Friday, April 25, 2003 6:36 AM

Hand Evaluation - 2/1 ( Competition )

PITBULLS:

2/1 in competition is a game force unless your suit is rebid . It is not the Standard American one round force showing 10 + points . Totaling HCP’s is not the only way to bid as there are other hand evaluations concepts to consider like suit quality , distribution , quality & location of your HCP’s. You also lose far too many subtle forcing auctions playing that way . In addition , you need to jump around or Q bid too much to force . In competitive auctions, it is advantageous to get into the auction with your suit early even when you do not have 10 + points . AKJxxx , AKQJ10x of any suit is a 2/1 in competition . Just remember to rebid it instead of supporting partner so that she gets the message that you have nothing else . What if you do have a game force with a nice suit ? Well obviously you must make another noise as you cannot rebid your suit as the auction will come to a grinding halt . Do not make negative doubles with good one suiters – just bid it initially & back pedal ! Playing weak jump shifts in competition rather than the over used splinter help clarify your 2/1 bids. As a passed hand , a jump in competition is also a fit showing jump rather than a splinter.

The opening bidder only has to adjust her normal 2/1 thinking slightly with this treatment. A raise of the 2/1 suit by opener is non forcing when a minor & forcing when a major !! Opener must Q bid to show support & turn on the game force with minors !

	1♠
1♦		2♥
3♥		?
	P

With a major raise you are committed to game so a simple raise by opener is forcing . With serious 3NT understandings , a lack of a Q bid will tell partner that your 2/1 was just based on a suit. However , when the 2/1 was a minor i.e. clubs , 3♣ is not forcing so could end the auction. . A 2NT rebid by opener is not forcing so when the 2/1 bidder rebids her suit over 2NT, it is not forcing.

	1♠
1♦		2♣
3♣		?
	P

What about the notion of the 2/1 bidder “owing you bids” . The only bid she has to make when the opener is soft pedaling with 19 HCP & no fit for partner is a rebid of her suit to say that she has nothing but her suit . She is not obliged to bid again after that unless you Q bid . A secondary Q bid just turns on the game force , it does not show support for the 2/1 suit . The direct Q bid shows the support.

2/1 forcing to game has many nice understandings . Do not throw them away playing just totaling scattered 10 + in competition . Negative doubles work well with 10 HCP hands without a suit or a NT bid works well so you do not have to regress to Charles Goren & wonder what is forcing and what is not ? Does she owe me another bid ? Does she have a scattered 10 HCP or a nice suit or a nice 14 + HCP and wants to maybe investigate slam ?. When you do have a decent suit just bid it but use your escape hatch of rebidding it . This is similar to negative free bid theory but good suits only. Otherwise 2/1 is a game force in competition. Totaling HCP’s are only important in NT contracts so having a 2/1 showing 10 HCP’s as the only criteria for the bid seems ridiculous to me. 2/1 in competition is either a good suit or a game force not the silly 10 HCP treatment. Try it , you will like it J

Susan & I had a bidding misunderstanding because she plays 2/1 in competition as 10+ HCP. Susan opened 1♦ & Dora overcalled 1♠ . I held ♠xx ♥Axxxx ♦AQx ♣10xx so true to my methods I doubled. A double equates to scattered HCP totals rather than a suit , the way I play Bridge. Bidding directly & rebidding shows a good suit. Susan rebid 1NT so I jumped to 3♥ invitational to show 10 HCP with a bad 5 card heart suit. Susan took me for a good heart suit with a bad hand i.e. a one suited negative double which I do not play. Susan passed 3♥ & I went for –200 instead of making +630 in NT.

Having these understandings has an effect on forcing pass theory. You do not base forcing pass theory depending on exceptions. Not getting to game by rebidding your suit in competition is rare so an exception to the rule. A 2/1 in competition turns on forcing passes When we double them in game & they make it due to one of our exceptions , we say “lose 4” so go onto the next hand. Forcing passes , in these auctions , are just too good a tool not to have it for most of the hands.

I held ♠xxx ♥xx ♦AKx ♣A109xx & opened 1♣ vul . The opponents overcalled 1♠ , Tom bid 2♦ . RHO bid 2♥ so I bid 3♦. They bid 4♥ so by virtue of a 2/1 with them reaching game ,forcing passes are on. Tom held ♠Axx ♥x ♦Qxxxxx ♣KQx , although he has only 11 HCP , he makes a forcing pass. I feel his forcing pass must be based on shortness in their suit with points in the minors , so I take the push to 5♦. With friendly breaks ( 3-2 in club and 3-1 in diamonds ) we make 6♦ for +620. 4♥X goes one down and with a 4-1 club break they make –790. What if Tom took the single handed push to 5♦ & hit me with ♠Kx ♥KQx ♦J10x ♣AJ109x . Instead of picking up 500 or 800, we lose 200. Forcing passes work great because you get both partners involved in the decision making. Good , solid 2/1 understandings do not hurt either.