Monday, July 07, 2003 4:48 PM
Enforcer Doubles
PITBULLS:
Playing with a partner that plays the “Bridge cop”
and is out to arrest all bad bidders from speeding is a bad experience. Usually
this type of partner is very disciplined herself and wants to show the world
that bad bidding should be punished . This type of partner has a “trump stack” mentality and you do not pull my
penalty doubles ever. This philosophy is all right for weak rubber and match point games but that
is all . It is a very bad way to play IMPS at a high level .
In
IMPS and high level auctions of 4♠ and below, the double should show shortness in that suit . It is the
singleton that doubles and the other hand converts if there is a trump stack .
All doubles of high level auctions are D.S.I.P. doubles and pulling doubles
should be a very common occurrence. At the 5 level , we revert to trump stack
penalty doubles.
Lets
take a common auction , a pre-empt in the sandwich position .
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pass |
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1♦ |
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1♥ |
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3♠ |
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You hold KQJ10 xx AKxx xxx . 3 spades is definitely going down but Do you double with your minimum hand ?
No , this is a clear cut pass . If partner
can not re-open with a
double with her obvious shortness in spades , we take our plus.
Why , for a number of reasons . One
, because the double is far
more useful to define a different meaning
to it . I like playing Thrump doubles in the sandwich position also .
The double asks partner to bid 3NT with a spade stopper . I have a good hand
but no suitable bid. If I had a good hand with a spade stopper I would just bid
3NT myself . The 2nd reason for passing is that they have a better
spot if partner is too weak to re-open. They will not rescue themselves until
they are doubled so why double. You probably do not even have a partial your
way !!
What if they pre-empt to the 4 level in the sandwich
position ? Even if they are in
game , the double can not be
ambiguous . The double still means I wish to take
offensive action. Partner will use his judgment and do something
intelligent for the partnership.
In
the re-opening position , doubles should always be takeout (D.S.I.P.) rather than enforcer doubles . Why ,
because partner is expected to do something intelligent which includes bidding
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4♠ |
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1♦ |
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pass |
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pass |
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You have
KQJ10 xx AKxx xxx . This is a clear cut pass . Partner will never leave
the double in unless trained to “never pull my doubles”. Say you have
x AQxx AKxx AJxx which is a clear cut double. Partner with KQxxxx will bid clubs and you might get to your +1370
instead of your +300 . If you have their suit , do not be an enforcer , just take your plus .
4NT is never Blackwood when the opponents
pre-empt 4♥/♠ . Use 4NT as Lebensohl
over doubles and you have some new inferences. Being an “enforcer” wrecks these delicate Lebensohl auctions .
The last thing partner expects for your double is a stack of points in their suit . Penalty doubles are to be
pulled or converted not just blindly left in when you do not own the auction.