[Walddk]

If you double an artificial bid you always give the opponents more room to manoeuvre. Pass and redouble are now options. I see way too many doubles of Stayman and transfers, and the other side should take advantage.

Double of Stayman:

Pass: At least 1 club stopper *)

Redouble: To play!

2♦: 5-card suit, no club stopper.

2♥/♠: 4 cards in that suit, no club stopper.

*) Redouble by responder will now make the NT-system proceed.

And thank you for doubling. We now know if NT is the right spot or not.

Double of transfers:

Pass: No fit for responder's major (doubleton) *)

Redouble: To play!

2♥/♠: 3+ cards in responder's major.

*) Redouble by responder will now ask opener to bid the major responder has.

And again, thank you for giving us the chance to discover, at the 2-level already, if we have a fit or not. That may help our side in a competitive auction, and it will also make it easier for responder to judge the subsequent auction.

Roland

[daswallow]

Nice system, but I don't agree you should never double stayman or NT.
Assuming stayman is doubled:
This system tells you whether or not NT is safe, given that you are expecting a club lead. However, without the x, you would probably not be getting a club lead so the x may have taken you out of a making 3NT (in practice after poor lead) and into either a bad 4M/5m game or only a part-score.
So in my opinion 'don't double stayman or xfers' is too strong a statement. I agree that they should not be doubled just for the fun of it.

[Walddk]

daswallow, on Feb 15 2005, 06:49 AM, said:

Nice system, but I don't agree you should never double stayman or xfers (MY correction, rw).

Please read my post again. I did not say that you should never double Stayman and transfers. I said that I see way too many doubles.

Roland

[the hog]

Depends on the strength of the NT opening. Against 1NT 12-14 a X of Stayman shows a good hand, not Cs.

Also Xs of transfers should show hands willing to compete in the suit, not some sort of crappy hand. eg I would X a 2H transfer every day on
Ax
KQTxxx
Kxx
xx
or similar, especially against a good pair or you can be robbed blind.

[Fasteddy]

You can make even better use of the intervening double. After a transfer, give up on the business redouble and instead play that it shows 3-card support and a hand that would accept an invitation. That way, after say 1NT - 2D - * - 2H, responder with invitational values can comfortably pass while after 1NT - 2D - * - **, responder can jump to game (retransfering if he wishes). In either case, the opponents are in the dark as to responder's strength.

A similar scheme can as be employed over a double of Stayman.

[tysen2k]

If a transfer is doubled, you can also play that pass could contain some hands with support, but are hands that don't gain anything by having the opening lead come up to them. So in these cases you can sometimes make partner declarer and thus putting the doubler on lead himself.

Tysen

[DrTodd13]

I personally haven't noticed an increase in the amount of doubling of stayman and transfers. What I am getting pretty sick of is unalerted extremely light openings and
overcalls. Hardly a day goes by without someone making a 2-level overcall against me in second seat with like 6 or 7 points. Miraculously, their partner always has support and never overbids...hmmmm. Makes you wonder. I always think..."ok..this guy has
to have that card to have his overcall but let's play this way. DOH! Wrong again.."

[Walddk]

Jlall, on Feb 15 2005, 06:27 PM, said:

what do you bid with 3343 or 3334 or (32)44 with no club stopper if they X stayman?

Sorry, I should have written:

2♦: Any hand without a club stopper and no 4-card major.

The bottom line is that you pass if you have a club stopper and bid if you do not.

Roland

[Cascade]

After a transfer is doubled I like to use the extra calls for something similar but different to Fasteddy...

1NT (P) 2♦ X

Pass no heart fit

Redouble and 2♥ both show a heart fit one shows a hand that is happy if partner competes to the 3-level if there is subsequent competition and the other shows a more defensive hand.

You can do it either way.

I think this solves a more useful problem since given the (lead-directing) double it is quite likely that you will have further competition.

Wayne

[mr1303]

Certainly I prefer redouble to show a good fit for the suit I transfer to, rather than being to play, since I've only once been able to a) redouble and have partner pass it. And even then it wasn't cold.