BRIDGE

What’s your least favourite type of result for your teammates to deliver to the post-match comparison?

For sure, we can all miss bidding games or slams or might even have a blind spot and go down in an “easy” contract but what really irks me is the doubled part-score that yields a game bonus when it is made.

North’s initial intervention was a sterling example of an Unusual Notrump overcall: at least 5-5 shape in the two unbid suits with values worthy of forcing his partner to pick a suit at the three-level.

South chose clubs and when that choice came back to East, that worthy declined to go gracefully, choosing instead to contest further with a competitive double despite holding a very minimum opening bid: an invitation/ prelude to disaster?

And so it proved as West passed thinking he had enough defensive assets to play for a penalty: disaster was indeed lurking!

Declarer won the low club lead in dummy to advance the King of hearts. In with the ace, West would have done better to play a second round of clubs but he semi-panicked and switched to a diamond to his partner’s ace.

Ace and a second spade to the Queen, King and dummy’s ruff left South in command and he actually found a route to a doubled overtrick.

After the mopping-up, the totalling-up found Northsouth with a very pleasing (pleasing, that is, to everyone but West and his teammates!) +870.

UGH! Especially when it comes to part-scores, don’t believe the starry-eyed optimists who allege that if the opponents don’t make an occasional doubled contract, you’re not doubling often enough!