With any kind of fair strength the novice at Bridge is invariably
anxious to double; but a few experiences with an adversary glad to
embrace the opportunity to redouble, will turn the course of his
anxiety to a desire to conceal such strength as he may hold.
Ordinarily be satisfied to win at all on the opponent’s make. By
doubling you not only place the strength and thus enable the dealer
to finesse successfully, but your double is a warning to the dealer
to be cautious in leading trumps, and therefore, lessens your chances
of winning tricks.
To increase safely the value of the tricks it is essential that you
consider the state of the score, the possibility of a redouble, and
your position in regard to the maker.
The score is a most important factor, and even, at times, justifies
a double with only a fair hand. For instance, suppose the odd trick
wins the game for your adversaries, and does not win it for you; if
you double and secure the odd trick, the additional count may enable
you to win the game on that deal or the next.
It is bad play to double when you need only an odd trick to win the
game. If you double you lessen your chance of winning the trick, and
by opening the way to a redouble perhaps give the adversaries the
game.
Doubling on the rubber game is dangerous. The increased value of the
tricks may enable your adversaries to win the rubber on that hand,
when, otherwise, you might go out on the next deal.
Your position in regard to the maker claims equal consideration. If
the trump has been made at your right, you play after the strong
hand, and are, therefore, in a good position to make your high trump
cards; but, if you double when this arrangement is reversed, and the
maker is over you, the dealer has this advantage.
As spades are made for safety, occasions for doubling the spade
declaration obviously arise more frequently than any other; yet
players are prone to go to extremes in doubling spade hands, for,
while it does not require much strength to double a defensive spade
declaration, there is always a possibility of great trump strength in
the adversaries’ hands.
Do not double the make of hearts, diamonds, or clubs without some
strength in the trump suit; as high cards, particularly if the
suits are long, may be trumped, strength in the side suits alone is
unreliable. Spades, however, may be doubled with but little strength
in the trump suit.
Be particularly conservative in doubling a “no-trump” make; for but
rarely does it pay to double with a hand containing general strength.
Remember that while you are in the dark as to your partner’s hand,
the dealer has the enormous advantage of seeing and combining his
own hand and the dummy; that he knows what suit to avoid, and what
suit to establish; and that your doubling will place him in a still
more advantageous position by enabling him to locate honours and make
successful finesses. Be cautious, also, when you hold fair strength
in three suits and are weak in the remaining one. The maker is apt to
hold a very long suit and you will not find it easy to discard, and
at the same time protect your hand.
Usually it is not safe to double a “no-trump” make unless you hold
a suit that you are reasonably sure is established. It is a gamble
to double with a six-card suit headed by ace, king, and queen with
no other trick in the hand. You depend on your partner to take one
trick, which he may not be able to do; and, should you find your long
suit protected in the adversaries’ hands, you run the risk of being
very badly beaten. If the odd trick wins the game for the adversaries
and does not win it for you, such a double may be justifiable; still
you cannot hope to win more than 24 points by doubling, and you risk
losing three or four odd tricks with a possibility of a redouble.
While such a double will often succeed it can hardly be classed as
sound.
As the younger hand, it may be wise to double a “no-trump” make in
order to prevent great loss or to save the game. In other words, it
may pay to show your partner by a double that you have strength in
a particular suit. There are at present two methods used by Bridge
players to indicate this strength, one known as the Heart Convention
and the other as the Weak Suit Convention.