Cooperative Runouts After 1NT is Doubled

Many weak or mini notrump partnerships use some sort of run out system. "Hyashi" and "SWINE" give up the ability to play 1NT doubled, figuring that this is an anti-field place to play; if it's going down, we get a zero, and if it is making, we might as well play 1NT redoubled. The additional auctions generated by having pass puppet to redouble allow responder to describe any one-suiter or two-suiter, plus some three-suiters and strong hands. The big loss, I think, with this sort of approach is not that we can't play 1NT doubled, although that is a loss of sorts, but that opener doesn't know about responder's business redouble in time to take action if advancer bids.

To help get opener back into the game, I've assigned the hand patterns to the sequences as follows:
Pass=business redouble, or spades and a minor
Rdbl=clubs, or diamonds, or majors, or 3 suited short in a minor
2C:=clubs and a red suit
2D:=diamonds and hearts
2H:=hearts
2S:=spades

Now, after 1NT-(Dbl)-Pass-(bid), opener can double if he has spades and something in their suit. He can also double clubs if he has both minors.

Another advantage of this scheme compared to other similar ones is that responder's direct bids of two of a major are to play, and are thus much more preemptive than ones that had to go through two rounds of bidding.

Strong distributional hands can be shown by starting with 2NT (two suiters), passing and jumping to the three level (forcing one-suiters), or redoubling and jumping to the three level (invitational one-suiters).

Direct jumps to the three level are preemptive, but some players might choose to psych 2H: or 2S:, particularly if their opponents play takeout doubles in the next two seats. If doubled, they can run to their suit at the three-level. This is not correctable.

Jeff Goldsmith, jeff@tintin.jpl.nasa.gov, July 23, 1997