Conventions

[DrDouble]

I'm afraid I can't understand fully Neg X's. Do they mostly just show 4 cards in the unbid major and 6 points at the 1 level then increasing points at higher levels. Or do they show strength in the unbid suits which could be both minors.

 

:)

[P_Marlowe]

Both styles exists, get played, and hence have to be

playable, although in my opinion, one style is playable

and the other not, ... but that is just me, and in the end

it my just be, that I never tried to play the other style.

 

Simply speaking: It seems that in North America the

neg. X just promises the unbid major, for me the

neg. X is just a t/o, i.e. it promises support for the

unbid suits or the ability to handle partners response,

if he happens to bid a suit I do not have.

 

A simple example

 

1C ... - (1S (1)) - X - (Pass)

2D (2) -

 

(1) standard overcall, bids by the opponents get marked

by enclosing the bid in ( ... )

(2) For several players from North America, this would be

a reverse, since the double just promised hearts, in

contrast to the other group, since the double was for the

unbid suits, the 2D is just a simple raise.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[cherdano]

A negative double after both majors have been bid shows both minors (e.g. 1H (2S) X or 1S (2H) X).

A negative double after both minors have been bid shows both majors, or one long major without the values for a forcing freebid, or one major and another place to play (i.e. typically support for partners minor, but could be NT e.g. in the auction 1D (2C) X). Ugly!

A negative double when there is one unbid major shows just the other major. However, the higher the level the more likely you would pass or bid NT when you have length in their suit. Hence you will pretty much always have support for the unbid suit, or for partner's suit.

 

At a higher level this really isn't a style thing, it's just the only way to play sensibly. If the auction goes 1C (3S) and you have a game forcing 2425 that would like to explore a 4H contract, what else you can do but double? Of course this means opener is not allowed to jump to 5♦ if he thinks he likes his hand 2245 hand opposite a diamond fit.

[Fluffy]

the higher the level, the less you will have 4 cards in the other major, sometimes 5, and sometimes 2 or 3.

[andy_h]

A negative double usually shows 4cards in the unbid major (can be more). It shows both majors if both minors have been bid and it shows both minors when both majors have been bid, like what cherdano said.

 

Eg. 1C - (1S) - X

X here is a negative double, showing 4+H's saying "partner, I would've responded 1H if RHO didn't overcall". So it's either any hand with 4H, or if it's 5+H it would be roughly <10HCP because with more you would just bid 2H. IMO, it's too unplayable if it should promise both unbid suits because more often than not you just need to get the major suit in.

 

Otherwise agree with what the others have said.

[babalu1997]

I'm afraid I can't understand fully Neg X's. Do they mostly just show 4 cards in the unbid major and 6 points at the 1 level then increasing points at higher levels. Or do they show strength in the unbid suits which could be both minors.

 

:P

the way i play, in preparation for cooperative doubles, they show 1.5 quick tricks.

 

no shape is promised, even support for partner is possible

 

has worked for me

[foo]

1st, there are some good resources on the net regarding Negative X's. Use a search engine and read up a bit. The following is intended to be supplemented by such reading.

 

The biggest thing to remember is that a negative X is "a takeout X by Responder".

 

Like all T/O X's, it promises length in the unbid suits with emphasis on the unbid majors. Like all T/O doubles, it's strength requirements increase as either its shape becomes less ideal or as the level of the auction increases.

In general,

=a Neg X at the 1 level requires 6+ HCP.

=a Neg X at the 2 level requires 8+ HCP.

=a Neg X at the 3 level requires 10+ HCP.

These are minimums for perfect shape Neg X's where all the HCP are decent (downgrade a hand with too many Q's and J's) located in such a way that they rate to be useful (downgrade your hand if you have unprotected honors, especially in Their bid suit, or honors that are likely to be onside for finesses if They Declare.) for Us if We Declare.

 

Also like T/O X's, there are shapes that the Neg X is traditionally used to show that are not of traditional shape. As in the analogous case, these are hands that may be useful for partner to know about that can't be bid in a more normal way. Usually We X with them because the hand in question is not strong enough to bid freely in the auction underway. I'll cover the more tradtional, T/O like, stuff first. The I'll talk about the more atypical shapes the Neg X can be useful for.

 

=Unlike= American style (as opposed to Italian style) T/O X's, the emphasis is so highly focused on the unbid majors that the Neg X may have 2- cards in any given unbid minor.

 

So

1C-(1D)-X , What's it typically show?

In NA, it shows 44 or at least 43 in the Majors and 6+ HCP.

1m-(1M)-X,

4 cards in the unbid Major. 6+ HCP if (1M) was 1♥. 8+ HCP if (1M) was 1♠.

It might show 4 cards in the unbid minor. It does not have to.

1H-(1S)-X

1S-(2H)-X

Both of these usually show 44 in the unbid minors and 8+ HCP.

1foo-(1N)-X

There are 2 ways to play this.

The 1st is as a straight penalty X. Requires 10+ HCP.

The 2nd is as a Neg X for the 3 unbid suits (with emphasis on the unbid Majors). Requires 8+ HCP.

A sequence you should discuss and agree on with partner.

 

Now let's talk about the more unusual cases when We make a Neg X.

=You have a 6+ card or strong 5+ card suit you'd like partner to know about but your hand is not strong enough to bid it at the level required to show the suit. Your minimum is -1 HCP if you have a 5 card suit and -2 points if you have a 6 card suit; but with an absolute floor of ~6 HCP (IOW, what would be required to make a simple response in an Uncontested auction.)

=You have 10+ HCP and support for partner, but it is only 3 card support, and you do not have a 5+ card side suit to show. IOW, 10+ HCP, 3 card support, flat hand.

=You have a hand that wants to bid NT, and that would be strong enough to do so in the present auction, but you lack a stopper or only have 1/2 a stopper in Their suit and your hand is not strong enough to take a bid at the level necessary to ask for the required stops.

*All of these hands start with a Neg X and then clarify their hand type with the ensuing auction*

=The 1st passes Opener's rebid or corrects to the suit actually in hand.

=The 2nd raises Opener appropriately on your next bid.

=The 3rd has a lot of potential continuations depending on Opener's rebid, so I'll suggest you find a decent teacher or reference to use to get all the follow-ups.

 

Al Roth, the inventor of these, was famous for saying that he played Neg X's all the way thru 7S. Most pairs do not. Typical agreements are to play Neg X's thru 3S or to play them thru 4H. Make sure to agree with pard as to how high you will play Neg X's.

 

This is intended as a quick overview or summary reference. There is a great deal of richness involved in properly using Neg X's that I have not covered here. Find a good teacher and ask lot's of questions. :)

[Flameous]

Going a bit off the track, it's good to also understand what negative X means in context of negative freebids. With new suits showing 5+ NF, the double includes a lot more hand types but also many same ones.

 

The main feature is that the 5+M with weak hand that would normally double and correct to the major is now bid directly, and bidding the slow way is forcing, generally GF or strong invitation. Depending whether jumps are played strong or not, all GF one suiters might go through negative X.

 

However the same X may still contain those normal 6+ hands with exactly 4 card major.

 

In many situations you can interpret different things from negative X only by knowing your opps play negative freebids, so it's a good idea to find out about that. As far as I know, this negative X doesn't have to be alerted even though the bids have to, so not knowing about it may lead to totally wrong assumptions.

[Fluffy]

Also to note, I think Italians use double just to show strenght, they might double at the 1 level with any balanced hand with 8 HCP.