Monday, March 06, 2006 3:02 AM
Hand Evaluation – Doubles (
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. When you do 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 ( conversion ) 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 ♣Axxxxx . 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 when 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.
When you double 1NT first & leap to 4♠ subsequently , 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 !