Wednesday, September 24, 2003 3:28 PM
Italian vrs U.S. Q Bidding
PITBULLS:
The
U.S. style of Q bidding is very simple.
Coupled with the principle of fast arrival , it is also very dangerous. This style of Q bidding allows Q bids at the 5 level which quite
often put the contract at jeopardy
if the hands did not fit well. U.S. style Q bidding means that 1st
round controls had to be bid first
and 2nD round controls bid second right up and thru the 5 level.
This bidding avoided Blackwood as
we knew the Aces and Kings by Q bidding anyway. Also implied with the U.S.
style of Q bidding was that you had extra values because you were Q bidding.
The
famous Italian Blue team invented the Italian style of Q bidding where as long
as you obeyed the rule that lowest rank
was bid first , you could bid 2ND
round control before 1St round. This style was way more accurate for slam bidding but necessitated
Blackwood as you did not know how many Aces you had. Improvements in KCB
Blackwood over the years made that style advantageous anyway. Q bidding 2Nd
round controls make slam tries far
easier and more accurate. The Q bidding inferences that you do not have 2Nd controls avoids
dangerous ventures to the 5 level
as a one last chance for a slam . This rarified atmosphere of the 5 level often leads to a disaster.
The
principle of fast arrival jammed Q bidding
room when one hand was still
unlimited. With the majors , the principle of fast arrival has been replaced by the “serious 3NT” among world
class experts. Also adopted was the Italian style of Q bidding rather then the
U.S. style. With this style of Q bidding you do require extra to Q bid if you were opposite an unlimited hand. 3NT was put in
the Q bid repertoire as a Q bid saying I have serious slam interest as opposed
to just Q bidding.
Q
bidding at the 5 level is just not done
with these methods . This understanding leads to the complication of “last train” Q bids . “Last Train means you have lower ranking Q bids you
could not Q bid below game level .
You make a bid just below game to tell partner that you are still interested
with that lower ranking control but can not
take control of the hand with Blackwood because you have that flaw.
Experts
like Fred Gittleman say that Q bidding at the 5 level is a sign of something
has gone wrong with the auction.
He even goes so far as defining a 5 level Q
bid as Exclusion Blackwood ! Playing Italian style Q bids , Q
bidding at the 5 level is dangerous as you do not know how many Aces you have
and you may end up in a grand off the trump Ace. The 5 level is definitely for
the opponents if you subscribe to Serious
3NT theory !
When
the opponents double your Q bids ,
the meaning of XX , pass & bid must
change. With American
Q bidding the XX says I have 2nd round control. With the Italian style , the XX says I have 1st round control. The pass says
I lack a control as that gives
partner a chance to XX to show the next control also. Bidding something freely
shows partner that they opponents can not cash two tricks in the suit.
Tom Gandolfo & partner had a bidding misunderstanding based on the above . Tom held Qxx KJ1098xx Ax x
and opened 1♥ .
His partner bid 2♣ and Tom used “fast arrival” to show a hand that he would have
otherwise pre-empted but he has an outside Ace. His partner held Kx AQx Jxx AQ10xx and even with this
pre-emptive auction there is still a chance of slam. Therefore he Q bid 4♠ and the opponents doubled.
Since partner forced Tom to the 5 level anyway , a Q bid of 5♦ is a courtesy and does not show extra. However with
the double, it also tells partner that do not worry about the spade suit or I
would have passed telling you that I have nothing
in spades. Toms partner bid 6NT to protect the spade king and a 24
IMP swing occurred. 6♥
is cold and was not reached at the other table ( they pre-empted at the 3
level with an outside Ace ) and 6NT went down at Toms table.
BJ Trelford was in a Q biding auction with Ax 10xx Kx A10987x when the opponents doubled an Italian style Q bid. He passes as
per the above theory to show no control and partner bids 3NT which ends the
auction. Thank you opponents for keeping us out of a bad slam. J