Posted 2017-August-08, 15:18
Again, your passes are perfect.
After partner's opening bid and RHO's overcall, you know:
1) You don't have a fit with partner's long suit, and,
2) RHO is unlikely to have a good ♦ fit with his partner, and,
3) Partner is unlikely to have many diamonds with 10+ accounted for between you and RHO.
The hand looks like a misfit as the distributions of both red suits are likely skewed adversely for whoever declares. When you know that is the case, it's not likely that either black suit will break well either. In that case, it's often right to stay out of the auction or get out as quickly and cheaply as you can.
You don't have the values to compete freely over the 2 ♦ overcall. But let's consider and define the bids you might make if you did decide to make a call. A direct 2 ♠ call shows a good hand with 5+ spades and at least 11-12 HCP. A negative double shows about 8-10 HCP minimum at the 2 level. It implies no ability to penalize the opponents, length in the unbid suits (or length in 1 suit that you were unable to bid freely at the 2 level) and tends to show tolerance for partner's suit. Neither of these calls really fits you hand either. 2 ♠ shows a much stronger hand and it may be difficult to prevent partner from pushing too high. After a negative double, you have no good call if partner rebids 3 ♣, no matter what you do then you'll likely land in trouble. The only other call available is the pass you made. Sometimes good bidding is as much about staying out of bad contracts as finding good ones.
Now consider if you had the following hand instead ♠ 108xxx ♥ xx ♦ x ♣ AQxxx. Same points, but the distribution has been rearranged a little. Now consider what happens if partner replies to a negative double with this hand. If partner bids either Black suit, you're reasonably placed. If partner rebids ♥, you know you'll be playing at least a 7 card fit and possible have a ruffing value for partner in ♦. So an aggressive negative double with this hand is not bad. You don't quite have the normal values, but anywhere you end up is likely to be a decent place to play. However, with a singleton ♥ and doubleton ♦ in this hand, pass is again better.
Believe it or not, a pass also gives partner some valuable information. Your pass over 2 ♦ shows not enough values to make a call, a hand unsuited to any call, or a hand with a ♦ stack and values where you want to penalize a ♦ contract. As you progress as a bridge player, you'll learn that sometimes what an opponent doesn't call is as revealing as what they do call. In that regard, as a very fine player told me early on, "Pass is one of the most underrated calls in all of bridge."
BTW, your hand isn't worthless on defense. You hold ♣ AQ behind RHO opponent who presumably has a decent hand for a 2 level overcall. An AQ tenace is worth 1 1/2 Quick Tricks (defensive tricks). That's a lot more than most 6 point hands.
If, at IMPS, the bidding goes,
1 ♥ - 2 ♦ - P - P
DBL - P - ?
I'd probably pass with your hand as 2 ♦x making isn't a game and there's a reasonable chance of beating it. As the cards lie, it's possible to take as many as 9 tricks against 2 ♦x.