In this installment, you have the same hand in two different auctions. You are the dealer, vulnerable against not. After a strong 2 ♣ opening you are not playing any conventional responses (such as Jacoby steps or control steps) other than that a 2 ♦ response is "waiting".
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Auction One: You and North both pass, partner opens 2 ♣, and South passes. Your call?
Answer: Bid 2 ♦, waiting. You have great stuff for partner, with clear responses for anything she can bid. You don't have a strong five-card suit of your
own. Slam seems very likely, and a grand slam is well within possibility. This
is a perfect example of a hand where you want to give partner as much room as
possible to describe her hand. Don't take away bidding space from partner by
bidding 2 NT or 3 NT right now; give her some room to move.
Auction Two: You and North both pass, partner opens 2 ♣ , and South bids 2 ♦. Your
call?
Answer: Pass, waiting. You have great stuff for partner, et cetera, etc. Partner will get another bid, you don't need to keep the auction alive for
her. So, don't steal bidding space from partner, give her some room to move.
Also, unless you and partner have agreed otherwise, it is simplest to reserve Double
for a clear penalty situation (but see the Bonus Minute and the Experts Moment below).
THE PRINCIPLE: After a strong two-club opening, give the opening bidder
as much bidding room as possible. Don't take up bidding space unless you have to say something Really Important Right Now, like a strong five-card suit
(personally, I prefer six). There will always be time later in the auction to
show balanced strength, so don't crowd partner by bidding notrump now. Give the strong hand some room to move!
BONUS MINUTE:
What if your partnership normally uses step responses to show high card points (Jacoby steps) or control points? The standard way to handle interference is to use D0P1 -- pronounced "dopey" like one of the Seven Dwarfs -- which is short for "double zero, pass one." For the zero-th step, with 0-3 high card points or no control points, just Double. For the first step, Pass to show 4-6 HCP or one control point. For the next step, make the next available bid above the overcall, and so on. All of these responses must be Alerted. Note that this is the same structure you (should) use if the opponents interfere after a 4NT ace-asking bid.
What if your partnership normally uses step responses to show high card points (Jacoby steps) or control points? The standard way to handle interference is to use D0P1 -- pronounced "dopey" like one of the Seven Dwarfs -- which is short for "double zero, pass one." For the zero-th step, with 0-3 high card points or no control points, just Double. For the first step, Pass to show 4-6 HCP or one control point. For the next step, make the next available bid above the overcall, and so on. All of these responses must be Alerted. Note that this is the same structure you (should) use if the opponents interfere after a 4NT ace-asking bid.
EXPERTS MOMENT:
When the opponents interfere over a strong 2 ♣ opening, standard expert practice is to Double with a very weak hand and Pass (forcing) otherwise. This allows opener to simply convert the double for penalties if that seems like the last best option; else the partnership bids on normally. A balancing double by opener shows a balanced hand rather than a definite penalty double, in which case responder should take command from that point forward. This structure might be opposite of what most non-expert players would expect, so don't try it without first discussing with your partner!
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)
Full disclosure... I submitted this hand (after the 2D overcall) as an experts' poll on BridgeWinners.com
ReplyDelete53% voted for 2NT after the 2D overcall
37% voted for Pass (my recommendation above)
I guess the next one is free :)