Takeout Doubles

Regular Takeout Doubles

The takeout double is your friend. There are many situations where you want to convey the message to your partner that you have points, but you don’t have a bid that works for your hand. Watch the video to see how we use double when an opponent has opened the bidding. We will go on to look at some special uses of double in the next two steps.

Try some hands

Hand 1

Your partner will double the opening bid, and you must decide what to bid in response to that. Remember that when the next player passes your partner’s takeout double you are forced to bid, so bidding at the lowest available level shows a very weak hand (<8 points). In the play, remember that East didn’t respond to their partner and use that information about their points to predict where the ♠Q is.

Hand 2

Here again, with East passing after your partner’s takeout double, you are forced to bid, but you have a better hand this time. Once again, try and guess how to play hearts and spades based on the opponents’ bidding.

Hand 3

This time you will struggle to find a suit to bid after your partner makes a takeout double. Do you remember the solution?

Hand 4

This time, you make a double and partner responds 1♠ after East bids. Can you figure out how many points your partner has and decide the best contract from there?

Back

Takeout Doubles

See how you can use double to show many hands that don’t have a suitable overcall available.

Question 1/10

Penelope has opened 1♣ What should Boris bid with this hand?

Boris has 13 points so he would like to bid, but he has no five card suit to make an overcall. However, his hand does satisfy all of the 'SOS' criteria for a takeout double: Strength - enough to have opened the bidding, the Other suits - he's happy for Ophelia to bid any suit other than clubs, and Shortage in the suit that has been bid, so he has the perfect takeout double.

How about over Penelope’s 1♠ opening here?

With 17 points, Boris definitely wants to bid. He has neither a regular takeout double shape (too many spades, no tolerance for diamonds) nor enough strength for a power double, so double would not be right. He does, however, have good stops in Penelope's suit and enough strength to overcall 1NT, so that's what he should do.

A 1♥ from Penelope this time. Which bid best describes Boris’s hand?

Boris's hand is not suitable for a takeout double because he doesn't want his partner to bid spades. He has enough strength for 1NT but he doesn't have a heart stop, so that's also no good. He does have a nice 5 card suit of his own, though, so he can just go ahead and bid that at the 2 level.

Another 1♥ opening, and Boris has a lovely hand. What should he do with this one?

Boris has a very fine spade suit and he will want to tell his partner about it, but his hand is too strong to overcall. Remember, all hands in an overcall position that have 18+ points start with double. What Boris has here is a power double. He has good heart stops but he is not necessarily looking to play in NT with that nice spade suit.

What is Boris’s best choice here, after Penelope’s 1♠ opening bid?

Boris does not have the right hand for a takeout double here. He has too much in spades and he doesn't really want Ophelia to bid hearts, which she will do whenever she has four of them. He can't bid 1NT, despite his great spade stops, because that would show 15 - 17 points. He just has to pass and see what develops. If the opponents end up playing in spades he has some good defensive cards.

Over to the other side of the table now. Penelope has opened 1♦ , Boris has doubled and Walter has passed. What should Ophelia bid with this rather weak hand?

Boris's double only promises an opening hand, 12+ points, so with up to about 8 points, Ophelia should just show her longest suit at the lowest available level.

What should Ophelia do in response to her partner’s double this time?

If Boris had opened the bidding, Ophelia would assess her 11 points as being invitational. It's just the same with a takeout double, where partner has shown a hand strong enough to open the bidding. If she were to bid 2♣, that would be bidding at the lowest level available, and it would show a maximum of 8 points. With her invitational 11 she should jump a level, to 3♣.

How about this one? What is Ophelia’s best bid after a 1♣ opening and a double from her partner?

Ophelia can see that with Boris having an opening hand for his double, they have enough points for game between them. She should jump straight to 4♠ to tell Boris that. He has shown tolerance for the other three suits, so worst case, he has only three spades but he may well have four and this is clearly the partnership's best chance of game. She also has four diamonds, but bidding game in that suit would mean going to the five level, and she can't consider NT because she has no club stop and Boris has shown short clubs.

Back to Boris now. Ophelia has bid spades at the lowest level, but he does have good spade support. What should he do?

Ophelia has not promised any points at all in this auction - she is forced to bid. So Boris needs a very strong hand to bid on. He should pass, happy to be in spades.

Here again, Ophelia has responded to Boris’s double at the lowest level. What should Boris bid?

Boris has a 'power double' - a hand in an overcall position with at least 18 points. He doubles knowing that he can show this strength by making another bid once his partner has responded. There is no need for him to jump in spades - his five card suit - because just bidding on after Ophelia's minimum response shows 18+ points.

The links below will take you to the Bridge Training website, where you can practice bidding in response to takeout doubles and interpreting your partner’s response to doubles. You will then be able to play the hands – have as many goes as you like if you don’t succeed the first time.