Better Bridge in Barry County February 14 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  A K 8 3   ♥  A 9 5 3 ♦  10 4 ♣  A 7 2
West ♠  9 7 6 ♥  K Q J 10 ♦  A Q 8 7 ♣  Q J		East ♠  Q 10 4 2 ♥  7 4 ♦  K 6 5 2 ♣  10 8 4
	South ♠  J 5 ♥  8 6 2 ♦  J 9 3   ♣  K 9 6 5 3

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West Neither K♥

 

North   Dbl Pass	East   Pass Pass	South   2♣	West 1♦ Pass

 

Today’s column features another use for the double, namely, the Takeout Double. Last week we looked at the use of the double in the Negative Double. Today’s column will look at the fourth of our Eight Conventions You Should Know, the Takeout Double.

Early on in the beginning days of bridge, Byrant McCampbell found a better use for the double than for penalty, especially at the very low levels of bidding. He reasoned that doubling at the one or two level for penalty was a wasted bid, and that making use of it in another way was a far better choice. The takeout double was and is one of the most popular and most used of all of the conventions in the bridge world. Nearly all bridge players learn the takeout double as part of their early lessons.

Some players, however, are reluctant to use the takeout double. Perhaps they feel that it is an insult to double your opponent at such a low level. They should put that thinking behind them and begin to use the takeout double as a friendly way to compete in today’s bridge world. Any convention that has been around since 1912 deserves to be considered and, I might add, used in friendly and competitive bridge games.

Essentially, the takeout double works in this way: You as the North player hear your Right-Hand Opponent (RHO) open the bidding at 1♦. You know from past bridge lessons and experience that this bid promises an opening hand and at least three diamonds. You as North have an opening hand as well, with this exception: you are short in diamonds, the suit that was just bid. In this case, short means a void, a singleton, or at most, a doubleton in diamonds. You have support for the other three suits, and you want your partner to bid.

Enter the takeout double. You pronounce the word “Double,” or you pull out the red card from the bidding box if you use one, essentially saying to your partner: “Partner, I am short in diamonds, the suit just bid, and I want you to name your best suit. I have a hand that is an opener, and I want you to bid your best suit.” It is important to repeat that as many a time in the past partners have passed a takeout double bid, saying, “Sorry, partner, I had zero points and no good suit to bid.” What a travesty! That is not the way to keep a partner happy.

The words Takeout Double mean just that: “Partner, take me out of this double. Bid your best suit.” Even with zero points, your partner is expected to bid her best suit. The only way your partner is off the hook is if the opener’s partner has put in a bid or a call. To illustrate, a 1♦ bid followed by your takeout double, followed by either a 2♦ or other bid or a Redouble will release your partner from the required bid that you had ordered. All other times, your partner must make an attempt to name her best suit. By the way, no trump is not a suit. Throwing in a 1NT bid and then trying to explain to your partner that you had no good suit will not sit well in a partnership. Bidding 1NT promises more than you think. Instead, bid your best suit and be brave.

What happened in today’s hand can illustrate the mechanics of the takeout double. West opened the bidding with a solid hand of 15 high-card points, and she bid the convenient minor in diamonds. North also had an opening hand, one of the key ingredients of a takeout double. By the way, don’t try to fudge that opening count too much; you may put yourself into big trouble. North was short in diamonds and had support for the three unbid suits. Confident that partner would not pass, North used the takeout double convention to inform his partner that he wanted South to bid her best suit.

After a pass by East, South obliged and bid her best suit, in this case, clubs, and she had to go to the two-level to do so. But bid she did just as North had required. The bidding stopped at two clubs, and South was the declarer, hardly expecting to be in that position with this hand. Ah, the beauty of competitive bridge bidding.

With only five high-card points, South hardly felt brave about playing the contract at 2♣. It was a grateful South, however, after West led the K♥, the top of a sequence, that South saw the dummy for the first time. She drew a sigh of relief, duly thanked her partner for having the cards and points that he said he had, and South began to make her plan. Taking eight tricks would not be easy, but it was doable, especially when South could see that she had five sure tricks. The need to use a trump on the board for a losing diamond became apparent quickly. Having the trumps break 3-2 would also help her cause.

South executed her plan, trumping a losing diamond on the board before drawing trumps, and she successfully made the 2♣ bid, taking eight tricks. Without the takeout double, South would have felt that she could not compete on this hand. Ordered to bid by her partner, South bid and made a fine contract, all due to the popular and useful Takeout Double Convention.

 

Gerald Stein

January 31 2013

Number of words: 1085

 

Bridge Etiquette Tip Number Two: Another important bridge table courtesy often violated although probably unintentionally is what I call the “Snapper Syndrome.” For whatever reasons, some bridge players snap their cards as they place them on the table. This annoying habit can be distracting to the other players, including your partner. Another easy resolution to fix: Don’t be a card snapper.