Evil 22-01
This is the year of “Evil Twos” and “Evil Acol” for anybody who wants to try something a bit different yet not overly difficult to add to their bidding and play repertoire. Did you notice that this is the year 2022 so Evil Twos is an apt description of our opening two level bids and defence against an opposing 1NT opening, so let’s start there.
The reader should by now be familiar with the basic structure of the weak two openings, and overcalls when an opponent opens 1NT. However, to start this series, I want to make one interesting addition to our defence against a 1NT opening by opponents. Our basic “Evil” structure of bidding over an opposing 1NT is as follows:
- 2C: clubs and hearts
- 2D: diamonds and hearts
- 2H: hearts and spades
- 2S: spades and a minor
- 2NT: both minors
- all 3 level bids natural and 6+ cards
- Double: Essentially Penalty (15+HCP)
Those of us who play this system will have found it covers nearly all situations; but there is a gap that I am keen to fill: the FOUR card SPADE suit with a second suit being a minor, or a five card spade suit not suitable for either a penalty double or 2S overcall. The addition to our system is that DOUBLE can be either a normal penalty double OR have fewer high card points and four (possibly five) spades and a 4+ card MINOR. Sometimes good guesswork may be required but that can add some interest and excitement, as was the case when we first tried it last year.
Here was a great example to start the year. X-Clubs Monday 17/01/22
Board 13 Dealer N All Vul
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K742
854
QJ
AJ98After a pass from North, all weak no trump players sitting East opened 1NT. Opening such an awful hand with 1NT is scary and I would not have advised it. In fact if the Easts follow my guidelines and subtract a point for a completely flat hand, they would have passed, but none that I am aware did. So, East opened 1NT.
What action would you take as South? Some actually bid 2D if they played that as natural and this did not lead to the best result. unless NS somehow got to 3NT, an easy make. As it was, most NS pairs let the 1NT opener off the hook because they had no way of penalising or getting to 3NT their way. Of course passing 1NT out was still a very good result, even undoubled, depending on how good the defence was.
South, in my opinion, should pass 1NT because South’s hand is good enough to hope that defending may reap better rewards than bidding.
What would have happened if an “Evil” pair with our latest version had been sitting NS? 1NT from East, PASS from South, pass from West, and DOUBLE by North! That would have been an obvious bid playing the latest version of Evil over 1NT. No confusion because North is already a passed hand! When this is passed out, South leads the queen of spades in preference to the normal low diamond, and the roof falls in for declarer, who probably manages only two tricks, down FIVE. Much better than any others who passed out 1NT, the best being minus four for 400.
