Tuesday, February 11, 2003 9:39 AM

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Michaels Q Bids )

PITBULLS:

Michaels Q bids are a nice descriptive bid . 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. If you need help from partner , the hand drops to intermediate status. Intermediate Michaels hands should be handled by just overcalling or doubling if you hold quick tricks. This helps partner judge in competitive auctions as she will bid on the assumption that you are pre-emptive if you start with a Michaels bid. . You , of course , Q bid again or double the opponents if you have the rock.

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 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 action 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 in the balancing chair as it can be put to better use by clarifying balancing doubles . Quite often a balancing double is converted for penalties by partner . When you have a strong distributional hand which you want to prevent that happening , you Q bid instead . This Q 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. Very hard for partner to go wrong in these balancing auctions as converting a Q bid for penalty is difficult J

The balancing 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 so 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 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 probably shows a defensive demand two . There is a negative inference in what he did not do directly in the balancing spot. A leap to 4♥ directly is a strong hand.

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.

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Do not forget the either or aspect of these toys . Their range is either a pre-emptive hand to a hand with game nearly in your own hand. When you still need help from partner , choose a double with quick tricks & an overcall with softer values. 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. When 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.