DOUBLE PARTNER

Double Partner?

In the game of Chess it is permissible to offer one’s opponent a Draw. This may be for tactical reasons in a tournament, or it could even be that you feel on the verge of losing but hope your opponent hasn’t realised it yet!

In the game of Backgammon there is a “doubling cube”. If you think that you have a probable winning position you may “turn the cube”, or double the stakes. Essentially you are offering your opponent a loss, but a chance to resign with dignity. Of course, your opponent may decline the offer and play on. Sometimes, later on, if fortune does not favour you, your opponent may turn the cube further and offer you double or quit, as it were. To be a successful Backgammon player, therefore one needs a good grasp of positional play, and the associated probabilities of winning.

In some clubs they play “duplicate” Backgammon, where a central umpire rolls the dice for every pair. It may that their duplicate idea was borrowed from Contract Bridge. Whatever; I don’t know. Nevertheless, I suggest Contract Bridge could borrow from Backgammon a concept similar to the doubling cube. Let me explain.

At present the call “Double” in Contract Bridge is indeed used essentially to double the stakes, but only for one’s opponents’ bids. I believe it would make the game of Contract Bridge much more skilful, and exciting, if one were able to Double one’s own partner’s bid!! Thus I could envisage such a sequence as:

N E S W N E S

1S - 1NT - 2D - Double!

South may hold such a hand as: S x

H A x x x

D K x x x x x

C x x

To avoid the risk of this Double becoming yet another conventional non-penalty or negative Double, it would bar partner from bidding for one round, if your LHO passed. There would also be a slight adjustment in the play. Let us suppose that, as above, South has doubled North’s contract of 2 Diamonds, and that all Pass. Then South would become the opening leader, and West be Dummy. North/South are now trying to make 8 or more tricks by what is effectively defensive play. The advantage to South would be the opening lead; the disadvantage would be that North/South could not see each other’s hand. East as “declarer” perforce, is trying to make 5 or more tricks. Now that would be a challenge!

East/West would of course have to consider their options. Any subsequent bid by them would cancel the self-double, and calling would continue as normal. Should East or West have the temerity to Re-Double, however, and that were passed out, then play would revert to the usual format with North as declarer.

I am confident that such a scheme would eventually significantly improve normal un-doubled defensive play. The “defensive declarers” would learn, by experience, what situations can produce the odd extra trick from limited resources. The new “contract defenders” would have to maintain their concentration on partnership communications in more detail. They would be trying to make many more tricks than “defenders” usually expect.