Monday, March
06, 2006 3:02 AM
Hand
Evaluation – Partnership ( Converting Doubles )
PITBULLS:
Bridge
is a partnership game . The most common and
serious Bridge mistakes involves taking partner
out of the decision making process. Unilateral decisions are deadly in the game of Bridge. Converting
T/O doubles for penalty ends
all auctions , so partner has no chance to clarify her T/O double. Here are some
examples from a recent tournament that underline the importance of keeping
partner in the picture when deciding to convert for penalty. You have ♠xxx ♥K109xx ♦K109 ♣xx , the auction goes
1NT-2♠-3♥-? . 3♥ is a forcing bid &
this is a competitive auction. Partner is vul &
bid 2♠ which in your system shows spades & a minor. When
we do not own the auction , D.S.I.P. theory applies.
If you double , you are saying you have defense &
want to compete to 3♠ so obviously that
bid is out. Do not double forcing bids
for penalty at any time !
This can only help the opponents.
You pass , they now bid 3NT so around to you. Since
you did not make a D.S.I.P. double
during the auction, a double of 3NT can not be for a
spade lead as you had a chance to compete in spades. A double should mean that
cards are sitting wrong for them so they just cannot make the contract. 3NT X
is a carnage as partner holds ♠QJ109x ♥Q ♦xxx AKJx for his bid. They
were seriously overbidding & you trust partner for his vulnerable bidding.
+1100 is possible as the 3♥ bidder held a flat 7
HCP for his forcing bid.
Converting
for penalty with the wrong type of hand
undermines partnership bidding. ♠Ax ♥KJx ♦Kxxx ♣Jxxx , the NV opponents
open a weak 2♠ & your side is
vulnerable. They now interfere with 3♠ & partner makes
a T/O double. What do you bid ? Partners hand is the great unknown as the non vul opponents can have virtually nothing . Converting for penalty
with the wrong type of hand takes
partner out of the picture. You have 12 HCPs that are unannounced during this
auction. How do you describe them ? The vulnerability dictates that you bid. You bid 3NT not so
much as you want to play it there but to keep
the bidding open. Partner could hold ♠x ♥AQ10xx ♦AQxxx ♣Ax
so a
vulnerable grand slam in the reds is possible. You do not convert for penalty
just because you have HCP’s & no clear
cut good bid. This is partially due to your decision being so unilaterally final for the partnership. A
pass is a descriptive bid saying that with my horrible
duplication of value , we cannot make anything our way especially on
this vulnerability. Partner pulling 3NT to 4 of the minor is a slam try as you
do not pull 3NT from a position of weakness.
Sometimes
you are forced to play the “Zia rule” . They open 3♠ , partner doubles so around to you. ♠Jxx ♥xx ♦AJx ♣Axxxx .
When partner makes a T/O double always consider the 30 HCP deck situation. With all the missing spade suits
, you have no duplication of value to disappoint partner so your HCP’s
are golden for offense.
You could be cold for a grand slam if partner is void in spades. Anyway, Zia
recommends bidding the table with
these hands. He would bid 3NT as no action was taken by RHO ! Partner might have a spade filler. Even if 3NT is not the correct contract , at least you keep the bidding open for partner.
3NT or 5♦ is cold on this hand & a defensive slip allowed
them to make –530 when you convert for penalty trying for a matchpoint
plus with no duplication of value in their suit.
A tormentee held this hand against us. ♠AKQJxxxx ♥x ♦Ax ♣Kx , with equal
vulnerability my partner opened 1♥ & I bid a
forcing 1NT. Doubling 1NT is a penalty
orientated bid showing a huge hand. If 1NTX was left in , you know what to lead J . Anyway the tormentee decided to conceal
her hand from her partner & pre-empt to 4♠. Since she did not double , an
inference can be taken that all she has is spades with no outside cards. Partner bid 4NT , I bid 5♥ so now the Tormentee was trapped
by her first bid. 5♥X is the place to
play the contract as partner has J109x
of trump , Q1098
of clubs & Q10 of diamonds.
The Tormentee single handedly bid 5♠ making up for the
fact that she should have doubled going in & this contract goes 1 down. Note how partner was removed
from this auction by not doubling initially. If you double 1NT first & leap
to 4♠ , you describe your
hand to partner thereby bringing
her into the decision making process. Partner now doubles 5♥ so you get a decent plus.
They
open a weak 2♦ both vul & partner
makes a T/O double. You hold ♠AJxx
♥Jx ♦9876x ♣Kx do you convert for
penalty ? Why or why not ? This is the 30 HCP rule
with splinter theory in a different form . Partner’s
T/O dbl normally announces shortness in their suit. This means they have the 10
HCP’s in diamonds locked up as you have no wasted ♦ HCP’s. The reason
you do not convert ( even though 2♦ should not make ) is
that you take partner out of the decision making process when you know the 10
HCP’s you hold fits her hand. Partner has
♠KQ10x ♥AKxx ♦void ♣AQJxx or similar hands & 7♠ is cold vulnerable
& I can give hands where 2♦X makes the other direction ! Converting doubles means duplication
of value so that your side can not make anything due to a bad
fitting or misfit situation. You do not use penalty
conversion just to eke out a plus. Advantage their side if you do,
Hand
evaluation skills , via evaluating your opening
bid is the key for converting doubles
for penalty. Quick tricks & trump holding are the basics as distribution renders soft values useless for
defense. A Tormentee opened a non opener
as a tactical bid nv vrs vul ♠QJ9 ♥A10xx ♦Kx ♣Qxxx & the vul opponents bid 2♥ which was doubled so
around to the Tormentee for the decision. The rule
for converting for penalties with partials doubled into game is “do we have a two
trick set or more?”. Quick
tricks are a hand evaluation indicator in order to make these decisions. You
have 1 ½ quick
tricks with possibly 2 trump tricks. If a doubleton heart appears on the board , your 10 will be finessed so you may have only 1 trump trick. Your trump suit is not duplication of value for partner so
converting on that basis is not a good idea.
Anyway give you 2 ½ tricks for your hand means partner must come up with 4 ½ defensive tricks for your
conversion to succeed ! He could have as little as 8
HCP & soft values which means converting is risking a disaster
your way. The Tormentee converted for penalty , found
partner with 3 defensive tricks & only a stiff heart on the board so the
heart was not finessible so beat the contract one
trick ! The field overbid to 3NT her way so she won IMPS !! WOW !