Tuesday, February 11, 2003 9:39 AM

Michaels Q Bids

PITBULLS:

Michaels Q bids are a nice descriptive bid . They are an annoyance to the opponents and allow you to compete fast . They should be either weak ( pre-emptive ) or very strong . Intermediate Michaels hands should be handled by just overcalling or doubling if many controls. This helps partner judge in competitive auctions as she will bid on the assumption that you are pre-emptive . 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 and 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 and 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 so 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 and 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 over board with Michaels though , the Goren Q bid still has merit in certain auctions and are far more useful then Michaels Q bids in these auctions.

The double in general shows defense rather than shape. Recently BJ Trelford held a defensive 22 HCP in the balancing spot. The opponents opened a weak 2 and around to BJ in the balancing . Should he Q bid immediately to show his demand two ? No , if partner coverts 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. BJ 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 2 . There is a negative inference in what he did not do directly in the balancing spot.