Quiz: How well do you understand takeout doubles?

Only one Greenwich area player placed in the overall rankings of a duplicate game held at one of the local bridge clubs during the past week. She was Faye Marino, who finished fourth on Jan. 12 at the Bridge Deck in White Plains, N.Y.

Elsewhere, the names of Greenwich players who finished in the overall rankings of an event at the five-day regional tournament held in Suffern, N.Y., this past week will appear in this space next week. Today’s quiz: This is the first of a new series of quizzes dealing with overcalls and takeout doubles, and the responses to them. Before using actual hands, the first few quizzes are designed to test your general knowledge of this subject. Simply decide whether each of the following statements is true or false. A brief explanation is provided with each answer.1. When an opponent opens the bidding first and you happen to hold a hand worth an opening bid or better, some sort of immediate action must be taken.2. A takeout double cannot properly be made unless the doubler has support (three cards or more) for all of the unbid suits.3. It is possible to overcall and then make a takeout double later in the bidding.

Answers: 1. False.

When a hand does not fit the requirements for a notrump overcall (15-18 points, balanced distribution and at least one stopper in the opponent’s suit), a suit overcall (9 or more points and a strong five-card or longer suit), or a takeout double (showing an opening hand with support for the unbid suits or a very strong one-suited hand), the best initial action is to pass.2. False. A takeout double can properly be made with a 17-point or better hand containing a strong suit or where the doubler can retreat to notrump (showing upwards of 18 points).3. True. This is the best way to describe a good hand containing a strong five-card suit with support for the other suits as well.