Now for another hand from the past, but one where West had an obvious takeout double that few Wests made use of but some of my panelists did see as being ‘fit for purpose’.
Dealer W Nil Vul
West opened 1S and North overcalled 2C. Personally I would have bid 1NT, which would have been a better description of the hand, but be that as it may, North bid 2C which was, understandably, passed round to West. West doubled, this being a typical situation where the odds are that partner is sitting on the clubs and wants a takeout double from partner. East did not have a great hand but the clubs were good enough to convert West’s double and therefore passed. Poor North, despite a sturdy 16 count, 2C doubled did not fare well and EW collected +300 without even trying. What would have happened if East actually had the ‘awful’ hand that the East in our earlier YC had? The answer to that is that East would have bid 2H and played the 4-3 fit and come to little harm despite the disadvantage in point count. This is a good example of when a double is a standout in the pass out position.
K8
AT7
K2
AQT93