Wednesday,
November 16, 2005 6:08 AM
Hand Evaluation - Double (
Definitions )
PITBULLS:
Thomas
Bacon or was it Alexander Pope who said “Sir define your terms
! “ . A bid such as the double
in Bridge takes on so many meanings “ depending on context” of the
auction. We define all doubles in
Bridge as falling into two classes .
Doubles that are made when you own the
auction & doubles made when you do not. Simple
start.
Penalty
doubles made when your side owns the auction
are defined under forcing pass theory.
You own the auction generally when you force to game or responder is unlimited. The vulnerability & opponents
pre-emptive bidding can also turn on forcing passes. A double in forcing pass
theory are either/or warning bids. They mean 1) I have a
minimum so I am not interested in going to the next level so let’s just take our
plus. 2) I have duplication of value in their suit i.e. a trump stack double 3) I have a doubleton
or more in their suit so I am warning you that we have quick losers in their suit ( high levels ) . Doubles can
sometimes be made when the opponent’s own
the auction or the auction is at the 5
level. These are trump stack penalty doubles.
All
the remaining doubles ( penalty ) in Bridge are competitive doubles. Competitive
, in the sense that we do not own the
hand or are just competing to
win the auction. We define all
competitive doubles as D.S.I.P. doubles
which generally means I have no duplication
of value in their suit ( transferable
values only ) , I have defense measured in quick
tricks & I am asking
permission to compete again. If you have their suit ,
you nix my request by converting for penalty. You also nix the request if the
double put us in a bad position so that we must “bite the bullet”. A D.S.I.P.
double is analogous to a partner of a successful
splinter in that no duplication of value exists in their suit.
The
T/O double is conceptually more of an overcall than
a double. A T/O double says I am overcalling their opening bid with 2 or 3 of
the unbid suits. All other doubles conventional or
otherwise can be thought of as a subset
of D.S.I.P. doubles. Negative doubles are systemic
D.S.I.P. doubles with unbid suit
criteria as are responsive
doubles , game try doubles , balancing doubles , re-opening doubles , Thrump doubles , undoubles ,
action doubles. The simple pass within
a D.S.I.P. or negative double auction , can
be conceptually a potential penalty double.
Direct
trump stack doubles are only permitted
at the 5 level
& above or after the
bidding has indicated that you are captain of the
auction ( partner pre-empted etc ) . Trump stack
doubles ( subsequent ) are also allowed after the auction has been previously
clarified with a D.S.I.P. double
. At the 5 level , you double them in 5♦ with ♠xxxx ♥xx ♦KQJ10 ♣xxx so you certainly do not own the auction at his rarified level. At this level, D.S.I.P. means
partner just pass please. You can
also make trump stack doubles when the opponents own the auction.
The
last case of a D.S.I.P. double ( so called 3rd case )
is also when they own the auction but vulnerability kicks in. This bid
is an action double normally done
when you are on the terrorist vulnerability
or they have bid a vul slam. The double even made by a pre-empter is again asking permission to bid but when the
opponents obviously own the auction , it is also
asking permission to sacrifice.
Partner only nixes the request when the opponents have an unpleasant trump surprise
coming to them or we may just be limiting our losses J
Honestly
it all makes sense, even though we
are still in the throes of field testing D.S.I.P. competitive doubles !!!