Making Negative Doubles Positive (Part 2)

When I started on Negative Doubles, I didn’t know there would be a Part 2. I thought all you had to do was “double” and now it becomes partner’s problem. It escaped my ever diminishing mind that half the time I would be the partner. We all remember the good times when we have the suit fit, and put behind us those awkward times when all we have is a misfit.

You are the opening bidder, opponents overcalled and partner made a negative double and it has rolled back around to you for action. It’s a happy day – we have a four+ card fit for one or more of the suits that partner advertised with his negative double. You may simply show support for that suit. The level of your supporting rebid will depend on the strength of your hand. I don’t want to minimize the importance of “hand evaluation,” so here is a guideline subject to adjustment for hand quality.

With 12-15 hcps make a single raise in the indicated suit, with 16-17 hcps make a jump raise and with 18-19 bid game. The only real decision will be on the 15 hcp hand. If it is over balanced with Aces and Kings, has good middle cards or has honors sequentially located in single suits, you might want to upgrade it to a jump raise. I might note that none of these bids are forcing. Also note that you are limiting your hand by the level of your supporting bid, but partner (the negative doubler) is still unlimited, so control of the hand is now with responder.

If you have a hand that is worth more than 19 hcps or that has some exceptional playing strength, but did not fit a 2NT or 2 club opening, you must tell the negative doubler that. The way to announce this “monster” is to cue bid the overcaller’s suit. This bid is a “tell me more bid” and “says nothing, nor asks nothing” about their suit. It is simply a game forcing bid (the only forcing rebid opener can make) and responder should further describe his hand as best he can.

Here are some examples: (a) The bidding is 1c/2s/x. As opener you hold (i) xx, AQxx, Qxx, AQxx. (ii) Axxx, AQxx, x, AKQx. (iii) xx, AKxx, xxx, AKJx. With (i) make a single raise, with (ii) bid game and with (iii) we have a very robust 15 hcps and I upgrade it to a jump raise.

Things have gone food so far, but what if you do not have the suit or suits that responder indicated with his negative double? If you have 6 cards in your bid major, you can rebid the suit. If you have a secondary suit that has not been bid or shown you can bid that. I hate rebidding 5 card suits, but if you have a very solid 5 carder and have no better bid, you may have to rebid it. If you have a stopper in the opponents overcalled suit, you can bid no trump. If you have to go to the 2NT level, you better hope that partner did not shade his strength when he decided to negative double, because you are going to need it. Remember the Rule of 23? If none of these solutions work, tell the best lie. After all, partner has to have something for his negative double, and if he does not, we will hereinafter refer to him as “ex-partner.”

Here are some examples. The bidding has gone 1d/2c/x. This shows both majors in my book and remember, while you could have bid 1 heart over 1 diamond without the overcall with 6 hcps, I recommend that you have 8 hcps in this sequence for your negative double. As opener you hold: (i) Qx, AQx, KQJxx, xxx (ii) Qxx, AQx, AQJxx, Kx (iii) Qxx, Kxx, AQJx, xxx. With (i) I may just bid 2 diamonds and hope that partner has at least 2 of them. The other alternative is bid 2NT, not at all appealing from my side. If partner has any extras and a club stopper, maybe he will bid 2NT over my 2 diamonds. At least the opening lead would come up to him. Two diamonds is my bid. (ii) With 18 hcps and a club stopper, I would jump right to 3NT. (iii) Who opened this hand anyway? A pass would have been nice with only 12 hcps and square hand. I rate to get murdered in 2NT. I am going to bid 2 hearts with only 3 card support and hope for the best in this 7 card fit. Where is Sonny Moyse when I need him?

What is responder saying when he passes an overcall? One of two things: Responder either has a stack in the overcalled suit and can’t double (since it would be negative) or partner does not have the strength or correct shape to take action.

Assume the bidding goes 1d/2c/p/p. What are opener’s obligations to reopen the bidding with a double. Remember that you heard it here: Be very careful about doubling back in if you have length in the overcalled suit. The more cards you have in the overcalled suit, the more it looks like the reason partner did not bid is that he’s broke. When opener is short in the overcalled suit, then the possibility that responder made a trap pass looms more likely.

If you have a minimum opening hand double back in at the 1 or 2 level if you have 2 or fewer cards in opponent’s suit. If you are doubling back in at the 3 level with a minimum hand you should have a singleton in opponent’s overcalled suit. Doubling back in with 3 cards in opponent’s suit is dangerous. Even with extra values, pass may be correct. If you want to see an example of a correct reopening double see example (d) (3) in part one of Negative Doubles. In my next blog I will explain Mel Colchamiro’s Rule of 9. When you have that you will know whether to leave the double in or pull it.

Now we finish off with responder’s rebid after his negative double. If opener has made a simple raise in your indicated suit, you can invite to game by a further raise. Alternatively, if opener did not bid your suit, you can venture to 2NT. Both of these actions require about 11 hcps. Responder can also bid a new suit not shown by the original negative double or actually bid one of the suits shown by the negative double. Responder bidding a suit after a negative double almost always shows a 6 card suit that could not be bid on the first response and is to play. Just as we saw with opener’s rebid, none of these rebids by responder are forcing. If responder wants to force to game he must cue bid opponents overcalled suit. Again this doesn’t ask for or tell a stopper, it just says “tell me more.” Responder has now taken charge of the hand. To cue bid after a negative double responder needs 13+ hcps

The requirements for negative doubles that I have laid out in my blog posts are the ones that I think will work the best for most club players. Get on the same page with your partner and when you see an overcall in front of you, before you think about bidding, always consider a negative double first. My guess is that in a normal club session, almost as many negative double are missed as are made.