ImproversImprovers

Week 14Week 14

The Use of DoublesThe Use of Doubles

(Part 1)(Part 1)

The Use of DoublesThe Use of Doubles You should be using doubles far moreYou should be using doubles far more

We will look at types of doubles for 2 We will look at types of doubles for 2 weeksweeks

This weekThis week Take Out DoublesTake Out Doubles Negative DoublesNegative Doubles

Take Out Doubles (TOX)Take Out Doubles (TOX)

What do you need?What do you need?

Cover in un-bid majors (4+ cards)Cover in un-bid majors (4+ cards) Preferably cover in un-bid minorsPreferably cover in un-bid minors If not a re-biddable suitIf not a re-biddable suit

MythsMyths To make a TOX you must have To make a TOX you must have

opening points.opening points. NO - you should compete where NO - you should compete where

possible with 9+ HCPpossible with 9+ HCP

To make a TOX you need a shortage To make a TOX you need a shortage in opponents suit(s)in opponents suit(s)

IRRELEVANT – If you have something IRRELEVANT – If you have something to say then say itto say then say it

TOX HandsTOX Hands The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 1 ?? You have 12 HCP LTC 6You have 12 HCP LTC 6 You do not have a 5 card You do not have a 5 card

suit to bidsuit to bid What do you bid?What do you bid? * Classic TOX shapeClassic TOX shape Support for any other suitSupport for any other suit Find out what partner hasFind out what partner has Your hand is rarely this Your hand is rarely this

neat neat

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TOX HandsTOX Hands The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 1 ?? You have 12 HCP LTC 6½ You have 12 HCP LTC 6½ You have a 5 card suit to You have a 5 card suit to

bidbid But that would miss the But that would miss the ‘s‘s What do you bid?What do you bid? * Partner will know you have Partner will know you have

4 4 ‘s‘s If partner bids If partner bids ‘s you bid ‘s you bid

‘s‘s

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TOX HandsTOX Hands The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 1 ?? You have 13 HCP LTC 7 You have 13 HCP LTC 7 You do not have a 5 card You do not have a 5 card

suit to bidsuit to bid But you have 4 cards in But you have 4 cards in

both majorsboth majors What do you bid?What do you bid? * Important to look for the Important to look for the

major fitmajor fit Pass if partner bids 2Pass if partner bids 2

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TOX HandsTOX Hands The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 1 ?? You have 13 HCP LTC 6 You have 13 HCP LTC 6 You do not have a 5 You do not have a 5

card suit to bidcard suit to bid But you have 4 cards in But you have 4 cards in

both majorsboth majors What do you bid?What do you bid? * Important to look for the Important to look for the

major fitmajor fit Holding in opponents Holding in opponents

suit so bid NT if partner suit so bid NT if partner bids 2bids 2

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TOX HandsTOX Hands The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 ?? You have 11 HCP LTC 7½ You have 11 HCP LTC 7½

You have a 5 card majorYou have a 5 card major But you have 4 cards in But you have 4 cards in

the other majorthe other major What do you bid?What do you bid? * If partner bids If partner bids re-bid re-bid

the the ‘s showing 5 of the ‘s showing 5 of the suit and 4 suit and 4 ‘s‘s

Good way of showing the Good way of showing the shapeshape

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TOX HandsTOX Hands The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 P 2 ?? You have 10 HCP LTC You have 10 HCP LTC

7½ 7½ What is your bid?What is your bid? * Hand does not look Hand does not look

great but your side may great but your side may well have a fitwell have a fit

You have good support You have good support for the other 2 suitsfor the other 2 suits

This is your only chance This is your only chance to get into the biddingto get into the bidding

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Bidding TOX’sBidding TOX’s You often pick up fairly balanced handsYou often pick up fairly balanced hands Then get stopped from bidding when Then get stopped from bidding when

opponents bid a suitopponents bid a suit On many occasions a TOX would get On many occasions a TOX would get

your side into the bidding your side into the bidding Finding a fit you would otherwise missFinding a fit you would otherwise miss Or just getting in opponents wayOr just getting in opponents way Pass makes it easy for opponentsPass makes it easy for opponents Make sure you have 4+ in un-bid Make sure you have 4+ in un-bid

majorsmajors

Responding to Partner’s Responding to Partner’s TOXTOX

TOX is forcingTOX is forcing If opponents Pass you MUST bidIf opponents Pass you MUST bid Even with 0 HCP and LTC 12!!Even with 0 HCP and LTC 12!! You can only Pass if you are You can only Pass if you are

converting the TOX to a penalty *converting the TOX to a penalty * This means you are assuring partner This means you are assuring partner

that the opponents bid is almost that the opponents bid is almost certain to failcertain to fail

Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 * P ?? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 5 HCP LTC 10You have 5 HCP LTC 10 You know your side has You know your side has

a a fitfit You must bid 1You must bid 1 Showing a fit and a Showing a fit and a

weak handweak hand Partner will probably Partner will probably

compete to the 2 levelcompete to the 2 level

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 * P ?? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 9 HCP LTC 8You have 9 HCP LTC 8 You know your side has a You know your side has a

fitfit You must jump to 2You must jump to 2 Showing a fit and a bit Showing a fit and a bit

better handbetter hand With a fit and > 8 HCP With a fit and > 8 HCP

jump bid to pre-emptjump bid to pre-empt Difficult for opener to re-Difficult for opener to re-

bidbid

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 * P ?? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 9 HCP LTC 8You have 9 HCP LTC 8 You have a fit in both You have a fit in both

majorsmajors You should bid 2You should bid 2 Partner must AlertPartner must Alert Showing a fit in both majorsShowing a fit in both majors Asking partner to select the Asking partner to select the

suit to play insuit to play in Also pre-empting opponentsAlso pre-empting opponents

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes P 1P 1 P 2 * 2* 2 ? ? Can you respond?Can you respond? You have 4 HCP LTC 9You have 4 HCP LTC 9 You have a fit in the other You have a fit in the other

2 suits2 suits You should bid 3You should bid 3 You are very weak so pick You are very weak so pick

the known 9 card fitthe known 9 card fit Major not so important as Major not so important as

you are not going to gameyou are not going to game

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes P 1P 1 P 2 * 2* 2 ? ? Can you respond?Can you respond? You have 4 HCP LTC 9You have 4 HCP LTC 9 You have a fit in the You have a fit in the

other 2 suitsother 2 suits You should bid 2You should bid 2 And with a 9 card fit And with a 9 card fit

compete to 3compete to 3

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes P 1P 1 P 2 P 2P 2 * P * P ?? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 10 HCP LTC 7You have 10 HCP LTC 7 You have both opponents You have both opponents

suitssuits You should Pass You should Pass Converts TOX to penaltyConverts TOX to penalty And if RHO rescues in 3And if RHO rescues in 3

double againdouble again

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 33 P P * P ?P ? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 6 HCP LTC 8½ You have 6 HCP LTC 8½ Partner must be quite Partner must be quite

strongstrong You should bid 4You should bid 4 Does not look great but Does not look great but

trust in partner having a trust in partner having a good handgood hand

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 33 P P * P ?P ? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 9 HCP LTC 8½ You have 9 HCP LTC 8½ Partner must be quite Partner must be quite

strongstrong You should bid 4You should bid 4 Much like the previous Much like the previous

hand but you make 1 less hand but you make 1 less and 1 more and 1 more

Close to a 3NT tryClose to a 3NT try

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 33 P P * P ?P ? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 12 HCP LTC 7 You have 12 HCP LTC 7 Partner must be quite Partner must be quite

strongstrong You should bid 3NTYou should bid 3NT Expect a Expect a lead but you lead but you

should come to 9 tricks should come to 9 tricks before they establish before they establish ‘s‘s

You can expect opener to You can expect opener to have an outside suit entryhave an outside suit entry

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Responding to TOXResponding to TOX The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 33 P P * P ?P ? What can you respond?What can you respond? You have 12 HCP LTC 6 You have 12 HCP LTC 6 Partner must be quite Partner must be quite

strongstrong You should bid 4 You should bid 4 With partner’s strength With partner’s strength

this should be easythis should be easy

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TOXTOX

TOX can be made over any natural TOX can be made over any natural suit bid up to 2suit bid up to 2

Or over any pre-emptOr over any pre-empt Any * of a NT bid is for penaltiesAny * of a NT bid is for penalties TOX does not need to be AlertedTOX does not need to be Alerted

Negative DoublesNegative Doubles

Negative Doubles are a form of TOXNegative Doubles are a form of TOX The only difference is that your side The only difference is that your side

has already bid a suithas already bid a suit Says that you do not have partner’s Says that you do not have partner’s

suitsuit But you do have any un-bid suitsBut you do have any un-bid suits Often called Sputnik DoublesOften called Sputnik Doubles They do not need to be AlertedThey do not need to be Alerted

Negative DoublesNegative Doubles The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 22 22 ?? You have 11 HCP LTC 7 You have 11 HCP LTC 7 You could bid 3You could bid 3 But that would be getting But that would be getting

high in the biddinghigh in the bidding And may force partner to And may force partner to

44 Negative double will show Negative double will show

the other 2 suitsthe other 2 suits If partner re-bids 3If partner re-bids 3 you you

PassPass

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Negative DoublesNegative Doubles The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 22 22 ?? You have 11 HCP LTC 7 You have 11 HCP LTC 7 You could bid 3You could bid 3 But that may miss a But that may miss a fitfit And may force partner And may force partner

to 4to 4 Negative double will Negative double will

show the other 2 suitsshow the other 2 suits If partner re-bids 3If partner re-bids 3 you you

can Passcan Pass

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Negative DoublesNegative Doubles The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 1 1 11 22 ?? You have 13 HCP LTC 7 You have 13 HCP LTC 7 1NT would show the wrong 1NT would show the wrong

HCP, 3HCP, 3 would be too strong would be too strong a bida bid

Negative double will show the Negative double will show the other suitother suit

And still be a weakish bidAnd still be a weakish bid If opponents get to 3If opponents get to 3 you you

should double for penaltyshould double for penalty If partner re-bids If partner re-bids ‘s you can ‘s you can

bid NTbid NT

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Negative DoublesNegative Doubles The Bidding goesThe Bidding goes 11 1 1 11 22 ?? You have 13 HCP LTC 7 You have 13 HCP LTC 7 1NT would show the wrong 1NT would show the wrong

HCP, 3HCP, 3 would be OK, but 3 would be OK, but 3 would be a reversewould be a reverse

Negative double will show the Negative double will show the other suitother suit

And therefore 5 And therefore 5 ‘s‘s If opponents get to 3If opponents get to 3 you you

should Passshould Pass If partner re-bids If partner re-bids ‘s you can ‘s you can

bid 3bid 3

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TOX and Negative DoublesTOX and Negative Doubles Often more descriptive than a suit bidOften more descriptive than a suit bid Gives an extra bid without getting too highGives an extra bid without getting too high Be sure that you have what you promise!Be sure that you have what you promise! If you make a TOX and then re-bid a major If you make a TOX and then re-bid a major

it promises an extra cardit promises an extra card Think about your re-bidThink about your re-bid Hands suitable for TOX occur all the timeHands suitable for TOX occur all the time So start to use themSo start to use them It makes partner play the hand!!It makes partner play the hand!!