Responsive Doubles

 

When the opponents are bidding and raising a suit, and Partner has taken action by doubling or overcalling, a Double may be used for take-out, the so-called Responsive Double.  Typically, this one is played up to 4♦.

 

 

13th June, 2007                Board 28      Dealer West       N-S Vul

 

 

Do you play Responsive Doubles?  And, if so, when are they on and how high do you use them.  The answer to “How high?” is commonly 4♦.  And the answer to “When?” is that it applies whenever they open and raise, and when Partner has overcalled or doubled.

 

Here, they have indeed bid and raised, and, in this case, Partner has overcalled.  So the Double is Responsive and is our choice with the West hand.  Oh, yes, one small detail, what exactly does that Responsive Double show?  Some values, of course, but, at this low level, no more than 6 or 7 points are required.  And the unbid suits, it’s very much a Takeout Double.

 

 

14th February, 2007         Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

Yes, when Partner overcalls, and the opponents have bid and raised, our Double is for takeout, the so-called Responsive Double.  What does it show?  Exactly the same as a Negative Double would show if Partner had opened 1♦ and they had jumped in with a 2♥ bid.  So, in this case, the Double guarantees 4 Spades.  And in terms of values?  Let’s say a minimum of 7 or 8 HCP’s, or thereabouts.  Or less with really good distribution.

 

 

4th April, 2007                  Board 8      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

Do you play Responsive Doubles?  If you do, then the basic rule is that if your LHO opened with a suit bid, and Partner then overcalled or doubled, and your RHO raised Opener’s suit, then Double is Responsive, a bid that is trying to find a fit, not extract a penalty.  Even if you and your Partner are playing Responsive Doubles, it’s worth touching base to make sure that you both play it on when the opening bid was a preempt.  We suspect that nowadays the more popular treatment is that Responsive Doubles are indeed on in this situation, is your Partner on the same wavelength as you?

 

Anyway, if the Responsive Double is an option here then it’s a fine choice, showing something in the minors and denying 4 Hearts.  And suppose that the Responsive Double is not an option in your partnership?  Then you have a difficult choice, you’ll probably be forced to Double anyway and hope that Partner does the right thing.

 

25th April, 2007                Board 4      Dealer West       Both Vul

 

 

 This one is really a two-part question:

-         Do you bid at all?

-         If you do decide to bid, then what?

 

If we pass (smoothly, one hopes) the auction is not over, Partner can always back in with another Double.  But perhaps that is putting too much strain on Partner.  We have a singleton in the opponents’ suit and a smattering of values, and we think that the West hand is worth a bid.  But it’s not 100%, we would not argue with a smooth Pass.

 

OK, we’ve decided to take the plunge and do something.  What?  Nobody would argue too much with 4♥, but our own choice, if we are playing Responsive Doubles this high, would be to double, showing both majors.  There’s no guarantee that Partner has 4 Hearts, and we would prefer to play in the 4-4 Spade fit rather than the 5-3 Heart fit.  True, if Partner is 4-4 with better Spades, we might end up in the 4-4 Spades rather than the 5-4 Hearts, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, and may even work out better.

 

 

14th February, 2007         Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

Yes, when Partner overcalls, and the opponents have bid and raised, our Double is for takeout, the so-called Responsive Double.  What does it show?  Exactly the same as a Negative Double would show if Partner had opened 1♦ and they had jumped in with a 2♥ bid.  So, in this case, the Double guarantees 4 Spades.  And in terms of values?  Let’s say a minimum of 7 or 8 HCP’s, or thereabouts.  Or less with really good distribution.

 

 

28th March, 2007             Board 22      Dealer East       E-W Vul

 

 

Do you Double here, and neglect to mention your magnificent Diamonds?  Or do you bid 2♦ and risk losing the Spade fit?  We’d bid 2♦ ourselves, that suit is so good and the Spades so poor.  Also, if we are playing Responsive Doubles, there is a good chance that the auction might proceed as follows:

            North   East     South   West

                        Pass    Pass    1♥       

            2♦        2♥/3♥  Dbl      etc.

In this auction, we were able to bid our good Diamond suit and still not lose the Spade fit … Partner’s Responsive Double of 2♥ (or 3♥) shows 4 Spades and some values.

 

On the actual hand, this is exactly what happens … if North bids 2♦, East bids 2♥, and the Responsive Double allows N-S to compete in Spades.

 

 

20th June, 2007                Board 19      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

Partner’s Double was Responsive, showing both the unbid suits and enough in values to compete to the 4-level.  Something very close to opening values, in other words.  Now, the opponents have bid game in Hearts.  What next?

 

We don’t have much in the way of HCP’s, but we do have that luscious void in their suit.  This looks like a hand for declaring not defending, so we’d bid again.  Which minor should we pick?  Well, our minors are the same length, but the Diamonds are better, so should we bid 5♦?  That would probably work fine, but our own choice would be 4NT.  This can hardly be natural, nor can it be Blackwood, a more obvious interpretation would be “pick-a-minor”.  The rationale for offering Partner the choice is in case he is 5-4 in the minors, we’d rather play in the 9-card fit.

 

 

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