4 and 5 level doubles
#1
Posted 2011-February-13, 06:11
#2
Posted 2011-February-13, 07:57
1H - Playing weak NT 4 card majors this is the system bid - No probs
1S - Automatic
2C - Automatic (playing Acol)
4S - A touch fruity, but at favourable maybe ok.
X - If penalty, automatic (if take-out/cards, not so good)
P - Automatic
5H - Not so good playing weak and 4s, as partner is likely to have a strong no trump
X - Good
P - Good
5S - Terrible - 2 aces and a couple of tens is plenty of defence here.
P - Might as well double this one as well
P - Nothing else to do
X - Doubled 4S for penalty, definitely having a go at 5S
#3
Posted 2011-February-13, 13:22
North has a difficult problem but if you are going to bid hearts next over their spade raise, you may as well just show a good heart raise directly over 1♠. Then if partner doubles you will know he means it, and if not he probably has five hearts.
West's 5♠ was awful. Partner will not expect you to have more than a singleton heart and there is nothing else about the hand that suggests offence over defence. You have forced opponents to guess and everything suggests they have guessed wrong.
East was blameless, except that if he has played opposite this West before he probably should bid only 3♠ to avoid his partner hanging him.
#4
Posted 2011-February-14, 04:33
Nigel, what do you mean by After 4♠ South can't really double as you are not in a force so partner is basically always going to pull it. Is it pretty standard to pull this double here? Just trying to understand the thought processes at work.
5♠X was 3 off, with essentially no game making (think a couple of N/S pairs managed to make 3NT)
#5
Posted 2011-February-14, 07:19
But what do I know?
"gwnn" said:
hanp does not always mean literally what he writes.
#6
Posted 2011-February-14, 11:14
Both pulls I think are wrong (and the second is ludicrous). If North does pull the first double, though, he should bid 4NT since he doesn't know whether the right contract is 5♣ or 5♥.
#7
Posted 2011-February-14, 13:19
#8
Posted 2011-February-14, 14:39
quiddity, on 2011-February-14, 13:19, said:
Really? I don't get it.
If you really think partner is short on spades, then you must think opps have a 10-12 card fit. If they do, why on earth is partner doubling? With more than the 5 promised hearts, partner would bid on himself, yet here he is suggesting defense. Partner knows the vulnerability, too, you know.
For my money, north's spade void is a strong argument that partner knows exactly what she's doing when she doubled. If I had 2-3 spades as north, I would strongly agree with your assessment.
"gwnn" said:
hanp does not always mean literally what he writes.
#9
Posted 2011-February-14, 15:29
vuroth, on 2011-February-14, 14:39, said:
If you really think partner is short on spades, then you must think opps have a 10-12 card fit. If they do, why on earth is partner doubling? With more than the 5 promised hearts, partner would bid on himself, yet here he is suggesting defense. Partner knows the vulnerability, too, you know.
For my money, north's spade void is a strong argument that partner knows exactly what she's doing when she doubled. If I had 2-3 spades as north, I would strongly agree with your assessment.
Suggesting defense? How would he suggest offense? Pass is not forcing, so either he bids on unilaterally without knowing about the heart fit, or he doubles showing extras and lets North decide what to do. South might not have short spades but he could easily be something like 3532 or 3622 with 3 small spades and extra values. Are you really suggesting that he should bid at the 5-level without a known fit, opposite a hand which might be an 8-count, which might have only 2 hearts, or might have only 5 clubs, or might have 2 spades? What is he supposed to bid?
#10
Posted 2011-February-16, 08:04
"gwnn" said:
hanp does not always mean literally what he writes.
#11
Posted 2011-February-16, 12:59
el mister, on 2011-February-14, 04:33, said:
Nigel, what do you mean by After 4♠ South can't really double as you are not in a force so partner is basically always going to pull it. Is it pretty standard to pull this double here? Just trying to understand the thought processes at work.
5♠X was 3 off, with essentially no game making (think a couple of N/S pairs managed to make 3NT)
The first step is to decide whether South's pass would be forcing, i.e. the whether the auction is such that you are always going to either bid on or double. I would say that is not the case here, an Acol 2/1 doesn't create a force and the E/W actions are not an obvious sacrifice.
If you were in a force, then pass by South would be encouraging and double would fairly strongly suggest defence. But since you are not in a force, double is just extra values. Since North will have very few spades he is not going to pass this double. South would normally have a hand like xxx KQxxx AQx Ax. But I am not saying that pulling the double is standard, just that pulling with shortness is normal and South knows North is short. If the N/S hands were something like xx Ax Jxxx KQxxx opposite xx KQxxx AQx Axx then North would pass the double.