Is it really good for the soul?

Supposedly, confession is good for the soul. But Peter De Vries, a novelist and an editor who died in 1993, said, “Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff.”

Regardless, I will confess to an error in today’s deal. Look at the South hand. You open one spade and partner raises to two spades. What would you do now?

I was in Phoenix for the Fall North American Championships, playing for a few hours with friends. North was Eddie Kantar, a two-time world champion and an excellent teacher and author. We were playing against Eddie’s wife, Yvonne, and Vinita Gupta, who was fresh from winning the Baze Senior Knockout Teams, her first national title.

When Kantar raised to two spades, I thought I would keep my heart suit hidden, so jumped to four spades. Error!

Gupta led the diamond six. I put in dummy’s 10 and ruffed East’s queen. Then I led my low club, but West, who could see three major-suit winners, went in with her ace and shifted to a low spade. I had to lose two spades, one heart and one club.

If I had sensibly rebid three hearts, North would have raised to four hearts. Then, it is true, I might have bid again, because North could have held, for example, king-third of spades and king-fifth of hearts, when six hearts would have been excellent. But we would have stopped in five hearts. Then, after I drove out the club ace, cashed the heart ace, and discarded two spades on the king-queen of clubs, a spade-diamond crossruff would have produced 11 tricks.