Tuesday, February 11, 2003 9:39 AM
Hand
Evaluation – Overcalls
( Michaels Q Bids )
PITBULLS:
Michaels Q bids are a nice descriptive bid to assist your overcalls. They are an annoyance to the opponents &
allow you to compete fast . They should be either weak ( pre-emptive
) or very strong . We define very strong as not needing much help
from partner to make game. When you need help from partner ,
the hand drops to intermediate status. Intermediate Michaels
hands should be handled by just overcalling or doubling when you hold quick tricks. This helps partner judge in competitive auctions as
she will bid on the assumption that
you are pre-emptive when you
start with a Michaels bid.
This avoids the ambiguity of having to sort out weak ,
intermediate or strong hands when the auction takes off courtesy of the
opponents. You , of course , Q bid again or double the opponents if you have the
rock. Toys are essentially overcalls so the range
you choose affects your entire T/O double
& overcall structure. Keeping intermediate hands out of the
“toy” structure creates problems of its own though.
Reading an article by Kantar , I was surprised to find out that he plays toys weak or intermediate & saves
the double for the really strong
two suited hands. This way , Kantar reasons is just based on frequency . When you double with a two suiter ,
you must have nearly a demand two which of course means this is a very rare bid. Playing toys weak or strong means the
intermediate hands come up more often so must be described by overcalls or
doubles with these two suited hands . Kantar obviously
negates the use of the overcall or T/O double
for the intermediate range two suited hands as he keeps that range within the
toy. Kantar may have something there with his style. The down side is that
partner cannot initially assume the toy is a pre-empt as intermediate hands are quite frequent which
adds a great deal of ambiguity to these auctions. Playing an equal level
conversion style ( no one suited T/O Dbls
) allows you to double with two suiters in the
intermediate range ( good defense ) as long as you are willing to jump to invite. When you are squeamish about equal level or jump conversion
with two suiters, you should play Kantars range . Doubles with two suiters are very rare playing
Kantars style. Kantars style allows your T/O doubles to be generally 3 suited
hands which cannot be bad also. Comments ?
♠AKxxx ♥AKxxx ♦xx ♣x with RHO opening 1♦ . Kantar Michaels with this hand ( intermediate
) , followed by inviting to the 3 level & some playing the mini-maxi range will overcall or double. I double with this
hand & convert the 2♣ bid by partner by jumping to 3♥ to show the distribution. My jump conversions in a major are always 5-5 or better by definition. I play an
equal level conversion style so when I hold ♠AKxx ♥AKxxx ♦xxx ♣x I double &
equal level convert to 2♥’s. The jump conversion shows the
extra distribution & length in the major suits.
Myself & Kantar both end up
at the 3 level with our invites but done
differently. Overcalling with 4 quick tricks & two suits leaves partner out of the picture & may rescue the opponents.
With opponents jamming , you may never get your 2nd
suit into the fray. By doubling a minor , partner
knows I have at least both majors but
may be missing the other minor. Add an ace to this hand, Kantar will double
initially & jump or Q bid later. Add a queen ♠AKQxx ♥AKxxx ♦xx ♣x , I will double & bid hearts at a higher
level ( game ) not an equal or one level higher. Playing the equal level
conversion style , this auction shows a hand right
under a strong two type Michaels. Since I virtually never
double with a one suited hand , this
auction must show two suits.
Kantar , I assume will still Michaels with this hand
& invite or take a shot at game. Equal level
conversion was invented to show weak off shape
T/O doubles not nice two suiters. ♠AQxx ♥AKxx ♦xxxx ♣x I would double 1♦ & equal level convert 2♣ to 2♥’s. Jumping shows distribution &
invites.
Ilya Kuzkin introduced me to “Polish Michaels” which includes all two suiters with spades
as the anchor suit. This understanding includes more
two suiters in the “toy” category which cannot be bad. Doubling or overcalling with two suits should be avoided if you can help it. Overcalling
with two suits at higher levels is fine as long as your hand is very offensive
to the point of almost being pre-emptive. Overcalling with strong two suiters with quick tricks is
ambiguous bad bidding , in my opinion. Keeping
overcalls as generally one suited hands
when you have such a variable range reduces ambiguity.
Over
using the Michaels Q bid convention is bad Bridge
. Over weak 2’s & 3’s Michaels hands should be handled by straight
overcalling or doubling with defense . Equal level or jump
conversion will sort things out.
It is much better to have a different meaning for a Q bid in pre-emptive auctions . My partners & I play
the Q bid of a weak 2 as a Western Q bid . This gets
us to some good 3NT’s from the correct side with otherwise unbidable
hands. If we do have a 2 suiter over a weak 2 with the other major , we jump in our minor . For example , if we have hearts & diamonds , we bid 4♦ over a 2♠ weak two .
Over the opponents 3 bids, it is silly to waste the Q bid as Michaels
. You are essentially pre-empting
against a pre-empt by doing that . Just
overcall with a distributional two suiter . A Q bid should be a strong
distributional hand most likely a 2 suiter
but not necessarily . This clarifies things
immediately for partner in tough pre-emptive auctions. She knows that you do not have a silly weak
Michaels hand. She can take appropriate
action in competition including doubling the opponents based on the strength of
your hand.
Balancing
is another area where I feel Michaels bids should be avoided .
The Michaels Q bid is a waste as it can be put to better use by clarifying balancing doubles .
Quite often a balancing double is converted for penalties by partner
. If you have a strong distributional hand that you want to prevent that happening , you Q bid instead . This bid will cover the
strong Michaels hands anyway . Weak Michaels
hands in the balancing can just be handled by bidding one of your suits &
later competing in the other suit.
Before Michaels Q bids were invented , Charles Goren had Q bids in
competition defined as rocks . This was too restrictive
, so Michaels Q’s were invented to describe weak or strong 2 suiters. Do not go overboard with Michaels though , the Goren Q bid
still has merit in certain auctions so are far more useful then
Michaels Q bids in these auctions. Goren Q bids are assumed over 3 level
pre-empts & leaping Michaels over two level openers.
The double in general shows defense rather than shape. Recently my
partner held a defensive 22 HCP in the balancing spot. The opponents opened a
weak 2 and around to my partner in the balancing .
Should he Q bid immediately to show his demand two ? No , if partner converts
his double for penalty he is more
than happy. A Q bid in the balancing seat should show a demand two
with distribution or a request to
bid 3NT with a stopper. Partner doubled the weak 2♥ & then
pulled my Lebensohl 2NT to 3♥ so what does
that mean ? Since he chose to double first
, the bid shows a defensive demand
two . There is a negative inference in what he did not do directly in the balancing spot.
Do not forget the either or aspect of these toys is a
pre-emptive hand to a hand with game nearly in your hand. If you still need
from partner , choose a double with quick tricks &
an overcall with softer values & less defense. A Tormentee held this hand ♠xxxx ♥AQ10 ♦xx ♣Kxxx with everybody vul.
1♠-2♠-P-3♥
P-4♥-P-? . You bid 3♥ on the basis
that 2♠ was the lower end bid.
Partner contracted for game single handedly
knowing that you could have
nothing. You have 9 HCP more than you announced with 3 heart honours & an outside king. Of course
, you should have slam unless partner is bidding your
hand for you & is assuming 9 HCP’s for her 4♥ bid. So you bid
4NT & partner bids 6♥ showing 3 Aces with a useful void. You bid 7♥ & partner
tables ♠void ♥KJxxx ♦AKQJxx ♣Ax so you claim your grand slam. Delicate
auctions demand trusting
partner for their bids. If they do not have their bids ,
you tend to master mind & pass 4♥ with these
hands. Slams & grand slams are routinely missed.
There is another way of showing the
strong Michael’s bid when the opponents jam you & you do not want to double.
♠void ♥KQ1098 ♦AKQ10xx ♣Ax . They open 1♠ so you bid 2♠ showing the “rock” Michaels.
Partner bids 3♥ & the opponents bid 4♠. You want to show the big Michaels
but you do not want 4♠X to be converted. You bid 5♦ & since
hearts are agreed , that must show the distributional strong Michaels. Now
it is easy for partner to bid 6♦ for +1390.