Do you DOPI or DEPO? Read on to learn more.
Holding ♠A, ♥AKQJT832, ♦KT5, ♣9 and playing Benji Acol, I was considering whether to open this 3 loser hand with a non-game forcing 2♣ or game-forcing 2♦ when partner opened 1♦ and my right hand opponent overcalled 1♠. Clearly, if partner had the ace queen of diamonds and the ace of clubs we would have a lay-down seven no trumps. We were playing 1430 Roman Key Card Blackwood so an immediate bid of 4NT would notionally set the trump suit as diamonds and partner could show two aces and the queen of diamonds by bidding 5♠. Seven no trumps would then be an absolute certainty. There was a problem with this plan, however, because if partner had no aces he would bid 5♦. I couldn't convert this to 5♥ to play because partner would take it as asking for the queen of diamonds and we would end up playing at the six level missing two aces. I had to be willing to pass 5♦ if I bid 4NT. If, however, I concentrated on describing my hand, rather than worrying about a possible grand slam, then my best bid was 3H. This would show a good heart suit and force to game. It could then be extremely difficult to find out about the queen of diamonds though. Also, it allowed more space for the opponents to compete in spades.
I eventually decided to bid 4NT. Partner had opened after all. It was unlikely that he had no aces but in that event I would play in five diamonds. If he had one then I would play in six hearts, if he had two without the queen of diamonds I would play in seven hearts and with the queen of diamonds I would play in seven no trumps. I did not anticipate what actually happened next. My left hand opponent bid 5♠! This brings us to the point of the article. The bidding has gone 1♦ - (1♠) - 4NT - (5♠). What would your partner do now? Do you have an agreement on how they still show how many aces or key cards they hold?
Luckily, many years ago my partner and I agreed to play DOPI but I can't remember the last time we used it! It means Double with 0 and Pass with 1 ace or key card and with more you continue the sequence with the lowest available bid. He passed, showing one ace and I bid and made six hearts thanks to my left hand opponent leading the ace of diamonds. We were lucky with the lead and also since we hadn't agreed how to show more than one ace when playing Roman Key Card Blackwood!
I'm getting ahead of myself, however. Let's start by discussing DOPI after a standard Blackwood 4NT. DOPI works best when the opponents' suit is lower than yours. In the extreme case of spades and clubs if the opponents bid 5♣ over your 4NT you can still show all possibilities without going past 5♠. Double shows no aces, Pass one, 5♦ two, 5♥ three and 5♠ shows all four. If the opponents bid 5♦, however, then 5♥ would only show two aces and 5♠ three. With all four aces it's reasonable to commit to a slam and use 5NT to show four aces. If they bid 5♥, however, 5♠ would show only two aces. You have to commit to a slam by bidding 5NT to show three or alternatively agree to use use Double to show no or three aces when the opponents' suit is immediately below yours.
If the opponents' suit is higher than yours then the situation is worse. You always have to bid above five of your suit to show two or more aces. A good alternative is to agree to Double with an Even number of aces (0 is taken as even) or Pass with an Odd number. This is known as DEPO. You are then never committed to a slam but the information isn't precise. It's simple and easy to remember so playing DEPO all the time is a good choice. If you are willing to put up with a little more to remember then for the best of both worlds you can use DOPI when the opponents' suit is more than one lower than yours but DEPO otherwise..
If you play Gerber you have much more space. Even if your suit is clubs and the opponents bid 4♠ over 4♣ you can Double with 0, Pass with 1, bid 4NT with 2, 5♣ with 3 and 5♦ with 4 since you don't mind committing to a slam with all the aces. You can get the precision of DOPI whatever the opponents' suit is as long as they don't jump. Remember to agree to use DEPO if they do jump. For example, 4♣ - (5♦) - Double with an Even number of aces and Pass with an Odd number.
To use DOPI with Roman Key Card Blackwood requires the opponents' suit to be at least two below yours. That's clubs or diamonds when you have spades or clubs when you have hearts. There are now five 'Key Cards' - the four aces and the king of trumps. The DOPI responses are Double with 0, 3 or 5 Key Cards and pass with 1 or 4. The cheapest available suit bid shows 2 Key Cards without the queen of trumps and the next cheapest suit shows 2 Key Cards with the queen of trumps. If the opponents' suit is immediately below yours then you can use it to show two Key Cards with no information about the queen of trumps. In all other cases you resort to DEPO.
Key Card Blackwood simply includes the king of trumps in the key cards. You therefore need to be able to show up to 5 key cards. The conventional responses to 4NT are 5♣ with 0 or 4 key cards, 5♦ with 1 or 5, 5♥ with 2 and 5S with 3. As with Roman Key Card Blackwood the opponents' suit needs to be at least two below yours to have the full sequence available. When the opponents' suit is immediately below yours there is no obvious use for the bid of their suit so you need to swap to DEPO at this point.
The take home message of this article is that the simplest thing to do when the opponents' overcall your ace or key card asking bid is to agree to Double with an Even number and Pass with an Odd number. DEPO works whatever suits you or your opponents hold and irrespective of what ace or key card ask you use. At the very least agree this with your partner if you don't want the hassle of working out when to switch between DOPI and DEPO.
Finally, I'd like to discuss what to open if I did have to make the opening bid. Here's my hand again: ♠A, ♥AKQJT832, ♦KT5, ♣9. We were playing Benji Acol where 2♣ shows a hand of quality with at least 8 playing tricks but is not game forcing and 2♦ is game forcing. This hand has 9 certain playing tricks and ten if partner has as little as the queen of diamonds. If the auction starts 2♣ - 2♦(relay) - 2♥ they could easily pass holding sufficient fo me to make game. If, however, I open 2♦ partner may have to respond 2♥ and become declarer. With the strong hand on the table the opponents will see not to lead up to the king of diamonds and how to play to make declarer eventually lead away from it. This hand is not strong enough to make game certain without help from partner. I would therefore have opened 2♣ but rebid 3♥ showing a strong hand with a self supporting suit needing little help from partner to make game.
Comments