Saturday, March 01, 2003 7:18 PM

Hand Evaluation - 3NT & Pre-empts

PITBULLS:

One of the sinister objectives of pre-empting at the 3 level is to get the opponents out of their rightful 3NT contracts . They end up in a bad 5 of a minor contract , sometimes a bad Moysean or converting for a set that does not compensate for their 3NT . Established partnerships should have some good understandings to prevent , as much as possible , the opponents pushing you out of your 3NT .

If your partner opens & they pre-empt , Thrump doubles are a good tool to keep you in 3NT . Modifying your negative double structure to include Thrump doubles does not give up much and it’s a win – win proposition . You hold

x	K	x	A
x	x	x	K
	x		Q
			10
			x
			X

and partner opened 1♦ with RHO pre-empting 3♠ . You make your Thrump double , partner bids 3NT so you collect your 630 . If partner has no spade stopper so plays you for a classic negative double by bidding 4♥ , you just correct to 5♣ which is where you would have been anyway with a 4♣ & 5♣ bidding sequence.

O.K. partner does not open so the opponents pre-empt at the 3 level , what are all your 3NT overcall understandings ? If you are stacked in their suit , you should just pass with almost any HCP holding. Looking for a juicy set should be your first objective so cheer for partner to balance with a double (vulnerability taken into consideration of course). I think it is useful to have different overcall understandings depending on whether they pre-empted a major or a minor .

If they pre-empted a major , you may have to overcall 3NT more often with a large balanced hand instead of making a double . You would double more often with the 20 HCP flat hands when they pre-empt a minor because you still have a chance to bid 3NT over partners major response . Therefore , the understanding I like to have is that a 3NT overcall over a major is based on “playability” with a long suit somewhere or the huge flat hands in the 20 + HCP range with a stopper. This is a “practical bid” so may even hold a singleton somewhere.

OK. What if you do overcall a minor pre-empt with 3NT ? It cannot be the balanced huge hands or else you would have doubled, followed by 3NT. I like to play the 3NT overcall as the other minor with a stopper in their minor. I held this hand ♠Q ♥10xx ♦QJx ♣AKQJxx playing in the Calgary GNT . RHO opened 3♦ so I overcalled 3NT. Partner bid 4♦ which I interpreted as either pick a major or a huge hand. I bid 4♥ so we ended up in 6♥ opposite ♠AK10x ♥AKJ9xx ♦x ♣xx . I finessed the heart queen ,lost to the doubleton queen in the pre-empters hand. Unlucky yes , but we were in the wrong slam. With such nice clubs , I should have ignored partners request for a major & bid 5♣ over the 4♦ bid. 6♣ is an easy bid & a very easy contract to play.

How is partner to respond to a 3NT overcall ? Usually you do not try to improve the contract so passing is the order of the day with all hands where game is the maximum contract ( law - do not try to improve the game). With that understanding , bidding is always forward going so may be a slam try. All bids are natural , forcing & 4NT is always to play if the slam try is aborted. An interesting treatment is always have 4♠ as straight Blackwood & 4NT as a general quantitative slam try . 4NT is the most common invitational bid after a 3NT overcall by far. One common treatment by experts is a method for a slam try in a major. You Q bid in the opponents suit , then bid your major as a general slam try. Due to the “practical “ nature of a 3NT overcall, 4NT by either side is never Blackwood.

3♠-3NT-P-4♥

P-4NT-P-P Overcallers hand is ♠AQx ♥J ♦AKQxxxx ♣Qx .

Another way of responding to a 3NT overcall is via transfers only. There is a very clever scheme developed which works for all 3 level pre-empts by the opponents . 4♣ regardless of the pre-empt is a transfer to the cheapest unbid major, 4♦ is a transfer to the cheapest suit other than the lowest unbid major & 4♥ is always a transfer to the higher ranking minor. This works & always allows one suit below the intended suit as a super accept ! Brilliant ! This is what I prefer to play as a 3NT overcall is an undisciplined bid brought about by the opponents pressure tactics. Responder should only be allowed to bid with a transfer with a suitable super accept scheme worked out.

The rule of defending against pre-empting is to assume partner has around 7 HCP so bid accordingly . A strong NT hand HCP range is not strong enough to overcall 3NT after a 3 level pre-empt with that understanding , so you would always double with that range . The so called co-operative aspect of doubling pre-empts to me is scary . Vulnerability considerations come to play so if partner passes the double with trump values , fine but with no values in trump, bidding should be encouraged as much as possible. When the opponents pre-empt in a minor , doubling first followed by bidding 3NT shows the strong balanced hand as opposed to a playable 3NT overcall. Of course , if you cannot stand partner jumping in a major , you would have overcalled 3NT initially .

Balancing changes everything as you are “bidding the table “ so partner is either a trapped hand or a passed hand.. A balancing 3NT can be in the 1NT HCP range up to a range where you fear a slam might be missed . This is because partner & the opponents have passed & pre-empted . Doubling first followed by 3NT should be very rare showing a hand in the strong 2NT range or better . This will allow you to get to your slam opposite a partner who has passed initially, if it is there .

At the risk of offending the followers of the Blackwood religion , I believe 4NT should never be Blackwood in 3 level pre-emptive auctions when bid directly without jumping . You should always Q bid the opponents suit first before you Blackwood or have the understanding that Q bidding in the opponents suit is Blackwood. Therefore , 4NT is always to play when partner overcalls or balances at the 4 level in a minor . If you think there is slam in the minor , just bid it ! 4NT is too valuable in these auctions as a contract to waste as in insurance bid to find out if you off enough Aces to make a slam . 10 tricks in NT is certainly better then +130 or –100 in 5 of a minor down one. I will concede that 4NT over partners major may be Blackwood ( depending on agreement ) but never , never over partners minor .

Anyway it is a power struggle when the opponents pre-empt . They are trying to get you out of your NT contract so you should make all reasonable efforts to get to 3NT . Don’t let them succeed !!