September 2019 - 48

Newer Players

Ask Jerry
BY JERRY HELMS

Dear Jerry,
Yesterday at the local club, my
partner opened 1♣ and my righthand opponent overcalled 1NT. I
held 4-4 in the majors with 7 HCP
and made a negative double. It went
all pass, and they made an overtrick. I don't think partner should
have passed, and she doesn't think I
should have doubled. Advise!
Sara
Hi Sara,
It's rare that I can provide a definitive answer without seeing anyone's
actual hand. Unfortunately, in this
case, you are the offending party. A
quick review of negative doubles, and
specifically their purpose, should be a
good start.
The negative, or Sputnik double, as
it was originally known to the expert
community, was first recommended by
Alvin Roth in the mid-1950s. It was a
direct offshoot of moving from fourcard-major opening bids to five-card
majors. The basic intent was to uncover a secondary potential fit, especially
in a major, after a minor-suit opening
was met with an overcall. A classic
example:
1♣

1♠

?

♠7 5 3 ♥K J 6 4 ♥K J 6 5 ♣7 2
The shift to five-card majors means
that in this auction, opener could hold
four strong hearts and three low clubs,

48 Bridge Bulletin September 2019

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something that would be unlikely if
partner could have opened a four-card
major. Using double in this sequence as
takeout for the unbid suits was a muchneeded change to previous methods,
allowing you to compete. The basic
premise was to use double as a search
for alternate contracts rather than for
penalties.
In your auction, between your
partner's opening bid and RHO's announced 15-18 points, there is little
reason to fish for a potential two-level
alternative contract that may not exist. It is standard practice to play that
your double is 100% penalty with zero
indication of shape. Your values are
typically in the 10-plus category.
Think about it. Opener generally
holds 12 or more points, RHO around
16, and you hold at least 10. What do
you think dummy might look like?
Worthless would be a good start. Your
double in this sequence announces
ownership of the hand, and strongly
suggests that either we play the hand,
or the opponents play a doubled contract. After your partner opens one of
any suit, and your RHO overcalls 1NT,
each of the following qualify for a penalty double:
♠K Q J 7 6 ♥8 3 ♦A 7 4 ♣8 6 4
♠7 6 ♥A K 3 ♦Q 10 7 4 ♣J 10 8 6
♠A 7 6 3 ♥K 9 8 3 ♦7 4 ♣Q J 6
While each of these examples have
exactly 10 HCP, it would be perfectly
acceptable to hold more!

The flip side of this is that if responder does not double 1NT, he does
not hold a good hand.
That doesn't mean he shouldn't bid.
With any long suit or any shapely twosuited hand, responder should tend to
bid. His failure to double denies a good
hand, therefore any bid he makes is
non-forcing.
After: 1♣/1♦-(1NT)-?
1) ♠Q J 10 8 5 3 ♥4 ♦J 6 5 4 ♣6 3
2) ♠10 5 ♥K J 8 5 4 3 ♦6 4 ♣9 6 3
With both hands, responder should
get his long suit involved.
After: 1♣/1♦-(1NT)-?
3) ♠K 8 7 5 2 ♥A 7 6 4 2 ♦3 ♣9 4
4) ♠A J 10 8 ♥Q J 9 6 2 ♦9 5 4 ♣3
It is often a good idea to bid on these
types of hands. There are a number
of conventional treatments which
could be useful in this situation. Any
artificial bid that shows both major
suits would be preferable to pass by my
standards.
After: 1♥-(1NT)-?
5) ♠7 ♥Q 6 4 2 ♦J 10 7 5 4 ♣7 6 2
6) ♠7 2 ♥K Q 6 4 2 ♦10 5 ♣9 7 6 2
Following my long-standing advice
of looking for reasons to bid before settling for excuses to pass, with both of
these, a preemptive jump to 3♥ would
be in order. Remember, all good hands
start with a double.
◾
http://www.jerryhelms.com
September 2019

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