Wednesday, May 11, 2005 11:50 AM
Hand Evaluation - Forcing Passes ( pre-empts )
PITBULLS:
Pre-empts which are defined as opening weak 2’s , 3’s or 4’s have a rule associated with
them . Once you have pre-empted , partner is captain
of the ship so you cannot bid again. Nonsense ! There is a time when
partner expects you to bid again & that is with forcing pass theory. When partner contracts for a vul game after you have pre-empted
, forcing passes are turned on.
Partner is not bidding a vul game as a sacrifice but
if he is , he must live with his decision. There are
times when partner bids a non vul game
, forcing passes are also turned on but that needs some bidding indicators by responder.
Just a reminder of one aspect of simple forcing pass theory. Forcing
pass theory is partially
based on the opponents bid suit. When
the pre-empter is short in the opponents suit , a forcing pass is in order. When the pre-empter has two or more he issues a warning double.
When he has a stiff or better , a green light forcing
pass. This is the only
exception to the pre-empter cannot bid
again law.
A hand was given in this month’s
bulletin. Partner opened 3♠ vul , RHO overcalls 4♣
nv . You hold ♠Axx
♥AKxx ♦KQxx ♣xx & bid 4♠ vul. This bid turns
on forcing passes on this vulnerability only . LHO
bids 5♣ , partner makes a forcing pass so around
to you for your decision. You decide to go for the +650 & bid 5♠ . Partners hand
is ♠KQJxxxx ♥xx
♦Jxx ♣x so the contract is cold. Change partners hand to ♠KQJ10xxx ♥xx ♦xx
♣xx so he issues a warning double so you take your plus. Pre-empters can & should help partner with these type of decisions.
You open a weak 2 in the major , partner leaps to game vul & they back in with 5 of a minor. The
weak two bid has an obligation to tell partner how many
cards in the opponents suit he has with a double
or pass. Partner did not commit to game vul
to hear himself talk. OK now the rare times forcing
passes are turned on NV. This is where partner has made a strength showing bid
like 2NT , a new suit , a Q bid or a redouble & prior
to committing your side to game . The opponents now stick their noses in at a
high level. Forcing passes apply , so you are again obligated to give your count in their suit in
accordance with forcing pass theory.
When you pre-empt at the game level vul and partner takes a vul push
at the 5 level against NV opponents , forcing passes
are turned on. Forcing pass theory was
designed in effect to counter act “playing the vulnerability” by nv opponents. 4♥-4♠-5♥-5♠ ? double when you have 2 or more spades bit pass with one. They may have
pushed you into a vul slam. Use the opponents as a
stepping stone when they over compete.
There are other times a pre-empt can bid
again. Disciplined pre-empts
are for 1st & 2nd seat only. In 3rd
seat or 4th anything goes. In these seats an “action double” is
permitted by the pre-empter. This means partner I was
really kidding when I pre-empted as I have some outside stuff .
Do Something Intelligent over there based on this information. I opened 4♥ with the
outside AK of diamonds , they crawled in 4♠. I want you to bid 5♥ or convert for penalty. Rules are
made to be broken.