It's always a contradiction in balancing style. Some like sound overcalls
and aggressive balancing, others like aggressive overcalls and don't
like balancing much.
When you hold something like:
SAxxx Hxxx DAxx CKxx,
even the most crazy player wouldn't double RHO's 1S opening.
However, when the bidding goes like this way:
1S p 2S p
p ?
It's quite a sound way to reopen the bidding since partner
is rated to be short in S and has some value. What would you
bid now?
double? Isn't that a penalty double for something like this?
SKQJTx HAxx DAxx Cxx?
There is one way to distinguish this two hand types. All we need
is a out of date convention called "Fishbein double".
Fishbein was designed against opponents' preempts. A double
shows balanced hand and willing for penalty. A suit contract right above
the preemptive suit is take out. It doesn't work well, because you just
lose too much: you lose the possibility for partner to pass your take
out double. You can't bid the suit above naturally.
However, a Fishbein like convention works perfectly in balancing auctions:
Here, a double would be penalty. 2NT: take out.
3C/D/H: natural.
Over 1H p 2H p p
double: penalty.
2S: take out.
2NT: minors.
3C/D: natural.
Here, you should try to make light overcall 1S over opener's 1H as much as
you can to avoid the later balancing issue.
So with SAKxxx Hxxx Dxx Cxxx, my suggestion is to overcall 1S.
Thus, you wouldn't have tough balancing decision later. The principle is that
if you feel like balancing 2S over 2H, you should bid 1S directly.
If you know your opps play standard minor suit raise, you should also make
light overcall 1H over 1D to avoid later balancing problems if you adopt
this structure.
2003-06-02