Double Trouble

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

I wonder if Shakespeare played bridge; either way, I couldn't have said it better.  Last night's game again saw me in double trouble--us doubling them and them doubling us, along with the director thrown in a couple of times for good measure.  Holy cow, there was a lot of doubling going on!  And not in a good way.

However, the story I am going to tell you has a doubly good ending since it highlights the integrity of our opponent and we had a positive result.  If I was more creative and had more time, I would write it in iambic pentameter.  As it is, you will have to read the story in plain prose.

My RHO opened a club, I passed, LHO bid a spade.  My partner then overcalled 2 diamonds.  I kind of liked this, since I had 10 highs and 3 diamonds.  I was engaged in a lively internal discussion regarding the merits of cue bidding vs a simple 3 diamond bid when RHO doubled.  This stopped me in my tracks.

The meaning of this double is probably quite clear to you, but at our table it was a mystery to everyone except the doubler.  Is it for penalty?  I wondered.  If so, I should pass and we'll make it.  Is it for the unbid suit?  If LHO had hearts, wouldn't she have bid up the line?  Unless she's 5-4?  I decided to hedge my bets and pass; I can always come in later, I thought.  LHO bid 2 hearts, and my questions were (supposedly) answered.  My partner, thinking I had nothing, passed.  As I was preparing to enter the action with my 3 diamond bid (I had decided that cue bidding at this point was a bad idea), RHO again surprised me by bidding 3 hearts.  I hesitated and then unhappily bid 4 diamonds.  This time we all knew the ensuing double was for penalty.

My partner made a valiant effort but went down 2 (doubled, of course).  This is when RHO surprised me yet again by calling the director (who was busy at the moment).  It seems that his original double was a support double, indicating that he had 3 spades.  Ahh, we all said.  He asked if I would I have bid differently had I known this.  Yes, I answered.  If I had been sure that it wasn't a penalty double, I would have bid 3 diamonds at that point.  Then everyone would have passed, we decided, and there would not have been a penalty double.  We would have been down one.  That's how he scored it, a decision which was later blessed by the director.  It turned out to be a top board for us.

Sadly there are those who try to get away with things, such as waiting until the cards are all picked up to disagree with the result, or walking past players and peaking at cards.  However, this incident reminds me that there are also players with integrity and competitive spirits that truly honor the game.