After They Preempt

 

We don't have any special methods to impart here, just a bunch of examples where the opponents preempt and we do our best to cope with the situation.

        

2nd January, 2008             Board 9      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

Yes, we’d bid 3NT here.  Sometimes it will make, other times it will be doubled and go for 800.  Despite the risks, passing here would be quite feeble, and doubling with only 3 Hearts would be misguided, at least when there is a reasonable alternative.

 

System Note

Suppose that East does bid 3NT.  Now, what are West’s options?  We suggest Stayman and transfers.

 

 

6th December, 2006         Board 6      Dealer East       E-W Vul

 

 

South has only 10 HCP’s, but she also has shortness in the enemy suit, and that increases her obligation to get into the auction whenever reasonably possible.  So we would double here on our modest values and take the risk that this might propel us to a bad game when Partner reasonably expects us to have a little bit more.  Looking on the bright side, we have good support for both majors, and if Partner has no major worth bidding perhaps she can make a Penalty Pass … with our Ace and two Kings we need not be too nervous about defending 3♦ doubled, if that is Partner’s choice.

 

We should add that there are limits to just how much one should stretch to take action when short in the opponent's suit.  This Double is just about stretched to that limit!

 

 

17th May, 2007                 Board 19      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

West may be vulnerable, and may have a mere 11 HCPs, but we’d double 3♣ anyway, with that almost perfect shape … as always when the opponents preempt, the partner with the shortness in their suit should stretch to get into the auction, even when in the direct seat.

 

 

6th September, 2007         Board 4      Dealer West       Both Vul

 

 

Just two possibilities to consider here:

            4♣:      The hand and the suit are good enough for the bid, but the trouble with 4♣ is that it takes us

                        past 3NT, and it is likely to miss any 4-4 Spade fit.

            Dbl:     This bid keeps 3NT and Spades in the picture, but suffers that major defect of only 2 Hearts

                        … making a Take-out Double with two cards in an unbid major is a dangerous undertaking,

                        and is generally to be avoided unless the Doubler has a really good hand.

 

Notwithstanding the Heart defect, we would double, because we just hate to give up on both 3NT and 4♠.  On the actual hand, after we Double, Partner bids 3♥ (no surprise there), and we would try 4♣ … now, when Partner persists with 4♥, we’ll give up.

 

Let’s change the situation.  Suppose that you have the same hand, but RHO opens just 1♦.  Do you double or bid 2♣?  This one’s easy!  You’ll bid 2♣, it’s your best suit, it doesn’t take us past 3NT, and we have plenty of space to discover any Spade fit.

 

14th March, 2007              Board 10      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

What does Partner’s 4NT mean?  Following violent Spade preempting to the 4-level, we suggest that North’s 4NT says “I have two places to play” (not necessarily just the minors), after which the partnership will usually find their fit at the 5-level.

 

OK, if that is your agreement, what is our bid?  With the same shape but a weaker hand, we would simply bid 5♣.  Now, if Clubs is one of her suits she can pass, otherwise she will bid 5♦, offering us a choice between Diamonds and Hearts.  So should we bid 5♣?  Absolutely not!  Our hand is too good, our choice would be 5NT, allowing us to scramble into our slam.  Now if Partner bids 6♦ we’ll know she has the red suits and will wind up in 6♥.

 

 

21st February, 2007         Board 8      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

How high do you play your Negative Doubles?  For the purposes of this problem, let’s assume that they are being played through 4♥.  Do you pass or bid?  It doesn’t look as if we’ll get rich defending 4♥ doubled, it seems quite likely that the penalty will be less than the value of making game in a minor.  Then again, there’s no guarantee that we can make game in a minor, and even if we can it’s not obvious which minor game it should be … our Diamonds are good but they need help … and bidding 5♣ would overstate those ratty Clubs.

 

What would 4NT mean here?  In auctions where we have been preempted to the 4-level before we’ve found a fit, it’s useful to play 4NT as a fit-finding device.  If we were sure that Partner was on the same wavelength, 4NT would be our bid, saying “I have two places to play, make your choice”.  In this case, the two places are the minors, of course, but, had the opponents preempted in Spades, there is no reason why one of the suits could not be Hearts.  Anyway, that’s our preferred use of 4NT in this situation, it certainly seems more useful than a natural or Ace-asking interpretation.

 

For the record, on the actual hand, if we pass 4♥ doubled, we will score +300 or +500, and it will probably be the latter, in which case we’ll outscore our N-S counterparts who bid game.  However, if we bid 4NT for the minors then Partner will jump to 6♣, a contract which is cold.

 

 

11th April, 2007                Board 24      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

Perhaps Bridge is not important enough to “try men’s souls”, but, if it were, we can be pretty sure that this one would be considered most trying indeed.  What does Partner’s 3NT bid show?  We’d say that it fits precisely into that neat little 16-23 range.  But, we would hate to tie ourselves down to such narrow confines, so, as usual, there’s some scope for upward and downward evaluation, we always like to make room for judgment.

 

16-23, give or take a point or two?  Yes, really!  In the circumstances, who can possibly say what West should do here?  We have the values to at least think about slam, but so much of our hand is in Spades, how much nicer if those high Spades were actually Diamond honors, then we would like our hand much more.  In the circumstances, we would advise caution.  Our guess would be to pass.

 

Systems Note

Do you have any methods over Partner’s 3NT bid.  We’d suggest Stayman and Transfers, with 4♠ as some vaguely defined minor suit slam try.  As for 4NT, we’d suggest that this is a general slam try.

 

Post Script

After the above analysis appeared on the web site, we received some mail and it appears that we misspoke.  Bridge really can try men’s souls, apparently it’s now official, you read it here first.

 

 

17th May, 2007                 Board 19      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

After the Double, East has visions of slam in one of the majors … but which one?  Spades is surely a playable suit, but if Partner has 3 Spades and 4 Hearts then we’d usually prefer the 4-4 to the 5-3.  The way to find out is to bid 4♣ here, telling Partner to pick a major.  Once the major has been set, East can make his slam move.

 

 

31st May, 2007                 Board 8      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

Once the opponents have preempted at the 3-level, our overcalls are, by necessity, extremely wide-ranging.  After South’s 3♠, who can say what is right with the North hand?  At IMPs, North would just boot out 4♠ and hope for the best.  And, at matchpoints?  Less aggression is called for at the pairs game, and we’d just pass here, though not without misgivings, of course.  After all, a contract which might make at IMPs might also make at matchpoints!

 

 

16th August, 2006             Board 32      Dealer West       E-W Vul

 

 

East's preemptive 3♣ has crowded the auction.  If we were at the two-level, for example, we could bid 2♥ (competitive), 3♥ (invitational), or 4♥ (game values), but at the 3-level we have one option fewer.  It wouldn't be a good idea to remain silent with 4 Hearts and a nice 8- or 9-count, let's say a hand that is below invitational strength ... if we are to stretch with that hand we must carry through and stretch the good invitational raises into game bids ... if we don't do this, our 3♥ bids will cover too wide a range.  Is this invitational hand good enough to upgrade to a 4♥ bid?  We think so, we like the Heart fillers, and we like our small Clubs opposite Partner's likely singleton.

 

 

1st November, 2006          Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

Here, it’s a straightforward choice between 3NT and a Penalty Pass.  If we were Red and they were White, we’d just boot out 3NT and hope for the best.  But Red vs Red, as here, we’d pass hoping for one of these good things to happen:

-         We cannot make game, yet we get them for 200 (or more) on a part-score hand.

-         We can make game, but as that requires some extras from Partner, perhaps those extras are enough to extract an 800 penalty.

 

Having said that, we are not entirely thrilled to pass here.  How much nicer if our square 10 HCP hand was organized thusly:

            ♠ QJT8

            ♥ 982

            ♦ AK6

            ♣ T53

Yes, the point is that it’s the slow trump tricks which give us more bang for the buck on defense.  The second hand has superior defense and inferior offense.  So, when we double with the actual hand, we should not be licking our chops as we pass Partner’s Takeout Double.  But, on the second hand, we most certainly would be!

 

 

8th August, 2007              Board 27      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

If the bidding had started lower, we would be happy to overcall 1♠, and even rebid Spades at the two-level, if required.  But we have not been afforded that luxury, we must make our decision at the 4-level.  Even though we are far short of game in our own hand, we would bid 4♠ here.  It won’t always be a success, and a resounding Double from North would not be a huge surprise.  But, on balance it’s our best shot, especially considering that 6^th Spade.  If we pass we may put Partner in a bind.  He may have 2 or 3 Spades and be nervous about doubling with this kind of hand:

            ♠ J74

            ♥ 2

            ♦ KQ986

            ♣ AJT8

As a general rule, when the opponents preempt to 4♥ we are well-advised to do some stretching when we have a long Spade holding.

 

 

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