Friday, January 05, 2007 6:14 AM

Hand Evaluation – Forcing pass ( Setup Man )

PITBULLS:

D.S.I.P. competitive doubles were also designed to assist partnerships when the opponents pre-empt at the 3 level in the sandwich position. Opener must double with a good defensive hand (Thrump or cards ) & when she just bids ( 3 or 4 level ) , forcing passes are not turned on with 3 of the 4 vulnerabilities. My partner held ♠x ♥Axx ♦KQJxxxx ♣Kx , opened 1♦ both vul. I responded 1♥ , there was a 3♠ pre-empt in the sandwich position. The double is the only bid ( other than a Q bid ) that turns on forcing passes . My partner decided that our side did not “own the auction” & he bid 4♥ based on distribution. My RHO got into the act & bid 4♠.

I held ♠x ♥QJ1098x ♦10x ♣AQ9x so I prefer that we play this hand. I would like to bid at the 5 level so I double asking permission to do so. Partner accepts the offer to play the hand but he does so by bidding 5♦. This gets doubled so with favourable club spots gets rewarded for +750. The negative inference that partner did not double 3♠ is the key to the auction. D.S.I.P. competitive doubles are like a setup man in baseball , they turn on forcing passes ! This allows the freedom to bid on distribution without partner getting carried away. Bids have entirely different meanings when forcing pass theory is not turned on. My double now changes from penalty to asking permission to bid.

What would a 5♣ bid by me mean ? Since forcing passes are not turned on , this bid must show a very strong hand . This is a slam try knowing that partner previously just bid on distributional values. Possibly with a hand like ♠x ♥QJ109xx ♦Ax ♣AQJx where 6♦ would be cold. A 5♥ bid by me would mean I think we can make it or even bid because I feel 4♠ would make & 5♥ would be a good tactical bid. Switching back & forth from D.S.I.P. competitive double & forcing pass theory takes bidding skill & reading the clues correctly. D.S.I.P. competitive double theory is not for beginners.

When we are vul & they are not , a D.S.I.P. competitive double or otherwise strength showing double opposite an opening hand or equivalent (T/O dbl ) sets up forcing passes when they bid a nv game in our auction. Your hand ♠void ♥10xxx ♦AKxxx ♣AKxx

1♠-X-2♠-X

4♠-?

This pass is forcing by the “setup rule” as partner doubled to show values opposite a good hand. When a D.S.I.P. competitive double or competitive action has taken place a 2^ND double is penalty. The D.S.I.P. double earlier in the auction can setup forcing passes by the simple fact that this is our hand & we are using the double initially as announcing ownership.