Forum Question 31 – Alerting Negative Double
Alerting Negative Double
This question was asked to: David Stevenson
Question
Bidding went 1C(opening by E)>1S(overcall by partner)>x(taken as take-out guaranteeing at least 4xH)>P>4H(end)
When the Xers hand went down it had SAKJxx HJ10xx DAxx Cx
If the X had been for penalties then clearly it should have been alerted. However, it was correctly taken by the Xs partner as take-out. I was expecting to see something like 1xS; 4/5xH; 4/3xD: 4/3xC. My query is, if a take-out X is made and it may not contain shortage in the take-out suit, then should it be alerted?
Answer
No. Takeout doubles do not need to be alerted just because they may be made on an unusual shape. One general problem is that people expect others to bid as they do but that is often not the case.
In fact in this case your expectation is not the norm. While it is reasonable to expect doubler to have at least four hearts, there is no reason to suppose he will be short in the overcalled suit.
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