[jonottawa]

Double

[jdonn]

I don't understand double with an unshown fit, no aces, and a singleton trump. It requires getting lucky on partner's hand to work. I keep things simple and bid 4♥.

[Phil]

Double is bizarre to me. We don't have a clue to partner's diamond length, but looking at the ♦Q, his diamond cards are not primary. Our defense is mostly secondary cards, and usually RHO has at least club tolerance on this auction. Double would confirm short hearts as well. Can you blame pard for passing with Axx AQxxxx Axx x?

[hanp]

I think I would double.

[aguahombre]

Phil, on Dec 9 2009, 10:01 AM, said:

Can you blame pard for passing with Axx AQxxxx Axx x?

Exactly why I think double is wrong.

Your example hand should raise 3H to 4H because resp has shown the hand he has.

Opener should picture something like KQXXX KJX X XXXX if responder jumps to 4H. With a bit more than your example, opener might get the auction too high.

[ArtK78]

I have a strong suspicion that doubling 3♦ is the winning action, but, unfortunatly, I have to bid my cards.

I bid 3♥. My hand is a collection of misfitting junk for the most part. If partner has enough to make 4♥, he will bid 4♥.

[billw55]

3♥ for me. Shaky Q♦ and club values opposite shortness don't excite me too much. Opponents are allowed to lead trumps against 4♥ right?

[awm]

The original range for the 1♥ opening was about 9-15; generally our openings promise a total high card points plus length of two longest suits between 18 and 24. In principle we might downgrade some hands with singleton honors or whatever.

Of course, partner's takeout double at the three-level will not be minimum for this range. Typically the double promises 14-15 hcp (i.e. a maximum).

Partner's distribution will most frequently be one of: 3631, 3541, 3640, 3550.

It is conceivable that there are some "off-shape" hands such as 2551 or 2641 that might double if holding a strong spade doubleton and/or enough defensive values to be happy if we convert.

If it is relevant, we usually raise to 2♥ on hands with single raise values, so there is some inference that any hand with 3+♥ that chose to bid 1♠ at first turn should be at least invitational.

[nige1]

awm, on Dec 8 2009, 03:54 PM, said:

IMPs, all vulnerable. You hold: ♠KJxxx ♥xxx ♦Q ♣KQ9x
1♥(1) - P - 1♠ - 3♣(2)
X(3) - 3♦ - ???
(1) Five or more hearts; could be light in values (strong diamond with aggressive openings)
(2) Weak
(3) Takeout-oriented; usually three spades, top of the range (like 14-15 hcp)

IMO 3♠ = 10, 3♥ = 9, 3N = 8, 4♣ = 7, _X = 6.
Out on a limb Partner has something like ♠Qxx ♥AKxxx ♦AJxx ♣x so game would seem reasonable except that your opponents' bidding is ominous. In ♥ your hand may be of little use. You may hope that ♠ will play better. 3N is worth consideration because that may depend less on the location of partner's high cards and may be resilient from bad breaks. RHO's 3♦ is probably based on a ♣ fit. Hence partner probably has ♦ but double still seems brave.

[jonottawa]

jdonn, on Dec 9 2009, 04:53 PM, said:

I don't understand double with an unshown fit, no aces, and a singleton trump. It requires getting lucky on partner's hand to work. I keep things simple and bid 4♥.

I don't understand bidding game with a working 4 count (albeit with 2 8-card fits) opposite a 14-15 opener. It requires getting lucky on partner's hand to work. I keep things simple and double.

[benlessard]

Im wondering about the weird 3D bid is it fit showing ? It doesnt seems likely. If so why did he bid 3D and pass on round 1 ? My guess is that hes 4-7 in the pointed and will find the S lead to give partner a ruff at trick 3 or 4.

I think i would chicken out big time and just bid 3H.

[whereagles]

come on guys, LHO passed 1♥ and then pulled to diamonds. Assuming he's sane, he can't have that good a diamond holding because he didn't preempt

[gwnn]

No but RHO could have diamond help no? Who says diamonds can't be AJxxxx on the left with KTx on the right?

[jdonn]

I hate to donate large scores or misbid my hand because I am presuming someone fits neatly into my definition of sanity.

I should mention I, like some others, have a sneaky feeling double was right on the actual hand. But these sneaky feelings of mine usually turn out to be wrong, so I really shouldn't guess.

[awm]

Here's the full hand:

Scoring: IMP

---

At my table, the auction went as shown. I chose to bid 3♥ and partner bid 4♥ over this. The defense started with a club to the king and ace, a diamond to the ace, and a diamond ruffed with dummy's ♥7 and overruffed with the ♥K. Now another club was played.

Partner can make the hand by ruffing high, pulling trumps in two rounds, and guessing the spades (he can't pitch a spade on the club because he needs a place to park his last low diamond). However, assuming partner believes the ♥K as an honest card, this only works when east has exactly ♥T8 doubleton and partner can guess the spades. Partner decided to discard his losing spade on this trick instead, hoping for clubs to break 6-2. This lead to one down.

Despite the bad result, we actually won three imps on the board when our opponents at the other table bid to 4♠ on a slightly different auction. The defense started with a diamond to the ace, club to the king and ace, club ruffed by east, diamond ruffed with the jack and overruffed by west with the queen, and another club promoting a trump trick for east, down two.

Of course, 3NT is pretty cold and 3♦X is going for at least 800 if not 1100.

[gnasher]

Your partner has a more legitimate way to make 4♥: discard on the second round of diamonds, then ruff the club with ♥J, cross to a spade, and take a heart finesse. That needs his RHO to hold ♥Kxx, but nothing else. Dummy's third round of hearts takes care of the remaining diamond loser and provides an entry to throw a spade on the club winner.