(571) Spear

This Week in Bridge

(571) Spear

© AiB                                                  Robert S. Todd
Level:  10 of 10                                  robert@advinbridge.com

General

When the auction begins 1m – 1NT (both bids by the opponents), it is rare that we want to compete in a minor suit.  Usually in these auctions the opponents have the minors, since Responder has denied a 4-card Major.  (Even if we have a 5+card minor suit, it could still be best to pass and defend 1NT.)  In these auctions, it is effective to play a system geared towards the Major suits where we are most likely to have a fit.  Spear is an artificial system that uses all the bids at the 2-level to show different Major suit hands.  This gives us more options for how to compete in the bidding. Let’s see how it works. 

Spear

In auctions that begin 1m – 1NT, we want to be able to compete in the bidding with shapely hands with a long Major suit as well as be able to show just a good hand with a long Major suit.  We also would like to be able to show hands with both Major suits.  Spear is a system for this auction that allows us to do all of this. 

Here is how Spear works after a minor opening by LHO and 1NT by RHO.

Opener                                                Responder         

1-minor                 P                             1NT                        __?

• 2♣*        Both Major suits, at least 4-4

• 2♦*        Good hand with one long Major, 5+card suit, possibly interested in game

• 2♥           Natural and competitive, 5+card ♥ (usually less than opening values)

• 2♠           Natural and competitive, 5+card ♠ (usually less than opening values)

• X             Good hand, usually balanced, 12+ points

Note:  If we want to compete in a long suit, including a minor, we can jump to the 3-level.

Bids by Advancer After 2♣* Showing Both Majors

One of the advantages of playing Spear is that we can show a hand that wants to play offense and has both Majors. This can be useful with 4-4 in the Majors and good values, but more likely to be useful with more shape and fewer values.

Example 1 – Both Majors

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♣                          P                             1NT                        __? 

♠ KJ874
♥ QJ874
♦ 5
♣ 93

With this hand we bid 2♣* to show length in both Majors and ask partner to choose one.

Example 2 – Both Majors

But what about with only 5/4 in the Majors?

♠ Q9762
♥ KQ87
♦ 7         
♣ 873

With this hand we want to compete in the bidding but show both our suits with one bid. If partner has equal length in the Majors (often 3-3), then instead of guessing which Major to bid, they bid 2♦, asking us to choose.

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♣                          P                             1NT                        2♣*
P                             2♦*                        P                             2♠

 With longer ♠, we choose to play there.

Bids by Advancer After a Major is Shown  

Partner usually passes 2-Major but needs to know how to advance the bidding after our 2♦* bid.  Advancer uses Multi-2♦ Advances over our 2♦ interference.

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1-minor                 P                             1NT                        2♦*
P                             __?

• 2M         Pass or Correct

• 2NT*     Multi-Ogust

  o   3♣*        Good hand with ♥, usually 14+ HCP

  o   3♦*        Good hand with ♠, usually 14+ HCP

  o   3♥*        Natural, minimum, usually about 11-13 HCP

  o   3♠*        Natural, minimum, usually about 11-13 HCP

• 3M         Pass or Correct

• 4♣          Transfer to Our Suit

• 4♦           Bid Our Suit

• 4M         To Play

Let’s see how we bid if the auction begins as follows:

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♦                           P                             1NT                        __?

Example 3

♠ K7
♥ KJ9743
♦ 765
♣ 42

We bid 2♥, competitive, with this hand.

Example 4

♠ K7
♥ KJ9743
♦ AJ6
♣ 42

We bid 2♦* to show a good hand with one Major.

Here are some other auctions where it is good to have some agreements.

Example 5

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♦                           P                             1NT                        2♦*
3♣                          __?

• X             Penalty

• 3♦           Game Try in partner’s suit

• 3M         Pass or Correct

Example 6

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♦                           P                             1NT                        2♦*
3♦                           __?

• X             Penalty

• 3M         Pass or Correct

Conclusion

Spear is a powerful system for allowing us to compete in the bidding with a variety of different hands -- weak distributional hands and still powerful hands. This allows partner to try for game or know how much to further compete in the bidding.  Although this system applies to a specific auction, it gives you a great advantage in this common competitive bidding situation. When they avoid the Majors, we often have them, so we would like to have as many options as possible for showing these suits.

(569) Rosenkrantz Redoubles

This Week in Bridge

(569) Rosenkrantz Redoubles

© AiB                                                      Robert S. Todd
Level:  9 of 10                                        robert@advinbridge.com

General

When Left Hand Opponent (LHO) opens the bidding, partner makes an overcall, and Right Hand Opponent (RHO) makes a negative double, then Advancer is in the middle of a complex competitive auction.  Traditionally, a redouble in a competitive auction shows a strong hand (10+ points), but with everyone bidding it is not likely that Advancer is too focused on showing values.  Instead, we want to design our agreements to let us best describe the most common kinds of hands.  In this auction, Advancer having lots of values is not common.  Let’s see how using redouble as a conventional bid, called a Rosenkrantz Redouble, can be more effective than this traditional value-showing redouble.

Rosenkrantz Redoubles

When partner overcalls, they frequently will have holdings like:

• AQxxx

• Axxxx

• KJxxx

• Kxxxx

With holdings like these, partner will be worried about leading their suit.  If we have a top Honor (Ace or King) in their suit, then partner should lead their suit; but if we do not, then leading their suit could be costly.  In this case, it would be very helpful if Advancer had a way to show a top Honor in partner’s suit.  This is what a Rosenkranz Redouble accomplishes.  When Responder makes a negative double, then Advancer can use this special redouble to show either the Ace or King in partner’s suit.

Example 1

Opener                Interferer            Responder          Advancer
1♣                          1♠                           X                             XX*

This redouble (Rosenkrantz) shows either the ♠A or ♠K.  It could be holdings like

• Singleton A or K

• Doubleton A or K – Ax, Kx

• Axx

• Kxx

Note:  Some partnerships may agree that this redouble shows both a fit and a high honor (Ace or King), but this makes the redouble less frequently useful. 

This is a very useful agreement because when Advancer does not make a redouble, then Interferer is alerted to the fact that partner does not have a top Honor and that it may be dangerous to lead their suit.

Example 2

Opener                Interferer            Responder          Advancer
1♣                          1♠                           X                             P

This pass by Advancer implies they do not have the ♠A or ♠K and Interferer should be careful leading their suit.

When Advancer raises Interferer’s suit in these auctions then there is an inference that Advancer does not have the Ace or King.

Example 3

Opener                Interferer            Responder          Advancer
1♣                          1♠                           X                             2♠

Playing Rosenkrantz redoubles, this raise to 2♠ shows at least 3-card support and denies having either the ♠A or ♠K.

Opening Leads

Another way that the Rosenkrantz redouble can help a partnership is to get them a ruff early in the auction. 

Example 4

Imagine defending a 4♥ contract with this layout in the ♠ suit.

♠ Txx

♠ Axxxx                ♠ Kx

                ♠ QJx

Opener                Interferer            Responder          Advancer
1♣                          1♠                           X                             XX*
2♥                           P                             4♥                           All Pass

If this is the auction, then West knows it is safe to lead a low ♠ because they know that partner has the ♠K.  With a low ♠ lead, the defenders can take the first three tricks – ♠K, ♠A, and a ♠ ruff.

Note:  Some partnerships also choose to play Rosenkrantz doubles instead of snapdragon doubles in auctions where Responder bids a new suit – showing Ace or King in partner’s suit.

Conclusion

A Rosenkrantz redouble helps partner with an opening lead by showing a top honor with a redouble (or even more importantly denying one when a redouble is not made.)  This gives up a natural redouble (showing values), but this is not a very common bid by Advancer in this situation.  If you and partner like “practical gadgets” that help you communicate in difficult competitive auctions you may find this useful.  Discuss using this gadget with your regular partners.

(568) Snapdragon Doubles

This Week in Bridge

(568) Snapdragon Doubles

© AiB                                                  Robert S. Todd
Level:  9 of 10                                    robert@advinbridge.com

General

Bridge players keep finding more and more ways to use doubles, especially in low-level competitive auctions.  The traditional double by the Advancer is the responsive double.  This double applies when the opponents have bid and raised a suit and partner has taken some action in the middle (either a takeout double or a suit overcall).  But when Left Hand Opponent (LHO) opens the bidding with a suit, partner overcalls a second suit, and Responder bids a third suit, then a double by Advancer is not a responsive double.  It is a different kind of competitive double called a Snapdragon Double – a fancy name for another double that wants to compete in the bidding.   Let’s see exactly what this double shows.

Snapdragon Doubles

When LHO opens the bidding (showing values), partner makes an overcall, and Responder makes a freebid at the 2-level (showing 10+ points) then the opponents have most of the points.  The most we are going to do in this type of auction is compete in the bidding.  We are unlikely to be looking to bid game based on HCP, so the only way we might bid to a high level is if we have an extremely large fit.

Example 1

Opener                Interferer            Responder          Advancer
1♦                           1♠                           2♣                          __?

• A bid of 2♥ would be natural and competitive – showing a 5+card ♥ suit.  (Although we may normally play a new suit forcing by Advancer, it does not make sense to play it as forcing when the opponents have shown most of the values.)

• A double in this auction is played as a snapdragon double – showing both the fourth suit (in this case 5+card ♥) and tolerance for partner’s suit (3-card fit or at least honor doubleton, depending on our partnership agreement). 

Having the snapdragon double available to show the fourth suit and at least tolerance for partner’s suit means that when we bid the fourth suit, we are not interested in partner’s suit and have a poor holding in their suit.

Let’s look at the previous auction with some example hands for Advancer.

Opener                Interferer            Responder          Advancer
1♦                           1♠                           2♣                          __?

Example 2

♠ 7
♥ AJT843
♦ 865
♣ K72

We bid 2♥!  With this hand, we want to compete in the bidding but only in our 6-card ♥ suit.  This 2♥ bid denies interest in partner’s ♠ suit – showing at best two small cards in that suit.

Example 3

♠ K5
♥ AJT74
♦ 873
♣ 632

We double.  With this hand we have only a 5-card ♥ suit and King doubleton in partner’s ♠ suit, so we are not certain which suit would be best for our side to compete in.  Double shows a 5-card ♥ suit and tolerance for partner’s ♠ suit – leaving it up to partner to choose which is the best place to play at the 2-level or if it is a good idea to further compete in the auction.

With the negative inference that our bid of the fourth suit denies interest in partner’s suit, partner will usually pass our suit with a reasonable holding – only rebidding their own suit with a powerful holding in their suit and a poor holding in ours. 

The snapdragon double applies when Responder has bid at the 1-level as well.  This is true, even though Responder has not promised as many values with a 1-level response as they do with a new suit at the 2-level.  In this case, some partnerships may choose to treat a new suit as forcing, since it is possible for Advancer to have a better hand (this is a partnership agreement).

Example 4

Opener                Interferer            Responder          Advancer
1♣                          1♦                           1♠                           __?

• A double (snapdragon double) shows a ♥ suit (usually at least 5+cards) and tolerance for partner’s ♦ suit – 3-cards or Honor doubleton. 

• Bidding 2♥ shows a 5+card suit and denies interest in partner’s ♦ suit – at most two small ♦.

Note:  These bids can be useful whether our partnership plays this new suit as Non-Forcing Constructive or Forcing.

Conclusion

The snapdragon double is a useful agreement to have with your partner.  In auctions when partner has bid a suit and the opponents have bid two suits, we usually only have interest in playing in partner’s suit or the fourth suit.  By having a snapdragon double available to show interest in both of these suits, then bidding the fourth suit strongly implies interest in only playing there – helping partner avoid making a bad decision after our bid.  Discuss this double with partner and add it to your growing list of competitive bidding tools.

(551) Competitive Auctions: Bidding over 3-Level and 4-Level Preempts

This Week in Bridge

(551) Bidding over 3-Level and 4-Level Preempts

© AiB                                                         Robert S. Todd
Level:   1, 2 of 10                                      robert@advinbridge.com

General

When the opponents open at the 3-level or 4-level they put a lot of pressure on us to make difficult decisions without much room to maneuver or describe our hand.  This preempt will force us to either double or overcall at a very high level – we will not have many of the options that are available to us at lower levels.  Let’s look at each of these options and see how we need to adjust our thinking and bidding because of the lack of space and options available to us. 

Overcalls

When we overcall vs. a 3-level or 4-level preempt we face more danger than when the opponents open at the 1-level. 

• First, we are at a higher level, and

• Second, the opponent behind us might have a good hand and be armed with a penalty double (as opposed to a negative double if our RHO had opened at the 1-level.) 

Thus, when we make an overcall at a higher level we want to have a good hand and a good suit.

If we have both a good suit and a good hand, we should be able to “survive” (not get heavily penalized) if partner has a doubleton in our suit and about 6-7 HCP.  We usually want to have a 6+card suit with good texture and a hand with good playing strength; a simple opening hand is not enough.  This means that we will not be able to overcall at a high level on many hands we would have opened with if we had been the opening bidder.

Doubles

As we are under more and more pressure to act at high levels and as we can overcall on fewer and fewer hands we will need to double (our other strength-showing action) more often to get into the auction. 

Example 1

Versus a 3♥ preempt with

♠ K9843
♥ 7
♦ AQT6
♣ AJ4

We will double instead of overcalling 3♠.  If the opponents had opened 1♥, we would have overcalled 1♠.

A takeout double becomes more flexible and needs to contain more hand types as the auctions get higher. 

Example 2

Versus a 4♥ preempt with

♠ AQ74
♥ 83
♦ AQ
♣ KT962

We will be forced to make a takeout double (and hope that partner does not bid 5♦ or if they do, that they have a decent 5-card suit.)  If the opponent had opened 1♥, we would have started with a 2♣ overcall.  

Example 3

Versus a 4♠ preempt with,

♠ 4
♥ AQ97
♦ AQ3
♣ KT965

We use a double as more penalty-oriented (or card-showing) and 4NT is the call used to force partner to bid – similar to a takeout double.  This 4NT bid for takeout, and it could be all three of the other suits or could be a “two-suited” takeout.

Jump Overcalls vs. a Preempt

We do not Preempt a Preempt!  Thus, we will define a jump overcall vs. a preempt to show a good long suit and a good hand. 

Example 4

3♥          4♠

This shows a very good 6-card to 8-card ♠ suit and some HCP – generally about 8.5 to 9 tricks.  We have a good chance of making 4♠ if partner has one useful card.  An example hand on which to bid 4♠:

♠ AQJT864
♥ 3
♦ AK8
♣ K7

These are hands that are almost good enough (or in some cases are good enough) to double and bid ♠ if RHO had opened 1♥.  But partner is much more likely to pass our double at higher levels, so we don’t want to double with these very shapely offensive hands.  By taking these hands out of the list of hands that make a takeout double, we also make it so that double contains more defensive hands and increase our chance of scoring well when partner passes our double, converting it to penalty. 

Conclusion

Acting over high-level (destructive) interference from our opponents is difficult.  It requires judgment, table feel, and experience to be successful in these auctions.  You will notice that we have avoided putting HCP requirements on acting over interference at each level – vs. 2-level, 3-level, 4-level, etc.  This is because HCP are important, but general playing strength (shape) is even more important when we are thinking about offense.  Many of these auctions will have multiple very shapely hands at the table and times when both sides can make a lot of tricks declaring.  Thus, dealing with this interference is a balance of risk and reward – should we come in or not?   In these auctions, we will frequently be faced with difficult choices and we will be forced to do our best to describe our hand and allow us to land on our feet.  These auctions will be a challenge and we will occasionally go for -1100 when we are unlucky or judge wrong.  But with practice and judgment, we expect to do it less often than the other players!