Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - August 29, 2022 -Overcalling a preemptive bid

 

Question:  

N has opened with a 3 D pre-emptive bid with 7 D and 8 HCP.

W has 12 HCP and 5 C and overcalls with a bid of 4C.

 When played, the board made 6 C so obviously, E should have bid.

 Are there any “basic” guidelines for overcalling a pre-emptive bid?

Mark:

Another fascinating hand! 

Neither E nor W has a clear, safe overcall over 3 diamonds. If 3 D is left in, it should make easily, so any E-W plus should be an OK result. 

 tend to try to get in when not vulnerable, so I'd probably bid 3 spades with the east hand. Many top players would pass, so I can't argue with that. Hopefully E didn't hesitate long before passing. 4 clubs with the W. hand isn't clear-cut, as I said.

At an open tournament, NS should call the director immediately after a slow pass from E. The director call doesn't imply anyone has done anything improper. Subjectively, W is likely to be convinced that 4 clubs should be bid regardless of whether E hesitated before passing. Objectively, a director is likely to rule that W has a logical option to pass, even if 60% of players would bid in a normal tempo auction. As a director at the club level I'd let the bid stand, but in an open tournament (sectional or regional) I'd require a pass from W if E definitely broke tempo. This is assuming that I got called after the slow pass and BEFORE W acted. Once W is allowed to act, it looks like NS might want the best of both worlds, to get the better result of playing 3 D or defending the overcall. I would let the overcall stand and let the chips fall where they may. This is all hypothetical, nothing about the actual players at this table or the actual tempo of the bidding. 

After W does overcall 4 clubs, as E, I would bid 4 spades or 5 clubs. Neither contract should normally make as the cards lie. She must have played the hand magically and got some help from the defenders to make 6 clubs. The score of plus 170 should be close to a top in most duplicate games. It's tempting to want to have bid more after the play yields so many tricks. 

The ideal EW contract is 3 spades making 140. However, once spades are bid by E, it's hard to stop short of 4. With careful defense, 4S will go down, as will 5 C.