Doubles in Bridge

The table lists the doubles you will meet at a club game. Calls by the opponents are in brackets.

Point ranges vary with the level and the partnership. The pages linked in the last column give the requirements and partner's replies for each one.

The basic takeout double comes over an opening bid. It promises about opening strength and at least three cards in each unbid suit, and partner (the advancer) must bid even with nothing, because a pass would turn the double into a penalty double. Stronger hands that do not fit the shape double first and bid their own suit afterward. Over a weak two, many pairs use lebensohl after the double to separate weak replies from invitational ones.

The other takeout doubles follow the same idea from different seats. Responder's negative double answers an overcall of partner's opening and shows the unbid suits, above all an unbid major. The responsive double is the advancer's double when the opponents raise their suit after partner's takeout double. The support double is opener's double at the first rebid, showing exactly three cards in responder's major. The maximal double is a game try, used when the opponents have taken away the only bid that could invite.

A reopening double, also called a balancing double, comes in the last seat when the auction is about to die at a low level. Because partner may have passed with a fair hand, the doubler can have a few points less than a direct takeout double. Opener makes the same kind of double after an overcall that responder has passed, usually when short in the overcaller's suit. Playing negative doubles, responder cannot double the overcall for penalty, and opener's double lets responder pass with that hand.

Doubles of the opponents' conventions often borrow the same logic. After their Michaels cue bid, most pairs play that a double shows a good hand and interest in doubling at least one of their suits. After a DONT bid over your 1NT, the agreements vary more, so check them with partner.

A penalty double says the contract will go down and asks partner to defend. Because doubled undertricks cost far more than undoubled ones, one good penalty double can win the board. Not vulnerable, going down two in 1♥ costs 100 undoubled and 300 doubled. The full rates are on the undertrick penalties page.

A wrong double costs points too. 4♠ made exactly is worth 420 to declarer not vulnerable and 590 doubled, and 790 doubled when vulnerable instead of 620. Doubling a game that was going down one anyway risks a lot to gain a little, so most players double a freely bid game only with a likely second undertrick, such as trump tricks or a suit that will not break for declarer.

Doubling a 1NT opening

A direct double of a natural 1NT opening is for penalty in Standard American and Acol. The usual guide is a hand at least as strong as the opener's range, so about 15 or more points against a strong notrump, often with a good suit to lead. Partner passes with most hands and runs only when very weak and long in a suit. Some defenses to 1NT, such as DONT and Meckwell, give the double a different meaning, while others such as Cappelletti keep it for penalty, so check what your partnership plays.

Doubled and two down, 1NT costs 300 not vulnerable and 500 vulnerable, while 1NT doubled and made is worth 180 to declarer, and 280 with an overtrick when not vulnerable.

Passing partner's takeout double for penalty

The advancer can turn a takeout double into a penalty double by passing. This is right only with long, strong trumps in the opener's suit, something like QJ1098 or better. In (1♥) - X - (Pass) - Pass, the advancer sits on the opener's right, so the advancer's trumps sit in front of declarer's. When the advancer plays a trump before declarer, declarer can play over it, and the advancer's trumps have to win tricks on their own strength.

A weak advancer without that holding has to bid, even holding nothing. Passing out of fear turns a takeout double into a penalty double of a contract that will usually make, and doubled overtricks cost 100 each not vulnerable.

Theodore Lightner introduced his slam double around 1929. The doubler is the partner of the opening leader, and the double does not show defensive tricks in the usual way. Against a slam the opponents bid freely, there is little point in doubling for a bigger penalty, so the double instead asks for an unusual lead. That rules out trumps, any suit your side has bid and, usually, the unbid suit. Most often it asks for dummy's first-bid suit, often because the doubler is void in it or holds honors that sit over dummy's.

Some players read the Lightner double strictly as "lead dummy's first suit", while others, Lightner among them, leave the opening leader to work out which unusual lead is wanted. Agree which way you play it.

The same idea applies lower down. A double of an artificial call shows length and strength in the suit named and asks for that lead: a double of 2♣ Stayman or of a transfer, of a response to Blackwood, or of a control-showing cue bid on the way to slam. Many pairs also give a double of 3NT a lead message. If only one defender has bid a suit, the double asks for that suit, and if neither has, it usually asks for dummy's first suit. When both defenders have bid, some pairs lead the doubler's suit and others the opening leader's.

A redouble is allowed only over an opponent's double of your side's bid, again with only passes in between. A later bid by anyone cancels it. If it stands, the contract is played redoubled and every figure grows again. Trick points are four times the normal value, the bonus for making rises from 50 to 100, overtricks are worth 200 each not vulnerable and 400 vulnerable, and undertricks cost twice the doubled rates.

The jump from 160 to 520 comes from the game bonus. Redoubled, 1♥ is worth 120 trick points, which counts as a game. A redoubled 1♣ reaches only 80 trick points and scores 230. Vulnerable, 1♥ redoubled and made is worth 720, and one down costs 400. The bridge scoring page has the full tables.

Redouble after a takeout double

The most frequent redouble is responder's answer to a takeout double of partner's opening. It shows about 10 or more points and says the hand belongs to your side. In many methods it also suggests no good fit for opener's suit, since a fit is usually shown with a raise or with a 2NT bid that promises support. After the redouble, your side is ready to double the opponents for penalty when they run.

The SOS redouble

The SOS redouble is a request for rescue. When the opponents double your side's low-level contract for penalty and you are short in that suit, a redouble can ask partner to pick another suit. It makes sense only when a pass would leave you playing a bad contract doubled and you can stand any other suit partner chooses.

Most partnerships play the redouble as SOS only at a low level, when the double was clearly for penalty and the redoubler could have passed. Anywhere else it is likely to be read as strength, or as wanting to play redoubled. A misread redouble often ends in a large penalty, so agree on this one with partner before you use it.

• Passing partner's takeout double because your hand is weak. A pass converts it to penalty, so a weak hand bids its cheapest suit.
• Doubling a low-level overcall for penalty while playing negative doubles. That double is for takeout, so the penalty hand passes and waits for opener to reopen.
• Doubling a freely bid game on high cards alone. The opponents bid it knowing what they hold, and a double that tells declarer about a bad trump break can help them make it.
• Doubling a slam with an ace or two and nothing else, when that double will be read as Lightner and partner will lead the wrong suit.
• Redoubling without a clear agreement on whether it shows strength or asks for rescue.