Saturday, May 08, 2004 6:34 PM

Playing the Vulnerability - Importance

PITBULLS:

Playing the vulnerability is an important strategy in Bridge . Your opening bids , overcalls, pre-empts , sacrifices , balancing , trapping , Defense against NT & negative doubles all tie into vulnerability. I would go as far as saying I could have a different convention card vul vrs non vul. Say you had this hand ♠KQJxx ♥x ♦Qxx ♣Kxxx would you open this collection ? You only have 11 HCP with 1 ½ defensive tricks so in my opinion it is not an opening bid in 1^st & 2^nd . If they are vulnerable & we are not ( terrorist vul ) , it magically turns into an opener. Why , because the lead against their possible vul game is so important . Partner also gives you more leeway with this vulnerability.

We all have toys over the opponents strong NT hands . How to use these toys is totally vulnerability dependent . You ♠AKxxx ♥KQJxx ♦Ax ♣x and they open a strong NT to your right . Do you bid your toy to show the majors ? If they are vul and you are not , do not even think about it . You double in case they are in trouble vul against not . Go for the throat first & your nv game second. Equal vul you should also double as it leaves the most options open . If you are vul & they are not , this hand is best described by using your toy to describe a major suit hand . You getting to your vul game is more important then looking for a non vul set. You raise partners major bid to 3 to show this hand.

Say you had this hand ♠AJxx ♥A1098 ♦x ♣AQ10x , partner opens 1♦ & LHO bids 2♥ . Do you pass for penalties or make a negative double ? This answer is totally vulnerability dependent. You would pass for penalties with all vulnerabilities except one. If you are vul & they are not you make a negative double so you can get to your +1370 in clubs. Partner has ♠xx ♥x ♦AKQxxx ♣KJxx and his re-opening double is vulnerability dependent also. I would re-open with a double in all vulnerabilities except one as I have my 2 ½ defensive tricks for my opener. If partner passes , he is short in diamonds so lets take our set. However vul against not , I reopen with 3♣ hoping to find a nice vul 3NT or minor slam . I do not give partner a chance to pass 2♥ x for penalties on this one vulnerability.

You have ♠x ♥xxx ♦QJ109xx ♣AKx and 1♠ gets passed around to you . What is your balance ?? Again it depends on the vulnerability. I would balance 2♦ with every vul except one. If they are vul & we are not, I would double . When this hand was held , partner held ♠KQJ109 ♥AQJ9x ♦A ♣xx & trap passed. Do not forget trapping is vulnerability dependent also so adjust your balancing doubles accordingly. Partner would not risk passing with that hand in other vulnerabilities. Opener had ♠Axxxxx ♥Kxx ♦Kx ♣QJ and goes down 5 doubled & vul for 1400 !

With weak twos you make off shape doubles in he re-opening chair with the appropriate vulnerabilities in order to catch them speeding . ♠xx ♥AQ10xx ♦AKxxx ♣x The opponents open a weak 2♠ so around to you in the balancing . If they are vul & you are not , you should double as you have defense as well as having an offensive hand . With all other vulnerabilities , bid your heart suit to show the offensive nature of your hand. If partner pulls your double to 3♣ , 3♦ is equal level conversion so does not show a strong diamond one suiter. Bid the lower ranking of your two suits so partner will correct to hearts with no diamond fit. ♠xx ♥Jxx ♦xx ♣Jxxxxx

Of course my favourite subject of D.S.I.P. doubles definitely plays the vulnerability. If the opponents are vul , you bend over backwards to make a D.S.I.P. pass or double as converting for penalty vul yields nice results . Being able to get the opponents from either side of the table is one of the nice features of D.S.I.P. theory . Sacrificing our way is of course vulnerability dependent , so D.S.I.P. theory gets a work out with the appropriate vulnerability.

The strategy of trapping is vulnerability dependent . I do not trap vul vrs non vul. I overcall 1NT with a stiff honour or double if I have to or somehow invent a bid to get in the auction. This is in part because you do not get rewarded at 50 a pop if the auction gets passed out but also to protect partner vul vrs not vul in the balancing. He does not have to protect my hand because there is no hand to protect on this one vulnerability !

No bidding question is complete without the vulnerability being included. If someone asks a bidding question and does not include the vulnerability you can not answer as vulnerability dictates the answer about 80 % of the time !!