PLAY BRIDGE
Negative doubleO

ne of the most commonlyused treatments in modern
bidding is the negativedouble. The negative double is anextremely broad topic, far beyond
the scope of a single article to describe fully, but following are some
important points.
In its simplest form, the negative double’s objective is to express
values and length in the unbid suits— particularly the unbid major(s)— in a competitive auction. For
example:WestNorth
EastSouth1
1
Dbl
Defining East’s double as penalty
is impractical: a “business” doubleof a one-level overcall occurs too
rarely to worry about. It’s much
more common to have moderatevalues and a heart suit after the auction begins in this manner, so mostplayers use the double to show ahand such as:
J 8 Q 9 7 4 Q 8 5 4 K 4 2or perhaps:
Q 5 3 K J 8 7 4 9 6 Q 10 5or even:A 3 A Q 8 5 K 5 2 J 7 6 3.
The negative double is vital
because it alerts opener to the possibility of a heart fit. The double
can also be used, however, to show
spades in an auction such as:
WestNorthEastSouth1
1
Dbl
Most players in North America
use this sequence to show exactly
four spades. With five or more
spades, East could simply bid 1.
How much strength does a nega-44

tive double promise? It depends.
The suggested minimum strength
for a negative double that would
force partner to bid at the one levelis typically 6 points. In the secondauction, East could double on as
little as:
K J 7 5 10 3 9 8 4 Q 9 7 2.
(With a good fit for partner’s firstsuit, some players would do it oneven less.)
If the double would force partner
to bid at the two level (as in thefirst auction), 8 points is a goodminimum. To force partner to thethree level — in an auction such as:
WestNorth
EastSouth1
2
Dbl— East should have at least 10high-card points. The higher you
force partner to bid, the more you
should have.
As opener, partner’s negative
double can help you choose yourrebid. Say you hold:A 7 Q J 6 3 8 7 6 A Q 6 2.
After opening 1, left-hand opponent overcalls 1 and partner
doubles (negative). This strongly
suggests at least four hearts andappropriate values. If RHO passes,
you have an easy 2 rebid. (Notethat this does not promise extra values; you’re just “raising” partner’shearts.)
Using the negative double, what
would this auction mean?
Partner RHO
YouLHO
1
2
2
If you had doubled, the double
would have shown exactly fourhearts. The 2 bid, therefore
shows five or more. There is also astrength inference involved. Whereasa two-level negative double could
show as few as 8 HCP as describedabove, a direct two-level bid suchas your 2 shows at least thesame number of number of points
required for a two-over-one responsein “standard” bidding — 10 HCP.
(Note that some players would treat2 as a game force, so their twolevel bids would promise even more
— an opening hand.) An easy way
to remember this is to consider what
you need to bid 2 if North had
not interfered. Most systems requirea minimum of 10 points to make a
new-suit two-level response.
This is a big help to opener, because it immediately tells him something about your strength and heartlength. For example, say you held:
K 7 A 9 4 K Q J 8 2 10 8 2.
You open 1, LHO overcalls
1 and partner bids 2. What do
we know about partner’s hand? Shehas at least five hearts (a negativedouble would have promised onlyfour) and at least 10 HCP, making
the raise to 3 a standout.
The negative double lets youtackle problem hands such as this:K Q 10 9 6 5 J 5 Q 9 8 5 2.
Partner opens 1 and RHO overcalls 2. You can’t bid 2 directly.
That would show a good hand — atleast 10 HCP. You can, however,make a negative double. If partner
bids 2, you will bid 2. Partner
will know that you have a relatively
weak hand with a long spade suit,
because you doubled first.
Special caseIn the auction:
WestNorth
EastSouth1
1Dbl
East’s double should show both majors. What happens, however, if Eastis dealt a hand such as:
A J 9 5 Q 8 Q 10 6 2 9 8 7?
In this case, East should bid 1.
Ordinarily, a direct bid shows afive-card or longer suit, but in thisauction (a 1 opening and a 1overcall), a 1 or 1 response may
be made on a four-card suit. The
negative double should be reserved
for a hand with both majors.
Bridge Bulletin