Preemptive Openings

 

This collection of hands is all about when to preempt, and how high.  Vulnerability is a common consideration, as are suit quality, amount of defense, and position.  Please read on.

 

 

15th November, 2006       Board 19      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

We don’t know about you, but we would open 3♦ with that South hand.  At favorable vulnerability, we like to kick it up a notch in our preempts.  Here, that good Diamond suit almost looks like a 7-card suit, anyway, so why not?  Of course, aggressive preempting sometimes pushes the opponents into contracts that they otherwise would not reach … and sometimes these contracts make!  Nonetheless we do believe that harassing and chivying our vulnerable opponents is, on balance, a winning strategy.

 

On the actual deal, 3♦ is the winner, giving E-W nothing but losing options:

-         They can pass it out, and if they are at the top of their defensive game, they’ll nip it a trick but still get a bad score.  If their defense is not top-notch, 3♦ will make.

-         East can compete to 4♣ but that’s too high and it could get even worse if West, not unreasonably, takes a call over 4♣.

 

2♦ would have made things altogether too simple for E-W.  East would weigh in with a 3♣ call, and West does not have quite enough to participate in the proceedings.  So, an easy ride to 3♣ making 3.

 

10th January, 2007           Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

This hand passes the Rule of Twenty, but “So what?” is our answer to that!  This one looks like a preempt to us, what with that fine suit and not much in the way of defense.  But not just a 3♠ preempt, we’d go directly to 4♠, applying maximum pressure.  North has great offense, and we’d say that the lack of an 8^th Spade is nothing more than a trivial detail!

 

In fact, we would rather open 1♠ than 3♠, the latter will result in too many missed games.  On the actual board this is what will happen in each of the 3 scenarios:

-         If North opens 4♠, she’ll play in there, making 10 tricks for +420

-         If North opens 3♠, she’ll play it there for +170

-         If North opens 1♠, she’ll at least get to game, but, alas, along the way, the opponents will find their Diamond fit and take a profitable sacrifice in 5♦, and N-S will score +300.

 

Bridge is not always a fair game, but we would say that those three outcomes are full justice for the bids in question.

 

 

5th July, 2006                    Board 12      Dealer West      N-S Vul

 

 

In most situations, East’s hand would be something of a tweener, and either 1♠ or 2♠ would be quite reasonable.  But, when we realize that we are White versus Red, we should be leaning in the direction of the preempt.  And, when we also realize that we are in 3^rd seat, we should ratchet things up another notch and bid 3♠.

 

P.S.  3♠ works out rather well, as it happens, giving the opponents an excellent chance to go wrong ... opening 1♠ or 2♠ just doesn't get the job done.

 

 

14th March, 2007              Board 10      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

How did this one get into the Bidding Quiz, you might be wondering.  Simply because you might want to consider a bid of 4♠ here.  True, we are vulnerable, our support is minimal to say the least, and we also appear to have an astonishing shortage of tricks in our hand.  But it’s that shortage of values that makes 4♠ so attractive!  If we can trust our Partner not to have two defense tricks for his 3♠ bid (and we hope we can), then the opponents have a slam in Hearts which will bring us -1430.  In 4♠ doubled we will surely get out for less than that, and if the opponents bid on over 4♠ we shall at least have cramped their slam auction.

 

On the actual hand, 4♠ doubled would have been down four (Spade stack with South) for -1100, but, more likely the opponents would have bid on to slam.  However, they are cold for a grand slam in Hearts or Clubs, and our nudge to 4♠ will make the grand very difficult indeed to reach.

 

 

9th August, 2006               Board 3      Dealer South      E-W Vul

 

 

N-S are White versus Red, North has a maximum of one trick on defense, and a fit for Partner’s Club preempt.  Surely the opponents can make at least 11 tricks in a major, probably 12.  How many Clubs should North bid?

(a) 4♣?   No, that would be altogether too feeble … you can be sure that the opponents will get to 4♥ or 4♠, after which you will want to sacrifice in 5♣ … so, why not go to 5♣ directly, and apply more pressure?

(b) 5♣?  This is surely better than that pusillanimous 4♣ bid, but is it enough? 

(c) 6♣?  This applies maximum pressure right away.  Of course, if LHO now confidently bids 6♥ or 6♠, you’ll have to make the final guess. 

 

At times like this you will be on much safer ground if you can rely Partner not to preempt in first or second seat with defensive tricks.  Then again N-S are White versus Red, and most red-blooded players like to preempt frequently in this situation.  So North is entitled to look askance at Partner's 3♣ opening ... who knows what atrocity South might have committed in the name of favorable vulnerability?  She might well have a 6-card suit and a defensive trick (or two), in which case 5♣ is (hopefully) a good save against their game, but bidding more than that might be too expensive.  Alternatively, she might have a pure, true-blue preempt (such as the one she was actually dealt), in which case we want to get to the 6-level or 7-level as quickly as possible.

 

It's all well and good to toss out White versus Red preempts with a high frequency, on a variety of hand types, but the downside is that, on hands like this, North will be at a disadvantage.  As North, opposite a stolid preemptor, we'd bid 6♣ to apply maximum pressure.  But if Partner is known to be quite adventurous in these situations, perhaps 5♣ is sufficient.

 

A Gadget for Energetic Preemptors

If you and your Partner like to preempt high and often in White versus Red situations, even in first or second seat, then you might want to try the following gadget, one which allows the Partner of the preemptor to check on the soundness of Partner's preempt.  Here it is:

           After Partner opens (or overcalls) with a preempt, a bid of 4NT is a raise to 5 of Partner's suit, and

           gives the preemptor the license to bid to the 6-level if his preempt is "pure".

 

See how well this gadget works on the actual auction.  After 4NT, South can choose between 5♣ and 6♣ depending upon just how kosher is the opening preempt.  South's actual hand is:

   ♠ 5

   ♥ T97

   ♦ T6

   ♣ KQJT875

That's about as kosher as a 3♣ preempt can possibly be!  No A♣, solid Clubs otherwise, a 7th Club, a singleton, absolutely zero defense, but good offense.  Over 4NT, Partner is clearly not going to bid just 5♣.  Is he allowed to bid 7♣, as his hand is such a perfecto?  No!  He's only allowed to bump it up to 5♣ or 6♣.  Or, if he's really imaginative he might bid 5NT!  Yes, this tells Partner, "I'm going to the 6-level, but my hand is a perfecto, don't be afraid to bid 7 if you think it's right!"

 

Of course, if South is an adventurous preemptor when White versus Red, he might hold this horror:

   ♠ 54

   ♥ Q97

   ♦ K6

   ♣ KJT875

Yes, a somewhat offbeat 3♣ preempt to say the least, with an abnormal amount of defense and poor offense.  After Partner's 4NT, this would be an obvious 5♣ bid.

 

If you use 4NT in the manner described here, how do you get to trot out Roman Key Card Blackwood when Partner preempts 3♣ or 3♦?  Regardless of whether they use the gadget above, many players use the sequences 3♣ 4♦ and 3♣ 4♦ for this purpose ... a treatment well worth playing, in our view.

 

 

20th December, 2006       Board 1       Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

It looks as if N-S have a 10-card fit and the balance of the points so North will surely want to bid up to 4♥ before she starts doubling the opponents.  Is that a reason to bid 4♥ directly?  That’s one possibility, but we suggest a Redouble here, the purpose being to get Partner involved in the decision.  The Redouble creates a force, and now N-S will either play the hand or defend a doubled contract.  If Partner can double their next bid (she might have some unexpected defense for her preempt) we’ll pass, otherwise we’ll bid on to 4♥.

 

Yes, it would be awfully tempting for South to double their 3♠ unilaterally (and also the winning bid on the actual hand), but we’d rather bid up to our total trumps level of 4♥ before we start doubling.

 

 

20th December, 2006       Board 8      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

How many Hearts do you bid here?  It looks as if the opponents may have slam on this board so preempting to the 4-level is not likely to inconvenience them greatly.  How about going directly to 6♥?  We think that is a bit too much, especially as 6♥ doubled may go for more than the value of the slam (down 5 is not unimaginable).  Our own choice would be the middle course of 5♥ which hopefully will be high enough to turn the rest of the enemy auction into something of a guessing game.

 

 

13th June, 2007                 Board 18      Dealer East       N-S Vul

 

 

East has almost the purest preempt imaginable:

-         The suit is good, if we also had the Ten it would be perfect.

-         East does not have the A♥ … the absence of the Ace reduces East’s defense, and that’s good when we preempt.

-         Nothing outside the trump suit

-         Some distribution, namely that singleton.

 

Who would not want to bid 3♥ with this hand?  Well, actually, we wouldn’t!  No, at favorable vulnerability, this is a 4♥ bid!  3♥ would be criminally pusillanimous.

 

 

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