Bridge By Phillip Alder

AN UNDERBID WORKED WELL AND POORLY

First today, look only at the South hand. With both sides vulnerable, it goes two passes to you. How would you rate a four-spade opening bid?

Once you have decided, look at all four hands and decide what should happen in three spades doubled after West leads the diamond ace: three, two, nine.

That potential four-spade opening seems like a reasonable speculation to me. It might make, and if it fails, perhaps it will be a good sacrifice. However, all 16 players at Bridge Base Online opened one spade. After West’s takeout double and North’s pass, East wondered about passing also, to convert his partner’s takeout double into one for penalties. He wisely decided that his trumps were too weak, so he advanced with one no-trump. However, when South persevered to three spades, East felt that enough was enough and doubled.

West led the diamond ace: three, two, nine. She continued with the diamond king: five, seven, spade four. South played a low heart, and West paused.

Note that East had discouraged at trick one. On the next round, though, he had played his higher remaining diamond as a suit-preference signal for hearts. (If he had held the club ace, he would have played the diamond six the second time.) So West, knowing that her partner had the heart ace, played low. East took the trick and shifted to a club. Now the contract was destined to go down two. The defenders took one spade, two hearts, one diamond, one club and one heart ruff.

Plus 500 was a top.