Doubles
The English word "cleave" has exactly opposite
meanings (i.e. "join" and "separate") depending on the
context in which the word appears. Similarly, doubles
in bridge can have exactly opposite meanings (i.e. "I
want partner to pass" and "I want partner to take
this double out by bidding hir length") depending on
the context of this particular auction.
PENALTY:
The most basic double is the PENALTY double, which
asks partner NOT to bid (i.e. to "leave in" the double).
The idea is to increase the penalty for the opponents'
failure to fulfill their contract. PENALTY doubles
come in two forms: penalty doubles of NATURAL bids
and penalty doubles of ARTIFICIAL bids.
- PENALTY Doubles of ARTIFICIAL bids:
When the opponents make an ARTIFICIAL bid (such as
a Stayman 2C or Jacoby 2D or 2H response to 1NT, OR an
Ace-showing response to Blackwood) a double implies LENGTH
in the bid suit if at a LOW LEVEL of bidding and asks
partner to LEAD the doubled suit if made at a HIGH level.
1NT Pass 2C Dble - Clubs.
1S Pass 4NT Pass
5D Dble - "Lead a Diamond, pard!"
The thing which distinguishes these penalty doubles
is that the opponents DO NOT INTEND to play in the bid
strain. Hence, it is the OPPONENTS who usually "pull"
(i.e. remove, run from) such doubles.
If the opponents cuebid partner's suit artificially
a double shows LENGTH/SUPPORT in partner's suit if NOT
vulnerable, an HONOUR in partner's suit (lead directing)
if vulnerable.
1H 2H Dble - 3+ Hearts if NOT vulnerable,
- H-A, H-K or H-Q if VULNERABLE.
- PENALTY Doubles of NATURAL bids
A double of 1NT in direct seat is PENALTY, showing
15+ HCPs and a good suit to lead OR 18+ HCPs--unless you
and your partner happen to be playing some special,
conventional method of overcalling 1NT (such as DONT).
Doubles of 4S opening bids are always penalty,
since one can bid 4NT over an opening bid of 4S to
ask for partner's longest suit. Doubles of game-level
bids LATER in the auction also tend to be penalty.
1NT Pass 4H Dble - PENALTY.
Doubles after OUR side has made a natural No Trump
bid are usually penalty.
1NT 2D Dble - PENALTY.
Doubles of a 3rd or 4th suit bid are usually penalty.
1D 1S 2C Dble - PENALTY in standard methods.
1D Pass 1S Pass
2C Pass 2H Dble - PENALTY.
CO-OPERATIVE:
A co-operative (or "optional") double is one which
simply "shows good cards". A double of any 4-level or
higher opening bid OTHER THAN 4S (see above) are
co-operative. When in doubt, leave the co-operative
double in. Bid only if you have an rather LONG suit
(5+cards or more) in a distributional hand.
5D Dble - CO-OPERATIVE.
A double of 1NT in the balancing seat is CO-OPERATIVE
too, showing 13-15 HCPs in a flat hand. Partner will leave
the double in unless weak with a long suit.
1NT Pass Pass Dble - CO-OPERATIVE.
TAKEOUT:
Takeout doubles are identified by Doubler's desire to
hear partner TAKE OUT the double to hir longest suit, with
particular attention to any unbid MAJOR suit.
Unlike the PENALTY and CO-OPERATIVE doubles (above),
the TAKEOUT double comes in MANY forms.
- The SIMPLE TAKEOUT Double:
This double comes when partner has not yet bid (other
than a PASS) and the opponents have opened in a suit BELOW
the 3NT level. Depending on the level of the opening bid,
Doubler shows a near opener (if at the 1-level) or a full
opener (if at the 2- or 3-level). If weaker than 16 points,
Doubler should have 3 or 4 card support for the unbid suits.
With 16+ HCPs, Doubler can have virtually any
distribution OTHER than the 15-18 flat hands that might
be better described by a 1NT overcall. For this reason,
a takeout double followed by a simple No Trump rebid shows
19-21 HCPs.
1D Dble Pass 1S
Pass 1NT - 19-21 flat.
Indeed, if Advancer (Doubler's partner) makes a
minimum-showing response ANY rebid by Doubler shows
extra strength.
1C Dble Pass 1H - 0-8 points, Hearts.
Pass 1S - 16-24 (else PASS). Spades.
Doubles of a 1nt RESPONSE (not to be confused with
doubles of 1nt OPENINGS) are also simple takeout doubles.
1S Pass 1NT Dble - TAKEOUT.
For hir part, Advancer can pass the takeout double
ONLY with 8+ points and significant length and strength
in the enemy suit. Otherwise, Advancer MUST bid--even
with ZERO HCPs and NO good suit.
1S Dble Rdbl 2C - s-xxxx h-xx d-xxx c-xxxx
Note that a Redouble does NOT relieve Advancer of
the responsibility of bidding her long suit is s/he
happens to have one.
Stronger Advancers can JUMP in a long suit
(9-12 HCPs, invitational) or cuebid the enemy suit
(with 13+ points).
1S Dble Pass 3H - 9-12 pts, 4+ Hearts.
1H Dble Pass 2H - Cuebid, 13+ HCPs.
With a guard in the enemy suit and balanced
distribution, Advancer can respond in No Trump with
6-10 HCPs, jumping in No Trump with 11-13 HCPs. Because
Doubler is keenly interested in hearing a major suit,
Advancer's No Trump bids will DENY 4+cards in any unbid
major.
1C Dble Pass 1NT - 6-10 HCPs, Club guard.
1C Dble Pass 2NT - 11-13 HCPs, Club guard.
To summarize responses and rebids after a takeout double:
Responses to partner's TAKEOUT double:
PASS: 8+ pts, 5+cards in enemy suit.
1NT: 6-10 pts, guard in enemy suit.
Jump in No Trump: 11-13 pts, guard in enemy suit.
Simple Suit Bid: 0-10 pts.
Jump Suit Bid: 9-12 pts. Invitational.
Cuebid THEIR Suit: 13+ pts. One round force.
Doubler's Rebids after simple suit reply: PASS (10-15 pts)
RAISE (16-17 pts)
CUEBID (18+ pts)
NEW SUIT (16+ pts)
REBID 1NT (19-21 pts)
- The NEGATIVE Double:
A double is Negative only in response to a 1-level
suit opening bid by partner and an overcall by RHO.
1C 1H Dble - Negative.
2D 2S Dble - PENALTY opposite TWO level opening.
A negative double shows EITHER 8-12 points and support
for any unbid suit (especially any unbid 4-card MAJOR suit
partner might hold) OR 13+ HCPs and no convenient bid.
1D 2C Dble - Maybe: s-AJxx h-QJxx d-Qx c-xxx
or: s-KQx h-Axx d-AJxx c-xx
For now, Opener will assume that partner has the
weaker, 8-12 point hand with support for any unbid major.
Opener will usually rebid naturally, jumping to show a
better than minimum hand, cuebidding to show a
game-forcing hand (given that Responder just showed
8+ HCPs) in some cases.
1C 1H Dble - Negative, implying 4 (not 5+) Spades.
Pass 1S - Minimum opener with 4 Spades.
1C 1H Dble - Negative, implying FOUR Spades.
Pass 2S - 15-17 points, 4 Spades.
1C 1H Dble - Negative, implying FOUR Spades.
Pass 2H - 18+ HCPs, game forcing.
Responder, too, can use the enemy suit to show a game
forcing hand after making a negative double.
1D 1S Dble - Negative, implying FOUR Hearts.
Pass 2H Pass 2S - 13+ HCPs, Game Forcing.
- The RE-OPENING TAKEOUT Double:
Any double of an opponent's part score by OPENER
when Responder has PASSed throughout is a RE-OPENING
TAKEOUT Double. In DIRECT seat this shows a VERY
strong hand, 18-21 HCPs.
1D 1H Pass 2H
Dble - Re-opening. Very strong.
1D Pass Pass 1S
Dble - Re-opening. 18-21 HCPs.
In the BALANCING (i.e. passout) seat, a re-opening
double can be made on a slightly weaker opening hand.
1H 1S Pass Pass
Dble - Re-opening. 15-21 pts.
- The BALANCING TAKEOUT Double:
In the passout seat, any double of the opponent's
fit is takeout--even if the doubler is a passed hand!
Pass Pass
Pass 1S Pass 2S
Pass Pass Dble - Balancing.
These Balancing doubles are, of course, fraught
with danger. Their purpose is usually to boost the
opponents up one level in order to effect a one trick
set (on a good day). They are more common in MatchPoint
play (where +50 versus -110 is a GREAT score, well worth
the occasional -500) than at IMPs (where -500 might cost
the entire match and +50 versus -110 is only 4 IMPs).
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Common NON-STANDARD Takeout Doubles
You may assume that all of the doubles described
ABOVE will be understood and employed by any new SAYC
partner. In addition to these, you may choose to
discuss other, non-standard doubles. There are MANY
such doubles, including SNAP, Fisher, Defensive
(which you can read about at Colin's web page:
http://www.escape.ca/~ksired/bridge.htm
if you are curious) and conventional doubles of 1NT
openings (such as with DONT, BROZEL and McGuinty).
Please bear in mind that you should assume
that your are NOT playing the following doubles
unless you and your partner have EXPLICITLY agreed
to play them (and marked them on your convention
card, if you have one).
Here are the three best known non-standard
doubles:
- The RESPONSIVE TAKEOUT Double
A RESPONSIVE double is a double of RHO's RAISE
of LHO's (Opener's) suit over our partner's takeout
double. They show 4 cards in any unbid major.
1H Dble 2H Dble - Responsive. 4 Spades.
If NOT playing Responsive doubles, the above
double of 2H by Advancer is PENALTY.
Expert opinion on Responsive doubles varies.
MOST experts, including OneDown, employ them. Others,
including Kaltica, dislike them.
- The SUPPORT Takeout Double
A second non-standard but popular takeout double
is the SUPPORT double. This involves Opener doubling
RHO's interference over partner's suit response in
order to show THREE-card support (hence the name) for
Responder's suit. It follows that, if playing SUPPORT
doubles, a RAISE of Responder's suit INSTEAD of the
SUPPORT double promises FOUR (or more) card support.
1D Pass 1S 2H
Dble - 3-card Spade support.
1D Pass 1S 2H
2S - 4-card Spade support.
If NOT playing SUPPORT doubles, the double of
2H in the first example above would be PENALTY.
- The COMPETITIVE Takeout Double
Another non-standard but rather common takeout
double is the COMPETITIVE double. Again, you MUST
have discussed and agreed to play COMPETITIVE doubles
with your partner BEFOREHAND, and marked it on your
convention card.
The COMPETITIVE takeout double arises in
competitive auctions where BOTH sides have found
a fit. In such cases, the bidder COULD either
bid the agreed suit OR DOUBLE, the latter action
suggesting GAME in the agreed suit. In such cases,
FAILURE to make a COMPETITIVE double (if you've
agreed to play COMPETITIVE doubles with this
particular partner ahead of time) DENIES interest
in game.
1H 1S 2H 2S
3H Dble - COMPETITIVE. "4S?"
1H 1S 2H 2S
3S 3S - NOT inviting 4S.
If NOT playing COMPETITIVE doubles the double
in the first auction is PENALTY, while 3S in the
second auction may or may not involve game interest
(and THEREIN lies the advantage of agreeing to play
COMPETITIVE doubles with your steady partners).
