This Week in Bridge
(484) Competing over 2-Level Preempts: Leaping Michaels
© AiB Robert S. Todd
Level: 8 of 10 (4 of 6) robert@advinbridge.com
General
When RHO opens a 2-level preempt, they have started eating up our valuable bidding space, but this is just the start of their attack on us. LHO may join in the attack and raise the preempt, making it even more difficult for our side to describe our hands. When we are biding over RHO’s 2-level preempt we should keep this in mind. We need lots of tools to deal with this situation - some of which we have previously discussed:
Takeout Double – any 3-suited hand, very strong balanced hand, or other big hands.
2NT Overcall – Strong balanced hands.
Overcalls and Jump Overcalls – 1-suited hands.
Cuebids – Strong trick-oriented hands without a stopper.
3NT Overcall – Strong trick-oriented hands with a stopper.
We also need a tool for showing good 2-suited hands before the auction gets away from us. Leaping Michaels is our tool for showing these strong 2-suited hands.
Leaping Michaels
When the opponents open the bidding with a 2-Major preempt, jumping in the other Major shows a strong 1-suited hand (“We don’t preempt a preempt.”) But if we have a strong hand with a long minor then we are unlikely to want to go past 3NT. That makes a jump to 4-minor an illogical call and thus an excellent candidate to be used as a conventional call. These jumps (leaps) will be used to show the strong two-suited hands.
Example 1
2♠ __?
4♣ 5+♥, 5+♣, GF hand (usually about a 5-loser or fewer hand)
4♦ 5+♥, 5+♦ GF hand
Example 2
2♥ __?
4♣ 5+♠, 5+♣, GF hand (usually about a 5-loser or fewer hand)
4♦ 5+♠, 5+♦, GF hand
Example 3
2♦ __?
4♦ 5+♠, 5+♥, GF hand
4♣ 5+♣, 5-card Major (not everyone plays this treatment!)
Slam Try by Advancer [RST]
When partner makes a Leaping Michaels bid (showing a good hand) and we have a good hand with support for one of partner’s suits we would like to be able to make a slam try, but because the auction has gotten so high so quickly we have very little space to make a try for slam.
My personal approach to this situation (which comes up more frequently than we would expect) is to play 4NT as Keycard in the Major and a cuebid of the opponent’s suit as Keycard in the minor.
Example 4
2♥ 4♦* P __?
4♥ Keycard in ♦
4♠ To Play
4NT Keycard in ♠
5♦ To Play
This allows us to clearly try for slam in either of partner’s two suits.
Note: If we are not comfortable playing the cuebid as a Keycard ask, then we can play the cuebid as a “slam try in the minor”, agreeing on that suit and trying for slam. After that, 4NT would be Keycard in the minor.
Conclusion
Leaping Michaels is a great way to show a strong hand with two suits (immediately showing both suits) when the opponent opens a 2-level preempt. The convention gives up very little since a jump to 4-minor is almost never used as a natural bid. It is important to try to find our fit in these auctions – before the opponents extend the preempt and make our life even more difficult. Discuss these auctions with your partner and upgrade your competitive bidding methods including Leaping Michaels. This will make the opponent’s preempts less effective against you!