Sunday, July 20, 2008 8:38 pm

Hand Evaluation – Forcing pass ( Trump Ownership )

PITBULLS:

           With  forcing pass theory in general , your side owns the auction but not the opponents trump suit. With auctions where the opponents announce to the table that they own their trump suit , guess what , the majority of the time they do. Therefore,  both in forcing pass  theory & competitive double theory , you bid on that assumption  .1♥-X-4♥ , 2♥-P-4♥ , 3♦-P-5♦ ,3♠-X-4♠ . In these auctions ,  trump stack doubles by your side do not exist by definition.  These doubles even in forcing pass theory turn into "card showing"  doubles. This is just common sense. Penalty trump stack doubles were invented to punish bad bidders. Forget that trump stack doubles even exist when the bidding makes it obvious they own their trump suit. Identify trump ownership within forcing pass theory as doubles means “cards”. This is especially important when you are competing. Doubles of these types of auctions become competitive doubles by the context of the auction.

            Tom  Gandolfo in Las Vegas held this hand ♠AQxx ♥xx ♦KJxx ♣Jxx . The  auction went with everybody vul , 3♣-X-5♣-? . The true solo artists give partner no leeway when they are put under pressure  by the opponents . Partner could have a balanced 19 HCP for the T/O double or any number of hands. Of course,  partner must have the  classic 4-4-4-1 for a T/O double so you single handedly make the decision at the 5 level for the partnership with a 5♠ bid on your 4 card suit. Of  course suits do not break badly with a pre-empt on your left , so bidding 4 card suits at the 5 level is normal practice. How unlucky  , as you hit partner with ♠Jxx ♥AKxx ♦AQ10xxx ♣void , 5♠ goes down for -300 ( bad spade break ) & 6♦ makes for +1370. Tom made the correct percentage bid of a card showing double at the  rarefied 5 level. His partner now Q bids 6♣ . Tom bids 6♠ & with a finesse takes all the tricks for +1460.

              When the opponents own their suit but we own the auction , the double shows cards & the double is used as a Q bid . This strategy allows bidding at the same level as if a Q bid were made. Gordon Campbell coined the term Do Something Intelligent Partner doubles as from the context of the auction , we cannot have a trump stack penalty double. This auction is similar to the hand that Peter Jones & I  had that started D.S.I.P. competitive double theory . I doubled their 4♥ bid as it was obvious from the auction that the opponents owned their suit , so my double showed cards or an "action double". Still another way of using the opponent’s bidding as a stepping stone. The meaning of a double changes with the context of the auction. No place in Bridge for not thinking & applying rote rules when doubles are involved.

           Speaking of the  opponents , they have turned on forcing passes for your side by raising a pre-empt to game. Tom’s double showed no 5 card suit but probably two or 3 suits with cards. Tom described his hand & intentions with one bid & keeping the auction at the same level. One  Bridge player said Tom cannot double as his two suits do not qualify as a  responsive two suiter. At the 5 level , opposite a T/O double it  certainly does. A suit bid at this level for Bridge sanity , should show 5 or more cards . If Tom had nothing but ♣KQJ10 he passes as the opponents can not play the contract undoubled with forcing pass theory. Partner re-opens with a double as forcing passes are on & Tom  knows what to do. When the opponents own their suit in our auction , the pass becomes the trump stack penalty double.

      What if Tom held ♠AQ10xx ♥xx ♦KJxx ♣xx ? He should pass & when partner re-opens with a double bid 5♠. This is the pass & pull slam try of forcing pass theory. If  Tom had less , he could bid 5♠ directly as he thinks he can make it. When the opponents are pre-empting & jamming you , think forcing pass theory. Use them as stepping stones so that the so called "modern bidding" fails as it should. Maybe we can eventually stamp out the disease of modern bidding. Knowing how to combat their tactics is the antidote to their poison. Trump ownership is a hand evaluation concept to consider with forcing pass theory.