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DONT
Here we look at hands where they open 1NT and we use DONT.
7th September, 2011 E-W Vul
The auction above used DONT. South’s 2♦ showed Diamonds and a major, and that gets North to the nice, comfy spot of 2♥. The question is: “Is there anything that West can do to dislodge the opponents from that 2♥ contract?
How do you play Double by West, after 2♥ has been passed around? One common treatment is: - If the Double is over the Hearts then it is for penalty - If the Double is under the Hearts then it is for take-out. In this case, although it was North that bid the Hearts, it is South who actually has them. So, using those methods, the Takeout Double is not available to West in this auction. But matchpoint players are reluctant to sell out at the two-level, and surely some enterprising (and fearless) West players will trot out 2♠, fortified by the E-W vulnerability and a reliance on Partner’s splendid sense of humor if this should go for -250 or -800 or some other unpleasant number.
7th October, 2009 Both Vul
Most pairs today seem to play DONT or Cappelletti but let’s suppose instead that North is one of the few left who can bid a natural 2♦. What should West do here? The general rule in these situations is: - An over-double is for penalty. - An under-double is for take-out. It makes a lot of sense, of course. There’s a better chance of extracting a penalty if we have Diamond strength is sitting over their Diamonds, and here, where West has only a doubleton, he wants to compete.
5th August, 2009 E-W Vul
South’s 2♦ was DONT (Diamonds and a major) and 2♥ was natural (none of that “stole my bid” nonsense for this E-W pair!). What is your bid as North? Obviously Partner’s second suit is Spades, and her suits could be 4-5, 5-4 or 5-5. There’s a certain 8-card (or more) fit in Diamonds, whereas Spades might be only a 4-3 fit. Nonetheless, we’d bid 2♠ because (a) the Spades are strong, (b) it’s one less trick to make, (c) Spades score more than Diamonds, and (d) we’d prefer the strong hand to be on lead, protecting our black suit holdings. That’s enough reasons for us.
5th August, 2009 E-W Vul
South’s 2♣ was DONT, and her Pass of 2♦ tells us that she has a minor two-suiter. Do you cravenly pass? It could be the winner, but with a maximum hand and with only two Diamonds it seems to us that West should do something. Of course, there is that lovely Club holding sitting over South’s Club suit, that rates to be useful on defense. But it will also be useful on offense. What does Double mean here? It’s over the Diamond and Club bidder so should probably be a penalty double, showing good defensive holdings in the minor suits. Conversely, if North had been the opponent showing the minors, then a Double would be under their suits and would be for take-out.
By this logic, we would rule out the penalty double, we just don’t have enough trumps. Our guess would be to bid 2♠, which could well be a disaster, but which, we think, rates to be the winner more often than not. [P.S. As luck would have it, 2♠ is very much the winner on this deal!]
6th May, 2009 None Vul
Let’s suppose that you are playing DONT, so North’s Double shows an unspecified one-suiter. If East had passed, South normally bids 2♣ allowing Partner to bid her suit (or pass if her suit is Clubs). Once in a while, South will not bid 2♣, for example with a hand such as: ♠8, ♥842, ♦KJT985, ♣K53. Here, South strongly suspect that Partner has Spades, and will bid 2♦ (instead of 2♣) in an attempt to find a safer spot.
The same basic idea applies over the Redouble, except that it is logical for Pass to be the bid which lets Partner to name his suit, and for 2♣ to show a hand with good Clubs, perhaps ♠8, ♥842, ♦K53, ♣KJT985. That being so, South simply passes the Redouble and leaves things up to Partner.
7th January, 2009 None Vul
Here’s an easy one. Let’s assume that you are playing DONT. Do you treat the South hand as a Spade one-suiter or a Spade-Diamond two-suiter? It’s a one-suiter, there’s no need to risk playing in a 4-3 Diamond fit when there is likely to be a 6-2 Spade fit available. Having decided that it is a one-suiter, here are the choices for showing Spades: - Preemptive 3♠ - Competitive 2♠ - Constructive hand by doubling and then bidding 2♠ This hand is clearly competitive only.
6th August, 2008 N-S Vul
If E-W are playing DONT, and if they are like many aficionados of that convention, then West will be unable to resist chirping in with 2♥ (showing Hearts and Spades). On the actual deal West will probably make 9 tricks and might be pretty pleased with himself for jumping into the fray with his 4-4 hand and wresting the contract away from N-S to score +140. But some contracts are better left unwrested! If West had left things well alone (he does have a balanced hand, after all) his side would have made a bunch of tricks on defense, scoring +200.
West’s untimely intervention with that 4-4 hand got his side a bad board, but suppose that N-S had not been vulnerable, and the West had held his peace. Now down two in 1NT is a good result for N-S and West would have done better to get into the auction. The moral is that it is not only our vulnerability that influences whether or not we should compete, it’s also their vulnerability. In other words, we should be less inclined to butt in against vulnerable opponents, perhaps we can get a good board via a +200.
6th August, 2008 Both Vul
Let us assume that you are playing DONT, and therefore your way of getting a one-suiter into the auction is to double first (requesting Partner to bid 2♣ after which the long suit is revealed). However, when Spades are the long suit there are two ways to show the one-suiter. You can bid 2♠ directly (that is usually played as the the weaker way) or you can double followed by 2♠ (showing a stronger hand). South’s hand qualifies for the stronger sequence, wouldn’t you say? Is there a rule for when to bid 2♠ directly and when to go via the Double? South has a 6-loser hand and we’d suggest that this is about as weak as can be for the stronger sequence.
17th January, 2007 Board 29 Both Vul
Only 6 HCP’s, and vulnerable to boot, but nonetheless we’d jump into the fray over North’s 1NT bid, at least if we had a two-suited bid available, such as is provided by DONT and Cappelletti.
If we were playing DONT, we’d bid 2♣, planning to show the Spades freely if the auction permitted that at the two-level, as in: East South West North 1NT 2♣ Dbl Pass 2♥ 2♠ That may see like a lot of bidding for a 6-count, but let’s not forget the old adage “Six-five, come alive!”
If we were playing Cappelletti, we’d have to start with 2♠ (Spades and a minor), at which point we would be done (other than to show our minor, if asked).
4th July, 2007 Board 18 N-S Vul
Here we look at the E-W auction with both hands on view. Let’s start with the West hand, and let us assume that we are playing DONT.
West East ♠ AKQT5 ♠ 98632 ♥ QT43 ♥ A ♦ Q ♦ KJ975 ♣ T54 ♣ 93
West North East South Pass 1NT ?? Is this a major two-suiter? Or a Spade one suiter? Surely the latter! There’s nothing wrong with DONTing on 5-4 hands, but the discrepancy in strength is so great, that Spade suit almost looks like a 6-bagger. OK, this is a Spade one-suiter. DONT gives us two ways to show a Spade one-suiter: Either, bid 2♠ directly, this is the weaker way to reach 2♠ Or, Double to show a one-suiter and then bid 2♠ (the stronger way to get there) We’d say that this is the weak version, though it’s not that far removed from stronger action. So, we bid 2♠ directly, and the spotlight shifts to East.
West North East South Pass 1NT 2♠ Pass ?? Partner has showed a Spade one-suiter, and he had a stronger way of doing that (via the aforementioned DONT Double). Are we worth a game-try? Yes, we do believe that we are! What game tries are available? The recommended treatment is: - 3♠ here is purely preemptive - 2NT is a game-try So, 2NT it is! Now, back to West.
West North East South Pass 1NT 2♠ Pass 2NT Pass ??
Partner has invited, do we accept? We say “Yes!” Previously we decided not to show a good Spade one-suiter, now, as bad one-suiters go, we would say that this one is pretty good!
21st May, 2008 Board 25 E-W Vul
Let’s suppose that you are playing DONT, and if you do not care for that convention then let’s assume that Partner made you do it. Anyway, DONT it is, what do you bid? DONT works well with two-suiters, but South of course has a three-suiter. Which two-suiter do you choose? It would be a mistake to bid 2♣ on the false assumption that this will keep all three balls in the air. It won’t. If Partner does not like Clubs she will bid 2♦ and now you will be left with a guess between Spades and Diamonds. So, we like 2♦ here, treating the hand as a two-suiter in Diamonds and an undisclosed major, simultaneously bidding the best suit and giving N-S a chance to play in the better-scoring major.
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