Comments: Double of 4S would be penalty, 4NT was takeout. How can we reach the cold 6D which was bid at the other table by the top seeded team after a 3S opening on the South hand?

And Peter's Response:

Hi Rex,

Realistically, I don't think reaching 6D is too likely after the 4S opening with the given methods.

The difference between the 3S and 4S openings is that East is able to show both strength and capacity to play in more than one trump suit after a takeout double of 3S by bidding 4S.

Nonetheless, the final contract ought not to have been 5C doubled.

Somebody ought to have bid 5D at some point in the auction.

Neither player had promised a decent club suit prior to the final double and the double surely suggested that 5C was not going to make.

With 4NT as the only bid available for takeout, the bid needs to cater for both two suited and three suited hands. This leaves the partnership vulnerable to the sort of outcome that occurred here.

With the method you employ, I think Double would have been a better option than 4NT. At least you would have a plus score.

A better approach is to play Double as a good hand with convertible values, leaving 4NT to provide emphasis for two suited hands.

This allows responder to pass with nothing much to say and bid with a serious contract in mind.

The difference between a Penalty Double and a Convertible Values Double is that a Penalty Double is based substantially on trump strength while a Convertible Values Double suggests High Card strength outside the trump suit. Any trump strength is incidental and additional to the promised general strength.

Alternatively, some expert partnerships prefer to make takeout doubles up to 4S.

In this case, the auction would go 4S, Double, over which responder might choose to bid 5D with this good quality suit (certainly not 5C).

Doubler would probably have a crack at 6D in this context.