Monday,
September 01, 2003 12:15 AM
Hand
Evaluation – Q Bids (
The Death Response )
PITBULLS:
A universal hand evaluation concept in Bridge is the death response . This concept needs to be
well understood for good
partnership bidding. This bid
occurs to slow partner down
when she wants bigger & better things or using conventions that are seeking
the same. The death response is an all cases is returning to the agreed trump suit , fast arrival or 3NT. The death response is part of
partnership bidding , so prevents solo artists from single handedly placing the contract. Think of the “death
response” as fast arrival to your
contract even though it may be at the two level !
“Back
Peddling” is
another form of the death response. You do not have a good rebid with a 20 HCP
hand with a club suit so you decide to open 2♣. At your first opportunity
& from then on put on the breaks to show that you are “all in” with your
first bid. If I open 2♣ followed by jumping in my suit it shows a self
sufficient suit & demands that partner shows a control if she has one . If I jump to game this is a death response ( fast arrival ) . Of course , the
death response is returning to my trump suit
, if there are no controls. The next bid is suit asking where a return to the
suit is also the death response & the first step shows the queen . Generalizations for
death responses are easy on the memory.
Sometimes you decide to take the aggressive route
with your first bid. At
your first opportunity you should “slow down the auction”. Partner held ♠Ax ♥AJx ♦Qxx ♣AQxxx & opened 1♣ .
They overcalled 1♠ & I bid 2♥ so you decide that you want to be
on the aggressive side & Q bid 2♠. Fine ,
but now partner bids 3♦ so now what ? You Q bid in rank order , so partner lacks the ♣K so you should slow her
down with a 3♥ bid. This “death response” says I am minimum or
“all in” for my previous Q bid. What if you held either
the club or diamond king with the same hand ? You now show that you are maximum for your first bid by Q bidding 3♠. Ambiguous
bids like Q bids ( wide range ) need to be refined &
clarified during the auction.
Q bidding auctions are slam try auctions. Did your hand get any better on the auction
?, There are shades of gray for a Q bid , do you have a minimum for your
previous bid or a maximum? Partner wants to know or she would not have
initiated a Q bidding auction. A local couple had this auction.
1♠-2♣-3♣-P
4♣ Opener had a huge hand with a void in the vulnerable overcall suit ♠AQ1098x ♥Axx ♦KQ10x ♣void . Responder used hand evaluation skills to upgrade a 2♠ call to a Q bid ♠xxx ♥Jxxx ♦Ax ♣Axxx . Two Aces are just too strong for a 2♠ bid so you promote you balanced 9 HCP to a Q bid. Partner bids 4♣ so your minimum Q bid has become worse as there is a danger that partner has a club void. You warn partner of the danger by making the death response of 4♠ & that ends the auction. Q bidding 4♦ means that you have extra or partners Q bid helped your hand. It does not deny this Ace as partner can always ask for it later via KCB. A Q bid is a “range bid” , so you either encourage partner or slow her down
This hand came up
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♠ |
♥ |
♦ |
♣ |
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x |
A |
x |
A |
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x |
K |
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K |
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x |
J |
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x |
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x |
x |
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x |
Partner opens
a spade , you splinter in diamonds which gets doubled . Partner
passes & RHO bids 5♦ . Now what ? What
information has partner given you with her pass ? The
death response in these splinter auctions is returning to the trump suit. Partner would do that with duplication of value in diamonds
. A redouble by partner is a Q bid
with a diamond control . A pass is leaving bidding
room open for partner’s Q bid as I do not
have diamond wastage. On this auction , you
have an easy 6♠ bid based on partners pass.
The
auction goes 1♦-1♠-P-2♦ , you are the Q bidder
. Partner now bids 2♠ . Is this a 6 card
spade suit ? No , partners
hands is ♠AKQx ♥x ♦xxxx ♣Q10xx and she is just
giving the death response in reply to your Q bid . The auction goes a little differently with the
opponents doubling your
Q bid this time . With
this slightly different auction , the 2♠ bid is the death
response with distribution &
pass is the death response without distribution. This is because the opponents gave you
the luxury of a XX .
Partnerships
can agree on the meaning of a redouble.
I play the redouble as showing cards
at this low level rather than a Q
bid.
Susan
& Kiz had an auction recently that brings the XX
into the mix. 2♥-P-P-2♠
P-3♥-X-?
Since you have the XX in the
mix at a low level , you can have two death responses . A pass would show a
minimum with a lack of distribution & a bid shows a minimum with more
distribution. The XX takes on the normal meaning of the pass showing extra
since this is at a low level. If the auction were at a much higher level , the XX would be a Q bid , so a pass would be a good hand.
When you have opened light ,
partner has made a strong bid like Jacoby 2NT or Q bid , the death response
is returning to the trump even if it is freely bid. 1♠-P-2NT-4♦
4♠ is the death response as it is fast arrival to your game. Pass is stronger as you leave room for Q
bidding. The death response even prevents Q bidding from happening so keeps partners
delusions of grandeur in check. Tom Gandolfo demonstrated this recently . The auction went 1♦-1♠-2♠-X 3♦ by Tom . What’s that mean ? It is the “death response” saying that I have
nothing but my bare minimum but with distribution. I did not redouble & I did not Q bid, which are all stronger bids. A pass
would show a flatish minimum.
After a takeout double
you need a “death response” , when partner now Q bids
to show a strong hand. You hold ♠xx ♥xxxx ♦xxxx ♣xxx , the auction goes 1♠-Dbl-P-2♥ P-2♠-p-? You suck it up ,
bid 3♥
as a death response. Your range is
very wide on these auctions ( 0-9 HCP) . If you held
the same distro but ♠xx ♥KJxx ♦Kxxx ♣xxx , you now bid 3♦ after the Q bid . Since you did not make the “death
response” , partner now knows you have some
values. It is not changing suits to
find a better spot. Partner with
his Q bid is asking a simple “Yes/No” question. Do you have something or not ? Death response
says sorry , you have struck out partner. If you have way more than you announced initially , make an unassuming Q bid or jump to game. You have ♠x ♥KJxxx ♦Kxxx ♣xxx , I would Q bid after partners Q bid
because this is a super maximum in light of the original 2♥ bid.
Here
is an auction with Perry where the “death response “ concept
comes to the fore. ♠Jx ♥KQ10x ♦KQxxxx ♣Q
Perry opened 1♦ , I replied 1♠
& Parry bid 2♦ . I bid 3♣ so what is your bid ? You have a choice of 3♥ , 3♦ or 3NT. 3♥ is out as you barely have an opener
so you want to slow this
auction down. 3NT shows soft values
,
a heart stopper & is the “death
response” . What can be easier ? Partner reluctantly passes 3NT which is much better
than the 6♦
reached after you bid 3♥ to show your shape. Partner thinks
you have a good 2♦ bid , since you did not make the “death response” of 3NT.
If partner has opened some number of NT
, the death response is 3NT
. If partner is making a slam try & you return to 3NT you are answering his
question with a resounding “NO” . If you are
investigating a minor suit slam
at the 4 level ,
4NT is the “death response” suggesting that we play the contract at this
level. NT slows down all slam try auctions so is the proverbial “wet blanket”.
Players do not make enough
minor slam tries at the 4
level because they forget that you
have 4NT as the death response to
bail out. Worse still
, they think 4NT is KCB in a minor
orientated auction. Nonsense .
Actually any NT bid when investigating a slam is a death
response. Partner reverting to NT to show soft values & to discourage further bidding is a death
response. I opened 1NT & they bid 2♦ for the majors . Partner held ♠xx
♥void
♦J109xx
♣AQJ109x so despite have only 8 HCP if partner has the magical
hand with not too much in hearts or
the majors , slam is possible. Partner decided to
improvise so instead of bidding 4NT for the minors ,
he bid 3♥ which pretty well describes his void in hearts &
his slam intentions.
Partner puts the brakes on with 3NT but
they bid 4♥ vul . Partner makes a forcing pass so around to the NT opener
who now bids 4NT
. This is the 2nd time the brakes were applied on this
auction as partner could bid
a minor to co-operate. Doubling should show defense measured in controls as they should have their trump
suit all but wrapped up . 4NT should show soft values so let’s get our 10 tricks fast & should also discourage further
bidding. You get the message & sign off in 5♣ which makes. Partner
either is cooperating with you or not so it is best
to listen.
The death response & “last
train” slam tries go together. You hold ♠A10xx ♥AKQJx ♦x ♣Axx , open 1♥ with partner responding a spade ,
you splinter to 4♦ .
Partner bids 4♠ the dreaded death response so should you give up
? Yes ,
as that bid shows severe duplication
of value in diamonds. OK , how do you show mild slam
interest then ? 4♥ by responder is not giving a choice of
contracts as it’s a Bridge axiom once you found
a fit you do not try & find another fit .
The 4♥
bid is a “last train” slam try
saying you do not have duplication
of value but you do not have a Q bid . In addition , you cannot bid Blackwood. Say a hand like ♠KQxxx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣QJ10 where you do not want to give up on slam but you need partner to take the initiative. Klimo
has invented another bid in these auctions which is a 5♠
“telling bid” . Since you are playing with a 30 pt
deck in these auctions , 5♠ says I have no
duplication of value , nothing to Q bid & can not
bid Blackwood but I have excellent trump.
You place the contract .
Kantar has defined some suit asking bids after KCB auctions . The death response is always to return to the trump suit so everything else is up the line. If the trump suit is spades , partner makes a suit ask in hearts n 6♠ is xxx & up the line shows better cards . 1st step the Kx , 2Nd step x and third step KQx .
The principle of fast arrival is a death response. When you want to discourage
partner from bigger & better things you jam
her out of exploration room
& leap to game. Failing to Q bid
when given a chance is obviously a death response .
In competitive auctions , returning to our suit as opposed to passing is a death
response. A pass leaves room for exploration therefore is a stronger action in
most cases. Partners quite often have visions of bigger & better things. Sometimes you need to slow her down.
Only one
death response per customer. If there has been a Q bid or a systemic bid promising a fit
for partner ,
the only “death response” is returning to the suit. This means the cheapest NT can have
a meaning defined by the partnership. If there has been a major suit implied
fit with a Q bid ,
we prefer 2NT to ask for shortness.
1♥-1♠-2♠-P
2NT asks for a stiff as you
do not need
to suggest an alternative contract in NT
With
a minor implied fit , the goal is to get to 3NT so 2NT
should be forcing after a Q bid but natural.
1♦-1♠-2♠-P
2NT
natural & forcing
In
some cases 2NT is a waiting
bid , if you had a death response available.
1♥-P-1NT
2♦-P-2♠* strong diamond raise
2NT
waiting & asking for further clarification .
3♦ only non forcing bid