|
Hand played on |
18th January 2007 |
|
Board number 13 |
Red Section |
|
Dealer |
North |
|
Vulnerability |
Both |
|
Submitted by |
Alaric Cundy |
|
|
North ª 84 © JT53 ¨ 9874 § J82 |
|
|
|
|||
|
West ª 93 © A ¨ J6532 § K9743 |
|
East ª KQT762 © 9 ¨ AKQT § T5 |
North |
Bidding:
East |
South |
West |
|
|
|
South ª AJ5 © KQ87642 ¨ - § AQ6 |
|
|
No No 4© End |
1ª x No |
3© No No |
No 4§ x |
|
|
|||||||
I don't know if you have been keeping count, but ever since I instituted this 'Board 13' feature there have been far more minuses than pluses on the board for partner and me - not ALWAYS 'our fault', but on this one I should 'carry the can' just for one teeny but critical error in the bidding. South's 3© bid was described as showing a good opening hand, and East's second round double was a standard re-opening bid. With a minor 2-suited hand and a spade shortage, holding the West cards I should bid 4¨ rather than 4§. When 4© came round to me, I appeared to have no where to go other than 'to take the money'. Well, not quite...
I led a spade at trick one, which was won by Declarer's Ace. The King of hearts was played, and I won, and led my second spade - rather helpful for Declarer. Dummy's jack of clubs proved to be a vital card, and Declarer restricted the losers to three tricks - one each in spades, hearts, and clubs. So that was 790 to NS - a second 'top' for our opponents. As it happened, had I bid 4¨ rather than 4§ I would have struck gold. Partner would have bid 5¨ over 4©, and now if 5© is bid a double from me provides 200 our way - and that appears to have happened at several tables. If partner had passed 4© I would have had 5§ available as an option - and on this hand, clearly partner would have bid 5¨. Nobody actually played the hand in 5¨ but it looks to me that, despite the horrible break, we may be able to rustle up 11 tricks - even if it goes off it will yield a better score even than 4© undoubled making.
I teach my beginners that with a weak / moderate hand, if you hold two five-card touching suits, you should bid the higher ranking first, and that way you may get the opportunity to bid both of them. I should practice what I preach...