Saturday, April 05, 2003 7:14 PM
Pulling Penalty Doubles
PITBULLS:
In a perfect world you would never have to pull
penalty doubles . Some penalty doubles you never pull because you were never in
the auction or you have what you announced for your previous bidding . All
other penalty doubles are D.S.I.P.
( Do Something Intelligent Partner ) so pulling the double is a must .
O.K.
if you are going to pull penalty doubles on occasion you may as well have a
tool for doing this . Lebensohl relays
to the rescue . Pitbull Pat and Susan had an auction where the opponents were
scrambling after getting doubled . The auction went
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1NT |
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1♦ |
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X |
pass |
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2♠ |
? |
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xx Jxxxx
Qx AKxx Partner’s
pass is forcing and you want to
compete anyway . 2NT can not be
natural as you would have doubled
. This bid relays to 3♣ and 3♥
shows this kind of hand . 3♥ directly would be forcing with better hearts.
x |
x |
K |
K |
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x |
Q |
Q |
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J |
x |
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x |
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x |
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x |
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x |
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You open a
diamond and LHO bids 4♠
and partner doubles . Pulling the double directly should be a slam try . You
should never pull penalty doubles from a position of weakness - it could have
been your only chance for a plus. Put the Lebensohl relay to work . Bid 4NT and
force partner to bid 5♣ and now 5♦ shows
this kind of hand .
x |
x |
J |
J |
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x |
x |
x |
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x |
x |
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x |
x |
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x |
x |
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Partner opens a diamond and LHO bids 4♠ and it comes around to partner and she doubles .
What does the pull to 5♦ mean
? You did not bid 5♦ directly so you are under those values. Why not have
your cake and eat it too ? Bid 4NT
and partner relays to 5♣ and 5♦ shows this directly . If you had say KQxx of
diamonds and an outside Ace pull
to 5♦ directly from a position of strength . You are vul
and you can convey that you have values . If the opponents bid again or partner
might have slam interest you have done your job.
x |
K |
A |
x |
x |
Q |
x |
x |
x |
10 |
x |
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x |
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x |
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2♠ pass 4♠ and partner doubles . 4NT as Blackwood or for the minors is a wasted bid here. 4NT
should be a Lebensohl relay to 5♣ and 5♥ directly should show this kind of hand . If the
opponents bid again , partner is better placed and forcing passes are on .
Anyway
, a relay like Lebensohl is designed to give alternative
meanings to auctions. Using them in pulling
penalty doubles and when the opponents
pre-empt to 4 of a major makes a lot of sense to me to clarify
auctions…