Doubles in Bridge: Takeout, Penalty and Redoubles

A double in bridge is either a takeout double, which asks partner to bid, or a penalty double, which says you expect to beat the contract and want a bigger score. Most doubles of a suit at the one or two level, made before your side has found a fit, are for takeout; doubles of notrump and of game contracts are for penalty.

That one rule covers most hands. The rest of this page gives you the full list of doubles that club and tournament players use, how to tell them apart at the table, and what a redouble means. The examples use 2/1 Game Force agreements (Standard American is the same here); Acol players use the same doubles with the few changes noted below.

Every double belongs to one of two families.

Takeout-type doubles ask partner to describe their hand. The doubler is short in the opponents' suit and has length in the other suits. Partner is expected to bid, not pass. The takeout double, the negative double, the responsive double, the support double and the maximal double all live here.

Penalty doubles say "I think we beat this, let's defend." The doubler has length and strength in the opponents' trump suit, or simply more high cards than the opponents expect. Partner passes unless their hand is unsuited to defense. A lead-directing double is a special kind of penalty double: you expect to beat the contract, and you also tell partner what to lead.

A double changes the score in both directions. If the contract makes, the opponents score double trick points, a 50 bonus for "the insult," and doubled overtricks. If it fails, the undertricks cost a lot more, as the table in undertrick penalties shows. Non vulnerable, one down doubled is 100, two down is 300 and three down is 500. Vulnerable, the same results cost 200, 500 and 800.

Partnership agreement decides, but most players use the same default rules. Ask these questions in order:

1. Is the doubled bid notrump? A double of 1NT or any notrump contract is penalty, unless you play a defense such as DONT or Meckwell where the double is artificial.
2. Is it a game or slam contract? Doubles of 4♥, 4♠, five-level and slam contracts are mostly penalty (or lead-directing).
3. Has partner already bid or doubled? If partner opened, overcalled or made a takeout double and you double a suit at a low level, it is a negative, responsive or support double, depending on the auction. These are takeout doubles too.
4. Has partner said nothing, and is the doubled bid a suit at the one, two or three level? Then it is a takeout double.
5. Is the doubled bid artificial (Stayman, a transfer, a cue bid, a Blackwood response)? The double shows that suit and asks partner to lead it.

When none of the rules fits, treat the double as penalty. That safety net prevents most disasters, because a penalty double that partner takes out loses less than a takeout double that partner passes.

Bids in brackets are the opponents'. Each takeout-type double has its own Learn page with ranges and responses. The rest of this page covers the penalty side and the redouble.

The classic takeout double comes from the defending side: right-hand opponent opens 1♥ and you double with something like ♠KJ84 ♥5 ♦AQ73 ♣K1062. You have opening values, a singleton heart, and four cards in each other suit. Partner must bid even with zero points, because a pass turns your takeout double into a penalty double of 1♥.

The negative double is the same idea from the opening side. Partner opens 1♣, the opponent overcalls 1♠, and you double to show four hearts without the strength or length to bid 2♥ (see what this double means in every system). The responsive double works after partner's takeout double, the support double shows three-card support, and the maximal double is a game try in a crowded auction.

All of them share one structure: the doubler has the unbid suits, and partner picks the strain.

You make a penalty double when you hold trump tricks and outside defense, and you think the contract will fail. Good penalty doubles have three features:

• Trump length or trump tricks. ♥KJ9 sitting over the heart bidder, or ♥Q10974 when the opponents bid hearts, is a real holding.
• Defensive tricks outside trumps. Aces and kings win tricks on defense. Queens and jacks are less certain.
• A misfit for your side. If you are long in the suit the opponents chose, your side probably has no good fit either, so defending is often the best score.

The most common penalty double at club level comes after the opponents stretch to game. You hold ♠QJ9 ♥AQ10 ♦KJ6 ♣9874, and they bid 1♠, 2♠, 4♠ with the spade opener on your right, so your ♠QJ9 sits over his trumps. You have about three tricks and partner is likely to have one. Double for penalty: one down doubled scores 50 or 100 more than undoubled, and if you are right often, it adds up over a session.

Do not double a partscore that becomes a game if it makes. Doubling 2♥ turns -110 into -470 when it makes: double such contracts only when you have a clear trump stack.

In standard methods a direct double of an opponent's 1NT opening is penalty. It shows a hand at least as strong as the 1NT opener: about 15+ HCP against a 15-17 notrump. With a long running suit to lead (for example ♦AKQJ74) you can double with less, because your tricks come quickly on defense.

Against a weak notrump (12-14, the Acol style), the double shows about 15+ and is still penalty. It is a strong weapon there, because the opponents often have no fit and nowhere safe to run.

Many pairs give up the penalty double over a strong notrump and use it artificially. In DONT the double shows a one-suited hand; in Meckwell it shows a long minor or both majors. In Cappelletti and Landy the double stays penalty. Check the opponents' card before you assume.

When partner makes a takeout double and you pass, you convert it into a penalty double. This is the penalty pass, and it needs a special hand: long, solid trumps. A typical holding is five or six cards headed by three honors in the opponent's suit, such as ♦KQJ109 or ♦QJ1098.

Shortness elsewhere is not the reason to pass. With ♦10765 and nothing else, you must still bid, because the opponents will make overtricks in 1♦ doubled and score 140 or more for it. When you do pass, partner should lead a trump, because your side wants to draw declarer's small trumps before they score by ruffing.

Some doubles are about the opening lead more than the score.

• Double of an artificial bid. The opponents bid 1NT, 2♣ (Stayman). Your double says "I have good clubs, lead them." The same applies to doubles of transfers, cue bids and Blackwood responses. It needs a suit you want led, like ♣KQJ85, not just length.
• Double of 3NT. When the opponents bid 3NT and partner, who has not bid, doubles, the common agreement is: lead dummy's first-bid suit. If the doubler has bid a suit, lead that suit.
• The Lightner double. A double of a freely bid slam asks for an unusual lead: not trumps, not a suit your side has bid. It often asks for dummy's first-bid side suit, because the doubler is void there and can ruff the opening lead.

You do not need many points for a lead-directing double. You need the suit.

A redouble is legal only after the opponents double your side's bid. It doubles the stakes again: redoubled contracts score four times the trick points, with a 100 point insult bonus. Making 1♦ redoubled scores 230 at any vulnerability, while making 1♦ doubled scores 140.

In practice most redoubles are conventional, and two of them matter most.

Partner opens and right-hand opponent doubles for takeout. A redouble now shows 10+ HCP and says "this hand belongs to us." It usually denies a fit for partner's suit: with support you raise, or use a convention such as Jordan 2NT, so the opponents cannot find their fit cheaply.

After the redouble your side looks for a penalty. If the opponents run to a suit where you hold four good cards, you or partner doubles. Opener passes when they have nothing extra to say, which gives responder the chance to double.

A good hand for that redouble: ♠KJ94 ♥6 ♦Q1083 ♣AJ52. You have 11 HCP, a singleton in partner's suit, and four cards in each suit the opponents can run to. When West bids 1♠ or 2♣, your side can double for penalty.

Sometimes your side lands in a low contract doubled for penalty, and you hate it. If the redouble cannot be for business, it asks partner to choose another suit. That is the SOS redouble.

The classic case: partner opens 1♣, you pass with a weak hand, and West doubles in fourth seat. When East passes, the takeout double becomes a penalty double. Holding a void in clubs, you redouble: "partner, get us out of 1♣, pick another suit."

With ♠9864 ♥10753 ♦J8642 ♣- the redouble works well: partner bids a four-card suit and you play in a 4-4 fit instead of a 4-0 club suit. If you held a club or two, you would just pass and hope.

• Doubling a partscore into game. 2♥ or 2♠ doubled and made is a game for the opponents. Double them only when you hold a clear trump stack.
• Passing a takeout double with weakness. Bid your best suit, even with no points. A pass needs long, strong trumps.
• Making a takeout double with the wrong shape. With a doubleton in an unbid major and length in the opponent's suit, overcall or pass. Doubling with four cards in the opponent's suit leads to bad fits.
• Treating every double of notrump as takeout. Without an agreement, a double of 1NT is penalty.
• Forgetting the lead. Partner's double of an artificial bid asks for that suit. Lead it.

Doubles show up in every session, and the best way to learn them is to see what happens when you choose the wrong one. The BridgeDummy bidding puzzles put you in South's chair with a real auction, often with a double on the table. The hidden hands are dealt many times to fit the auction, each call is solved double dummy, and you see how often your choice scored best.

To bid whole deals, open the Bidding Room and play against EPBot robots in 2/1, SAYC or Acol. When you want to know what a doubled contract costs, the bridge score calculator gives the exact number in seconds.

Read next: the takeout double and negative double pages cover the two most common doubles in full detail.