Saturday, July 27, 2002
3:02 AM
Modern Pre-empting
PITBULLS:
Finely tuned
partnership understandings are the only defense against
opponents whose mission is to destroy
by swinging tactics . Suicidal pre-empts are a popular tactic for certain types
of players who have a strong club game
background. Certain misguided players will argue until they are blue in the
face that it is correct in IMPs to
pre-empt 1st seat vul vrs not with x Kxx KJxxxxx xxx . Maurice
described this pre-empting style to me this way. If you are in 1st
seat there are 3 possible players
you can get LHO , RHO and partner so its 2 to 1 in favour of a making this kind
of pre-empt. In 2nd seat he said its more risky as there has been one
passed hand so its 50-50 ( partner
or RHO that you “get” ) . Maurice freely admits that partner is fair game in
this “style” . I hate this style
with a passion as I feel partner should be preserved at all costs in the
game of Bridge. However , I do acknowledge many
players have the same
“style” as Maurice do exist.
What
to do about it ? Here is my
suggestion.
Suicidal
Pre-empts at the 3 level vul vrs not or 2 level any vul
The purpose
of these bids are to be entirely destructive for players like Osama , Maurice
& Cabay. The entire Gartaganis team & Peter Jones have bought into this
“religion” also. They may have a good suit or a bad suit or outside stuff
or not outside stuff, a 6
or 7 or 8 card suit . They
are not interested in getting to their own
correct spots and it would be hit and miss for them if they did.
They do not respect vulnerability
and have a “catch me if you can mentality” . They make these bids in 1st
or 2Nd seat so partner
is not a consideration.
There are tons of
defenses invented for bad pre-empts
. Fishbien , Smith & Weiss are the most popular . With
Fishbien the cheapest overcall is for takeout and double is for penalty . With Smith the cheapest club bid is for takeout and double is for penalty and Weiss is cheapest
minor for take-out and double for penalty/NT hands . These
apply in the direct seat only and
not in the balancing .
My opinion , if the
opponents have light pre-empts marked on
their card or have a "reputation"
, play one of the 3 gadgets above . I like the cheapest minor for take-out ( Weiss) as that keeps the natural 3♥ and 3♠ overcalls in effect . I
like Weiss for weak two’s an any
vulnerability and at the 3 level only if they are vul and you are
not. You only lose on some minor overcalls which does not seem to be
a big loss to me . Dbl for penalty with defensive hands and 3NT
overcalls with long minors ( to play) come with the territory .
Playing one of the
gadgets makes balancing easier as
partner does not have a stack in
the pre-empters suits with outside values also . Partner does not have bend
over backwards and double with 9 points in the balancing seat . She is
bidding her own hand and not
protecting anybody. There are some positives in playing one of these gadgets so
I recommend you adopt one of them to play against known "bad pre-empters" .
These tools are designed
for suicidal weak two’s. Cheapest minor
means at the two level , clubs will always be for take-out except after the
Polish/Precision 2♣ where diamonds are for T/O. These players really abuse
these 2♣ openers from my experience. After 3 level vul pre-empts by them , cheapest minor for takeout means clubs
in all cases except after a 3♣ pre-empt where diamonds take over.
Given the pre-empting
style of many players of the Maurice ilk , I would like to adopt cheapest minor for takeout. Against
sound pre-empters , it does not hurt to have this T/O understanding anyway. The
odds of partner converting for penalty is minimal, therefore you just lose the 3♣ overcall after a weak two. We
play Roman jump overcalls over weak twos and Q bids for NT game tries so we can
always manufacture something with clubs . A gambling 2NT or 3NT ?
Playing cheaper minor
for takeout means that this T/O bid has an upper limit. If you are very strong
, Q bid instead. They open 2♥ and you have AKxx x Axxx Kxxx you bid 3♣ for takeout. You hold AKxx x AKxx AKJx bid 3♥ instead. Partner is allowed to pass 3♣ or 4♣ for
T/O if she holds clubs . If you can not stand this , do not make the bid !!
The Weiss double is not just a trump stack in their suit. It is
a NT overcall in values ( 14+ ) and not a command to pass. If you just have a
trump stack in their suit and nothing else
, the green card is still the accepted action. Playing this style , a 2NT or 3NT overcall is always based on playability. Playing against Polish 2♣ and similar bids , play Weiss
also . A double is a NT overcall / penalty orientated and 2♦ is T/O. If
you pull the double it is not forward going
. This is a very rare auction as a pass will always be the common action.
Playing Weiss solves the
age old problem of handling strong NT hands
or better after pre-empts. A double describes
this hand type immediately and
quantitative bidding can take place with the vulnerability being wrong. 2♣-X-P-4NT
means we are vul against nv and a quantitative
try for 6NT. Think NT hands when partner doubles so 4NT is not for the minors
or something silly. Against weak 2’s you have a choice to describe your flat hand - double or 2NT. Obviously the strength in their suit will
govern your decision but you do have an option to describe the same hand type.
Anyway , against
pre-empts put the Weiss convention on your card. Double for penalty helps level
the playing field for weak twos. With pre-empts
at the 3 level , Weiss is a bit clumsy. At the 3 level , play Weiss only on one vulnerability . They are vul and you are not.
On all other vulnerabilities at the 3 level , we revert to
standard T/O understandings.