Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - September 12, 2022- 3H Preempt

Question:  South opens with a 3H preempt.  You are the next bidder with a good, unbalanced hand of 16 points plus 2 length points.  What do you do?  Do you tell your partner about the clubs by going 4C or do you double even though you have a singleton diamond? Do you just pass or do you go for a penalty double? 

Mark:

Pre-emptive bids can make life difficult, which is certainly the case here. I think you have two logical alternatives, each of which risks the possibility of getting to a wrong contract. The two reasonable alternatives are double, for which the standard meaning is takeout, and 4 clubs, which is the greatest length and strength of the hand. If partner has 4 spades, or 5 and not enough strength to bid, the only way to discover the spade fit is to make the takeout double. Partner should realize that the only suit you are really promising is the other major, unless you have a powerful hand and a suit that requires little or no help from partner. If partner has 6 unexciting diamonds three little spades and one or 2 clubs, this is where the risk comes in. Partner will bid 4 diamonds, showing a suit of 5 or more, denying spades and potentially very few useful points. Another hand partner could have includes the heart king and the doubleton queen of clubs and enough diamonds to prevent the other side from cashing a bunch of those. in that case, 3 no-trump is very likely to be a great contract and, if partner is brave, they will bid it. So, if the hand belongs in 4 spades or 3 no-trump you are not likely to get there unless you make the (takeout) double. If you belong in 4, 5 or 6 clubs, the simple bid of 4 clubs describes the strength of your hand nicely and partner should have a good chance of guessing how high to go. If you double first and then, over partner's 4 diamonds you bid 5 clubs, you may be too high. If 5 clubs is your optimum contract, your partner may think you have a stronger hand and put you in 6. There's just not enough room to explore. You mention the possibility of a penalty double, but that's not an option and you wouldn't want to do that if you did have the option. Too likely that 3, or maybe 4 or more herts will be made. There's one dream scenario if you do the conservative thing and bid 4 clubs. Your left hand opponent may raise to 4 hearts and now you can bid 4 spades. The non- forcing 4 club overcall has limited your hand, so partner shouldn't get carried away. Also, you will have made it very clear that, while you have 4 spades, you have much longer and stronger clubs. Parner, holding even 1 club or 2 and 3 small spades should take you back to clubs and pray for no double.

  I wouldn't consider passing 3 hearts with that hand for two reasons. 1. Bridge is a bidder's game and you don't win much in the long run by passing hands like that, even though it is risky to enter the auction. 2. The decision of whether to bid, and what to bid if I did, is difficult and would take more than the mandatory 10 seconds to decide. It would be obvious that I'm in a real quandary. This would put pressure on my partner to pass, even with a hand that would normally call for a bid. It's better for partnership harmony not to put each other through that. Just bid (or double) and accept the fact that you might get a bad result. Congratulate South for giving you a difficult problem. That's their job.