Sunday, October 17, 2004 9:42 PM
Hand Evaluation - Forcing Pass ( Looking For Cues )
PITBULLS:
Playing forcing pass theory , you must look
for the cues or triggers
that turn
on forcing passes . The hand evaluation concept of “ownership” of auctions enters the picture. Forcing passes
& their implications are a huge part
of Bridge for expert partnerships. It is a way of making joint decisions in high level 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.
Analyze the bidding during progress to determine ownership. 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♣ . It seems like our side is sacrificing based on the
vulnerability. What should the Flannery bidder do ? Partner bid a vul game so it’s your
hand. When you own the hand,
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 would like you to bid 5♥ “ A double says
the 5 level belongs to the opponents partner . A 5♥ bid with a systemic
auction is just not allowed 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 & partner . The auction went 1♣-P-1♥-2♦ by Maurice vul vrs not at the
two level, I cue bid 2♥. This Q bid combined with a two level overcall means that it
is our hand so forcing passes
apply ( Cue #2 ) . Peter Jones bid 4♣ (
pre-emptively ) , his partner bids 4♥ so 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 get 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 . The auction went 2♥ , 4♠ vul by me so around to the 2♥ bidder who now decided to bid 5♥ . I passed around to
Maurice. Forcing passes apply , 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 but are bidding again at the 5 level. 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 , the pass shows a willingness to bid 5♥ . With my
partners hand ,
we should be close to making 6♥. I would pass with ♠Qxx ♥KQxxxx ♦xx
♣xx saying I would like to bid 5♥. Partner 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
from my perspective.
Cue
#3 is where passes are forcing from one side
only . This is where one partner has indicated a huge hand by opening 2♣ or made a
takeout double followed by bidding game single
handedly vul
. A takeout double or even an overcall with a Q bid
can turn on “one way” forcing
passes. The big hands pass is forcing on the
little hand but not vice versa. The pass by the hand who never “attended the party “ is not forcing on the big
hand. The pass has the old fashioned meaning that “I am broke”. The double by
the little hand 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 , they bid 5♥.
Tom had ♠xx ♥xxx ♦xxxx ♣A9xx
so doubled to tellme that he can contribute something to this auction. The
double helped me so I took the vul push, was 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.
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 can not shirk your responsibility . Bridge is a
partnership game !
These hands came up recently but there was a common
thread among all of the above hands. Not once
was the forcing pass element
picked up at the table so wrong decisions
were made every time.
This means that the cues that turn on forcing passes via ownership are being missed. People who are used to
playing with weak partners have trouble with forcing pass theory. They miss out on
the joint decisions that forcing
pass theory brings to the partnership.
Ignoring forcing pass theory means that you
must make the decision for the partnership single handedly , so very bad results
usually follow. In important decisions , both hands should contribute to the final result. Strong auctions by your side
i.e. 2/1 , game forcing strong jump shifts , penalty
doubles , 2/1 in competition or as a passed hand and game reached all turn on forcing passes via ownership. Bridge is very much a partnership
game. Weak players never do catch on
to that self evident truth.