biggerclub, on 2015-January-27, 23:39, said:
After multiple email exchanges, partner and I have decided that all X's over 2NT or over 1 min - 1 something - 2NT are penalty
It might be even more useful to agree that all delayed doubles of 2NT and related sequences are not preceded by a round of unnecessary UI-giving. Changing your agreements to something that might come up once a decade as a reaction to a single hand is not always a great idea. As an example change the
♥A in your partner's hand to
♦A and add a spade (to make it up to 13 cards). Now assume the same auction as the OP except that they transfer to hearts instead of spades and add whatever you want that so that you are not taking action over 2NT but do not want to leave them in 3
♥. How does your partner think this hand should be bid? Which of these 2 hands types do you think is more important?
I am quite sure that if partner had held that hand they would have doubled 3
♥ without UI and neither of you would have thought anything of it. This illustrates the reasons for the UI laws and also shows just how much goes on at club level - I doubt your opponents would have called the director if you had left the double in, for example. If it were my partner I would have a word with her about it - but I am well aware that many club pairs think such hints are part of the game and are even glad when their partner tries to help them "get it right".
Finally, it is good to agree a defence to transfers generally. The two most popular are for a double to show the suit bid and a cue to be a good takeout, with a delayed double being a shapely tekeout; and for double to be takeout and the cue to be Michaels. Another popular method in the Weak NT world is for an initial double just to show values. Ideally you find something you and your partner can agree on and can then extend it to many other sitations without having to remember specific cases, especially rare ones such as this.
Directly over a 2NT opening, the simplest is to use your normal Strong NT defence with appropriate adjustments for being a level higher with a big hand on your right. Even if it is not 100% optimal, you will at least not forget it and can get on with learning more important components of the system instead.