Daytona Metropolitan Bridge Club
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The Trouble with Doubles

Responses to take-out doubles form an area of bidding that is full of pitfalls and booby traps.  Life is easy when you have one of the suits that partner has asked for.  The only question is how high you should bid.  Various authorities disagree on ranges.  My personal preference is to make a minimum bid with 0-9, jump with 10-11, and cue-bid with more.  These ranges are partly based on what the doubler can be expected to do.

In Standard American, the take-out doubler should have 16-18 points to double and later bid or raise, 19-21 to double and later jump raise, and 22 or more to double and later cue-bid.  When the take-out doubler has less than 16 points, he must not bid again without an invitation from partner.  If your partner can be depended on to follow these guidelines (and if he can't, consider finding a new partner), you never have to worry about missing games.

The 16 point division here explains the ranges I am suggesting for responder.  There is no need to jump with less than 10 points because game will not be possible unless the takeout doubler can take further action.

The exception to the above is after a free bid.  If your LHO passes your double, your partner is forced to bid and his bid only guarantees 13 cards.  If your LHO bids, your partner is not forced to bid.  If he bids freely, you can raise with four of the suit and slightly more than a minimum.

So what do you bid with no suit?  There are some textbooks out there which recommend bidding 1 NT with 0-10 points.  Personally, I believe a response of 1 NT to a take-out double be based on at least one solid stopper and 7-10 points.  There are two reasons for this preference.  The first reason is purely practical.  My partner's hand is very unlikely to be suitable for NT.  The second reason is purely psychological.  Opponents seldom allow one to play unmolested in a one level suit contract. If I bid a suit at a low level, the opponents are more likely to bid again.  A 1 NT bid discourages competition.  With 2 points and 4 cards to the 10 in the opponent’s suit, even a true hand hog can not find any enthusiasm for being declarer.  It is far better to make it simple for the opponents to bid further.  Therefore with 0-6 points and no suit to bid, I suggest bidding your cheapest 3 card suit.

There is one hand which is permanently engraved on my brain.  I was sitting in fourth seat with: ♠ 863 ♥ 732 ♦ 1094 ♣ J964.  To be really honest, I sorted my hand and my mind went off to consider previous hands.  I awoke with a jolt to discover left hand opponent had opened 1 ♣ and partner had doubled.  RHO was now learnedly considering his hand.  Meanwhile, as is extremely important at this point, I was trying to maintain a poker face and look like I had no problem at all.  It never pays to let the opponents know how much trouble you are in.  He decided to pass for the moment, I bid a cool 1 ♦ with no hint of pain and LHO passed.  My partner now learnedly considered while I worried.  What on earth was he doing?  My partner finally bid 3 ♦.  My poker face was becoming more and more difficult to maintain.  I was thinking that he better have his whole 19-21 points because this had turned serious!  Meanwhile RHO was again studying his hand learnedly.  I cheered up when he produced a 3 NT bid.  I was saved!  I passed, LHO passed, but partner was still there thinking!  He doubled and I had to find an opening lead.  There are those who would talk themselves into an odd lead because of the double, but this was a pure penalty double (remember he has guaranteed 19 + points) so I led the 10 of diamonds.  The declarer played as poorly as he had bid to go down 800 which was a tasty result.  Several pairs had played 3 NT from my hand down 500 to 800, doubled.  Others had played 3 ♦, down one or just making.  If I had responded 1 NT, partner would have bid 3 NT with his 20 points.  How could he have resisted the temptation?

The moral of this story is that when partner doubles, don’t volunteer for a NT contract unless you have a really good hand.  And do not respond 1NT unless you have a full stopper and 7-10 points.

Copyright 1991 June C. Byrne, Originally published in the Advancing Players Column in the Northern Virginia Bridge Association [NVBA] Newsletter.

(Posted April 4, 2005)

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The Reverse Bid by Spike Lay              
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If you, the opener, after a one-over-one bid by partner, bid a new suit at the two level that forces partner to bid at the three level in order to take you back to your original suit, you have "reversed."

What do you do with hands that have the strength for a reverse but lack the proper distribution, e.g. AJx  AKxxx  AQxx  x?  Open your longest suit and then jump shift into your second suit.  Remember the rule: OPENER SHOULD NEVER FORCE A REVERSE BY OPENING HIS SHORTER SUIT.

Also remember, if you can reverse you don’t need to and should not jump shift. 

For example, with x  AKJx  Ax  AK109xx open 1♣ and rebid 2♥ over a 1♠.  Don’t jump to 3♥.

There are different ideas about how to respond to a reverse.  My methods are an amalgam of methods collected from different sources.  In general, since a reverse usually promises a minimum or 17 or 18 points, if you as responder have 8 or more there probably is a game somewhere.  With an opening hand – less if you have a good fit for one of opener’s suits – slam may be in the picture.  Finally, if you have dredged up a response on 6 or 7 points (or less), and there is no fit there may be no game.

In the first example, 2NT starts a weak sequence and asks opener to rebid his first suit.  Notice that the fourth suit (3♣) would have to be bid at the three level; therefore we use 2NT to start the weak sequence.  Opener will dutifully rebid 3♦ unless (1) he has extra strength, (2) has 3-card spade support or (3) has 5 hearts.

(a) Kxxx  xxx  Kxx  xxx  He will pass 3♦.

(b) Jxxxx  Kxxx  xx  Jx  He will bid 3♥ over 3♦.

In the second example where the fourth suit is available at the two level, responder uses it to show weak hands:

Opener  Responder
  1♣         1♥
  2♦          2♠

The system works about the same. Opener now has the option of bidding 2NT or 3♣ - either of which may be passed.

Responder with a good hand, i.e. game forcing or better makes his most descriptive bid – all of which are game forcing.

Opener   Responder
  1♣            1♥
  2♦             2♥, 2NT, 3♣, 3♦, 3♥ etc.

Anything is forcing except 2♠ - the fourth suit.

Getting into a game-forcing auction early allows the partnership to explore for the best game or slam.

Here are a few example hands and suggested sequences.

(1) KJx  x  AKxx  AJ10xx       Q98xx  Kxx  Jxx  xx

(3) KJx  x  AKJx  AKJxx          AQ97xx  109x  Qx  9x

Copyright © 2005 by Spike Lay

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Last updated:  Wednesday, August 02, 2006