Thursday, July 24, 2008 3:01 am 

 

Hand Evaluation - Obligatory Q Bids

PITBULLS:

          We feel Q bids should be obligatory only with "serious 3NT" theory with the majors . This style of Q bidding means that there is an unlimited hand  across from you so you are Q bidding as a courtesy. Why these courtesy Q bids do work is because you have a huge negative inference. 3NT when you have a major fit established is defined as a Q bid showing serious slam intentions. When you did not use this 3NT  “Q bid” , your Q bids must be of the “courtesy” variety.  All other Q bids in Bridge are in accordance with standard bidding , they show extra . Do not Q bid just for the sake of Q bidding . Evaluate your hand first so if you have something more than you have shown already , by all means Q bid. Failure to Q bid in these auctions does not mean you do not have the control , it just means "you are all in" with your previous bid. You now can safely make a “death response” & pass captaincy to partner.

            I was kibitizing Moss & Gittleman in Las Vegas & they had this auction. ♠AQ10xx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣xxx , Fred opened 1♦ vul & a 2♥ nv pre-empt followed by LHO . This hand ( above ) made a negative double & LHO jumped to 4♥ & Fred bid 4NT. This was alerted as showing the minors so Moss bid 5♦. Fred now bid 5♥ forcing the hand to slam & looking for 7♦. Do you make an obligatory Q bid ?  I think you are all in for your negative double & having nothing in the minors is a danger signal. I retreat to 6♦ as if all partner needed was one Ace for a grand why is he opening at the one level ? Anyway , Moss thought a Q bid was obligatory so Q bid 5♠. The next bid was 7♦ & the opponents collected +100 instead of -1370.

            The inventers of Standard bidding thought that must be a way of telling partner that you do not have anything extra  for your previous bidding. After Q bidding you revert to the “death response”.  If you impose "obligatory Q bids" on the partnership , this hand evaluation concept goes out the window. You introduce ambiguity in the bidding. Does she or does she not have extra when she Q bids ? The "serious 3NT" allows courtesy Q bids in that you always have the inference that she did not bid the 3NT Q bid as a serious slam try .Unlimited hands  also factor into the equation big time . Therefore , a Q bid does not necessarily show extra in specific major fit auctions. . You do not have this understanding in other auctions. We feel you should revert to standard  Q bidding understandings in all other auctions. Q bids mean you are interested in bigger & better things. Partner should discourage or encourage these efforts not just be a robot. A Q bid is a hand evaluation tool that needs judgment not rote rules. The “death response” should be a routine part of Q bidding. Tell partner if you just have what you announced or hidden secrets. Obligatory Q bids destroy that particular bidding skill.

             Having said all that , of course there are exceptions. This is the “might is right” concept. A truly huge unlimited hand like a 2♣ opener can force a Q bid out of responder. Some times when you are forced to game opposite an unlimited hand you can Q bid as a courtesy. These are rare auctions though. As Ilya Kuzkin says , “play Standard Russian Q bids “.