Friday, 6/3/2011

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Note: Board 2 was fouled after the first table, the North and East hands being interchanged. The results, therefore, do not match the hands shown.

Dastardly Double: (Board 2, but interchange the North and East hands): East opens 1S on A1098x -- KJ10xx Qxx, and South doubles for takeout with 19 hcp and good clubs: xx AJx Ax AKJ98x . West jumps to 3S preemptively with KQxx 10xxx xxxx x. The jump raise over a takeout double has always been preemptive in standard methods, as a good supporting hand can redouble or use a gadget bid (Jordan 2NT.) North bids 4H with Jx KQ9xxx Q9 10xx . It's sound practice to bid game in a six-card major and a smattering of values when partner makes a takeout double -- partner should either have good support or a powerful hand (as here.) East, not vulnerable vs. vulnerable and with a hand much better suited to offense than defense (especially against hearts) bids 4S. South had planned to double-then-jump in clubs, but the bidding has reached the stratosphere. There's a fair chance partner has a singleton spade, but really everything appears to be a guess: does partner have a spade control? Five or more hearts? How many tricks down will 4S be? I would estimate East can score 5 or 6 trumps plus one or two club ruffs, but nothing else; down 3 doubled won't compensate even for game, let alone slam, but with two spade losers and a possible club loser, 5C isn't certain, and partner's heart length is unknown. I would probably double 4S but not be surprised to be wrong.

At our table declarer tried 4NT. Expecting that we could run the first 5 or 6 tricks, I doubled to "test" the North/South agreements about interference over 4NT. Many have never discussed what to do over a double; one partner may assume "ignore the double" while the other assumes "ROPI, of course" (Redouble = 0, Pass = 1.) Do you and aprtner agree here?

The result was even worse than a misunderstanding -- South failed to notice the double at all. North passed (hoping that would be the most discourging action), and South assumed that ending the bidding. North cannot legally or ethically call attention to the double -- partner has to pay attention! 4NT doubled went for 500.

Moral #1 -- If partner passes unexpectedly, look to your left and make sure you don't have another bid coming. There is no recourse for not noticing a bid.

Moral #2 -- Have an agreement about interference over Blackwood or RKCB. Various agreements are possible, but one method is universally known and accepted, and on frequency (once every several years, if that) I can't see it being worthwhile to play something different. The method is DOPI -- double = 0 Aces or key cards, Pass = 1 (D0P1, which looks like DOPI, pronounced "dopey".) If any bid is available at the 5 level, the cheapest bid = 2, next = 3, etc. If the interfering bid is 5NT or higher, play DEPO: Double Even, Pass Odd. Partner can presumably work out whether you have 0, 2 or 4 from the bidding. Over a double, the acronym ROPI applies: Redouble = 0, Pass = 1. Playing RKCB, none of these replies says anything about the Queen of trumps, but the cheapest illogical suit by the 4NT bidder asks about the Queen. With that agreement in place, North redoubles to show 0 key cards, and South retreats to 5H. The defense collects two spade tricks and knocks out the Ace of diamonds, but declarer can pull trumps and guess to finesse the opening bidder for the club Queen, +650. Surprisingly, East can also make 11 tricks at spades.

Side note: in an online discusssion group, half the players thought DOPI meant "Double = first step, Pass = Second". That's absurd: the purpose of an acronym is to make the agreement easy to remember, and D0P1 means what is says. You could agree DFPS (double = first,, pass = second) but as I said, why have a non-standard agreement for such a rare bid?

Who needs the Queen?: Board 21
North opens a shapely 6-4 11 count, and South uses that Jacoby 2NT bid that's been sitting there on the convention card forever. North shows his singleton spade (3S.) That isn't encouraging opposite South's AKx, but South could force to game without that wasted King and should make another slam try. Best move is a 4C control bid -- if North can bid 4D, South can proceed with RKCB. North does show his diamond control and then two key cards over 4NT -- but should bid 5S, 2+Q, not 5H. Why pretend to have the Queen? South's 2NT promises 4 trumps, and with 10 combined trumps, the Queen will drop the vast majority of the time. This has always been a normal part of Roman Key Card Blackwood, but players who learn their gadgets "at the table" are typically unaware of this logic. 6H makes easily.