2007-11-26 03:55
Hand Evaluation – Two level Overcalls ( ELC )
PITBULLS:
We
have said in many articles , applying patterns can assist you in bidding as well as all the other
facets of Bridge. Patterns can help you visualize the potential of a hand . A player had ♠void ♥AJxx ♦Axx ♣AKJxxx & they opened 1♠ everybody vul. What do you bid ? Let’s start with the standard hand evaluation tools.
HCP’s count up to 17 but they are in quick
tricks ( 4) so get promoted to nearly 19
HCP. You have a void in the opponent’s suit so that is another 4 HCP’s
so your hand evaluates to a demand 2 bid using Goren methods ( 23 HCP’s ) .
You do not have a single suited hand which a two level overcall would describe
. You have 4 card support for the unbid major & 3 card support for the unbid
minor. Your HCP’s are concentrated in your 6 card suit & Aces lead your
other suits. OK , it is poor hand evaluation to just
be fixated on your own hand. The
opponents have just opened in your void
so using patterns what can partner have to assist you ? If partner holds ♥Kxxxxx or ♦Kxxxxx you can make a grand
slam in those suits. Even with ♥Qxxxxx of hearts , a grand slam can
be made with the ♥K in openers hand. There are many patterns with
partner holding
minimal hands where game or slam would be a lay down & the
auction could die in 2♣ when you choose an overcall.
The purpose behind equal level conversion at the two level
is that you reserve
overcalls to generally show single
suited hands. A double can show 2 or
more suits so you do not have to make non
forcing overcalls where partner passing might lead to a disaster.
There are many hands where partner will not be strong enough to bid , where game to a grand slam would be possible. ♠Kx ♥xxx ♦xxxx ♣10xxx
would
result in 3NT making with the above hand.
It is
the modern style to make non forcing
overcalls at the two level
without the 3rd suit rather than T/O doubles. This is theoretically unsound
, so we have bought into the Meckwell equal
level conversion so you do not have to take that risk. This hand is so powerful that taking a risk of making a non forcing overcall at the two level is quite baffling.
Overcalling with this hand would force partner to respond on nearly nothing to
get to your game or slam . To add insult to injury , the game was IMPS & you were vulnerable . In IMPS ,
getting to your vul game or slam is paramount. A
double is less single handed & brings partner into the picture immediately.
What
if you do overcall 2♣ ? How do you make up for
lost time & describe this demand 2
that you announced with a mere overcall
to partner , so a joint
decision can be made on the final contract ? LHO bids 2♠ , partner bids 3♣ & RHO bids 3♠ so
now what ? You can mastermind & assume since both hands are bidding , you have nothing but a 5 level contract your way
& leap to 5♣. There are many hands where 6♣ would need very
little from partner , but this was not one of them.
3NT is the correct contract for +630 as partner has a flat hand
with spade duplication of value.
The
only way to partially recover from you initial misbid
is to now double with all your HCP’s in quick tricks. You have them booked , so whatever partner has in
trump or other cards are down tricks. Partner bids 3NT so you have dodged a bullet . Your initial overcall hid your true hand from partner
& your subsequent leap to game also hid your hand from partner. Single
handed bidding is quite often not visualizing
what partner could hold. This
effects how you bid your own
hand. Bridge is a partnership
game.