Watching a recent match I was once again struck by how often misunderstandings occur.
If I don't tire out, I may address a few conventions and how they sometimes lead to confusion. The plan is to cite some online resources and note where things might go wrong.
Larry Cohen on support X. See
https://www.larryco.com/bridge-learning-center/detail/29He has five bullet points, two of which strongly show the need for discussion.
The first is how high? He says that some play through 2
, others lay it higher. I like 2
, or more precisely I like then on providing fourth hand interference is not beyond 2 of partner's suit. So if partner responds 1
to my opening 1m, and rho bids 2
, I think it might be better to play that support doubles are off. My idea is that partner will not always have a five card
suit and then, if I double 2
to show my three card heart suit, what is he to do? It's different from 1m-1
and now having RHO come in at the 2 level. I double to show 3 card support. If worse comes to worse, partner might land in a 4-3 fit but it is at the 2 level. He might make it, or the opponents might go on.
LC also speaks of whether it is on/off if responder bids 1
over my 1
opening. He recommends yes. But of course the real recommendation is that there is agreement. I often play that if it begins 1
- (P) -1
- (1
) then support doubles are on while if t begins 1
- (P) -1
- (1
) then support doubles are off. The logic is that after the 1
overcall I can bid 1
if I have them so I can use the X as a support X. However if I have four hearts and the overcall is 1
then I need a way to show those hearts. Surely bidding 2
is strong and shapely, and I might have my more usual hand of nothing much. Possibly Walsh players have less of a need for this way to show a four card heart suit, so they might want to play support doubles on regardless of which major is overcalled. Here is why it is useful to have them on. The response of 1
to 1 !c is often, not always but often, on a five card suit.With only four diamonds responder will often, not always but often, be able to bis either a major or 1NT. And opener, when he open 1
, will usually not have four
. He might, but more often he doesn't. So, often we will have a 5-3 fit and we want to find it. We can then, often, compete to the 3 level. On those occasions where opener has four diamonds he will often have five clubs. With this sort of shape the auction is apt to get competitive and the sooner we clarify matters the better.
Let's leave LC and move on to the BridgeGuys
http://www.bridgeguys.com/doubles/SupportDouble.htmlAfter example 1 they say:
In order to indicate a minimum raise which shows only a 3-card support, the opening bidder, South, applies the Support Double. By bidding 2, North shows a 5-card Heart suit.
Well, sort of. As far as I know, the support X can be used with non-minimum hands. Maybe they mean "possible minimum". Also, although respponder probably has five hearts for his 2
rebid, he had to bid something. Yes he most likely has five, maybe I should say it is strongly likely, but we should give him a little room here. Or at least we should discuss just what he is to do if he has, say, four small spades, four hearts, and a 6 count. Passing out 1
X does not seem like a good idea.
Moving down to their example 2. This is a great example, taken from real play.
It begins 1 !d - (P) - 1
- 1NT
Ok, support doubles are on or off? Are you sure your partner plays the same way? Does it matter whether the 1NT call is natural or a sandwich? My though is that over a sandwich we often have a fit and we want to find out right away how big a fit it is. So support X shoould be on. If the NT was strong, as it was here, I am not so sure. I think I could argue it either way.
One more source, the wikipedia. Author unknown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_doubleHere is one example that they give:
(P) - 1
- (1
)- 1 -
(2
) -X
Support X? The wik article says:
"Playing negative doubles or not, opener's double shows three spades. It is irrelevant that opener knows that partner has five spades (if playing negative doubles), the double shows three-card support. The principle is that you and your partner use the opponent's bidding to assist your bidding. Clarify right now if you have three- or four-card support unless you have something else very important to say."
OK, summary time: This presents some things that a partnership could discuss. There is a great deal of overlap in the use of negative doubles, but around the edges some do it one way, some do it another way. I am absolutely not saying which is right, in fact I would insist that I don't know the answer to that. But what is clearly wrong is for one partner to be playing them one way and the other partner to be playing then in a different way. And the thought that "Oh, it's ok, everyone plays it the same way" is contradicted by experience.
Feel free to give your thoughts. I keep hoping for a larger discussion pool.
