Negative Doubles (Part 1)

 

Partner opens 1♦, right-hand opponent bids 1♠, and you double.  The idea that this is usefully employed as a Penalty Double has long since been thrown out of the window.  Nowadays, just about everybody plays it for takeout, it’s the so-called “Negative Double” (“negative” because it is not for penalty, not because it shows weakness).

 

When There is One Unbid Major

 

            Opener RHO    You      LHO

            1♦        1♠        ??

 

Hand A:  ♠ 76, ♥ KQ85, ♦ JT32, ♣ T87

-         That’s at or close to minimum values for a Negative Double, 6 HCP is the usually stated minimum, but no reason to be shy with the good 5-pointers. 

-         Is there a maximum HCP for a Negative Double?  No, you can add four Aces to that hand and (with that shape) it would still be a Negative Double.

-         Does the Negative Double guarantee both the unbid suits?  No, when the unbid suits are a major and a minor, you must have the major, you don’t have to have the minor.

-         Note that we wouldn’t dream of raising Partner here, searching for the major suit fit takes priority.

-         Does the Negative show exactly four cards in the unbid major?  Good question, look at B and C.

 

Hand B:  ♠ 76, ♥ KQ852, ♦ JT3, ♣ AT8

Hand C:  ♠ 76, ♥ KQ852, ♦JT3, ♣ T87

-         Hand B is good enough for a 2♥ bid.  With 10 HCP it is about minimum for the bid, which also shows 5+ Hearts.

-         Hand C has 5 Hearts but it is not good enough to bid 2♥, so you make a Negative Double.

 

Now, let’s change the auction:

            Opener RHO    You      LHO

            1♦        1♥        ??

 

Hand D:  ♠ KQ85, ♥ 76, ♦ JT3, ♣ T876

Hand E:  ♠ KQ852, ♥ 76, ♦ JT3, ♣T876

Hand F:  ♠ KQ852, ♥ 76, ♦ JT3, ♣ AT8

-         Hand D is another minimum Negative Double (see also Hand A).  As before, add a few Aces to the hand and it is still a Negative Double.

-         With Hands E and F, the bid is 1♠ in both cases.  This bid shows 5+ Spades and, as Spades can be bid at the one-level there are no additional strength requirements (c.f. Hands B and C).

 

Hand G:  ♠ J987, ♠ AQ3, ♦ 3, ♣ 87652

Hand H:  ♠ J987, ♥ AQ3, ♦ 3, ♣ QJ872

Hand I:  ♠ J987, ♥ AQ3, ♦ 3, ♣ AQ872

-         With two stoppers in RHO’s suit, would you bid 1NT with Hand G?  It’s tempting, and we’d be torn between 1NT and a Negative Double.  It’s not usually a good idea to settle on No Trump before a major suit fit has been explored.  But here the Spades are weak and the Hearts so good we might make an exception.  Either 1NT or Double could work on any given day.  You choose.

-         With Hand H we would make a Negative Double as the hand is good enough to explore a Spade fit and, if there isn’t one, we can invite game in No Trump.

-         Hand I is good enough for game, so here we can afford to bid 2♣ first, then to bid a forcing 2♠ and then, if nothing good has happened, we can bid 3NT.

 

With Both Majors Unbid

 

            Opener RHO    You      LHO

            1♣       1♦        ??

 

Hand J:  ♠ Q985, ♥ A42, ♦ JT54, ♣ 75

Hand K:  ♠ Q985, ♥ A432, ♦ JT3, ♣ 75

Hand L:  ♠ Q9854, ♥ A543, ♦ J, ♣ K52

-         A Double in this situation shows four cards in both majors.  Hand J does not have both majors so the bid is a simple 1♠.  There was a time when this 1♠ bid showed a five-card suit, but that style is less popular nowadays.

-         Hand K does have both 4-card majors and qualifies for a Negative Double.

-         Hand L has both majors, but one of them is a 5-card suit, so the correct bid here is 1♠.  Hopefully you’ll get a chance to bid your Hearts later.

 

            Opener RHO    You      LHO

            1♦        2♣       ??

 

It is simply not practical to use the same rules here as we used after 1♣ 1♦.  Instead we do the following:

-         Bidding 2♥ or 2♠ means what you would expect, namely 5+ in the bid major and 10+ HCP.

-         Making a Negative Double shows a hand which is not suitable for 2♥ or 2♠, but which contains at least one major suit (four or more).  It could be a weak or strong hand with one or two four-card majors, or it could be less than 10 HCP with a major that is 5+ in length.

 

With No Majors Unbid

 

            Opener RHO    You      LHO

            1♥        1♠        ??

 

Negative Doubles in this situation are relatively rare, for these reasons:

-         Finding a minor suit fit is very much at the bottom of the pecking order.

-         If we have 3+ in Opener’s major we shall probably want to show it, one way or the other (contrast Hand A where we had 4-card suit for Opener’s Diamonds but declined to show it immediately.

-         If we don’t have a major suit fit then our next priority will be to bid the appropriate number of No Trumps if we have a suitable holding in the opponent’s suit.

-         When all else fails, we’ll make a Negative Double in this situation.  It’s supposed to show both minors and a hand not suitable for a 2♣ or 2♦ bid (which, as usual, shows 5+ in the suit and 10+ HCP).  But sometimes we might fudge it a little.  Holding ♠ 532, ♥ Q7, ♦ A6543, ♣ QT9 we’d be reluctant to pass, better to misdescribe the minor suits a little and let Partner know that we have a few values.  If Partner now bids 2♣ we can always retreat to 2♥.

 

For examples of Negative Doubles from actual play, please follow this link to the Archives

 

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