Negative Doubles

 

Partner opens, they overcall, and we Double, typically showing the unbid suits.  One question for partnership agreement is "How high do you play your Negative Doubles?"  There was a time when playing them up to 2♠ was considered quite avant garde but the modern tendency is to play Negative Doubles considerably higher than that, let's say up to 4♥, shall we?

                           

4th February, 2009

 

21st February, 2007          Board 25      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

Let’s digress for a moment and consider this auction:

            West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1♣       1♦

            ??

Nowadays, it’s common practice for this sequence to show both majors, with just one of them we would bid that major naturally at the one-level.  And let’s also make the point that bidding 1♥ or 1♠ here does not necessarily show much in the way of values, really no more than would be necessary to make a response to an opening bid after a Pass by South.

 

Back to the Problem auction.  Does Double here show both majors?  No, that’s really not a playable method, for these reasons:

-         Bidding a new suit at the 2-level would show a 5-card suit

-         Bidding a new suit at the 2-level would also show at least invitational values

 

Bear with us, we are gradually getting there!  Yes, on the problem hand we must Double.  It’s Negative, of course, doesn’t guarantee both majors, and could be made on a hand with a five-card major but insufficient values to bid 2♥ directly.

 

 

7th March, 2007               Board 3      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

Here’s a hand that would like to take a bid, but nothing is suitable.

-         No Spade stop, so cannot bid 1NT

-         Not good enough to bid 2♣

-         No support for Partner’s Diamonds

-         Not a Negative Double because only 3 Hearts

 

Yes, it’s really a no-brainer, a simple Pass is required.  But, it’s worth remembering this hand next time Partner passes the opponents’ overcall.  If our Negative Doubles guarantee the unbid major, then we sometimes have to pass with reasonable values.  Or, to put it another way, West is not allowed to say later “You passed, I thought you had nothing!”

 

 

18th July, 2007                   Boards 8 & 9

The computer gave South a similar problem on these consecutive boards:

 

Board 8, None Vul                                          Board 9, E-W Vul                                         

South   West    North   East                             South   West    North   East

            Pass    1♣       1♠                                                        1♣       1♠

??                                                                    ??

 

♠ T                                                                  ♠ 94

♥ T965432                                                      ♥ QJ9852

♦ KQ96                                                           ♦ 76

♣ 2                                                                  ♣ KJ5

 

Both of these South hands are too good to preempt but not good enough to bid 2♥ directly.  The solution is to make a Negative Double first time around and then to bid Hearts later.

 

 

10th May, 2006                 Board 16       Dealer West        E-W Vul

 

 

This simple problem is just a little refresher course in Negative Doubles.  After an opening bid of 1♣, and a 1♦ overcall, the Negative Double shows both majors (at least as is generally played nowadays) … with one major we just bid it naturally, even if it is only a 4-card suit.  But, over 1♦ and a 2♣ overcall, the same does not apply … now, bidding 2♥ or 2♠ shows a 5-card suit (and decent values), so the Negative Double is best used to show at least one major, not necessarily both.

 

However, if we choose to make a Negative Double of 2♣ with just one 4-card major, we need a fallback position when Partner bids the wrong one (partners have a habit of doing that!).  The fallback positions are typically:

(a)    3-card support for the other major (planning to let Partner play in the 4-3 fit);

(b)   Limit raise values in Partner’s Diamonds;

(c)    A hand that can bid some number of No Trump.

 

7th June, 2006                   Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

Is the North hand worth a Negative Double?  7 HCPs and a 4-card Heart suit is enough for some people, but the hand some negatives:

 - the hand is square, and minimum to boot

 - the Q♠ is a dubious asset

 - N-S are vulnerable, and -200 is a definite possibility, especially if Partner competes to the 3-level.

 

No, we'd prefer not to get involved in this one unless Partner is able to bid again.

 

 

5th July, 2006                   Board 8      Dealer West     None Vul

 

 

At her first turn, South had a choice between a Negative Double and raising Diamonds.  The basic rule in these situations is to investigate the major suit first, so we would make a Negative Double, notwithstanding the putrid Spade quality and excellent Diamond support.  Of course, if it turns out that there is no Spade fit, we'll later compete vigorously in Diamonds.

 

5th July, 2006                    Board 17       Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

South’s 3♥ puts West on the spot.  Here are the options:

  Pass:    This is not really an option at all, the hand is just too good ... alas, Pass also happens to be the

               winning bid.  C'est la vie!

  4♦:        That's a pretty big bid for this hand, we think ... and it also takes us past 3NT, our most likely

               game.

  Dble:    Yes, that would be our choice, not that we are thrilled about our lack of a 4th Spade ... but at

               least it keeps 3NT in range.

 

 

16th August, 2006             Board 9      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

Here, N-S sold out to 3♦ (which may well make) when they have 9 tricks in Hearts and 10 in Clubs.  The obvious question is "Were N-S just unlucky, or did one of them fumble the ball?"

 

           North               South

           ♠ KQT32         ♠ 65

           ♥ K4                ♥ JT6532

           ♦ 74                  ♦ 9

           ♣ AJ86            ♣ KQT3

 

West   North   East     South

           1♠        2♦        Dbl

2♠       Pass    3♦        Pass

Pass   Pass 

 

South does not have the values for a 2♥ bid over 2♦, so Double is clearly the right course of action. 

 

How about North's first Pass?  There does not seem to be much point in bidding 3♣ with this somewhat minimum hand when the opponents are in a constructive auction that is forced to at least 3♦.  Bidding 3♣ here just gives the opponents a potential extra way of getting a good board ... for example, 3♣ doubled might be quite messy if Partner's shape is 2-5-3-3, why take the chance when the opponents are already on their way to 3♦?

 

And North's second Pass?  In competitive auctions, where one side fails to bid enough, the guilty party is often the player who makes the final Pass.  But not here!  Other than Pass, North's only option would be to Double, but that would be an overbid on a minimum hand where the most likely fit (clubs) will need to be played at the 4-level.  Also, Partner might reasonably expect a third Heart for this bid.

 

That just leaves South's Pass.  Yes, there's the culprit!  South should bid 3♥ here.  South has denied the values for an earlier 2♥ bid, so Partner will know to expect less than 10 HCPs.  And, despite only having 6 HCPs, South's hand has pretty good playing strength with that singleton in their suit and that 6-4 shape.  Of course, 3♥ is not guaranteed to succeed, and once in a while Partner will show up with the wrong hand for us, such as 5-1-3-4 shape, but it's even possible that N-S could survive that.

 

 

23rd August, 2006            Board 11      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

What does Redouble here show?  Here are some possibilities:

(a)    We could use it just to show Partner’s suit, but that is not a particularly effective treatment, with such a hand we’d be better off raising (in this case) Hearts and preempting the auction;

(b)   Some partnerships play that the Redouble of a Negative Double as showing the Ace or King or Queen of Partner’s suit, the so-called Rosenkrantz convention.  The purpose of the convention is to help Partner get off to the right lead … if we had Hearts but no high honors in the suit we would simply raise the suit (and Partner, if on opening lead, would be able to avoid a disastrous opening Heart lead from, say, KJTxx, because the 2♥ raise would deny any high Hearts);

(c)    The alternative treatment is for the Redouble simply to show a good hand (say 11 HCPs or more), and presumably less than 3 Hearts … with a good hand and 3 or more Hearts we would be cue-bidding the opponents’ suit.

 

Anyway, whether you play Redouble here as Rosenkrantz or as value-showing, that is clearly your bid.

 

 

13th September, 2006       Board 15      Dealer South       N-S Vul

 

 

After 1♦, a Negative Double is generally used to show both majors, which East certainly has.  However, with a 4-5 hand, and game-going values, it’s preferable to bid the 5-card suit first … the hand is good enough to get the Spades into the auction later on.

 

 

15th November, 2006       Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

West has a good 6-card Diamond suit and a truly pathetic 4-card Spade suit.  Nonetheless, we would make a Negative Double here, showing 4 Spades (with or without Diamonds also), and here are the reasons:

-         With moderate hands, it’s important to explore the major suits first, because if we have an 8-card major fit that is more often than not going to be our best game.

-         Even if we thought our hand was strong enough for a 2♦ bid (we don’t!), it is certainly not strong enough to bid 2♦ and then introduce the Spades later.

 

However, with a stronger hand (say the actual one with the additional A♠), we have the luxury of bidding our strong suit first, because we are able to take a second call on the hand.

 

After the Negative Double, the auction unfolds thusly:

            West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1♥        2♣

            Dbl      3♣       Pass    Pass

            ??

Yes, we bid 3♦, definitely non-forcing, showing pretty much the type of hand that we have … 4 Spades, good Diamonds, moderate values.

 

13th December, 2007        Board 1      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

In this situation, how many Spades does North need to bid 1♠?  It used to be quite common for 1♠ here to promise a 5-card suit, and therefore for the Double to show 4 cards in one or other or both of the majors, but nowadays the more common (and, in our view, better) treatment is:

-         With both 4-card majors, we make a Negative Double

-         With one four-card major, we bid the suit.

Needless to say, if that is our treatment, then North has an obvious 1♠ bid here.

 

However, suppose that we hold the same hand and the auction has started as follows:

            North   East     South   West

            Pass    Pass    1♣       1♥

            ??

Now, there is only one unbid major and the rules are pretty much universal:

-         Double with 4 Spades

-         Bid 1♠ with 5+ Spades

 

 

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