Sunday, October 17, 2004
9:42 PM
Hand Evaluation – Forcing Passes ( Cues )
PITBULLS:
Playing forcing pass theory you must look
for the cues that turn on forcing passes .
These cues trigger
or turn on forcing pass theory.
Forcing passes with their implications are a huge part of Bridge for expert partnerships. It is a way of
making joint decisions
in high level competitive auctions instead of one partner just taking a guess. Honing in on the nuances of auctions that switch on
forcing passes for your side is a must.
Cue #1 is vulnerability with a vul game bid by your side. An opponent vul opened a Flannery 2♦ with ♠xxxx ♥AKxxx ♦AKx x
, my nv partner overcalled 3♣. They leaped to 4♥ so I bid 5♣ . What should the Flannery bidder do ? Partner bid a vul game so it’s your
hand. If you own the auction , forcing pass
theory applies .
The opponents bidding your stiff makes your hand better so you want to
encourage partner to bid 5♥ . A pass is forcing & conveys the message “ partner I prefer you to bid 5♥ “ A double says
the 5 level belongs to the opponents partner . A 5♥ bid within a
systemic auction is just not allowed ( violates
captaincy ) as partner knows your hand already. With this hand partner declines
the invitation with her minimum so 5♣X goes for 500.
Maurice had ♠Qxxx ♥Qx ♦AKJ10xx
♣x against Peter Jones and partner . The auction went 1♣-P-1♥-2♦ by Maurice vul vrs not , I Q
bid 2♥. This Q bid ( strength showing )
means that it is our hand so forcing
passes apply even after overcalls ( Cue #2 ) . Peter Jones bid 4♣, his partner bids
4♥ & I contract for a vul 5♦ game . Peter Jones
bids 5♥ so what should Maurice do ? He should double
at the speed of light saying he has a dog so let’s just take our plus. We got
our +500 so on to the next hand. A forcing pass by Maurice shows an invite to 6♦ with a heart
control.
Another Maurice auction
. He held ♠AQxx ♥A ♦J109x
♣KJ10x , RHO opened 1♥ so he doubled vul vrs
not . The auction went 2♥ , 4♠ vul by me around to the 2♥ bidder who now decided to bid 5♥ . I passed
& around to Maurice. Forcing passes apply after the T/O double with partner
bidding a vul game against not so what should Maurice do ? I said I
wanted to bid 5♠ with my pass . Maurice accordingly bids 5♠ & they need to find a ruff to beat 6♠ as I held ♠Kxxxx ♥xxx
♦KQxxx ♣void . 5♥ doubled only
goes for +300.
Do not forget forcing pass theory in these kind of auctions also.
4♦-P-P-X
P-4♥-P-P
5♦-X The opponents were willing to play in a partial & we bid a vul game so
it’s our hand with forcing pass theory
applying. I doubled saying I wanted no part of 5♥ . If I passed , it shows a willingness to bid 5♥ . With my
partner’s hand ,
we should be close to making 6♥. I would pass with ♠Qxx ♥KQxxxx ♦xx
♣xx saying I would like to bid 5♥. Partner actually held ♠AKxx ♥Axx ♦x
♣AKxxx , 1430 would be lay down . I doubled
with my hand ♠xxx ♥QJxxx ♦xxx
♣xx warning that 5♥ is not the
spot.
Cue #3 is where passes are forcing from one side only . This situation is where one
partner has indicated a huge hand
by opening 2♣ or making a takeout double & bidding game single
handedly vul or other strong action. A takeout double
or even an overcall
with a subsequent Q bid
also can turn on “one way” forcing
passes. The big hands pass is forcing on the
little hand but not vice versa ( captaincy ) .
The pass by the hand who never
“attended the party “ is not forcing on the big hand
due to captaincy. The pass has the old fashioned meaning that “I am broke”. The
double by the little hand directly
means I am not entirely broke.
The auction went
1 ♦-X-1♥-P
2♥-4♠-5♥-? I doubled & jumped to game vulnerable against not vul so they
bid 5♥. Tom had ♠xx ♥xxx ♦xxxx A9xx so he doubled to tell me that he can contribute
something to this auction. The double helped me so I took the vul push , got doubled & made
an overtrick. What if Tom held ♠xx ♥xxx ♦xxxx ♣xxxx ? He would pass 5♥ so I would act accordingly that he is probably broke over there. Why
the difference in forcing pass theory ? This is due to
the fact that partner has never been involved in the bidding.
What if our auction went a little differently ?. Same auction but instead of LHO bidding 5♥ , RHO bids 5♥ . Now the huge
hand makes a forcing pass to partner . The little hand must do something. With Toms first
hand ♠xx ♥xxx ♦xxxx ♣A9xx , the Ace would tip the scale in favour of a 5♠ bid . With the 2nd hand ♠xx ♥xxx
♦xxxx ♣xxxx he must double ! Partner doubled & contracted for
10 tricks vul & passed a 5 level decision around
to you. You cannot shirk
your responsibility
These hands came up
recently & there was a common thread
among all of the hands. Not once was the forcing pass element picked up at the table so wrong decisions were
made on all the above hands.
These examples mean that the cues that
turn on forcing passes are just being missed.
The players are not tuned into the “ownership”
hand evaluation concept. Bridge players should read
auctions like golfers read greens.
People who usually play with weak
partners have trouble
with forcing pass theory.
They miss out on the joint
decisions that forcing pass theory brings to the partnership
because they are used to making the decisions for the partnership. Ignoring
forcing pass theory , means that you must make the
decision for the partnership single handedly
, so very bad results usually follow. With
important decisions , both hands should contribute to the
final result. Strong auctions by
your side i.e. 2/1 , game forcing strong jump shifts ,
Q bids , penalty doubles , 2/1 in
competition or as a passed hand with game reached , all turn on forcing passes.