overcalls practical bids

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Hand Evaluation – Overcalls ( Practical Bids )

PITBULLS:

Bridge bidding must have a purpose other than just to compete & show a HCP total . When you have a choice of bids , choose the one that makes partner's life easier. Make a bid that is the most constructive in reaching the objective of getting to game. Hash held ♠KQx ♥x ♦AQJxx ♣QJ9x both sides vul & a 1♠ opener to his right. You have a hand with 2 suits , semi-balanced , 15 HCP's with the opponent's suit doubly stopped. A 2 level overcall normally shows a one suited hand which you do not have. Bridge bidding quite often amounts to making the "best lie" when you hold hands that fall through the cracks in Bridge . I would overcall 1NT with this hand. You have a stiff heart , they gasp. Yes but the choices of passing or overcalling 2♦ are poor alternatives to me. A 2♦ overcall does not describe a 5 card suit with a 2nd suit holding 15 soft HCP's with a double stopper in the opponents suit. A 1NT overcall comes close to describing your entire hand at the one level & puts partner into the picture. A 2♦ overcall is more ambiguous & propels the auction to the 2 level.

Holding the same hand pattern & HCP total but switch the spade suit to the heart suit. ♠x ♥KQx ♦AQJxx ♣QJ9x you would never overcall 2♦ in a million years. You would make a T/O double because you have a 3 suited hand with 15 HCP’s & defense tricks . A 2 level overcall should describe a hand type , not just a HCP total. A 5-4-3-1 hand pattern is not a single suited hand pattern.

Anyway , Hash overcalled 2♦ as most would. The auction proceeding with passes until a re-opening double gets converted holding ♦K987x . 2♦X goes for -500 to -800 depending on declarer play. However, partner rescues to 2♥ which is promptly doubled. Normally it is best to pass the rescue attempt as partner may hold ♥QJ109xxx which will be useless to you in any contract but hearts. However , you have a very NT orientated hand so you describe it a little late in the auction in my opinion which of course is doubled by the opponents.

Now it becomes a play problem in managing your entries . Partner puts down an Ace more than expected ♠A10x ♥J109xxx ♦10x ♣xx . You get the ♠J as the opening lead , so how do you proceed ? You win the ♠A on the board & lead a ♣ with RHO rising with the ♣K. She returns a spade which you win in your hand. You lead a small ♦ towards your 10 & LHO ducks so you win on the board & lead another ♣. RHO wins the ♣A and clears the last spade. You now have 7 tricks , so you decide that one down is not so bad so you claim 2♣'s , 2♦'s & 3♠ for one down.

You have made the best of your bad situation with good declarer play. Now back up to a 1NT overcall. This is doubled & partner runs to 2♥ which is doubled & all pass. Luckily hearts are 3-3 so partner escapes with 1 down also. The worst spot due to the trump break is 2♦X. It is an easy contract to go for -500 & may go for -800 with poor declarer play. If &%$^%* partner would just leave me alone in 1NT , I would of been +180 :) .

An overcall requires more judgment & hand evaluation skills than an opening bid. You would open this hand 1♦ to get the auction off to its best start. However , a two level overcall with opponents lurking does not allow the time & space of an opening bid. A 2♦ overcall simply does not describe your hand type quickly enough to partner so it is "hit or miss" style of bidding. A 1NT overcall is the best of bad alternatives in my opinion. You have described your HCP's , stoppers & close to balanced shape all by the one level. A 2♦ overcall does not close to describing your actual hand type as you have a quasi semi balanced hand with 2 suits & a very NT orientated hand type. The difference between an overcall & opening bid is illustrated quite well by this auction. With an overcall , you have "bid" the opponents start to the auction also. Your best spot may be the ♣ suit which you have jammed out of the picture with a bid that normally describes a single suited hand. An overcall is not a bid that describes a HCP total or an opening bid for that matter . An overcall simply is not an opening bid but a different suit showing Bridge beast. Do not treat these two imposters the same.

Treating an overcall as if it were an opening bid is a very bad Bridge fault. How many times have you heard a player after making an overcall on 13 HCP’s & going for -800 lament to partner I had an opening bid of 13 HCP’s so I just had to bid. Just as bad , people have misguided notions thinking that an overcall must be an opening bid. They do not enter the auction often enough causing partner to guess on opening leads or not competing enough. Do not apply “opening bid thinking” to overcalls. An overcall is an apple & an opening bid an orange. Hand evaluation is the art of knowing the difference.