[jillybean]

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and what does it mean?

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

the 2nd double could be either heart or responsive, i.e. the minors.

If you play the 2nd double in the seq.

(1C) - X - (1H) - X

as hearts, I would do the same in your seq., may not be best, but keep it
in sync.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[helene_t]

I may be old-fashioned, but I actually like playing this double as penalty.

W 1S has either a fairly well-described hand (enough to give E captainship). And I think it is not too uncommon that such a penalty double can be profitable.

Besides, if E doesn't want to defend even if W has four hearts, there is always 2S (or maybe 2NT?) to ask W to pick a minor.

You could also play it as optional, in principle asking W to pass with four hearts but run with three. I think that is a narrow target.

[jillybean]

I thought responsive was after your opponents have bid and raised a single suit so this becomes a pure penalty double?

just posted after Helene's old fashioned reply.

2nt here is then minors, which is what I had. J,T5,AK432,AT643

[mikeh]

Penalty for me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this at the table but it has to be penalty imo. Otherwise the opps can steal you blind.

[apollo1201]

 jillybean, on 2026-June-22, 13:36, said:

I thought responsive was after your opponents have bid and raised a single suit so this becomes a pure penalty double?

just posted after Helene's old fashioned reply.

2nt here is then minors, which is what I had. J,T5,AK432,AT643

2NT needs to keep its natural meaning, I guess, or you grab the bull by the horns and bid 3NT with 10+-11 and a S stopper.
As your habd is very powerful and to avoid any risk of being passed out in a poor contract, I think I would cue 2S. Looks like opener is going to to bid some number of S (otherwise where are they, not you, not responder, unless they psyched, and not partner…).

[mikeh]

You’re going to game with that hand. 2N should be natural, imo. Doesn’t show a heart stopper since you can rely upon the takeout double for that suit. What do you bid with AQx xxx KJxx Qxx? Basically, 2N is needed for the hands on which you’d bid 2N had responder passed. Don’t let the undoubtedly weak 2H cause you to be unable to show your hand.

With your hand, unless I’m playing a pair that loves to psyche….and my main partner and I are the only pair I currently know who fit that description…I’d just bid a pedestrian 4N. Even if 2N were the minors, I don’t understand why we’re giving the opps….who surely have a lot of spades….a chance to further describe their hands below the 5 level. I might…heck, I am pretty sure I would…bid 4N even if I suspected north of psyching. In fact it’s only my short hearts that makes me think he’s not completely fooling around. 2H is a baby psyche on something like xxxx xx xx xxxxx.

Now, I don’t psyche against non experts and this particular psyche won’t work against real experts.

[jillybean]

apollo1201, on 2026-June-22, 15:18, said:

2NT needs to keep its natural meaning, I guess, or you grab the bull by the horns and bid 3NT with 10+-11 and a S stopper.
As your habd is very powerful and to avoid any risk of being passed out in a poor contract, I think I would cue 2S. Looks like opener is going to to bid some number of S (otherwise where are they, not you, not responder, unless they psyched, and not partner…).

2nt is a micro landing, if that is what you in intend by natural meaning.

[mikeh]

jillybean, on 2026-June-22, 16:08, said:

2nt is a micro landing, if that is what you in intend by natural meaning.

While it is common, in bidding contests, to criticize calls because they seem to be aiming at a narrow target, that doesn’t mean that one should never or rarely make bids that show a narrow range of hand types. If it did, we’d never play limit raises or show an invitational hand of any kind after partner opens, say, 1N.

Using 2N as minors here is itself aiming at a narrow target, with the additional problem of not being able to distinguish between an invitational hand with both minors and one that is merely competitive. Or, as here, game force

Of course, even if 2N showed the minors, I think it a truly awful call with this hand, which imo is a perfect 4N.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

2NT instead of X would be inv.+ values for us.
As MikeH said, I also never had this seq., if they wanna psyc fine, they gave us room.
FrancesH, an oldtime poster, said it simply: killing space is usually a lot better and
more effective, than most baby psychs ever can be.

I basically never encountered psychs, so I dont know, how I would handle those, I think there
are seq. that are great opportunities to do a psych, and you can easily get me, but not this seq.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[jillybean]

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Have at it

BBO MBC of course. Partner and I are having an interesting discussion regarding "responsive doubles"

[mikeh]

jillybean, on 2026-June-23, 11:39, said:

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Have at it

BBO MBC of course. Partner and I are having an interesting discussion regarding "responsive doubles"

Not sure of your point. If it’s that you got a plus when 4S fails and so too does 5D, count me as singularly unimpressed. While ‘actual results’ are not entirely meaningless, making bidding method decisions based on individual hands is a short path to bad bridge. An easy path as is too often exhibited by non expert players, especially when bad bidding happens to work well, lol.

In a tough match I’d expect a push in 5D.