Playing Negative Doubles.
Bridge Column for March 26, 2000, By HARVEY BERNSTEIN
Both sides vulnerable.  East deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: 10 8 7 4         
                              H: 3               
                              D: K J 7 6 2 
                              C: K 3 2   
            WEST                             EAST
            S: 3                             S: A Q J 9 2
            H: K 10 8 5 4                    H: 7          
            D: A Q 9 5 4                     D: 10 8 3            
            C: Q 8                           C: A J 9 4     
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: K 6 5  
                              H: A Q J 9 6 2
                              D: Void      
                              C: 10 7 6 5 
          The Bidding://
                  EAST    SOUTH    WEST    NORTH                  
                   1S      2H      Pass     Pass
                 Double    Pass    Pass     Pass
     One of the most popular of the new bidding conventions that
have become a part of the "standard" bidding system is the
"Negative Double".  This hand from a duplicate bridge event
illustrates one of the problems that is inherent to this
convention.
     After East opens the bidding with one spade, South makes a
standard over call of two hearts.  Before the common use of
negative doubles, West could simply double for penalty and that
would be the end of the auction.  North-South have no better
contract and they take their lumps in two hearts doubled.
     If East-West are playing negative doubles, West cannot make
a penalty double.  In fact, if he were to double at this point he
would be promising a hand with support for either minor and a
minimum of 7 to 9 high card points.  This is nowhere near the
hand he actually holds and his only option is to pass.  After
North passes, East has to decide whether to allow the opponents
to have the auction or to take some action to allow his
partnership to compete.
     East has a minimum opening bid and it doesn't seem right to
make a three club call at this point.  If East-West were not
playing negative doubles I would support a pass which would end
the auction.  But East knows that his partner could not make a
penalty double of two hearts, and he may have had no other bid. 
To accommodate this situation, East is obligated to reopen the
bidding with a double.  This allows West to penalize South by
passing at his turn, thereby converting the reopening double to a
penalty double.
     If West does not have the type of hand that would support a
penalty double, he will pull the double by making some minimum
bid.  That is not the case here, and two hearts doubled is
defeated three tricks for 800 points and a very good result.
     Virtually every convention that we agree to add to our
"system" has some negative aspect that must be considered and
dealth with accordingly.  It is a very bad practice to adopt some
of the newer methods without learning what the down side of that
convention is and what you need to be able to do to cover that
aspect of your game.
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