Double Trouble ..
I think this hand is worth discussing even though it may be a bit above the level that the normal Wednesday Reviews are aimed at. As I have noted previously, the Wednesday players are quite inexperienced with takeout doubles, but it seems to me that even the more advanced players also have difficulty in getting things right where takeout doubles are concerned. Witness this deal from a recent Thursday session.
Dealer W ALL Vul
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JT3
J753
K8742
6I will describe what happened at one table, the bidding may well have been different at others. East opened 1C and South DOUBLED. I don't think this is the right action with this particular South hand. Some people double simply because they have an opening bid, any opening bid at all. That is just awful! This South knew better and intended to bid hearts later to show a STRONG hand with hearts, but is it that good? It should be more like an 18 count to double and then bid hearts, so a simple 1H overcall would have been much better. Then, if partner supports hearts, you're in business!
But be that as it may, South doubled and West bid 1S. Another not great bid but it did serve to be of nuisance value. North found the perfect bid: DOUBLE. Unfortunately things got somewhat murky after that. East passed and South now bid 2H, which was fine. But after two passes, East bid 2S, which was quite reasonable given West's bid of 1S. Why East didn't bid 2S the first time, who knows, but the time delay worked well, because South now PASSED and North saw no reason to bid any more. You see, NORTH had already bid her hand with the double, which SHOULD have shown four hearts, four or five diamonds, and enough points i.e. 6-9, to compete to the two level. But SOUTH thought she had shown her strong overcall (DOUBLE followed by a bid of a suit of her own) but of course it was no longer a suit of her own. The bid of 2H was merely saying that in the knowledge that North had hearts and enough points to compete to the two level, South was prepared to compete. South should also have been prepared to compete to the three level (at least) given her points in the red suits, and favourable placement of the spade king (EAST had opened, so probably had the ace).
All in all, South would have been justified in taking a punt at 4H given North's announcement of support, but to PASS 2S and capitulate like that was certainly not a match point winning tactic. Keep brushing up on those takeout doubles!
