Blum on Bridge Balance of Power
	Renowned author and lecturer Mike Lawrence has written more extensively on the subject of "balancing" than anyone I know. Balancing is so crucial to which partnership gains the upper hand in low-level bidding situations that we will take both this week and next to complete our discussion on the topic. Because Mike is so thorough I shall attempt to consolidate excerpts from both his books and pamphlets. Balancing occurs when you are in the pass-out position. Two examples, on which we will go into greater detail later, are lho 1club-pard pass-rho pass-you? Also, rho 1heart-you pass-lho 2hearts-pard pass-rho pass-you? Before we take up balancing I want to talk a moment about the rare occasion that second chair would trap-pass. After an opening bid, as a general rule, the only time you should trap-pass is when you have substantial length and strength in the enemy suit. It is critical that you pass in tempo with no hesitation. You do not want to alert your opponents that you have a good hand and second, partner is not entitled to the information that is conveyed by a long hesitation followed by a pass. These opportunities are rare for with shortness in the enemy suit and a good hand you would make a take-out double, overcall your long suit, or bid no-trump. A frequent situation where it is almost always wrong to pass is after lho opens one of any suit and both your partner and rho pass. Pass only if you hold considerable length and strength in the opener's suit, making it unlikely partner has trap-passed. Even with a relatively weak hand it is best to keep the bidding open. Why would you want to do this? The answer is in the bidding. You know rho has less than 5-6 points or else he would have responded to lho's opening bid. Thus, your partner must have close to an opening bid. Perhaps he did not bid directly because he either had his holding in the opponent's suit or had other values but no appropriate call. His points plus yours may well total more points than the enemy so why should we let them play and probably make the contract at a low level in their suit when we could do the same in our best suit. In essence, what you have done when you make this fourth position call is to bid partner's cards even though you do not see them. This reopening is called balancing because you presume that between you and partner you hold the balance of power. It, of course, has been based upon the enemy's bidding or lack of bidding. When you balance the meaning of such bids as doubles, overcalls, no-trump bids, cue-bids, and jump overcalls must be revised. Mike says that it is important to have clear understandings of what all of those bids mean in the balancing chair and then to use good judgment. Balancing doubles serve several purposes. It enables partner to pass, converting the double into a penalty double if he has previously trap-passed. It also can be used as a take-out double. However, in balancing position the requirements are much lower for both strength and support for the unbid suits than a standard t/o double. A balancing double can be used to describe a good hand, unsuitable for any other immediate action. Rebids will clarify the nature of the hand. You may make a balancing double with as few as 8-9 points though some experts, including Edgar Kaplan, recommend a good 10-point hand. There is no upper limit. Three examples where you should make a t/o double after the opening bid of one heart are (a) KJ106-7-K1095-A1072, (b) K5-82-AKQJ7-J1095, (c) A107-5-K10954-Q1095. Had one heart been opened on your right you would also have doubled holding (a). With (b) you would have overcalled two diamonds and passed holding (c). Suppose partner responds one spade. (a) Raise to 2 spades showing the values for a normal t/o double. Rebid two diamonds holding (b) showing a good overcall. You elected to double in case partner was trap-passing. Holding (c) pass showing a minimum t/o double. Responding to balancing doubles requires better judgment than over direct t/o doubles because of the wide range of hands covered by the balancing double. You should not jump with 9-10 points as you would over a direct t/o double. Jump responses should show about an opening bid and a five-card or longer suit. If pard has a good double he will bid again over your simple response. A jump to 2NT shows an opening bid and the enemy suit well stopped. A jump to 3NT shows the values for a strong 1NT and the enemy suit stopped. Rho opens one diamond. You and lho pass but partner doubles. (a) Holding A5-72-KQJ965-K107 you pass. Your trap-pass worked. (b) Holding K105-J10-J87-AQ542 bid 2 clubs. Don't "hang" pard and jump to 3 clubs. (c) Holding A5-Q103-AQJ-J10952 bid 2NT showing a sound opener and diamonds stopped. Next week we'll discuss balancing overcalls, balancing jump overcalls and balancing no-trumps.