BRIDGE

While yesterday's EastWest could have scored a great bidding coup by a more vigorous mobilization of West's distributional assets in the context of favourable vulnerability, today's North authored a disaster by trying something similar.

South's light opening-bid caught West with an awkward hand for immediate action but, trusting his partner to act with appropriate values, West passed and, sure enough, East kept the auction alive.

One notrump in pass-out seat showed a balanced hand with 11-15 high-card points and something at least resembling a spade stopper. Well, you can't have everything!

That drew West's jump to the nine-trick game that was going to be easy to make.

North agreed with his opponents but decided a sacrifice in clubs might show a relative profit.

Four clubs, doubled, wasn't going to fare at all well but we'll never know how many down it would yield as South offered his second suit only to end back in a very poor fit at the four-level with his first-suit as trumps. The problem(s) with North's action? With no guaranteed fit and a porous suit that would need at least a modicum of a fit to withstand the opponents' apparent superiority in high-card points, four clubs was risky business indeed!

Worst of all from South's perspective: he had to absorb the punishment of his partner's errant bidding by declaring!

And there was a lot of punishment after a high spade lead and a low spade continuation to East's Jack after he signalled with the Queen at trick one.

Eventually: -1100 as the cost of North's unwarranted enterprise to illustrate once again that sacrifing against three notrump can be hazardous to the bottom line!