Conventions in depth
After partner doubles for takeout and the opener’s side raises, your double is for takeout and asks partner to choose the suit.
Partner makes a takeout double, the opener’s side raises its suit, and you hold useful values but no obvious suit to name. Guessing which suit to bid can easily land in the wrong one. A responsive double avoids the guess.
In an auction such as (1♥) – Double – (2♥) – Double, your double is for takeout, not penalty. It shows at least two four-card unbid suits and 8 or more high-card points when their raise is at the two level, or 9 or more when it is at the three level.
The original doubler names the suit, choosing a level that shows the doubler’s strength:
After the cheapest bid of a major, the responsive doubler raises it to game with four cards in that suit and 12 or more points counting shortness and extra trumps; with less, or when the pick is a minor (five of a minor needs about 29 between the hands), there is no raise to game.
The same double works after partner’s simple overcall when the opener’s side raises to the two or three level, as in (1♦) – 1♠ – (2♦) – Double: four or more cards in both unbid suits, fewer than three cards in partner’s major (fewer than four in a minor), and the same 8 or 9 points. Partner answers on the same ladder but chooses between the two unbid suits only, with three or more cards; with fewer in both, partner rebids the overcall suit. A six-card major is bid, not doubled (after a takeout double too). After a cheapest bid in a major, raise to game with five cards (an eight-card fit opposite partner’s three) and 13 or more points counting shortness and extra trumps.
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