Doubles Parts 7-8: Bridge Article

Default Agreements: Was that a penalty double ?

Part 7 -- Defaults vs. conventions

Suppose you're playing a system with a full arsenal of conventional doubles. Can you fire any of them when you pick up:

6 842 AJ106 KJ863

and the auction goes:

1	Pass	Pass	1
2	?

In previous articles, we looked at "standard" default agreements you could use to determine if an ambiguous double is penalty or takeout. It's important to remember that these guidelines are used only for situations that aren't covered by your other agreements or conventions. Your default agreements are valuable only if you and partner know the exact conditions where the default doesn't apply because a convention does.

The source of many disasters is unclear agreements about responsive and maximal doubles. These problems often occur, even in established partnerships, because we assume that conventions are self-defining -- that once we agree to play a conventional double, both of us will know how it's "supposed" to be played.

The solution, of course, is to have a detailed discussion about the exact conditions where each double will be used. There's seldom time for that when you're filling out a card with a new partner, so it's helpful to know the "modern standard" treatments. Here are some widely used guidelines to help you decide when your conventions apply, and when you should rely on your default agreements.

Responsive doubles

Most pairs who play this popular convention limit its use to these precise conditions:

1 - Our first action was a three-suit takeout double OR a simple suit overcall. 2 - It's possible we have a playable fit in any of three suits. 3 - The opponents must have bid and raised a suit.

If you play this "expert standard" treatment, responsive doubles are "off" -- and your default agreements are "on" -- if partner has already narrowed down the choice to two suits (with a Michaels cuebid, Unusual Notrump or a two-suited takeout double). The same applies if he's shown a purely one-suited hand (with a preempt) or if he's opened or overcalled notrump.

Since a responsive double always suggests a possible interest in three suits, it isn't used if the opponents have bid more than one suit, or if you've already bid and raised a suit.

The most important requirement -- and the one violated most frequently -- is #3. If you play responsive doubles, you may have something like "Thru 3S ORO" on your convention card. The ORO stands for "over raise only", which means both opponents must have bid the same suit.

Even with these agreements in place, some players can't resist the urge to invent other imaginative uses. The problem comes when you make them up at the table. After a hand years ago, a partner told me that he had meant his double as "responsive-ish". He had decided that a subtle (and undiscussed) takeout was the perfect way to describe his specific hand, so he doubled, with the fond hope that I would work it out. I didn't, and we were -670.

You'd be setting yourself up for the same type of disaster if you doubled with the hand at the beginning of this article. As much as you'd like to show the unbid suits here, you can't use a responsive double if you follow the guidelines above. Opener has merely rebid his suit without a raise, so your double would be penalty.

So what can you bid with this hand? Since the auction suggests a misfit, your best choice is probably a pass. If you can't bear silence, the only alternative is to rub your rabbit's foot and bid 3 Club .

You can, of course, extend the use of responsive doubles to auctions where an opponent rebids a suit. That requires prior discussion, and, although it would be handy in this specific problem, it's probably not the most valuable agreement in the long run. When the opponents haven't confirmed a fit, you'll usually find it more beneficial to use a double as penalty.

Maximal (Game-Try) Doubles

This convention provides an exception to the standard default "It's a penalty double if we've already found our fit." It's a popular way to solve the problem of how to show extra values when the opponents take away your 3-level game try.

Also called game-try doubles, this special double is used when:

1 - The doubler's partner has made a single raise of the doubler's suit. 2 - The doubler has not previously denied invitational values. 3 - The opponents have competed to the 3-level in the suit directly below ours.

Here are some auctions that cause problems for many pairs:

(A)

1	2	2	3
Dbl

(B)

1	Pass	1	2
2	3	Dbl

(C)

1	2	2	Pass
Pass	3	Dbl

(D)

1	1	Pass	2
3	Dbl

Maximal doubles don't apply in (A) because partner had room to make a game try below 3 of your suit. His bid in the available side suit (diamonds) would be a general game try. However, if the opponents had been bidding diamonds (the "maximum" suit below yours), partner could double to invite game or bid 3 to sign off.

Maximal doubles can also be used by responder, as in (B). This isn't the "classic" use, so you would want to discuss it with partner and develop a firm agreement.

In (C), you've already limited your hand, so your standard default makes this a penalty double. Some pairs do, however, agree to play this double as "cooperative", showing a hand with two-way values. We'll discuss these special doubles in the next article.

Game-try doubles are not used after you overcall, so partner's double in (D) is penalty no matter what suit the opponents bid. Partner could have Spade AKJ Heart Q10874 Diamond KJ92 Club 2 .

Part 8 -- Defaults for cooperative doubles.

Two-way, re-negative, action, informative, cooperative . . .

It sometimes seems as if modern bidding systems have fallen in love with non-penalty doubles - and that there are as many different names for them as there are competitive situations.

These doubles are used to send specialized- and sometimes very subtle -- messages in specific types of auctions. One that's growing in popularity, but can be particularly difficult to handle, is the cooperative double.

A cooperative double shows uncertainty about whether to declare or defend; it tells partner you have good defense if he wants to pass, and good offense if he wants to bid. As such, it sends the potentially risky message of "do the right thing, partner".

Some players maintain that cooperative doubles don't exist at all -- that they're just excuses for making undiscussed doubles that partner didn't field. That theory may be close to the truth. Of all the terms used to describe competitive doubles, probably more sins have been committed in the name of "cooperative" than any other.

In practice, however, cooperative doubles are used successfully by many partnerships. They can help you solve many matchpoint bidding problems, but only if both partners are clear on the exact conditions.

Even though the cooperative double isn't technically a convention, it should be treated like one. Just as with any new convention, you should define the types of auctions where it applies, and avoid the temptation of using one in an undiscussed situation.

One recommendation is to limit the use of cooperative doubles to auctions where:

Doubler has previously limited his hand in such a way that he couldn't be positive of beating the contract and
Doubler's partner will know there's a safe alternative to passing -- because the partnership has already bid and raised a suit, or because doubler has shown a two-suiter or one very long suit.

Here are some situations where many pairs like to play the double as cooperative:

1	1	2	2
Pass	Pass	Dbl

Partner is showing a maximum response with moderate heart length and probably only 4 diamonds: Spade A7 Heart J64 Diamond J982 Club K1032 .

He's asking you to pass if you have good defense, but to pull to 3 if you have primarily distributional strength (extra diamond length or a singleton heart).

1	Pass	Pass	Dbl
2	2	Pass	Pass
Dbl

Partner has bid two suits, so it's unlikely he has a heart stack. Instead, he's showing a very powerful hand- most likely 3-1-5-4 -- that can beat 2 if you can contribute something on defense (perhaps because you're short in his suits). If not, you can pull to 2, 3 or 3.

1	Dbl	1	2
Pass	Pass	2	Pass
Pass	Dbl

Partner's takeout double in suggested short diamonds, and his pass of your freebid denied great strength. His second double shows a maximum, probably with only 3 clubs and a doubleton diamond: Spade AK76 Heart A1093 Diamond J5 Club K102 .

1NT	2	2	Pass
Pass	3	Dbl

Partner's failure to double at his first turn gave you a strong clue about his defense against a heart contract. His double now says he has enough strength that he's unwilling to sell out to 2 undoubled. He might hold: Spade A10873 Heart J6 Diamond Q104 Club 765 .

Your decision is fairly easy. If you have a doubleton spade, you pass. With 3-card spade support, you should pull to 3 unless you have a strong heart holding.

Even without prior discussion, experienced players would probably be able to work out the two-way meaning of the doubles in the four auctions above. These situations are "obvious" enough that good logic and hand evaluation skills would lead you to the right conclusion.

The message wouldn't be so clear, however, in:

1	1	1	Pass
2	2	Dbl

1	2	2	4
Dbl

Some pairs like to play these doubles as cooperative, but since neither auction fits the requirements below, I wouldn't try them without a special agreement.

In the first auction partner hasn't limited his hand. He could have diamond shortness and strong hearts, so it's very possible he has a pure penalty double. And since you've denied 3-card spade support -- and partner hasn't shown a diamond fit -- it isn't obvious what your "safe" alternative is to passing.

Unless you've agreed to play this double as cooperative, you should use your broader defaults to interpret it. This auction fits two of the standard defaults we discussed in previous articles:

Default : It's a penalty double if the doubler's partner has accurately described his strength and distribution; and

Default: It's a penalty double if the doubler had a good alternative.

Your auction has described your strength and your spade and diamond length, so you should be able to assume that partner has enough information to make a decision. And since he had other ways to show extra values or search for a suit or notrump contract, his double should be penalty.

The 2nd auction fits another standard default: "It's a penalty double if we've already found our fit." My regular partner, however, thinks this double should also send a two-way message. Since the opponents have ostensibly shown a 10-card fit -- and the auction has been jammed so high - he believes the double here is more valuable as cooperative, showing extra values and short clubs.

Several experienced players he polled said they might treat it this way at the table, so perhaps this auction should be an exception. I'm not yet convinced, but my partner has assured me that he won't try this until we develop an agreement.

Cooperative doubles can be handy tools, but they always carry some risk, so many pairs play them only at matchpoints. And although cooperative doubles are most commonly used at low levels, there are some 4- and 5-level doubles that can have the same meaning.