Sunday, October 17, 2004 9:42 PM
Looking For Cues
PITBULLS:
Playing forcing pass theory you must look for the cues that turn on forcing passes .
Forcing passes and their implications are a huge part of Bridge for expert
partnerships. It is a way of making joint
decisions in high level competitive auctions instead of one partner
just taking a guess. Honing in on the nuances of auctions that switch on
forcing passes for your side is a must. Cue #1 is vulnerability and
a vul game bid by your side. An opponent vul opened a Flannery 2♦ with xxxx AKxxx
AKx x and my nv partner overcalled 3♣. They leaped
to 4♥ and I bid 5♣ . What should the Flannery bidder do ? Partner bid a vul game so
its your hand. If you own
the hand forcing pass theory applies
. The opponents bidding your stiff
makes your hand better so you want to encourage partner to bid 5♥ . A pass is forcing and conveys the message “ partner I would like you to bid 5♥ “ A double says the 5 level belongs to the opponents
partner . A 5♥ bid with a systemic auction is just not allowed as
partner knows your hand already. With this hand partner declines the invitation
with her minimum and 5♣X goes for 500.
Maurice
had Qxxx Qx AKJ10xx x against Peter Jones and partner . The
auction went 1♣-P-1♥-2♦ by
Maurice vul vrs not and and I Q bid
2♥. This Q bid means
that it is our hand and forcing passes
apply ( Cue #2 ) . Peter Jones bid 4♣ and his partner
bids 4♥ and I contract for a vul 5♦ game .
Peter Jones bids 5♥ so what
should Maurice do ? He should double at the speed of light saying he has a dog
and lets just take our plus. We got our +500 and on to the next hand. A forcing
pass by Maurice shows an invite to 6♦ and a heart control.
Another
Maurice auction . He held AQxx A J109x KJ10x and RHO opened 1♥ and he doubled . The auction went 2♥ and 4♠ vul
by me around to the 2♥ bidder who
now decided to bid 5♥ . I
passed and around to Maurice. Forcing passes apply so what should Maurice do ?
I said I wanted to bid 5♠
with my pass . Maurice accordingly
bids 5♠ and they
need to find a ruff to beat 6♠
as I held Kxxxx xxx KQxxx void . 5♥ doubled only goes for +300.
Do not forget forcing pass theory in these kind of
auctions also. 4♦-P-P-X
P-4♥-P-P 5♦-X The opponents
were willing to play in a partial and we bid a vul game so its our hand and forcing
pass theory applies. I doubled saying I wanted no part of 5♥
. If I passed , it shows a willingness to bid 5♥ . With my partners hand we should be close to making 6♥. I would pass with Qxx KQxxxx xx xx saying I would like to bid 5♥. Partner held AKxx Axx x AKxxx
and 1430 would be lay down . I doubled with my hand xxx QJxxx xxx xx warning that 5♥ is not
the spot.
Cue #3 is where
passes are forcing from one side only
. This is where one partner has indicated a huge
hand by opening 2♣ or make a takeout double and bidding game single handedly vul . A takeout double or even an overcall with a Q bid can
turn on “one way” forcing passes.
The big hands pass is forcing on the little
hand but not vice versa. The pass by the hand who never “attended the party “ is not forcing
on the big hand. The pass has the old fashioned meaning that “I am broke”. The
double by the little hand means I am not
entirely broke.
The
auction went 1♦-X-1♥-P 2♥-4♠-5♥-? I doubled & jumped to game
vulnerable against not vul and they bid 5♥. Tom had xx xxx
xxxx A9xx and doubled
to tell me that he can contribute
something to this auction. The double helped me and took the vul push and got
doubled and made an overtrick.
What if Tom held xx xxx xxxx xxxx ? He would pass 5♥ and I would act accordingly that he is probably
broke over there.
What if our auction went a little differently ?. Same auction but instead of LHO bidding
5♥ , RHO bids 5♥ . Now the huge hand makes a forcing pass to partner
. The little hand must do something. With Toms first hand xx xxx xxxx A9xx , the Ace would tip the scale in favour of a 5♠ bid . With the 2nd hand xx xxx xxxx xxxx
he must double !
Partner doubled & contracted
for 10 tricks vul and passed a 5 level decision around to you. You can not shirk your
responsibility
These
hands came up recently and there
was a common thread among all of the hands. Not
once was the forcing pass element
picked up at the table and wrong decisions
were made every time. The means
that the cues that turn on forcing passes are being
missed. People who are used to playing with weak partners have trouble with forcing pass theory.
They miss out on the joint decisions
that forcing pass theory brings to the partnership. Ignoring forcing pass
theory means that you must make the decision
for the partnership single handedly and very bad results follow. In
important decisions , both hands
should contribute to the final result.
Strong auctions by your side i.e. 2/1 , game forcing strong jump shifts ,
penalty doubles , 2/1 in competition or as a passed hand and game reached all
turn on forcing passes.