Sunday, November 12, 2006 4:27 AM

Hand Evaluation – Dbls ( Stepping Stones )

PITBULLS:

Competitive bidding is just that – competing. You try to mess up their auctions or try to buy the hand when it is rightfully yours or even when it is not. If they do not double , you are sacrificing at the partial level. Competing is an insurance policy against wrong opening leads to give the opponents unmakeable games. Leads can never be underestimated in importance with the game of Bridge. Double partial swings are a lot of IMPS so is not a good result.

D.S.I.P. or competitive doubles assist you in competing. This is the default when you do not own the auction via forcing pass theory , i.e. you are just competing. D.S.I.P. doubles allow the partnership to exchange more information by virtue of the opponents being in the auction. In other words , you are using the opponents as stepping stones. The double says you have extra for your previous bidding measured in defensive tricks so you are asking permission to bid again. This bid allows both partners to make competitive decisions. If the opponents were not in the auction , you might not have these options.

Forcing pass theory , D.S.I.P. theory with just plain hand evaluation were designed to use the opponents as “stepping stones” to get to your optimum spot. When the opponents intrude into your auction do not ignore them – use them. My partner had a hand recently where the stepping stone theory came into effect. He opened 1♠ with ♠Kxxxxx ♥AJx ♦x ♣A10x , Peter Jones overcalled 2♦ so I bid 2♥ with Lorna bidding 3♦. We have an understanding that bidding 3♥ is just competitive as we can double to announce a good hand. He did not want to do that as one of my options is that I can convert & he has too many hearts. However, they are bidding your stiff diamond , so the 30 HCP in the deck rule comes into effect. Using the opponents as a stepping stone , bid 4♥. You would never have bid 4♥ without them , as you do not know how to evaluate your stiff diamond. In this auction , you certainly do as they in effect splintered for you..

Use the fact that partner did or did not make a D.S.I.P. competitive double , shortness in their suits & the location of the cards relative to their bidding. If their bidding indicates that the cards are going to be onside , over bid ! Do you have a two suited fit with partner ? Do you have no values in both of their suits ? Use this information to make your competitive decision. Pay attention to partners pass card also. That speaks volumes.

You open 1NT & the bidding goes P-P-X . maybe its time to use the opponents as stepping stones again. You do not want to violate captaincy but passing some information to partner while keeping all your penalty options open seems to make sense. I like a XX to show a club suit to help partner escape or compete. Others say a XX should show a 4-4-3-2 distribution for scrambling. A XX to show a maximum does not make any sense to me as it violates captaincy & may put partner under the gun.

Having a void in the opponents suit is a standard way of using the opponents as a stepping stone. You have a hand that you would never bid game in a million years but the opponents are bidding your void at the 3 level . Maurice opened 1♠ , Osama doubled & I bid 2NT limit raise or better. Vince bid 3♣ hitting Maurice’s void. Goren said a void is worth 4 HCP’s but when it is in the opponent’s suit , the 30 HCP in the deck rule can be invoked. Maurice bids 4♠ & makes six & I table ♠xxxx ♥Kxx ♦Axx ♣Qxx !!