Sunday, December 04, 2005 6:09 AM

Hand Evaluation - Forcing Pass ( Inverted doubles )

PITBULLS:

No not forget that playing D.S.I.P. competitive double theory necessitates that you switch between two different modes of Bridge thinking. When you “own the auction” , forcing pass theory applies & D.S.I.P. theory does not exist. Redoubles by responder or opener imply that you “own the hand” . Penalty doubles turn on forcing passes at any level. When you double 1NT or systemic bids like unusual NT , Michaels or other systemic toys you “turn on “ forcing pass theory , so trump stack penalty doubles come into play.

My partner had quite a hand that drives this point home . ♠AJ109xxx ♥J ♦KJ10x ♣x , I opened 1♥ & LHO doubled. He redoubled ! My RHO bids 2♦ , I doubled so all pass. When the smoke cleared , +1100 against NV opponents for our side. Hard as it was for partner to believe , my double was penalty ! I held ♠x ♥AK10xx ♦Q98 ♣KJ10x , so I thought that defending was a good idea.

Maksymetz/Jacobs introduce a twist to forcing pass theory when partner doubles a conventional bid like unusual NT or Michaels. They call this concept the “double pass” or inverted double. Even though penalty doubles should apply in these auctions , they revert to negative double theory or D.S.I.P. theory . They play the first double by opener as just showing a good hand suitable for defensive action. A bid of course would be an offensive hand that you planned to pull the penalty double anyway. A pass could be a trump stack penalty double in their system or just a minimum. The initial doubler must re-open with a double in all cases.

The advantages to their idea is that a penalty double is only going to occur when the openers hand is suitable defensively. When the original doubler has their suit , of course the double gets converted which I suspect if the most frequent action. When the opener has their suit , of course the double gets converted the other way.

The drawback ? to this system is the “single handed” trump stack double is impossible by the original re-doubler. When opener passes just with a minimum , the penalty double must be pulled as the doubler might not even have that suit. This is insurance against them making a doubled contract with light major suit openers. As usual, with these type of understandings you must give away something to get something. They must feel this a safer way to play penalty doubles in these type of auctions.

♠AKxxx ♥Kx ♦xx ♣KJ109 1♠-2NT-X-3♣

P-P-X-P

P-P-P Partner’s hand is ♠xx ♥Axxxx ♦AKJx ♣xx

♠AKxxx ♥Kxx ♦Axx ♣xx 1♠-2NT-X-3♣

X-P-P-P Partner’s hand is ♠xx ♥Axxx ♦xxx ♣AKJx

There style is similar to how we play penalty doubles of 1NT with them escaping. The 1^st double just shows cards so the pass is the penalty double. The penalty double responder must re-open with a double so the contract gets converted for penalty. This in effect is introducing D.S.I.P. concepts in a forcing pass auction.