Tuesday, March 01,
2005 5:14 AM
Hand Evaluation – Systemic
( Negative Doubles )
PITBULLS:
Negative
Doubles were invented to describe hands that can not
be bid naturally. Your hand
can not be bid naturally because the opponents suit is higher
ranking thereby preventing you from mentioning
your suit without overstating
your values. If you can bid your suit naturally , avoid negative doubles at all costs.
Thursday nite, I was playing against a beginning
player who held ♠AJ10xx ♥x ♦AK10xxx ♣x . His partner opened 1♣ , my partner overcalled 1♥ so he made a
negative double for the unbid suits ! Yes , he indeed has the unbid
suits , but he is strong enough to bid naturally. He should bid 2♦ , bid & rebid
spades to show his strong 6-5. Once he makes a negative double ,he cannot catch up & describe his
distribution & HCP’s properly.
Playing
with a tormentee tonight ,
we had the same problem of playing “catch up” when an ill advised negative
double was made in the 1st instance. The tormentee
held ♠Jxx ♥K109x ♦AKJxx ♣x
. I opened 1♣ & Judy Chapman overcalled 1♠. You have 12 HCP with
a nice 5 card diamond suit so there is no need to make a negative
double as you just can bid naturally.
You bid 2♦, I bid 2♠ Western Q bid asking
you for a spade stopper . You do not have one so you
bid 3♥. I bid 5♦ and that is cold for
+600. I held ♠xx ♥Ax ♦Q10x ♣AKQ10xx . Say you complicate matters by making a
negative double . I bid 2♠ which should be
interpreted as a Western Q bid. You are now stuck for a bid .
Your negative double shows 6 HCP’s but you have 12, so you bid 3 spades to show your good
hand & force to game. I interpret the 3 spades as a spade control with you
wanting to right side the NT so I bid 3NT. They run the 1st five
spade tricks for a zero on our part. The culprit for this confusion
was the negative
double.
I
even do not like the idea of making a negative over a heart overcall to show 4 spades. Following the
principle of a negative double does not replace
a natural bid ,
I just bid 1♠ with 4 spades when
they overcall a heart. I prefer the negative double to show a hand I cannot bid
naturally over a heart like a hand with diamonds & clubs. Say ♠x ♥xxx ♦QJ10xxx ♣Axx when partner opens 1♣ &
they overcall a heart. This shuts out the diamond suit so I make a negative double . If partner bids 1♠ , 2♣ or 1NT , I bid 2♦ so get my suit in without overstating my values.
Before negative doubles
, all doubles of overcalls were penalty. Opener left in the
penalty double unless there was some reason
to pull ,
like lots of distribution and/or a lack of defense. Lets
clear up a common misconception among some Bridge
players. A re-opening double does not show extra values. The
double just shows a hand that would have left in a penalty double of the overcall
if you were playing that style. You hold ♠10xxx ♥AKx ♦Ax ♣J10xx . open
1♣ with them overcalling 1♦ , so around to you.
Its equal vul so do you double ?
The litmus test is would you leave in a penalty double of 1♦ with this hand ? Of course you would , you have 3 quick tricks with a
defensive balanced hand. You do your duty playing negative
double theory & double. 1♦X goes 3 down for
+500 & partner did not even mean to pass !!