Poll #28, Takout Doubles in Contract Bridge – Part 1, 01/17/2011

Takeout Double: The perfect Bridge bid with an opening hand and shortness in opponents suit

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Sometimes one must use force to go against force, sometimes not.  When you stop to think about it, a more elegant way to compete is to turn the opponents’ weakness in your strength.  And that’s what the Takeout Double is all about – instructing partner to “take out” opponents’ auction in another suit.

If you’d like to see the associated videos with commentary and animate card bidding:
Click here to view Part 1

Click here to view Part 2
Barbara Seagram materials Copyrighted by MasterPoint Press

BridgeHands Premium, ULTRA and Teacher members – after loggin in, scroll down to the Protected Content area for your supplemental advanced video lesson on balancing seat bidding, ranges for “Type 2” doubles, etc.   For those still haven’t signed up for one of our subscriptions, we offer a glimpse of this lesson here.

As Barbara Seagram eloquently stated in her award winning book, “25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know” the idea of using a double for takeout instead of penalties originated around 1912 in the days of auction Bridge. Back in those days, inventor Bryant McCampbell referred to the call as an “informatory double.” We encourage our BridgeHands members to also check out Barbara’s website, especially her upcoming Bridge cruises and trips. Her website address is: http://www.barbaraseagram.com

In our Polling You series this week, we will follow along another of Barbara’s excellent books with more details in “Bridge – 25 Ways to Compete in the Bidding.” Barbara and co-author Marc Smith devote three chapters to takeout doubles. Of course, like most Bridge bids it’s not all that hard to make a conventional call – the hard part is knowing what to do next! So in our 3 lessons this week we will follow the same track:

1. Making a Takeout Double
2. Responding to a Takeout Double
3. Later bidding after a Takeout Double 

Over the next two weeks, our focus will shift from aggregate bidding and play around the table to a more drill-oriented approach with North/South bidding exercises. Incidentally, next week we will discuss Negative Doubles, a horse of an entirely different color.

Let’s begin by differentiating when a double is for Takeout versus when it’s for penalty. The basic guide for Takeout Doubles is:

 Some players are confused about the last guideline – why not use Takeout Doubles when an opponent (opener or responder) has bid Notrump? The notion is that when an opponent bids Notrump, the player signifies a suit misfit. When the opponents have a misfit, certainly your side will not magically find a fit, either. Thus, in many situations advanced players use a double of opponents’ Notrump bid as a “Business Double” for penalty. Still, a fair number of players don’t abide by this guideline in an auction like:
1C) – P – (1D) – P;
(1N) – P – (P) – X

On the next four hand, the bidding begins with opponent East:  

Certainly in the passout seat when seeking a 2 level major suit fit, it makes sense to have exceptions to rigid rules. Even in the direct seat, in Mike Lawrence’s “The Complete Book on Takeout Double,” he advocates the following auction as a takeout double over 1 Notrump

(1C) – P – (1D) – P;
(1N) – X

Okay, with the preludes behind us, let’s begin by looking at the four hands offered in our Polling You survey.

 (1D) – X 

We have 12 High card points but lacking a 5 card suit, we need help from partner to locate a fit so we make a Takeout Double.   With one exception (17+ HCP), we promise at least 3 cards in the unbid suits and will be happy to support any new suit bid by partner.  And assuming we have a fit with partner, we can add 1 additional distribution point for our doubleton.  That’s a new concept since the opener typically counts length points for long suits.  But since after the Takeout Double we will be responder, we instead count short suit points.  However since we are forcing partner to bid (assuming to intervening bid by LHO West), initially we cannot be assured we have an 8 card fit with partner.  By the way, don’t worry about the fact our Hearts are so poor – even if our partner holds the 8-7-6-5,  the opponents will usually only take 3 tricks in the suit and we will take our tricks in other suits.  Besides, we might also get in some cross ruffs with partner.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W   E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ K Q J 2 ♥ 5 4 3 2 ♦ 7 6 ♣ A Q 10

We have 12 High card points but lacking a 5 card suit, we need help from partner to locate a fit so we make a Takeout Double.   With one exception (17+ HCP), we promise at least 3 cards in the unbid suits and will be happy to support any new suit bid by partner.  And assuming we have a fit with partner, we can add 1 additional distribution point for our doubleton.  That’s a new concept since the opener typically counts length points for long suits.  But since after the Takeout Double we will be responder, we instead count short suit points.  However since we are forcing partner to bid (assuming to intervening bid by LHO West), initially we cannot be assured we have an 8 card fit with partner.  By the way, don’t worry about the fact our Hearts are so poor – even if our partner holds the 8-7-6-5,  the opponents will usually only take 3 tricks in the suit and we will take our tricks in other suits.  Besides, we might also get in some cross ruffs with partner.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W   E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A Q J ♥ K J 10 2 ♦ 7 6 ♣ A Q 3 2

This time we have a much stronger hand with 17 HCP, but unfortunately we only have 3 Spades.  Like other Bridge bids, sometimes we don’t always hold the perfect hand.  Yes, we would like to have two 4 card major suits but if LHO West passed and partner might be tempted to do the same with 8 HCP.   With our 17+ point hand, we would hate to miss game when partner has a fair responder hand (one they would not pass if we had first opened).  Many competitive players would even make a Takeout Double if the Spade Aces was replaced by the Spade 2.  And most would double with the Spade Ace and two small Spades.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W   E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ K Q 3 2 ♥ A 4 3 2 ♦ 2 ♣ Q 4 3 2

Hmm, we have good news and we have bad news!  The good news is we have perfect shape for a Takeout Double, a 4-4-4-1 distribution.  And as always, we have shortness in the opponents’ suit (recall our earlier comment about turning the opponents’ weakness into our strength.  And while we aren’t fond of the fact we barely have more than one-fourth of the High Card Points in the deck, 11 HCP to be precise, we can easily support any new suit of partner’s choice.  So if our hand becomes the dummy, our hand goes up several points with the ruffing value of our singleton in the opponents bid suit.  For many players, even exchanging the Heart Ace with a King (10 HCP), they would still go with a Takeout Double with a singleton (but we wouldn’t recommend doing so with a doubleton).

With 19 HCP and a great Spade suit are you inclined to overcall 1 Spade with this hand? If so, let’s imagine for a moment that after your 1 Spade bid your partner held this hand:

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W   E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A K Q J 9 2 ♥ A J 10 ♦ 7 6 ♣ A 2

With 19 HCP and a great Spade suit are you inclined to overcall 1 Spade with this hand?  If so, let’s imagine for a moment that after your 1 Spade bid your partner held this hand:

	♠ 3 ♥ K 3 2 ♦ 5 4 3 2 ♣ Q 6 5 4 3
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W   E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A K Q J 9 2 ♥ A J 10 ♦ 7 6 ♣ A 2

With a spread 5 HCP and a singleton Spade, partner North is sure to pass.  But if either finesse in Hearts or Clubs wins, South can make 4 Spades (try Clubs first to ensure transportation to the Club Queen should East hold the King).  So when you have an excellent hand and great 5+ card suit (near self-sustaining by itself), we first double and then bid our excellent suit after partner bids another suit (Clubs here).  This “wakes up” partner we have about 8 playing tricks and are begging partner to bid on with one or more tricks in hand.  Some using around 17+ points as a guideline, but a lot depends in the working honors, shape, and primary honor count.

So on our Polling You survey question, we recommend making a Takeout Double on all of the above hands. 

A note to our more advanced players not seeking a review of Takeout Doubles: please login to your Premium or ULTRA Membership and skip to the end of this lesson for some supplemental commentary on partnership variances in “Type 2” double requirements and associated balancing seat bids.

Now let’s check out some of the material in Barbara’s book, “Bridge – 25 Ways to Compete in the Bidding.”

This time RHO East begins:  (1C) – ?

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A K 7 4 ♥ 8 4 ♦ A 9 2 ♣ Q 9 6 3

You should not say “double”; partner is too likely to bid Hearts.  You are not strong enough to bid twice, and your partner will not approve if you put this hand down in dummy having promised support for all of the unbid suits…. You should not be afraid to double with few high cards, if your shape makes up for it.  Look at this collection:

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ K J 10 4 ♥ A 10 9 4 ♦ — ♣ Q 9 8 7 5

Although you have only 10 HCP, the fantastic shape more than compensates for that.  This is a clear takeout double of a 1 Diamond opening.  The better your shape, the fewer high cards you need for a double, and vise versa.

We recommended earlier that there are two other hand types on which you can also start with a double.  Basically, these are the two types of hands that are too strong for any other action:

1. 1.      A very strong one-suited hand – double and then bid your suit next round (16+ points and a six-card suit, or 18+ points and a five-card suit).
2. 2.      A hand too strong to overcall 1 notrump – double then bid notrump next round (19+ points and a balanced hand)  BridgeHands note: Implied with this bidding sequence is that the doubler has a few stoppers in RHO’s suit.

Exercises from Barbara Seagram: On each hand, RHO opens:  (1H) – ?

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W   E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A Q 4 2 ♥ 6 ♦ Q J 5 2 ♣ K J 3 2

This is a classic takeout double of 1 Heart.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ K Q 8 2 ♥ K 4 ♦ A 10 6 3 ♣ Q 8 5

Double. Your shape is not as good this time, but the extra high cards compensate for that.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ K 9 8 5 ♥ A 8 3 ♦ K 10 9 8 ♣ K 2

Pass. Although you hold a solid opening bid, you have both too many Hearts and not enough Clubs for a takeout double.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A K J 4 3 ♥ 3 ♦ J 7 6 5 ♣ A 9 5

Bid 1 Spade. Although your hand is suitable for a takeout double, the chances are that you belong in a Spade contract. Partner will not bid Spades on Q-x-x and if he responds to your double by bidding 2 Clubs, you are not strong enough to bid Spades later. If you are to reach your 5-3 Spade fit, you must overcall now.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A Q 5 ♥ 7 2 ♦ K J 6 ♣ K 8 7 5 4

Double. Your suit is not strong enough for a 2 Club overcall. You have adequate support for the other two suits and short Hearts, so make a takeout double.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A K Q 6 4 2 ♥ A 7 4 ♦ A J 3 ♣ 9

Double. You are too strong to overcall. If you overcall 1 Spade, you will miss game when partner has a few scattered values but short Spades. If you overcall 4 Spades, you will miss slam when partner has just the right cards (a 4 Spade overcall would be preemptive and show more Spades but fewer Aces – usually less than 10 HCP). There is no rush with hands this strong. Start slowly with a double, conserving bidding space, so that you can investigate fully. As we have seen, when you double and later bid your own suit, you are showing a very good hand.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ A 7 4 2 ♥ A 6 ♦ J 9 7 5 2 ♣ K 2

Pass. You have the wrong shape for a double, and a 2 Diamond overcall on that suit would be asking for trouble. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and hope the opponents bid to a contract that you might beat.

	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ —
	♠ K 10 9 2 ♥ — ♦ J 9 7 5 2 ♣ A Q 9 8

Double. Despite having only 10 HCP, you should make a takeout double and not be ashamed of it. Compare this to hand #2, which as 4 HCP more. This is a much better takeout double than that was. A void is a powerful feature as it provides ruffing power in the dummy and reduces the value of the enemy high cards.

If you’d like to see the associated videos with commentary and animate card bidding:
Click here to view Part 1
Click here to view Part 2
Copyrighted by BridgeHands

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