To understand actions immediately over their last bid in an aautcion that is ours, we can characterise hands as either clearly offensive, clearly defensive or not sure. With a clearly offensive hand, we will always make a bid, so the forcing pass and double need to cover the other two cases.
- when the double is for penalty (as is always the case in a fit auction), that represents the clearly defensive hand; so the forcing pass shows an unsure hand
- when the double is for takeout (usually the case in a disturbed auction), that represents a hand that is unsure of what the final outcome should be; so the forcing pass shows a clearly defensive hand
- similarly, in a neutral auction, double will be some sort of replacement for another neutral bid, the bidder again unsure as yet as to where we are going; so the forcing pass shows the clearly defensive hand.
A double in this position will often be made from weakness, and it is not all doom and gloom – as double would have been takeout, East's forcing pass shows a clearly defensive hand. With two clearly defensive hands and the balance of points, defending 2
doubled may well be the best option available.
This emphasises the point that 'clearly defensive' means soft, flat, points in short suits and low in playing strength relative to points. It does not necessarily mean a lot of points or a trump stack. One final example to emphasise this point:
Q52