-empting against a pre-empt by doing that
. Just overcall with a distributional two suiter . A Q bid should be a
strong distributional hand most
likely a 2 suiter but not necessarily
. This clarifies things immediately for partner in tough pre-emptive
auctions. She knows
that you do not have a silly weak Michaels hand. She can take appropriate action in
competition including doubling the opponents based on the strength of your hand.
Balancing is another area where I feel
Michaels bids should be avoided .
The Michaels Q bid is a waste as it can be put to better use by clarifying balancing doubles .
Quite often a balancing double is converted for penalties by partner
. If you have a strong distributional hand that you want to prevent that happening , you Q bid instead . This bid will cover the
strong Michaels hands anyway . Weak Michaels
hands in the balancing can just be handled by bidding one of your suits &
later competing in the other suit.
Before
Michaels Q bids were invented , Charles Goren had Q bids in competition defined as rocks . This was too restrictive , so Michaels Q’s were invented to describe weak
or strong 2 suiters. Do not go overboard with
Michaels though , the Goren Q bid still has merit in certain auctions so are far more useful then
Michaels Q bids in these auctions. Goren Q bids are assumed over 3 level
pre-empts & leaping Michaels over two level openers.
The
double in general shows defense
rather than shape. Recently my partner held a defensive 22 HCP in the balancing
spot. The opponents opened a weak 2 and around to my partner in the balancing . Should he Q bid immediately to show his demand two ? No , if partner converts his double for penalty he is more than happy. A Q bid in the balancing
seat should show a demand two with distribution
or a request to bid 3NT with a stopper. Partner doubled the weak 2♥ & then pulled my
Lebensohl 2NT to 3♥ so what does that mean ? Since he chose to double first ,
the bid shows a defensive demand
two . There is a negative inference in what he did not do directly in the balancing spot.
Do
not forget the either or aspect of
these toys is a pre-emptive hand to a hand with game nearly in your hand. If
you still need from partner , choose a double with
quick tricks & an overcall with softer values
& less defense. A Tormentee held this hand ♠xxxx ♥AQ10 ♦xx ♣Kxxx with everybody vul.
1♠-2♠-P-3♥
P-4♥-P-? . You bid 3♥ on the basis that 2♠
was the lower end bid. Partner
contracted for game single handedly
knowing that you could have
nothing. You have 9 HCP more than you announced with 3 heart honours & an outside king. Of course
, you should have slam unless partner is bidding your
hand for you & is assuming 9 HCP’s for her 4♥ bid. So you bid 4NT
& partner bids 6♥ showing 3 Aces with
a useful void. You bid 7♥ & partner tables
♠void ♥KJxxx ♦AKQJxx ♣Ax
so you claim your grand slam. Delicate auctions demand trusting
partner for their bids. If they do not have their bids ,
you tend to master mind & pass 4♥ with these hands.
Slams & grand slams are routinely missed.
There
is another way of showing the strong Michael’s bid when the opponents jam you
& you do not want to double. ♠void
♥KQ1098 ♦AKQ10xx ♣Ax . They open 1♠
so you bid 2♠ showing the “rock” Michaels. Partner bids 3♥ & the opponents
bid 4♠. You want to show the big Michaels but you do not want 4♠X
to be converted. You bid 5♦ & since hearts
are agreed , that must show the distributional strong Michaels. Now
it is easy for partner to bid 6♦ for +1390.