Bidding Over Takeout DoublesWe tend to ignore the double. This means we bid what we were going to bid without requiring more strength to bid over the double. The Problem With Takeouts. Since our opponent has shown an opening hand - the second at the table - our bids are often preemptive attempts to shut out fourth hand in order to keep the opponents from finding a fit. This is one of the problems with making a takeout double: it allows the opening pair to get in two bids before you hear from your partner.Your partner opens One Heart and your RHO says Double.OVER OPP'S TAKEOUT DOUBLE
New Suit Force 1-level [ ] 2-level [ ]
Jp. Shift Force [ ] Good [ ] Weak [ ]
Redouble Implies No Fit [ ]
Other ____________
What do your bids then mean ? Do you have 10+ points if you bid ? Is a new suit forcing ? Is a jump shift weak or does it show a really big hand or strong suit ? What does Redouble by you mean ?Standard bidding is for new suits to be forcing if you are an unparsed hand and for Redouble to show 10+ points plus an implication of no fit with opener's suit.
Our Card for Over Opponents Takeout DoubleOVER OPP'S TAKEOUT DOUBLE New Suit Force 1-level [X] 2-level [X] Jp. Shift Force [ ] Good [ ] Weak [X] Redouble Implies No Fit [X] Other __3 = PREEMPT___2NT = LIMIT_
We play weak jump shifts throughout, and this is one of the places where it is most valuable. When the bidding goes [1
¨ - Dbl - 2ª* - ???], fourth hand is pressed to find the right bid.Like most duplicate players, we Redouble to show a hand of 10+ without a fit. As we have many ways to show a fit, both weak and strong, redouble with a fit doesn't make sense to us, as this call allows the opponents to get in two calls at the one level.
In the takeout double situation, as with an overcall by opponent, we play a single raise of opener's suit as mildly preemptive, meaning the responder may have only 3 to 5 points with trump support. Even this is sometimes enough to shut out fourth hand bids, e.g., [1ª - Dbl - 2ª - ??] can be intimidating to a vulnerable fourth hand with 8 points and four small Heart cards.
Even better is [1ª - Dbl - 3ª - ??] which really puts pressure on fourth hand. This we bid with several trumps plus a singleton and 6 - 8 points or so. Non vulnerable, we might have 2 points! With a Limit Raise strength hand, we bid 2NT. There aren't enough points in the deck for much more than a Limit Raise in this situation, and the 2NT lets opener bail out at the three level if his opener was weakish.
(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998 All Rights Reserved