2008-02-19 13:49

Hand Evaluation – Forcing Pass (The Opponents Bidding )

PITBULLS:

Using the opponents bidding to assist your own bidding is a dangerous practice in a weak field. As they do not know what they are doing , they are in effect practicing deception. You take their bids for face value so they mislead you very badly. Yes , this is normal stuff & there is no known cure. However, against decent to expert opponents you must believe them or you will be in trouble. You must know when they “own the auction” so you can avoid disasters.

Tom Gandolfo held ♠AJx ♥Q10x ♦AKxx ♣AJx vulnerable & LHO opened 1♣ & his RHO bid 3♣ alerted as a limit raise. The opponents have told you that partner has absolutely nothing. 40 HCP –13 –19 –8 = zero for partner. You pass , opener passes & they play 3♣ down one as declarer did not guess the club site correctly. When you take a bid , you are in the -800 range since partner held ♠xxxxx ♥xxx ♦xxxx ♦x which was exactly as expected on the auction.

My partner nv vrs nv held ♠Kx ♥Axxxx ♦Kxxx ♣Ax with RHO opening 1♣. He overcalled 1♥ & the opponents bid 2♥ showing limit raise or better which partner doubled for a lead. Their Q bid means there is a high probability that they own this auction with all the remaining HCP’s as in Tom’s auction above. The HCP’s should be 40 HCP –13 –14 –11 = 2 for the ♥Q for partner. You do not compete in an auction that the opponents have announced that they own. Now RHO bids 2♠ which tells our side that they own the auction & a game force is on their way. Do you ever bid 3♦ nv vrs nv ? You are not competing or pushing them up as they have announced they are going to game anyway. By bidding, you can be exposing yourself to a horrible set or just as bad , allow them to play the hand better in an auction where they are going to bid game. When you do bid 3♦ in their auction , partner is going to read you for a 6-5 or similar distribution as why are you sticking your neck out in their auction with equal vulnerability ? On this hand 3♦X goes for 500 on best defense & partner showed up with the ♦Q , a card she could not possibly hold on the auction. You LHO could easily hold ♦AQJ10 & partner’s double does not mean you have a safe resting spot in hearts at the 3 level. By bidding in the opponents auction, you are just giving them options or information in which they are not entitled. Partner also is mislead when the auction progresses.

Thinking Bridge from the top down, means there are 3 types of Bridge auctions. Those auctions that you own , so forcing pass theory is applicable. Those auctions which the opponents own , so old fashioned trump stack doubles are the order of the day. The last possibility is where nobody really owns the auction so you compete for the contract. In these types of auctions many experts prefer competitive doubles or as we call it , D.S.I.P. double theory. The above breakdown is an excellent way of thinking Bridge bidding.