Evening star., 1934-03-25
Double in Contract.

r HOPE that the last few articles
have made clear to you what I
mean by Institutional double"
i This is the only negative double
which bears some resemblance to
an auction double. The type of hand
is defensive. When you double you
intend your partner to be declarer in
his suit (unless the opponents obtain
the declaration). You supply sup
port of his suit; you do not wish to
select trump suit yourself. You will
remember that with this type Of hand
the strength qualification is very dif-
ferent from that applying in auction.
In contract it is better to pass with
defensive hands even much stronger
than a good auction double. That
pass is a defensive move. Only when
you feel the enemy can hardly be
strong enough to overbid against your
hand should you decide to make an
immediate double with hand of this
defensive character and short-suited
distribution. With a defensive hand,
In other words, you pass in contract
where you would double in auction,
unless the hand is very powerful. How
about an aggressive type Of hand?
A hand with good five-card suit and
some outside value, or one of six or
seven cards with little, if anything.
outside that suit? In auction one
would overcall with this kind OF hand.
But in contract 1t is far better to
double rather than overcall, except
under certain conditions, which I will
explain later. To take the place OF
the auction overcall I employ what
term the strategic double"
The Strategy.
The use Of the double as a substi-
tute for the overcall is effective in
both the purposes Of any defensive
bid. First, it never gets the contract
higher than would result from an
overcall and often obtains it at a
lower level. So if it is your destiny
to play the hand doubled as a result
of your getting into the bidding, the
safety factor is never less, but is often
greater, than would result from over
calling instead Of doubling.
Second, 1t is far more effective in
interfering with the bidding of your
opponents. 1t tells them less and
often causes them to lose a round OF
bidding. That is why I call it
strategic" 1t disconcerts the enemyS
orderly conduct Of his campaign more
effectively than any other method of
handling a defensive situation that I
have been able to discover. When it
fails to do so, nothing has been lost.
The enemy. though not hindered on
this particular occasion, have not been
helped; whereas an overcall will
actually help each Of the opponents in
reading the distribution and character
of the other three hands in a great
many instances. You see, when you
overcall, the oppoents know the nature
Of your defense; when you double,
nobody at this point knows whether
your double is of the distributional
type. against which it is dangerous to
bid too high, or Of the strategic type,
against which it would pay them to
bid. True. this information must gen.
orally be disclosed on the next round
of bidding, but by then the opponents
may have missed the opportunity to
ascertain the real fit between their two
hands at safe level.
Case Against the Overcau.
If you are addicted to aimless. un-
reasoned overcalls, it is probably
because you have blindly taken the
word of some authority who was still
teaching contract in terms of auction.
Maybe these overcalls have not served
him any better than they served me at
the start. Be that as it may, have
learned without any doubt that auc-
ton overcalls are a dire ailment in
any ones contract equipment. I have
diagnosed the ailment and discovered
a treatment which works very we'll
for me and my partners. Do not take
my word blindly. Try my treatment
for while. not naturally merely as an
individual player. but in a partnership.
If it does not serve you far better than
the old-time overcall, you can always
drop 1t and go back to overcalls. If
it serves you as it serves us, you will
find that the game has acquired a
new ZeSt. especially in those inevitable
sittings when the cards are predomi-
nantly against you. Defending against
big hands is real sport when you
are employing methods which keep
your possible losses within reasonably
safe limits. My best scores in tourna-
ments are generally made, find. when
our role has been mostly a defensive
one. The same treatment works just
as well in rubber play. perhaps even
better, as one can take somewhat
greater risks without profit.
(Copyrisht. 1934.)
Mr.. Sims will answer all INQUIRIES on
contract that are addressed to this news
paper with self-addressed, stamped en-
velope.