Wednesday, October 26, 2005 3:31 PM

Weak Twos - Doubles

PITBULLS:

Weak two’s are a tactical bid which have as one of their functions to disrupt the opponents auctions. Partnerships should have some sound understandings on how to handle these bids. When you overcall 2NT after a weak two , you should generally have systems on & other treatments . After T/O doubles , you use Lebensohl as a weapon to show the difference between invitational hands or weak hands. Lebensohl frees the direct jump to be forcing rather than invitational after partner doubles. Q bids are overused anyway , so eliminating Q bids just to show a strong hand is a bonus.

Having a jump as forcing after a double of a weak two , is very handy especially if partners double is slightly off shape. Getting the suit established immediately leads to the usual good understandings of Q bidding & KCB. Investigating the proper game is also a nice by product of the forcing jump. Forcing jumps free the Q bid as a pick a suit bid ( two suits) or even a NT grope with general strength.

AJ84x xx Ax Axxx 2♥-X-P-? Jumping to 3♠ forcing is much better than using an ambiguous Q bid to put on a game force. Partners double is KQ109 Ax KJ1098x x so after a jump , a bid at the 4 level should imply spades. Partner now bids 5♠ which asks for a heart control and partner bids 6♥ showing 1^st round control. A grand slam in spades might be reached with this auction.

As with all pre-emptive auctions , getting to 3NT should take precedence over bidding a suit. A doublers 1^st duty after a Q bid by partner is to show a stopper in the opponents weak two suit. Bidding a suit is redundant and partner can always re Q bid is she just wants you to choose a spot for the contract. 2♥-X-P-? Ax xx KQxxxx KJx you bid 3♥ and partner bids 3NT with KQ109 Ax Axx xxxx .

Always remember , people pre-empt for the most part to make your life miserable. This is in part due to not discussing understandings with partner on how to handle pre-empts. With good partnership understandings , you can use the opponents pre-empts to get to your right spot and also help you play the hand . They also risk going for horrible sets with penalty conversions.