Monday, August 05, 2002 8:46 AM
Replacing 4NT Blackwood
PITBULLS:
Another way
good opponents can mess up your auctions is upping the frequency of 4♠/♥ overcalls or
opening bids . You must have good partnership understandings in place to handle
these or many IMPS will be thrown away . As these bids come at us in two
ways , openers and overcalls , lets discuss overcalls first .
Most
partnerships only play negative doubles to the 4♦ level .
This is because they want to be able to double 4♠ and 4♥ for penalty . However what does this penalty double really mean ?
You have to distinguish between a penalty double with KQxx of trump behind the
4♠ bidder and say 13 HCP and a stiff spade . With the 2ND type of double you
are invariably cold for 6 of something as their 10 HCP points in spades mean
nothing defensively . Therefore you lose big time as they may only go down 1 or
2 for a max of 300 . A penalty double with no fit in partners 1st suit quite often does not work out either as
you have a huge secondary fit .
In order to
handle these situations you have to give up something . I strongly
believe this something should be Blackwood . When you think about it
there is no law that says you must bid Blackwood before bidding a slam .
Blackwood is insurance against being in slam off two ACES or in the case of Ray
Grace , 4 Aces but slams can be bid by the "Gandolfo method" and just
leap to the slam . Experts know that many times the opponents can not afford to
let you play the slam as they take out insurance by sacrificing in 6♠
anyway . They find out later that you were off two cashable aces but say so
what ..
O.K. 4NT
is never Blackwood when the opponents overcall 4♥ or 4♠ . Then what is it ? Use it to describe hand that are
very difficult to describe because the opponents took up so much room with
their bid . The meaning of the 4NT will vary with the strain of partner's
opener so lets go thru the possibilities . Tom Gandolfo suggests that these
4NT bids be more distributional than a D.S.I.P. double which he will
make on a very strong defensive hand instead. A trump stack is shown
by the green card and hope partner re-opens. If partner has doubled in the
auction then of course 4NT is Lebensohl.
4♠
1
minor
4NT
The
hardest hand to show under lack of room pressure are
two suiters . So 4NT shows a two suiter in the unbid
suits .
x KQxxx xx AQJ10x
xxx Axxx AKxxx x
1430
in hearts most likely makes and 4♠ goes for 300
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4♠
1♦
X AKxx Axxxx
Kxx bid 6♦ directly
or 5♠
xxx xx KQJx AQJ10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If partner has
opened 1♥ and you got a 4♠ overcall then 4NT shows the
minors and a good offensive hand .
O.K. the 4♥ overcall can also be very annoying but you still have the 4♠ bid available .
4♥
1
Minor
4NT
O.K.
what does this mean ? 6-4's are also notoriously hard
to describe when room is taken
away .
So this
shows 4 in partners suit and 6 of the other minor
4♥
1♠
4NT
Minor
2 suiter
O.K.
what about the 4♠/♥ opening bids?
Modern theory is that doubling is for take out . Doubling of
4♠ for
penalty is considered archaic by the Bridge World panel of experts . Blackwood
in these sequences also has to be sacrificed . The best replacement for the
4NT bid is Lebensohl.
Dbl 5♣
4♠
pass
4NT 5♦ xxx x QJxxxxx xx
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
x
AKxx QJ10x AQJ10
Dbl 6♦
4♠
pass
5♦
xxx x AKxxx Kxxx
4NT
4♠
What
about the 4NT overcall ? Blackwood does not exist so make
this a hand that is hard to describe
anyway . This bid shows
any
2 suiter not
just the minors .
O.K. there are many more sequences where the opponents can
irritate you with a jump to 4 of a major . Takeout doubles and when your
side overcalls . to me , it is easiest on the memory to say that 4NT is never Blackwood when the opponents have bid 4 of a major
. This might be extreme in some partnerships but to me the math justifies it . Getting
to the correct game is rewarded with the same number of IMPS as getting to
a slam . So if you use Blackwood once and save 12 IMPS by staying out of a slam
off 2 aces you may have lost 12 IMPS
five previous times by getting to the wrong game or too high etc
..
1♠
1♥
4♥
4NT
6-5
in minors
DBL
1♠
4♠
4NT
Lebensohl
Anyway , comments or questions ?