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By Fred Gitelman
Your Right-Hand Opponent (RHO) opens the bidding with 1 of a suit. It is your turn to bid. You can either Pass, make a bid of your own, or Double. If you Double, you are not saying you want to penalize the opponents at the 1-level. You are making what is known as a Takeout Double -- one of the most important tools in competitive bidding. This article is an introduction to the Takeout Double.
Before we go any further, let us define a Takeout Double and the messages it conveys to partner:
First, it says: "Partner, I have at least close to an opening hand."
Second, it says: "I am short in the opponent's suit but have support for all three of the other suits." As you will see, this rule does not always apply. Sometimes it is correct to make a Takeout Double on a very strong hand without support for all the other suits, but this is a good rule to start with.
Third, it says: "Unless the main feature of your hand is length and strength in the opponent's suit, you must Take (us) Out of defending this contract (that is, you must bid something other than Pass)."
Typically, the responder to a Takeout Double bids his longest suit. Since the Takeout Doubler has shown support for all the unbid suits, there rates to be a good trump fit in responder's longest suit.
An ideal Takeout Double has a shape of 4441, with the singleton in the suit opened by the opponent.
RHO opens 1 Club. You hold:
A Q x x
K 10 x x
A J x x
x
Or:
K Q J x
J x x x
A Q 10 x
x
Call Double with both hands. Partner will almost always bid one of the other three suits. You have excellent trump support regardless of the suit he picks.
In some cases, it is preferable to Double for takeout on hands with less than 12 HCPs, sometimes with as few as 10. In these cases, you must have ideal distribution (4441 or 5440), as well as good texture. Good texture means a wealth of intermediate cards such as 8s, 9s, and 10s, which have no HCP value but which have great value in the play.
For example:
K 10 9 8
A 9 8 x
K 10 8
x
Most experts would make a Takeout Double of 1 Club with this 10-point hand.
The Takeout Double applies no matter which suit is opened. Should that suit be Spades, it simply means that partner will be obliged (in most cases) to bid at the 2 level. RHO opens 1 Spade and you hold:
x
Q J x x
A K Q x
Q 10 x x
Or:
void
K Q x x
A Q x x
K 9 x x x
Make a Takeout Double on both of these hands.
RHO opens 1 Diamond and you hold:
A J 9 x
Q x x
K J x
K Q 9
Or:
K 8 x
A Q
A J x
Q 10 x x
Here you should overcall 1 NT, just as if RHO had passed and it was your turn to bid. Do not Double, even with such a fine opening hand, as you do not hold adequate support for the unbid suits. When overcalling in Notrump, it is preferable, although not mandatory, to hold more than just a single stopper in the suit that was opened. The point range that I recommend for a 1 NT overcall is "a good 15 to 18." Having or not having a five-card suit and/or good texture would determine whether a 15-point hand was good or bad.
When your hand is too strong to overcall 1 NT (again, in these examples RHO opens 1 Diamond):
A 10
K J x
A J x x
K Q J x
Or:
K x x
A 10 x
K Q x x
A K J
First Double, ostensibly for takeout, but after partner responds, rebid in Notrump at the cheapest level. These hands are too good to overcall 1 Notrump (15+ to 18 HCP) in the direct position, so start with Double. Your Notrump rebid then shows 19-21 HCP -- which is a hand too good for an immediate 1 NT overcall.
This is one of the situations I referred to earlier in which a Takeout Double does not promise support for all unbid suits. Note that in the first example hand above, the Doubler has just two-card support for Spades.
Say RHO opens 1 Heart and you hold:
A Q 9 x x
x
A 10 8 x
K x x
Overcall 1 Spade; do not make a Takeout Double. The reason for this is that otherwise you may "lose" the Spade suit. It is always preferable to find a major suit fit where game is at a lower level and the points earned for making a partscore are more than in a minor suit contract. If you Double on this hand, partner may respond with a 2 Club bid, and your hand is not good enough to first Double and then bid Spades. You would have to Pass 2 Clubs. 2 Clubs might be a reasonable contract, but Spades may easily be a better trump suit for you -- you might even be able to make 4 Spades. If you start with a Takeout Double on the above hand, your Spades could be lost forever. Not all experts agree, but I strongly recommend overcalling a five-card major vs. making a Takeout Double on most hands with support for all unbid suits.
However, if the Spades and Diamonds were switched. . .
A 10 8 x
x
A Q 9 x x
K x x
Now it is right to make a Takeout Double of 1 Heart. Yes, if partner responds 2 Clubs, you could lose the Diamond suit. Losing a minor suit, however, is not nearly as important as losing a major suit. Also, if you do overcall 2 Diamonds, you may well lose a Spade fit. 2 Diamonds could be Passed Out. Even if the opponents bid again, your hand is not strong enough to bid a second time.
RHO opens 1 Heart, and you hold:
A Q x x
x
K x
K J 10 x x x
Bid 2 Clubs. It would be wrong to Double, because partner may respond 2 Diamonds. For instance, give partner:
x x
Q J x x
10 x x x x
x x
With that hand, he must bid 2 Diamonds, and the partnership is already too high. After hearing a 2 Club overcall, he can simply pass. It is true that overcalling 2 Clubs may result in the Spade suit being lost, but your six-card Club suit gives you some added safety.
Adding another Ace to the good hand above, however:
A Q x x
x
K x
A K J 10 x x
Makes the Takeout Double a better choice. With 17 high-card points and an excellent Club suit, your hand is too strong for a 2 Club overcall after 1 Heart by RHO. Partner would not expect this strong a hand for an overcall -- he would Pass 2 Clubs on many hands in which a game contract could be made. Start with a Takeout Double. If partner bids Spades or Notrump, you can raise to game. If partner bids Diamonds, you can bid your Clubs, suggesting this sort of hand.
The above example is another case of when a Takeout Double does not have to contain good support for all unbid suits. Here are some more examples:
RHO opens 1 Club and you hold:
A K J 10 x x
A x
K Q 9 x
x
Or:
K x x
K Q J 10 x x
A Q J x
void
First Double, then at your next turn bid your suit. This sequence shows both a powerful hand (say a good 16 or more high-card points) as well as one with a single suit of its own that needs very little trump support.
To summarize, there are three types of hands in which it is correct to make a Takeout Double of an opponent's opening bid:
- A hand with good support for all the other suits and at least close to opening bid strength.
- A balanced hand that is too strong for a 1 NT (15+ to 18) overcall
- A hand with a long suit that is too strong for a simple overcall in your suit. Most partnerships play that a simple suit overcall is unlikely to be stronger than about 16 points.
My next article in this series will discuss responding to a Takeout Double.
If you have any questions about this article and would like to send mail to Fred Gitelman, please e-mail Zidea.
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