Tuesday, July 01, 2003 12:03 AM

Weak Jump Overcalls

PITPULLS:

Weak jump overcalls are designed to interfere with your bidding and force you into bad spots. These bids will work unless you have some partnerships understandings . They rob you of your space to make invitational bids especially . A rule should be to use Lebensohl and D.S.I.P. doubles to counteract the opponents taking away your invitational sequences. Take this hand for example .

A	K	A	A
x	10	K	10
	x	x	9
	x		X

You open a club and LHO bids 2♠ and around to you for a double . Partner bids 3♦ or 3♣ now what . You gamble and bid 3NT and partner has nothing for you and you are –300 . The next time you try this auction you hit partner with 8 HCP and a useful diamond suit and you make 630 . The best way out of this dilemma is to play

Lebensohl in this auctions . Partner did not bid 2NT going in , so 2NT now is an idle bid over your double. You are forced to relay to 3♣ and partner chooses the contract. Bidding 3♦ or 3♣ directly will show some values and 3NT should make . Still another auction where Lebensohl clarifies things !

What about the weak jump overcall in the sandwich position? Support doubles are only up to but not including 2♠ . I believe that all balanced NT hands in the 17-19 ranged should be described by a double . This gives partner the maximum options one of which is to pass . NT should not be bid with defensive flat hands as this gets them off the hook and eliminates an option for partner . 2NT or 3NT should be based on playability . Kx xxx AKQxxx Ax can be described by a NT bid ( 3♦ is lame ) . You do not need Lebensohl in these sandwich position doubles as partner has already responded so there is no danger of nothing showing up in dummy ( Osama excepted ).

What if you have a minimum and a trump stack in their suit ? KQJ10 xxx xx AKxx for example . It does not matter whether they bid 2♠ in the direct or sandwich position , you have a clear cut pass. If partner re-opens with a double you know what to do . Doubling with a minimum and a trump stack just normally gets them to a better spot. The double is more useful as showing a good hand for offensive purposes or giving partner the option of passing when you have a strong hand.

A Q bid after you opened a minor and LHO has bid a weak jump overcall is a NT probe . Bid 3NT with a stopper is the most useful meaning for the Q bid . In the sandwich position , a Q bid is a NT probe unless partner responded hearts then it’s a strong heart raise.

Whenever the opponents make a weak jump overcall at the two level and partner makes a negative double , it robs you of the opportunity to show a good minor hand below 3NT . The natural 2NT bid should be sacrificed in all these auctions . Play it as Lebensohl and natural bidding can show extra . Also use Lebensohl when the opponents jam you past the two level after your partner makes a negative double.

!♣-2♦-Dbl-P A Axx Kx AJ109xxx A natural 3♣ bid is strong as you did not bid 2NT Lebensohl and forcing partner to bid 3♣.

If the opponents interfere in the sandwich position after partner has made a negative double use a D.S.I.P. double to show the good flat hands where a natural 2NT would be applicable . 2NT is still Lebensohl and a direct bid shows good values.

Lebensohl and D.S.I.P. go hand in hand . The old natural 2NT bid is replaced by a D.S.I.P. double when possible.

The following is from Stan Cabay

“When we open the bidding and the opponents "pre-empt” at the 2-level removing our ability to make game invitations (as in 1♦-2♠-?, 1♦-2♠-Dble-P-?, 1♦-P-1♥-2♠-?, 1♦-1♠-Dble-2♠-?), it is far more useful to give up the natural meaning of 2N and instead to use it as Lebensohl. Then, after 1♦-1♠-Dble-2♠, for example, 3♣ shows a minor 2-suiter with about 15-17 HCP's, 3♦ shows a 1-suiter equivalent to a jump rebid, 3♥ is highly invitational to game, and so on. Weaker distributional hands are shown by preceding your natural call with 2N requesting partner to relay to 3♣. So, then what is to be done with a hand containing a stopper and invitational values when the usual meaning of 2N is denied? We can sometimes make a DSIP double, or if that is unavailable just take a shot at 3N hoping to bid and to play those 23-point games as well as Hamman or Meckwell. Notrump contracts are often difficult to defend. In return, the accuracy in bidding suit contracts, whether they be partials, games or slams, greatly improves. “