Tuesday, February 20, 2007 10:35 PM
Hand Evaluation - Q Bids ( Game before Slam )
PITBULLS:
As every Bridge player knows , Q bids are ambiguous . Try these dictionary meanings for
a Q bid . Q bids show a strong hand (1) or a 1st
round control (2) or asks for a stopper in that suit ( 3) or asks partner to pick a suit ( two suiters
) ( 4) or a waiting bid ( 5) or showing
a stopper (6) or sometimes in pre-emptive auctions Q
bids can be KCB or Exclusion
Blackwood (7) . The most common use for a Q bid is showing a fit with limit raise or better values (8) . How do you sort out
this mess ?
Q bids must have a priority pecking order . The guiding principle for
Q bids is game before slam. This means that Q bids are to be interpreted in the context of games
first & slams later.
Sometimes in Bridge , ambiguity is allowed.
Bridge players know ambiguous bids confuse
auctions. With minor fits & if you are below 3NT ,
you can make bids whose true meaning gets clarified later in the auction. The goal with
minor fits is 3NT .
This is a Bridge basic. Inverted minors , especially when you play them as limit raise
or better , allows ambiguity. Was
the bid a suit , a stopper or a Q bid ? Only time will tell.
How do you interpret 2nd Q bids? . Partner
makes a T/O double of 1♠ & you have ♠xxx ♥KJ ♦10x
♣AKQxxx so you Q bid 2♠. 1ST
Q bids just say you just have a strong hand & creating a force. Partner
bids 3♦ so now what ? You bid a 2nd Q bid
so thinking game before slam , the Q bid should ask for a spade stopper
to bid 3NT. Partner has one so she bids 3NT and +600 rolls home.
OK same auction but change your hand
♠AKx ♥Jx
♦10x ♣AKQxxx . You still Q bid 2♠ but partner still bids 3♦. You still bid
3♠ , partner
thinking game before slam will
think it is asking for a stopper. She does not have one so she bids 4♥. You now bid
4NT which clarifies your 2nd Q bid as a huge hand with spade values. Can it be
Blackwood in support of hearts ? Of course not , as you would
have bid 3♥ after 3♦ as you set up a force with your initial Q bid. Partner’s hand is ♠x ♥A1098
♦AQJ98 ♣J10x so carries on
to 6NT which is a “positional make” as the diamond king is with the opening
bidder.
One of the side effects of “game before slam” is Q bidding partners or your
own major. You have established a minor fit & either side bids 4 of the
previously bid major. Games are
more important than slams so they have priority
in these auctions. This “Q bid” is in offer to play this contract in the major contract. Q bidding partners
or your own major suit is just not done at the 4 level in
expert circles. Most of the time the Q bid is worthless to the partnership
anyway as your void is not as asset to the partnership for slam purposes
anyway. A major suit Ace can be found thru KCB so why waste an opportunity for a choice of contracts ? You should be allowed to
play in a secondary major fit after
finding a minor fit.
Here is a “game before slam”
interpretation that occurred recently. My partner opened 2♣ with ♠AKxxx ♥AJ ♦AJx
♣KQx , I bid 2♦ . Partner chose to rebid 2♠ with his balanced NT hand because he was all controls. I bid 2NT which
in our system is forced after a 2♠ bid unless I wanted to
break the relay to show a slam try in spades or a very good other suit. Partner now made the descriptive bid of 3NT
which showed the 22-24 HCP range. I now made a bid of 4♦ so what is that
bid ? Thinking game before slams it is a diamond suit unless clarified later.
Partner now bid 4♥ as he liked his hand in support of diamonds. I now bid 4♠ clarifying the diamond bid as a Q
bid for a spade slam.
Now partner has a judgment to make to go on to 6♠.
Q bids need all the help that they
can get to interpret
them properly. Thinking game before slam helps out a lot.