DOUBLES OF
1NT OPENINGS
SSS by Danny Kleinman
SAYC. For penalties, showing at least 17 HCP if 1NT is strong, at least SSS. The SAYC account of doubles of
1NT seems so muddled as to make such doubles misguided. Better to play them as showing a good hand, a good suit, a good opening lead, and a confident expectation of beating 1NT, usually a hand with strong-jump-overcall values.
Better still is to give up the rarely-effective penalty doubles of 1NT openings and use the double artificially as part of a comprehensive Notrump Defense that lets you show 2-suiters and 1-suiters conveniently. However, I'm not
teaching fancy Notrump Defenses here, so you may as well stick with penalty doubles that advancer will very seldom pull at all.
15 HCP if 1NT is weak. Advancer leaves the double in with
any balanced hand, pulls to two of a suit with a weak distributional hand, jumps to three of a suit (invitational) with a moderate distributional hand (at least 8 points if 1NT is strong, at least 6 points if 1NT is weak). If
responder pulls, advancer can double for penalties, cue-bid for takeout, or bid as he would had responder passed, but advancer's pass requires the doubler to bid, or double for penalties again.