[Pierina52]

Can anyone tell me a clear explanation about how to use double in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th position?

[pilowsky]

look no further
https://books.google...u4C&redir_esc=y

[Stephen Tu]

That's a pretty complicated question. You might want to look at Mike Lawrence's books, particularly his complete book on takeout doubles, and his "Double! new meanings for an old bid".
Basic info can be found by googling bridge along with "takeout doubles", "negative doubles", "responsive doubles", "support doubles", "card-showing doubles".

I don't think any of us really want to write a whole treatise on all possible auctions, but you can perhaps give example auctions (what should this sequence mean?) or example hands (how do I show this hand, should I double in this position?)

Generally these days doubles early in the auction, and low level, are mostly showing values to compete (how much needed depends if partner has already shown strength or not, and how high you are), and showing some number of unbid suits, and inappropriate for other action for whatever reasons. Everything depends on context.

[FelicityR]

Stephen Tu, on 2020-September-20, 02:31, said:

That's a pretty complicated question.

Yes, it is. Double is rarely for penalties these days. On the lower levels of the auction it is used in a competitive sense most of the time. If you look upon most doubles as 'takeout' including obviously takeout doubles, negative doubles, responsive doubles, balancing doubles then you would not be going far wrong. Obviously doubles of 1NT, except in a conventional sense, are penalty-orientated, and support doubles and lead-directing doubles come into their own category.

And welcome to the forum.

[Zelandakh]

There are too many cases to handle everything and many pairs will also have some special agreements here, but here are a few basic guidelines for the most common auctions:-

In 1st seat, don't use a double as it will result in a TD call.
In second seat, if Dealer opened 1NT, Double is penalties unless you have agreed something else with your partner.
In second seat, if Dealer opened one of a suit, Double is takeout showing either a hand of above average strength with support for the other 3 suits or a hand too strong for an immediate overcall.
In third seat, if your partner passed then use the rules for second seat.
In third seat, if your partner opened 1 of a suit and RHO overcalled 1NT, Double is penalties.
In third seat, if your partner opened 1♣ and RHO overcalled 1♦, Double shows both majors.
In third seat, if your partner opened 1 of a minor and RHO overcalled 1♥, Double shows precisely 4 spades.
In third seat, if your partner opened 1 of a minor and RHO overcalled 1♠, Double shows either 4 hearts or 5+ hearts and a hand unsuitable for bidding 2♥.
In third seat, if your partner opened 1♥ and RHO overcalled 1♠, Double will usually have both minors unless you agree something special with your partner.
In fourth seat, if Dealer passed then use the rules for third seat.
In fourth seat, if Dealer opened 1NT, partner passes and RHO makes an artificial call (Stayman, transfer, etc), Double shows the suit doubled unless you have agreed something else.
In fourth seat, if Dealer opened 1NT, partner passes and RHO makes a natural call, Double is for takeout.
In fourth seat, if Dealer opened 1 of a suit, partner passes and RHO raises, Double is for takeout.
In fourth seat, if Dealer opened 1 of a suit, partner passes and RHO bids a new suit naturally, Double shows the 2 unbid suits and a decent hand.

[thepossum]

I'm relieved that someone else has similar issues with doubles. As far as I can see some people do it just to keep bidding going. Some don't like responsibility. Every type of double is guesswork

What happened to good old simple bid what you have, take responsibility for something and use double for penalties.

I have a similar issue of annoyance with disruptive cue bidding

[DavidKok]

It is extremely valuable to have a bid with the meaning "I would like to bid, but do not have any natural call available. Partner, please show me what you got". It helps partner compete on partscores if the points are evenly distributed, assists in finding sharp games and makes all natural bids more specific by negative inference. A lot of 'conventional' (in the sense that they have their own convention name) doubles boil down to essentially this meaning, with perhaps some extra focus on particular (major) suits. These include:

• Takeout
  
• Negative/Sputnik
  
• Reopening/Balancing
  
• Responsive
  
• Snapdragon
  
• Optional

I'm sure there are more I've forgotten. These 'conventions' are so successful that almost universally people are willing to give up penalty doubles - penalty doubles are simply too rare, so you are leaving points on the table by playing them in a lot of situations.

To confuse matters even further, a lot of partnerships also play a number of truly conventional doubles. I'll add a brief list of some of the more prominent ones, again of course not exhaustive. Personally I think all of these should solidly be considered conventions, and although some are almost universally adopted by stronger players these would in principle require discussion before you can use them. Don't spring these on your poor unsuspecting partner!

• Support
  
• Lead-directing
  
• Lightner
  
• DOPI/ROPI(/DEPO/REPO/DIPO/RIPO/etc.)
  
• Maximal
  
• First-round control showing
  
• Stolen bid
  
• Transfer XX
  
• Rosenkranz (re)double
  
• S.O.S. redouble
  
• Undoubles
  
• Conventional defence against 1NT(/2NT?)

As an afterthought, I'll add that double is special in bidding theory because it is a bid that increases the amount of bidding space, instead of decreases it like most other overcalls. This is (part of) why a lot of players frequently will consider a double over any other bid as it is more flexible. Of course this only works if a double would mean something like the traditional takeout meaning, which I gave at the top.

[thepossum]

DavidKok, on 2020-September-21, 02:45, said:

It is extremely valuable to have a bid with the meaning "I would like to bid, but do not have any natural call available. Partner, please show me what you got". It helps partner compete on partscores if the points are evenly distributed, assists in finding sharp games and makes all natural bids more specific by negative inference. A lot of 'conventional' (in the sense that they have their own convention name) doubles boil down to essentially this meaning, with perhaps some extra focus on particular (major) suits. These include:

I quite understand the value. But the rest of your post and everyone elses lists of options indicate that trying to understand what it means is quite difficult. (Thakyou for the wonderful list by the way) I just generally take it to mean bid what I have, especially if its something not bid by anyone else yet etc. Its simpler that way Or if anyone bids in between and I don't think I have a bid I can pass

My favourite profile message was someone who said "Double means I want you to bid"

[akwoo]

Here is my "simple" doubles agreement:

In the following situations, a double asks you to pass:

1) I am not in balancing seat, and I have passed an opponent's bid of that suit previously.

2) Either side has made a NT bid that promises a (semi)balanced hand. (This means (1M)-P-(1N)-X does NOT ask you to pass, since 1N can be some hand with a long minor not strong enough to bid at the 2 level.)

3) You have shown that you have a weak hand with a single long suit and not much else (for example by preempting).

4) We have agreed a fit.

All other doubles ask you to bid. The higher the level, the more likely you are to pass despite being asked to bid because you have nothing to say.

Now, if you ask me what I prefer, I would like to add a few conventional doubles on top of this agreement, and some doubles should promise 4 cards in unbid majors, but this is a fine start.

[Vampyr]

Zelandakh, on 2020-September-20, 08:15, said:

In third seat, if your partner opened 1 of a minor and RHO overcalled 1♥, Double shows precisely 4 spades.

I am not sure how popular this is these days.

You didn’t mention that a double of a preemptive bid is for takeout; some people prefer to make an exception and use a double of a 4♠ opening as penalty.

And of course there is the ever popular Snapdragon double in fourth seat — shows a doubleton in partner’s suit and five of the unbid suit.

[Zelandakh]

Vampyr, on 2020-September-21, 22:49, said:

I am not sure how popular this is these days.

As far as I know it is still the default agreement for a pick up partnership and certainly for N/B. I would agree that at a higher level it is increasingly played as 4+ spades rather than precisely 4.

Vampyr, on 2020-September-21, 22:49, said:

You didn’t mention that a double of a preemptive bid is for takeout; some people prefer to make an exception and use a double of a 4♠ opening as penalty.

And of course there is the ever popular Snapdragon double in fourth seat — shows a doubleton in partner’s suit and five of the unbid suit.

I deliberately avoided talking about higher-level doubles and actions after the first round in the first post. I thought just dealing with the one level was sufficient for N/B to start with and figured that there would at some point be a follow-up post or thread to deal with more complicated situations.

[DavidKok]

I forgot to mention, but as always Larry Cohen gives a truly excellent explanation on doubling. His website is a treasure trove of good bridge advice.

As for the Snapdragon double in particular, let's take a look at a hypothetical bidding situation. The bidding goes (1♦)-1♥-(1♠)-?. If you are weak this is a good time to pass (although modern standard is to compete aggressively if you have a fit for partner's major, starting at around 3-4 points and a bit of shape), and if you have some points and a fit for partner you should raise them with either 2♥ or 2♦. If you have points (8-10 or so) and length in the opponent's suits you can bid 1NT. At this point the only options left are 2♣ and X. Both of these should describe hands without a fit for partner, with some points, and denying length in at least one of the opponent's suits. By negative inference, both promise length in clubs. It is then natural to reserve 2♣ for a hand that wants to play in clubs (usually a six-carder, but sometimes a good 5-card suit) and double for a hand that isn't too sure, i.e. with some length in clubs (5) and also tolerance for partner's suit (2). This snapdragon is a convention, but even without the agreement it is one of the most sensible meanings of a double here.
Similar arguments apply to the other doubles in my first list - most of the time it's just good bridge given a name, instead of an agreement.

[Vampyr]

Zelandakh, on 2020-September-22, 00:28, said:

As far as I know it is still the default agreement for a pick up partnership and certainly for N/B. I would agree that at a higher level it is increasingly played as 4+ spades rather than precisely 4.

Or fewer than 4.