An abnormal bid that can work

BY PHILLIP ALDER

D.B. Sweeney, an actor, said, “I try to have a normal life since I have an abnormal job.”

In bridge, we usually make bids and plays recommended by the textbook. Occasionally, though, we can do something abnormal that misleads the opponents without having to worry about partner.

Recently I led the two from a five-card suit, aware that when partner saw the dummy, she would know that I could not have only a four-card suit.

But sometimes the bestlaid plans backfire. Look at the North hand. What would you respond to one no-trump, showing 15 to 17 points?

Yes, South had only 14 points, but she upgraded for her good intermediates. (Whatever it is worth, the Kaplan-Rubens evaluation method rates this hand at 12.65 points, notably giving that club suit only 0.3 points.)

Most Norths would have raised straight to three notrump — do not use Stayman with 4-3-3-3 distribution. Here, though, North responded two clubs in an effort to stop a heart lead. (At worst, South would have rebid two hearts when 4-4 in the majors, then corrected North’s three-no-trump rebid back to four spades.)

Ironically, a heart lead would have been fatal for the defense. After the actual club start, declarer ducked in the dummy, and East won with her queen. A heart shift would have been best, but she returned a club. Declarer took the losing diamond finesse, and West persevered in clubs.

Now declarer had to lose two spades, one heart, one diamond and two clubs for down two and 75 percent of the matchpoints to East-West.