When you’re trying to decide which convention to play in a specific situation, there seems to be one inevitable result: Whatever you finally choose, the first time the auction comes up, you’ll have a hand that could have been described better with an alternative you rejected.
That’s especially true for defenses to strong 1NT openers, where you have dozens of choices. No convention will cover every possible distribution, so you have to pick one that can handle the most common types of hands and fits your partnership’s bidding style. Here are the areas to focus on when evaluating your choices:
What’s legal? There were once restrictions on using 2C and 2D overcalls to show unspecified suits, but the new convention charts have loosened those rules. You can now use virtually any convention, including your own creation, as long as it’s not purely destructive.
Your objective. Your purpose in overcalling is to safely get into the opponents' auction, interfere with their ability to find their best contract and, ideally, find a making partscore of your own. At matchpoints, don’t worry about having constructive auctions or finding games. If partner overcalls and you happen to be dealt the rare hand that will make a game, you’ll know it when you see it.
Which suits to show. You need a clear way to describe one-suiters and as many two-suit combinations as possible. The three most important hand types are a long major, a major two-suiter and a major-minor two-suiter. Minors are a lower priority because the opponents can outbid you at the 2-level and you'll seldom have the strength needed to commit to the 3-level.
You’ll also want to decide how many purely artificial bids you want in your structure. If your overcall shows an unspecified suit or an either/or hand (2C=Diamonds or both majors, for example), the opponents will be in the dark, but so will partner. That may prevent him from competing when he has a fit. Overcalls that promise at least one known suit give partner more options.
Auction space. Look for a convention that gives you the best opportunities for finding a fit at the 2-level. If your overcall shows a second suit that’s lower in rank than your first (2S=Spades and a minor, for example), you’ll be playing at the 3-level when partner prefers your second suit. The solution is to require extra playing strength for this overcall, give up showing these two suits or try a different convention.
Another consideration is how much of the 2-level your overcall consumes. The higher the rank of your bid, the more difficult it will be for the opponents to compete effectively. That’s why some pairs prefer conventions that assign artificial meanings to 2C and 2D, but use 2H and 2S as natural.
An important bid to evaluate is your 2C overcall. If it's defined as an unspecified long suit or clubs and another suit, it has little impact on your opponents’ bidding – they can use a double for Stayman and 2D and 2H for transfers. A 2C overcall that shows both majors neutralizes those options and forces them to use other methods to find stoppers or minor-suit fits.
IMPs vs. matchpoints. Most pairs use the same defense at all forms of scoring. If you’ve chosen a very aggressive convention at matchpoints, though, you may want to adopt sounder methods for IMPs, where it’s more important to find games and collect penalties.
Simplicity. Complex defenses – those that show unknown suits or require relay sequences – may offer the most flexibility, but they work best for established partnerships that have time to practice and discuss all the possible auctions. Casual or first-time partnerships will usually do better with a convention that's less memory-intensive and includes more natural bids. You may have to give up showing some two-suiters, but you’re less likely to have a misunderstanding.
Penalty doubles: Do you
need them, or are there better meanings for a double? More about this in the
next issue.
Your right-hand opponent opens 1NT (15-17) and you hold ♠Q763 ♥KQ5 ♦AK4 ♣KJ6 .
If you're playing a convention that defines double as penalty, would you make one? e?
A double here is not a general takeout and it doesn’t show the same strength as opener. It should promise more -- at least the top of their range (17+ points) or 14+ points with a good lead and a suit that can be established. It’s called optional because partner can pull, but its main message is that you have strong defense.
The hand above more than qualifies on point count and partner may have some help (on average, he’ll hold around 3 points). Still, it may be difficult to beat 1NT because you’re likely to be endplayed every time you have the lead. Even with 18 points, it’s important to have a source of tricks.
When you can defeat 1NT, the opponents won’t always stay there. Over your double, they can use runout sequences – responder redoubles to force opener to bid 2C, for example – to land in a safer contract, sometimes one they couldn't have found if you had passed.
Those are some of the reasons many pairs choose to give up the penalty meaning and use a direct double to show distribution. If you want to describe as many hand types as possible at a low level, a shape-showing double provides an extra option. You can use it to start the description of a one-suiter or various two-suit combinations without going past the two-level.
The case for penalty doubles. It can be argued that a penalty double is needed to protect your plus score when it’s your deal, which isn't as uncommon as it once was. Opponents often upgrade their 1NT openers – a 14-count with a 5-card suit is treated as 15 (and some will stretch a 13-count that has a decent 6-card minor). The 1NT opener could also have a singleton, which increases the likelihood that you have a good fit and a plus score if declaring – and that your suit will run if defending.
Another advantage of a penalty double is that it can help partner make good competitive decisions. If the opponents bid over your double, partner’s knowledge of your strength may encourage him to penalize their contract or compete in his long suit.
You and partner can discuss the merits of penalty vs. artificial doubles and how they fit your bidding style. If you're fairly conservative about overcalling, the penalty meaning may be more valuable. If you're more aggressive, a convention that defines double as some type of suit overcall will give you more opportunities to enter the auction.
Note, though, that when your opponents are playing a weak notrump, a penalty double is a necessary option. If you prefer a shape-showing double against strong notrumps, you'll want to use a different convention when opener’s range is 12-14 or lower.
Pass or pull? If you decide to use double as penalty, it's important to discuss partner’s actions. Start by agreeing that the double means “I think we can beat 1NT”, not just “I have a lot of points”.
One scheme for pulling the double is “front of card" -- 2C is Stayman, 2D and 2H are transfers. This usually makes the strong hand declarer, but searching for a 4–4 fit is risky. A bigger drawback is that it removes the option of escaping to two of a minor.
The standard treatment is to play all runout bids as natural. After partner doubles and your RHO passes, pull to a suit only when you have a very weak hand (0-4 or 5 points) and a 5+-card suit. Never run to a 4-card suit, even with a Yarborough.
Pass the double with all other hands. With 5+ points, you’re expecting a nice penalty. With a weaker hand that lacks a long suit, you’re passing mainly to limit your losses. Going –180 rates to be better than the minus for declaring with a weak 4-3 fit (or worse), which may well be doubled.
Keep in mind, too, that even
when you’re broke, defending 1NT doubled can be profitable. Sometimes, partner
has 1NT beat in his hand and will thank you for not panicking and pulling to a
4-card suit.
Successful competitive decisions depend more on judgment than system, but it's still important to have good bidding tools. In the case of notrump defense methods, there's no shortage of choices. One way to narrow your options is to check out what other players are using.
More than 200 readers of Bridgewinners.com recently shared their
recommendations. The majority are experienced tournament players. Here are the
conventions they’re using, in decreasing order of popularity:
Woolsey
Meckwell
Cappelletti
Revised
DONT
Landy
DBL
4-cd major + longer
minor
One minor or
Penalty
Penalty
One suit
Penalty
2C
Both majors
Clubs + major
One suit
Diamonds or
Clubs + any suit
Both majors
2D
One major
Diamonds + major
Both majors
Both majors
Diamonds + major
Diamonds
2H
Hearts + minor
Hearts
Hearts + minor
Hearts
Hearts + Spades
Hearts
2S
Spades + minor
Spades
Spades + minor
Spades
Spades
Spades
[Multi-Landy]
Cappelletti
[Penalty]
both majors
minor + major
Woolsey & Multi-Landy: These are similar, varying only in the meaning of double (a major/minor hand in Woolsey, penalty in Multi-Landy). One advantage is showing majors with 2C, which leaves room to find your better fit when you’re 5-4 or 4-5. If partner has equal length in your suits, he bids 2D to ask you to bid your longer major.
Meckwell: The double is a relay to 2C, which you pass or convert to 2D to show the minor one-suiter. Converting to 2H shows both majors. A variation defines double as either a 4-card major with a longer minor (as in Woolsey) or both majors.
Cappelletti. Also known as Hamilton, this convention uses the 2H and 2S overcalls to show 5 cards in that suit and 4+ cards in a minor. Another version, called Reverse Cappelletti, switches the meanings of 2C and 2D.
You usually hope to avoid a 3-level contract, but the structure is based on the idea that if your best fit is a minor, the opponents probably won’t let you play at the 2-level. For safety, you may want to require more playing strength for these two-suited bids (the Woolsey convention defines them as 5-5). Another strategy is to treat your hand as a one-suiter when you hold a strong major and a 4-card minor.
Revised Cappelletti. This modification removes some of the mystery from the 2C overcall and allows you to use up auction space by showing a long major immediately.
DONT: “Disturb Opponents’ NoTrump” shows two-suiters by bidding the lower-ranking suit. Although you won’t always find your perfect contract, these overcalls allow you to find a reasonable fit at the 2-level.
Some pairs change the meaning of 2C to clubs and a major. This gives up showing a two-suiter with diamonds, but improves your chances of finding a heart or spade fit.
Landy: This simple convention is popular because it describes the two most important hand types – one-suiters and major two-suiters -- and its 2C overcall offers the same flexibility as in Woolsey. A variation is Transfer Landy, where a 2D, 2H, 2S or 3C overcall shows the next-higher suit.
All the Landy and Cappelletti treatments use penalty doubles, making them good choices if you want to play the same defense against all 1NT ranges. If you prefer Woolsey, Meckwell or DONT, you should add a second convention for use against weak notrump openings.
Still looking? The experts mentioned several other conventions they thought
were effective. They include Astro (and variations Aspro and Asptro), Brozel,
Cansino, HELLO, Lionel and Suction.
Copyright © 2019 Karen Walker