[LoneMonad]

1♣ X XX Pass

what does the XX mean
how should opener rebid?

playing 2/1

[the hog]

Traditionally it means 10+ HCP and an ability to penalise the opps. Today a numbe of players have a more modern interpretation, as it is usually not that worthwhile penalising the opps at the 1 level. A transfer perhaps?

[TylerE]

Opener should generally pass without anything special to show (e.g. 6 card clubs, or something, and even then perhaps sit.) Generally from here on out whatever the opponents bid, opener should double (for penalty) any suit the opponents bid that he has a decent holding in (3 to an honor, say).

As an aside...another Haskell programmer in the house?

[dburn]

More traditionally (that is, in the days before Hogs started overcalling 1♥ on bad hands with five hearts to the nine) sequences such as 1♣ - Dble - [1HE] were not forcing. In order to create a sequence that was forcing, you redoubled with enough values to want to make either a natural and forcing bid or a penalty double at your next turn.

Nowadays, most play that a sequence such as 1♣ - Dble - 1♥ is forcing (in effect, "ignoring the double"). In that context, redouble is generally used to show a balanced hand with the values for about 2NT at least. You need this because a sequence such as 1♠ - Dble - 2NT is nowadays played as a constructive raise in spades, so you have to do something else with a hand worth a natural 2NT. This problem may not arise when the opening bid is 1♣, of course - though even in these interesting times, I have heard that some players do actually prefer to bid clubs when they have them.

Whether or not using redouble as a transfer is suitable for beginners or intermediate players is not for me to judge. But you need to answer these kinds of questions:

If the auction begins 1♣ - Dble - Rdble - 2♥, is a pass by opener forcing? If so, what does his double show? Does his bid of 3♣ show extra values, or merely a minimum with long clubs?

If the auction begins 1♣ - Dble - Rdble, what does fourth hand's pass show? Is he prepared to defend one club redoubled, or does he merely want the doubler to start getting them out of this mess? Does the same apply to an auction that starts 1♠ - Dble - Rdble?

And so on, and so forth. You will find, if you continue to contribute to these forums, that people will answer "what's the problem - it obviously means X" to these questions. You will, however, find that the value of X is not constant in such cases. Either that's just people, or that's just bridge. Or both.

[kenrexford]

My wife thinks that redoubles should always be for penalty, because she made several redoubled contracts in a row when she first learned the game.

So, also having no real interest in learning suit/lead, she decided that a redouble of an opening bid should show a "real raise," meaning constructive, and that a raise should be a "nuisance raise," a concept that she liked a lot.

Having played this wih her for a couple of years now, I really like it. I mean, how many times has 1♣-X-XX really resulted in a lucrative penalty? On the other hand, it is really nice to be able to XX with 8 or 9 HCP and club support and to bid 2♣ with ugly nonsense, especially over minors where suit/lead does not usually apply anyway.

Simple sometimes works.

[the hog]

dburn, on Oct 7 2008, 09:35 AM, said:

More traditionally (that is, in the days before Hogs started overcalling 1♥ on bad hands with five hearts to the nine) sequences such as 1♣ - Dble - [1HE] were not forcing.

He He David, ask Nicola if she would not bid with 5H to the 9. I think you already know the answer.

[y66]

According to Bridge World Standard, which attempts to define common North American expert agreements as of 2001:

Quote

After our minor-suit opening and a takeout double:

a) a one-level new-suit response is forcing (by an unpassed hand);

b) one diamond — (double) — two clubs is not forcing;

c) two notrump shows a game-invitational or stronger raise of opener’s suit (direct jump-raises are preemptive);

d) a direct single raise is natural, similar to a single major-suit raise;

e) a jump-shift is preemptive;

f) a double jump-shift is a splinter raise;

g) a redouble shows any hand with 10-plus HCP that is not suitable for a raise or a new-suit bid.

If playing this, does responder bid 1H with all of these hands?

♠2 ♥5432 ♦5432 ♣AQ32
♠AQ32 ♥5432 ♦5432 ♣2
♠AQ32 ♥AQ32 ♣K5432
♠KQ2 ♥5432 ♦KJT ♣K32
♠432 ♥5432 ♦KJT32 ♣K32