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Not today’s dummy!

“You will have something, partner. Won’t you!”

That cry may have been made by some South players who held the hand below. They pick up as good a hand as they have held all night, all week, maybe much longer (well, it is not that big but memory loss has made other nice hands fade from the memory!). However, events do not always go to plan.

 

 

2 is a Multi 2, 1-way, 2-way, as many ways as you like. Your hand is not just a 20-count but has some pretty chunky minors. However, after you open, it is not your partner who responds but it is an opposition call with which you have to deal. If partner had a longish minor and hardly any hcp,you might now be best to double though the shape of the hand suggests no-trumps. So, what is your choice?

This deal came from a recent Intermediate night at the Otago Bridge Club.  The bidding might not have started as above as South might have started with 2NT. Either immediately or after the overcall, 2NT seems a reasonable bid to make. Partner will surely produce a little of some suit. The game was Pairs. This bid may or may not have ended the bidding. So 2NT it is. Could anyone really think of passing?!

Had West produced a double of 2NT, the double would have produced concern for the other three players. North produced 12 cards and one semi-useless 10.

 

West did have a very respectable overcall, a 15-count if you ignore the maybe useless Q. When South bid 2NT, barring a transfer to hearts (not this day), that bid would be the last. Jokingly, we comment frequently that a strong 2NT opening passed out should always be doubled as most of the time, the contract failed. After their modest overcall, West had plenty of cause to double this contract. That would have made South’s nice hand feel much less so. What though of North and East? Neither would feel great about this contract but neither really had anywhere to go. East would do well to pass this double and would soon be rewarded for doing so.

Doubled or not, and no-one did double this contract, West can start off with three rounds of spades. The third round in which they should play 9, should indicate to East, should they gain the lead, that they can reach their partner’s hand by playing the highest unplayed suit, hearts.

The best South can do is after winning the third round of spades, to play AK and a third diamond. West can find one comfortable heart discard though the second discard is harder. Had a cunning declarer held AKJT and played the 10 early? It might depend on which 2 cards East discarded on the second and third round of spades. As long as they keep three diamonds and three clubs, it does not matter if West does throw a club, though that is hard to do. They cannot see the J in East’s hand. Perhaps, they should expect East to win this trick and chance a club discard. 

Had East observed West’s high third spade, they could throw two hearts, an important side-effect to West’s spade signal.

East wins the third round of diamonds and switches to a heart. This gives the defence a diamond, two hearts and four or five spade tricks. That is a difference between 2 and 3 down, not really that significant if this contract is doubled (a great score to East/West either way), but rather significant if not as there are 8 tricks available to West in spades. East-West can do even better in hearts where South will be frequently end-played and declarer can emerge with 9 tricks. – 100 may not feel very good for South but it is a better result than -110. Pairs can be a cruel scoring game.

If there ever was a time for West to make a penalty double of 2NT, then this was it, especially after overcalling 2. Note that even if South had 2 spade tricks (holding QJxx), the defence would still prevail, 2NT being at least one down.

So, spare a thought for South whose lovely 20 count was to come to very very little. Spare another thought for North whose hand was worth absolutely nothing. This was Board 1 of the evening. At least one player started with that North hand. Hopefully, their hands improved from thereon in.

Richard Solomon

Of course, North’s big 10 prevented any claims for this being one of the worse hands ever held, and indeed from being a Yarborough. Thanks to Phil Noye for relaying the hands.

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