Time For: Support Doubles

Time For: Introducing conventions that might not be familiar to some players, but are nearly universal in common usage such as ACBL Bridge Bulletin Standard. Whether or not you adopt the convention -- I suggest that you do! --  at the very least you should know enough about it to understand the opponents' usage. 

 

You hold ♠ K 10 ♥ A J 8 ♦ K 9 7 ♣ Q 10 9 6 3

You	LHO	Pard	RHO
1 ♣	Pass	1 ♥	Pass
?

Do you bid 1 NT or 2 ♥? There is no universally-agreed answer; this is a matter of style for partnership discussion (I prefer four-card raises).

What about the same hand in a slightly different auction?

You	LHO	Pard	RHO
1 ♣	Pass	1 ♥	1 ♠
?

There is a standard convention that applies here: Support Doubles. Very simply,

• if you open,
• partner bids a major suit at the one-level, and
• the player to your right bids at the one or two-level, then

Double shows three-card support for partner
A raise (2 ♥ here) shows four-card support.
Any other action tends to deny support for partner's suit. Your first priority is to show the fit if you have one.

If you double to show three-card support, partner can choose to rebid her suit -- possibly playing in a 4-3 fit -- or take other action as appropriate. Partner should not rebid notrump without a stopper in the opponent's suit.

THE PRINCIPLE: In competitive auctions, knowing the combined length of your trump fit is essential for judging whether to compete another level higher in the auction. Partner might need to know right now whether you have three or four card support; your left-hand opponent might make a preemptive jump raise. In competitive auctions, having a few extra high card points is irrelevant; points don't take tricks, trumps do. (If you want to learn more, read up on the "Law of Total Tricks").

Okay, same hand in another similar auction:
♠ K 10 ♥ A J 8 ♦ K 9 7 ♣ Q 10 9 6 3

You	LHO	Pard	RHO
1 ♣	Pass	1 ♥	Dbl
?

Yep, you guessed it... Redouble with three-card support. A raise would show four-card support.

Support Doubles and Redoubles are normally only used through the two-level, or perhaps only through two of partner's suit; discuss this with your partner beforehand. 

The Support Double convention was invented by American expert Eric Rodwell in the 1970s. As of January 2021, ACBL Alert Procedures regard Support Doubles and Redoubles as STANDARD; no Alert is required. In online play, you should explain nonetheless.

What if you want to double the overcall for penalty? Pass smoothly in tempo, and hope partner re-opens with a double, or that the opponents bid the same suit a level higher.

-- Ray 
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)