DOUBLES:

So far we have looked exclusively at bids—those calls involving both level and denomination. Though you may only double an opponent's bid (or rebouble a bid that has been doubled by an opponent), a double can be just as effective a constructive bid as anything covered so far— even more effective under the proper circumstances. There are many kinds of doubles, and they can convey all kinds of information, but we will look at only three kinds: negative doubles, takeout doubles, and penalty doubles.

Negative Doubles:

Often your opponents will interfere with your opportunities to respond to your partner's opening bids, but negative doubles offer some relief by giving you the opportunity to indicate the bid that you missed the opportunity to make. Here's how they work:

If your partner opens one of a minor, and your RHO bids a major, you can double to show exactly four of the other major and the points you would normally have needed to bid it at the one level, provided there had been no interference. This means that if your partner opens 1D, RHO bids 1H, and you double (X), you have at least 6HCP and exactly four spades. If you wanted to show five (or more) spades, you would bid 1S instead of doubling.

Along the same lines, if your partner opens a minor and RHO bids the other minor, a double by you promises four cards in each major. Partner's major followed by RHO's major, and a double by you promises four-four in the minors (note that this is not the standard agreement; normally it promises either one or both majors, but you and your partner need to decide which version to use). In these cases, you are showing two suits, so if you are 5-4 in those two suit, the double is still more informative than bidding the longer suit. If necessary, you can always bid the 5-card suit later to show the extra length.

If your partner can support your holding, he should do so if your LHO doesn't bid. This give you a fit in a low contract and removes a double that would, if left in, almost certainly benefit your opponents. If he cannot support you, he should still have that second bid we talked about earlier, and he'll make that.

The great advantage of negative doubles is that your bids become both more meaningful and more precise as they save bidding space and reduce the risk of pushing the bidding out of reach when you and your partner are at risk of having a misfit or when your opponents have comparable HCP to your partnership's.

Takeout doubles:

Some people say that every double is for takeout (forcing your partner to bid), and that's certainly the safest way to look at one when first it appears in an auction. You can always change your mind later. It is easier to say which doubles aren't for takeout than to enumerate those that are.

Obviously, negative doubles are not for takeout; in fact any double you make after partner has already bid should not be treated strictly as a takeout double. Doubles of NT bids are never intended for takeout, nor are doubles of bids at the game level or higher. Every other double should be treated as takeout. (Doubles of 4C and 4D may or may not be for takeout, but that is a partnership agreement issue.)

So what does a takeout double do for you? When opponents have bid, but your partner has not, you may double to show shortness (no more than two cards) in opponents' suit (if they have bid more than one suit, it shows shortness in the most recently bid suit or two suits). It tends to deny a five-card suit (a bad five-card minor might be present), shows opening points or better (often closer to NT point) and at least three-card support for all the unbid suits, though it should never be bid with 5-3-3-2 distribution. The shorter your holding in opponents' suit(s), the fewer points you need to double.

When you use negative doubles, you force your partner to bid unless your LHO bids. Your partner will bid the best unbid suit he has. This often means that he will have to bid a 3-card suit, but remember that you are cutting into opponents' bidding very cheaply. Any bid by your LHO let's your partner off the hook, but he, of course, may bid if he has something legitimate to show you. Any bid by your partner under those conditions promises a lively auction either because of a fairly even division of points or because of wild distribution(s). The play will probably be at least as interesting as the bidding, too.

While a takeout double, barring interference, orders your partner to bid under any circumstances, even with no points, your partner may, with the right hand, choose to pass your takeout double and thereby convert it to a penalty double. This may only be done when he is fairly certain that he has enough power in his hand (points and/or trump length) to set the doubled bid if it becomes the contract. Generally speaking, however, if you have the strength to double, and partner has the strength to set the contract, you and partner have enough strength for a decent contract of your own. Rarely will you earn more points by setting opponents under those conditions than by making your own contract, usually at the game level or higher.

Penalty Doubles:

When your partner has bid or when opponents are in game or higher, any double you make is for penalty. When you double for penalty, you are saying that you believe you can set your opponents' contract with what you and your partner have. Furthermore, you must be prepared to double any higher bid they might make to escape your double. Thus, if your opponents have shown an interest in both hearts and spades, only double a 4H contract if you are prepared to double 4S as well.

If you take a look back at the scoring tables for undertricks, you'll notice that the penalties for undertricks grow rapidly in doubled and redoubled contracts. However, the rewards grow as well. Don't worry if about half of your doubles don't pan out; that's how it should be. One useful bridge aphorism to keep in mind is this: "If your opponents go down every time you double, you're not doubling enough."