Friday, September 12, 2003 12:51 AM

Hand Evaluation - Misfits ( Overcalls & INT )

PITBULLS:

There is a very frequent auction that comes up with simple overcalls which should be discussed by established partnerships. The opponents open and partner overcalls & RHO bids 1NT with you in the sandwich position. 1♦-1♠-1NT-? . A simple raise is obviously just competitive . What are all the other bids ? A jump raise should be pre-emptive as is a game raise . The Q bid in my opinion , still should be the offensive limit raise or better . A new suit should be non forcing so just making a nuisance of yourself as you did not double .

The double should be thoroughly discussed . Partner did not make a weak jump overcall so the weak one suiter is taken out of the equation in these auctions. Partner can still have a pretty weak hand but with a second suit . Therefore you can double 1NT for penalty without a fit if you have an opening bid or better . However , how frequently will that hand come up ? Ilya Kuzkin suggests that the double should be competitive saying that I have two places to play the contract. An example hand for the double with the above auction would be ♠x ♥KQ10xx ♦xx ♣Kxxxx. In rare instances , the double may show 3 places to play the contract with support for the overcall. This double is preferable to a Q bid as 1NT doubled might be a nice spot to play the hand when partner does not want to take your option of playing it in the other suits. Partner is just happy with 1NTX , as she holds dummy’s first suit also. This penalty conversion should call for dummy’s first bid suit for a lead.

Quite often players say why double 1NT as they will not stay in 1NT X anyway ? There is a fallacy in that way of thinking as bidding 1NT in any auction involves some element of risk . Why rescue them from a misfit auction by bidding when you have a nice defensive hand ? Having the two unbid suits means you are behind the NT bidder in a misfit auction. They can run out of 1NT X right into your partners 2^ND suit so have absolutely no place to go . I think the double of 1NT is a very under used bid so using it as competitive with two places to play the hand is a good tool. When they are vul , make them pay for light 1NT bids or openers. 1NT implies a misfit so let the opponents play them doubled when cards sit badly for them . When you announce enough to compete in the other two suits, I would imagine the contract can be converted quite often when the overcaller holds the opponents 1^st bid suit also.

O.K. what about the re-opening double when 1NT gets around to the overcaller ? You have some inferences on what partner did not do so you have to be careful. If you have a good hand , a good suit with a stopper in their suit , double again for penalty. You bid again with a long suit and distribution otherwise you put the green card on the table and say “your lead partner” . Passing will be your most frequent bid of choice as partner has conveyed quite a bit of information by taking no action. Misfits should be played by the opponents .