I learned to play bridge from my Aunt Cathy, a formidable “kitchen-table" player who taught me only two types of doubles – takeout and penalty. Those served me well in casual games where players tended to be timid bidders and many considered a simple takeout double to be an advanced gadget.
Once I started playing duplicate, though, I found that just two doubles weren't enough. Other pairs at the club used and talked about so many different types of “takeout-ish” doubles that I was wondering if we were all playing the same game. What was clear was that they were getting to better contracts than I was, so I adapted.
Advancing players usually find that conventional doubles – including negative, responsive and support – are relatively easy to learn because they identify specific features of your hand and are used in clearly defined situations. Other types of doubles send more subtle messages and can be harder to read. They don’t all have official names, but might be called cooperative, action, card-showing or the old standby, DSI (the “Do Something Intelligent” double).
The popular guideline for interpreting ambiguous doubles is “When in doubt, it’s takeout”, especially at low levels in the auction. This is a workable approach as long as you’re objective about what constitutes legitimate “doubt”. If you start assuming that every double might be some sort of esoteric takeout, you may be turning what should be easy decisions into partnership misunderstandings.
R.I.P. for penalty doubles?
The late Bernie Chazen was fond of asserting that “the penalty double has died and gone to heaven". That is, of course, an exaggeration. He was a showman who was emphasizing the benefits of playing more types of takeout doubles and he did a good job of selling his advice.
One oft-quoted guideline from Bernie and other teachers is “Double on the first round of bidding is never for penalty." Although that hints at a helpful principle, it's an over-simplification that shouldn’t be taken literally. You’ve probably already come up with obvious exceptions.
Bidding styles and systems are constantly evolving, but some basic elements of the game haven't changed. Penalty doubles have not disappeared. The trend is to use fewer of them than my Aunt Cathy did, but they are still useful – and sometimes necessary -- even in low-level auctions.
Sorting out the differences
The best way to clarify the possible takeout messages is to first define which doubles are penalty. Here are the most obvious ones -- the basic situations where there should be universal agreement that your double is intended as penalty.
We open and an opponent has overcalled a natural 1NT.
Partner has made a preemptive opening or overcall.
Partner has made a two-suited overcall (Unusual 2NT or Michaels cuebid).
We’ve made a forcing-to-game 2-over-1 response.
Bernie would certainly play all of these as penalty, even though the first three are doubles that can be made in the first round of the auction.
There are other penalty situations that were once considered standard but aren't as clear -- either because modern pairs have altered the meanings or because it's easy to confuse them with similar auctions. In the previous two issues, we discussed the most widely played uses of responsive doubles. Next month, we’ll look at “expert standard" interpretations of other takeout-vs.-penalty dilemmas.
© 2023 Karen Walker