Bidding
Negative Doubles
Novice
52 min · 4-part series
Members watch the full lesson
About this lesson
Partner opens, the pesky opponents overcall, and the bid you wanted to make is gone. In this multi-part series Lorna shows how the negative double takes the space back: what it promises, when it applies, and how to use it to show your major or minor suits when the opponents get in over your partner.
What you'll pick up
- What a negative double says: values and length in the unbid suits, the majors above all, and it keeps the auction low
- Where it lives: partner opens, the opponents overcall, you double. Any other position is a different double
- Six points is enough at the one level. Coming in at the two or three level asks for more, just as it would without the overcall
- How high you play it is a partnership agreement. Through 3♠ is a fair card entry, and above that a double is penalty
- Four cards in the unbid major calls for the double, five or more and you bid the suit yourself. The overcall is what lets you show the difference
- The two places to play a negative double so often finds, and why a fifth trump is worth a bid but never worth re-valuing a minimum into an invitation
- After a minor opening and a minor overcall, the double shows both majors. Four of each is the ideal, and with a five-card major you bid it yourself
- Coming in at the two level asks for more than a bare six count, and once in a while the double is four-three in the majors because no other bid tells the truth
- Value the hand, not just the count. Honours in the suit they overcalled, like the queen-jack of diamonds behind a diamond overcall, are worth less than they look
- With no four-card major and a stopper in their suit, 1NT says so, and tells partner not to count on you for either major