Posted 2015-April-15, 12:07
As a general rule, one never pre-empts over a pre-empt.
A jump to game over a pre-empt is a special case, in that it might be based on a hand with a lot of playing strength rather than high card strength. Say you held KQJ10xxxx x Kx xx and RHO opened a weak 2 bid.....one could make a case for 4♠ as a 2-way shot....it might make or it might be a good save. Since you have double, then spades, and an immediate 3♠ as ways of differentiating some of your stronger spade overcalls, allowing 4 to be a strong pre-empt makes some sense.
However, 3♠ should definitely not be pre-emptive. Yes, there will be hands on which one would like to be able to pre-empt, but bridge is a game of probabilities, in system design as well as play. When an opp announces weakness on your right, you are more likely to own the hand than you are to need to jam their bidding, so your auctions need to cater to that reality.
'one of the great markers of the advance of human kindness is the howls you will hear from the Men of God' Johann Hari
Club game, MPs, I saw fit to bid 3♥ here. Multi was weak 2M, 20-21 bal, and (I think) strong acol 2m.
The final contract was played out in an uneventful fashion, in 4♠, but 3♥ wasn't rated by the players at the table in the subsequent discussion, so wondering how far off beam it was? Does a pre-emptive bid over multi exist, and if so what should it look like?