Negative Doubles"A Mixed Blessing" by Marti Ronemus

A trip to the store this weekend was alarming, in that already Holiday decorations are out! We need to start planning, starting with the turkey. How many ways is the left-over turkey going to reappear in YOUR house over the next months? Sandwiches? Soup? Pot Pie? Turkey Salad? Turkey Tacos? The Terrifying Turkey Tetrazzini? It can appear in so many guises, but it's still turkey. We're going to have to live with it for a while, so start planning.

Meantime, let's plan bidding after our Pard makes a Negative Double (a bid at least as useful as turkey!). A Negative Double is usually made after we open and our LHO bids. There are many other uses, but that's the one we'll use today. If we think of the Negative Double as a Two-Fer (two-for-the-price-of-one) response it helps. Pard is responding to our opening bid, so he can have as few a 6-7ish pts. He is unlimited, and telling us he has the other two suits. In responding to his FORCING double, we are going to give preference to unbid majors if we can. Ready?

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A K
♥ 9 6 5 4
♦ A Q
♣ 8 5 4 3 2

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	1♥	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 1 No-trump: This hand is a real "turkey." Pard's suits are Spades and Diamonds, and he only has four of each or he probably would have overcalled. We hate bidding No-trump without a stopper in the opponent's suit... it is a major no-no, but we just don't have a choice. In a perfect world, that ♥9 will grow up.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A Q 9
♥ 9 6 5 4
♦ 5 3
♣ A Q 8 2

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	1♥	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 1♠: We are going to be in a 7-card fit, but with our two honors and an honorettes, it's not so bad. Our bid shows a minimum hand, and now our Pard, who's unlimited, has to cook the turkey.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A Q 3 2
♥ 3 2
♦ 3 2
♣ A K 8 7 3

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	1♥	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 2♠: Let's clear up one point--this is NOT a Jump-Shift. Pard's Negative Double is the same as if he had bid 2♦ or 1♠. We are RESPONDING to his suit, not changing it. Got that? Last hand we had minimum Spade support. This time, we have nice support so we show it. Why not bid the Diamonds? Spades pay more and we've got a nice 4-4 fit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 10 9 5
♥ 3
♦ 7 2
♣ A K Q 7 5 3

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	1♥	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 3♠: Why the big jump to 3♠? Let's re-evaluate our hand. We've still got 12 HCP but we are going to add points for distribution. That singleton in the opponent's suit is money in the bank. If we had opened 1♣ and Pard responded 1♠, we would have no reluctance to invite, and that's what we're doing here.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K 10
♥ A
♦ 7 3 2
♣ A K Q 7 5 4 2

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	1♥	Dbl	Pass
?

A: 3♣: Bidding No-trump wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but with a hand this distributional, we need to show our serious Club suit.

And now, a hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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