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BUSDBLS.4CA
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1995-09-16
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BUSINESS DOUBLES OF SIMPLE OVERCALLS
The business double of an overcall is a cooperative double, a
suggestion to partner, not a definite command. See Why You Lose at
Bridge, by S. J. Simon, for a good discussion of the principles
involved in business doubles of overcalls: when to double, when to
leave the double in, when to pull the double. Marshall Miles has
good words on this subject in his book How to Win at Duplicate
Bridge.
Here are the general rules Simon provides for deciding whether to
pass the double or not:
-- With three or more cards in the suit doubled, always pass.
-- With a doubleton, pass unless you have opened with a minimum
hand and a six-card or longer suit, or have a five-card second suit
that can be shown cheaply (i.e., at the same level as the doubled
contract).
-- With a singleton, don't pass unless you have four defensive
tricks.
-- With a void, don't pass--period.
Isn't partner likely to have a lot of trumps when you are void?
Perhaps, but the dummy is probably going to have some trumps, too.
When you play a low level doubled contract, it is the same as
playing the contract yourself. You hope to take seven or more
tricks, and do you really want to play a suit contract when one
hand is void of trumps?
You can count a high honor (A, K, Q) as two cards when following
the above rules. If you are pretty sure of slam, then of course
you would remove the double regardless of your trump holding. When
vulnerable vs non-vulnerable, you will lean toward bidding if you
are confident of game. To show a profit you would have to beat them
four tricks, which may not be possible.
South West North East
1H 1S Dbl Pass
1NT
Playing business doubles, South must have a three-suited hand,
0-5-4-4 or 1-4-4-4. No other holding makes sense.
When using business doubles instead of negative doubles, a single
jump response of 3NT (over a two-level overcall) shows 13-17 HCP,
not 16-18. A non-jump 2NT response is not forcing. (A negative
doubler can double and then bid 3NT to show 13-15, so his jump
shows 16-18).
If the overcaller gets rescued, a pass by opener is forcing:
South West North East
1S 2C Dbl 2D
Pass - forcing
If North has nothing but clubs, then he should have passed (hoping
opener doubles) instead of doubling.
If opener pulls the double, a new suit by responder is forcing:
South West North East
1C 1S Dbl Pass
2C Pass 2D - forcing
2NT - not forcing
Negative doubles do not apply to notrump overcalls, so doubles of
notrump overcalls are always for business.
Even when playing negative doubles generally, it would not be
illogical to play business overcalls against simple overcalls of
a 1S opening. Such overcalls do not preempt major suit bidding
space, so the need for negative doubles is somewhat lessened.
Another possibility is to play negative doubles (especially at the
three level) only with unfavorable vulnerability, when a business
double is less likely to be profitable.
My inclination is to play negative doubles only when vulnerable vs
non-vulnerable opponents, while retaining 1 - 2 any - Dbl as a
business double.
See chapters NEGATIVE DOUBLES OF SIMPLE OVERCALLS, NEGATIVE DOUBLES
OF JUMP OVERCALLS, and NEGATIVE DOUBLES OF HIGH-LEVEL OVERCALLS in
the book "Conventional Doubles."