Sunday, July 08, 2007 10:53 PM

Hand Evaluation – Forcing Pass ( Opponent Wary )

PITBULLS:

When the opponents are in your auction , no not ignore them. Use them if you can , otherwise prepare partner for the eventuality of them bidding again. I was watching a 5 cent game & Ray Grace was nv vrs nv. Declarer had a strong hand ♠AKJ10xx ♥Q ♦AQ10 ♣K10x & opened 1♠. Ray overcalled 2♥ & partner bid 2♠ so what do you bid ? With no opponents in the auction , you bid 4♠ as you feel that contract has a chance. With opponents in the auction , you must anticipate what might happen if they bid again. I would bid 3♥ ,. not as a slam try , but to turn on forcing passes. A leap to 4♠ does not turn on forcing passes unless vul vrs not with most expert agreements.

Ray did indeed back in with 5♣ & since forcing passes were not turned on , you can not attach any meaning to partners pass. You take a stab at what you feel is the best spot so you bid 5♠. This goes one down for –50. Unfortunately , Ray goes for –500 at the 5 level as partner had unsuitable cards in hearts for offense. Bridge is not played in a vacuum , so let partner in on the secret of the nature of your hand as insurance against them bidding again. Describing your defensive hand type to partner is a must with opponents lurking. If you lack defense , just blast so you do not give information to the enemy. Avoid leaping to game with strong defensive hands . You do not need to be in a hurry as fast arrival means exactly the opposite to what you are intending to show.

You hold ♠xxx ♥xxxxx ♦void ♣xxxxx and the auction goes 1♠-P-2♦-P

2NT-P-3♠-P

4♠-P-P-?

This is a clear cut lead directing penalty double. Why ? Bridge is not played in a vacuum so the opponents have told you something. They never made a move towards slam so they have 26 HCP. This gives partner 14 HCP probably with a couple of Aces. If she has only one Ace , she is going to show it to you on the opening lead with the diamond spot. Therefore they are booked with partner only using up 4 of her 14 hypothetical HCP’s. I have seen so many Bridge players just fixated on their own hand with lead directing doubles. Bid the table , when making lead directing doubles. You do not need to have the contract beat in your hand to double . Bridge is a partnership game. On this hand , 4♠ makes 5 without a diamond lead & is +500 with a diamond lead doubled.